Chapter 160: The Cat and Mouse Match — Conclusion

Chapter 160: Chapter 160: The Cat and Mouse Match — Conclusion

The three Chaos Cats currently tangling with Asaro were respectively:

Cat 11 — Raphael. (Intermediate Stage Five-Star.)

Cat 17 — Evelyn. (Intermediate Stage Four-Star.)

And Cat 66 — one of the six second-year female seniors specially invited to make up the numbers: Thien Nguyet. (Intermediate Stage Five-Star. Her original realm was tier three seven-star. Because the magic power reserves at tier three were significantly higher, for fairness, not only her cultivation level but also her skills were suppressed and sealed.)

For Asaro to hold out fighting one-on-three for so long, aside from the auxiliary skills exchanged with points, the majority was due to her life-disregarding combat style.

The competition only prohibited endangering the opponent’s life. Below that threshold, no one cared.

And Asaro utilized that loophole to the absolute limit.

She did not dodge strikes that only caused injuries. She traded them for the opportunity to close the distance.

A cut on the shoulder was traded for half a step forward. A punch taken full force to the ribs was traded for enough distance for her scythe to reach the opponent’s neck.

Asaro’s body at this moment was almost entirely covered in blood, looking so gruesome it was hard to look straight at her. One sleeve was completely torn open, revealing burn marks plowed by Raphael’s sword aura.

But she had no intention of retreating.

Clearly displaying the stance: unless you step over her corpse, don’t even think about advancing.

On the opposite side, Raphael furrowed his brows.

This was the third time within ten minutes he had to retract his blade midway, because the opponent chose to charge straight into the blade instead of dodging.

A combat style that any teacher would give a failing grade. And also a combat style that forced a stronger opponent to pay the price in time.

And time was exactly the thing Asaro was snatching.

Time passed neither fast nor slow.

Four minutes remained.

Several ink-colored arrows tore through the wind, intercepting Thien Nguyet’s threads on behalf of Asaro.

Jeremy used the shortest amount of time to reach her side, swooping down.

Putting away the bow, twisting his wrist forcefully, Jeremy’s scythe slashed horizontally, fully blocking Raphael’s scimitar.

The scimitar slid along the scythe, dragging out a string of ear-piercing sounds.

Sparks flew. Jeremy’s right hand pressed down hard, then he raised his wrist, using the curve of the scythe to firmly pin down the scimitar.

The Nocturne Bow instantly appeared in his left hand, suspended by magic power. Pulling the string with one hand, the arrow flew out at a terrifying speed, plunging straight toward Evelyn’s arrow.

The two arrows collided, shattering into dust.

Asaro behind him didn’t stand still either. She swept out countless lightning blades like startled snakes, slithering and charging around the three cats, whipping up a violent hurricane.

Dust billowed up. Jeremy winked, signaling Asaro, who was being shielded by his side.

Asaro understood, summoning her third skill — Gloomy Scythe Lock.

The blood-colored scythe instantly generated countless phantom clones. The dark arc of light tore through the void. A myriad of crimson chains shot out from within the phantoms, lunging toward the three people.

At the second second since Asaro launched the attack, Jeremy forcibly widened the distance, slipping behind Asaro — who was nearly out of magic power — and then channeled his magic power over to maintain the continuity of the skill.

Only when his palm touched her shoulder did Jeremy realize the other party was trembling.

Not out of fear. But because her muscles had been drained to the threshold of losing control.

He said nothing, merely pouring more magic power in.

Evelyn understood full well they were stalling for time. She quickly retreated, intending to withdraw from the battlefield from another direction to destroy the multi-colored magic stone.

But Jeremy understood his teammate too well.

Among the five, Evelyn was the only one who always chose the mathematically optimal plan over the comfortable one. When the battlefield was deadlocked, she would not stay back and fight to the bitter end. She would go cut the root.

The scythe transformed into the Order card. Jeremy used the accompanying Seal effect to lock two of Evelyn’s skills, then immediately unleashed vine magic — the spell with the shortest incantation time.

That mundane magic naturally couldn’t harm Evelyn. She only needed two seconds to tear it apart.

But those two seconds were enough.

Just as she finished clearing it, Asaro’s chains also crashed down, securely locking both her wrists and ankles.

Thanks to the source of magic power supplied by Jeremy, Asaro’s strength was replenished. The number of summoned chains increased accordingly.

Stopping all three in their tracks. ℴ

Unable to injure them. But binding them to stall for time was more than enough.

As time went on, they weakened. The chains began to crack segment by segment; wherever they snapped, Asaro would erect new ones in their place. But holding them down for a few short minutes was still manageable.

Raphael had stopped struggling. He stood still within the circle of chains, his silver-white eyes quietly looking at Jeremy, unclear what he was thinking.

Those three couldn’t do anything to them either. Until the countdown clock hit zero.

The notification sound rang out.

[The Cat and Mouse match has officially ended. The Order Mouse faction claims victory. Requesting all surviving participants to cease attacks immediately.]

The moment the Vice President’s voice faded, both sides simultaneously lowered their hands.

The red chains dissolved into motes of light. Asaro buckled for a beat, then straightened up on her own, not bothering to lean on anyone.

And the identities of the Star-Reversers were also announced in that instant.

Respectively Thien Nguyet and Lucius.

The Cat and Mouse outfits dissipated. Everyone restored their original forms.

On the virtual grandstand of the internal network, a massive barrage of messages poured down like a waterfall when the name at the top of the survivor leaderboard appeared.

Asaro looked at Jeremy first. Confirming it was indeed him, her mood suddenly brightened significantly.

Catching that gaze, Jeremy looked up and looked back.

"Lucky to have you this time."

"Not bad strength."

The voices of the two rang out almost simultaneously.

Words overlapping words caused both to pause for a beat.

Asaro spoke up first: "Spar a round when you’re free?"

Jeremy was helpless.

Last semester after the tournament she had also tossed out an invitation for a rematch. She remembered that until now?

Twenty days on the island, fighting every day until blood dried into scabs on their clothes. Yet the very first sentence after time ran out was still an invitation to continue fighting.

But whatever.

"Alright." Considering the variable named Griffin, Jeremy added: "But the time is decided by me."

Asaro didn’t mind, waving her hand: "Yeah, up to you entirely."

The two exchanged a few more words and added each other’s contact methods, after which everyone returned to their own team.

Seeing the crowd had thinned out, Lucius — still tied up — slowly walked up in front of Jeremy, holding out the Lumina Ribbon in his hands.

He had untied himself at some unknown point, and he didn’t even bother to hide it.

Jeremy wasn’t surprised either. He inherently didn’t believe that ribbon could bind Lucius for long.

Jeremy took it back, storing it into his spatial storage.

The rules clearly stated: weapons obtained during the tournament period would not be confiscated after it ended, belonging to personal ownership. But things like skills would lose their effects.

Lucius had just arrived for a few seconds when the other three also gathered around.

Leon was the first to speak, his voice filled with discomfort: "How were you two fighting? Sitting down there watching, I thought there was about to be a murder."

"Fighting for real." Jeremy replied succinctly.

"I know you were fighting for real. I’m asking why it had to be that real."

Lucius smiled, saying nothing.

Evelyn glanced at the cut on Jeremy’s cheek, then at the dried bloodstain on the corner of Lucius’s lips, and ultimately made no comment, merely tossing a potion bottle to each of them.

Phoenix, standing on the outermost edge, pulled his hat down, pretending not to have seen anything.

Then the Vice President’s voice rang out again:

[This tournament has concluded. The island will close in half an hour, please everyone leave the island within that timeframe. The rankings will be announced in the afternoon. The corresponding rewards will be transferred to the parcel lockers of the departments after three days. The retrieval passcode will be sent via mail, please remember to check~]

The crowd filed out one after another. Jeremy’s team also left the island accordingly.

The Cat and Mouse match this time had completely come to a close.