Chapter 1556
Chapter 1556: Section 1557 Dormancy Chapter 1556: Section 1557 Dormancy When the victory and defeat appeared on the light screen, an unprecedented applause erupted from the audience seats that lasted a long time.
Before the match began, virtually all the applause and cheering were for Angel, but now they were for both competitors on the stage. For the effort of the players, and for the cathartic release desired in their hearts after witnessing such a thrilling match.
Even though the match had ended, the discussion and shouting from the audience never ceased. At this time, the busiest were not the audience, but the judges who were discussing the outcome and revising the rankings.
Sabo originally wanted Angel to participate in the revision as well, however, Angel did not respond, instead looking in the other direction.
Following Angel's gaze, Sabo saw on the stage the Black Classic slowly shrinking from the form of a giant woman, eventually returning to the size of an ordinary person. The appearance remained that of the God of the Prison Codex, regrettably, the objects in both hands were damaged.
The Black Classic put away the broken sword and scales, then stepped forward to where Serum lay unconscious.
Picking him up, and with a tap of the toe, leapt to the judges' stand.
The Black Classic came before Angel, knelt on one knee, handing the blood-covered Serum to Angel: “Please, Lord Pat, take care of this young master.”
Angel supported Serum to his side and looked at the Black Classic.
“I may fall into hibernation next, not knowing when I will awaken,” said the Black Classic, quietly watching Serum, seemingly memorizing his features. After a long pause, the Black Classic continued, “When the master wakes up, please tell him for me, thank you for your trust in me, and… I will definitely come back.”
Angel looked deeply at the Black Classic and nodded: “Okay.”
Getting confirmation from Angel, the Black Classic breathed a sigh of relief, a radiant smile appeared on his face: “Thank you.”
As the words fell, the Black Classic's entire being began to blur, like an old photograph waterlogged, the vivid colors gradually diluting, turning into basic black and white hues, finally dispersing into countless tiny particles, merging into the Dark Prison Codex in Serum's embrace, disappearing without a trace.
Far away on the battlefield, Nausicaa did not return to the contestant's backstage, but stood silently in place, her gaze fixed on the dissipating figure of the Black Classic, as if she had something to say, but in the end only left a faint sigh in the wind.
In reality, Nausicaa could feel that after being trapped in the Black Prison, the Black Classic could have used other methods to deal with her.
Whether it was a sword strike or other punishments, it could have ended Nausicaa's life in an instant.
Yet, the Black Classic did not do so, instead, he put her through a complex and meaningless series of trials, confronting her with the past she had always wanted to evade.
In the darkest of darkness, she sought the light of hope.
She did not know if the Black Classic did it unintentionally, or deliberately. Regardless, Nausicaa owed him a debt of gratitude. Therefore, when the light burst forth from her body, deciding the outcome in the final moment, Nausicaa could have killed Serum, but she did not.
Nausicaa took one last look at Serum beside Wizard Pat, then lightly covered the emanating light at her chest, and stepped back into the darkness.
Behind the light is darkness, and deep within hope, shadows lurk. Facing it is only the first step, how to formally handle it, is what Nausicaa needs to do now.
Because Serum's injuries were severe and in urgent need of treatment, Angel declined Sabo's invitation to join in the discussion of the rankings.
After all, regardless of the ranking, this competition, having been lost, marked the end of Serum's journey as a rising star.
Angel bid farewell to Sabo, prepared to take Serum to the medical room, and before leaving, Angel glanced at the spectator seats.
Nausicaa and others were looking at him with eager eyes.
Angel telepathically told them not to worry, then took his eyes off them.
However, after Angel's gaze moved away, he suddenly felt a resentful look directed at him from another side, the resentment not being actual hatred, but more like an emotion of complaint.
Angel instinctively looked back.
He saw that the person looking at him was a young man wearing a deer horn cap, looking at Angel with a mournful face, but as soon as Angel looked over, he quickly brightened up, excitedly standing up, jumping and waving his hands as if afraid Angel wouldn't see him.
Angel recalled for a moment, he seemed to have never seen this young man before, why the mixed expressions of sorrow and excitement?
Perhaps a worshipper with a rich inner world?
Thinking this, Angel did not pay much attention, nodded slightly to him, and turned away his gaze.
Some time later, Angel took Serum for treatment. With the equipment provided by the Infinite Battle Tower, Serum's body recovered significantly quickly. However, for a full recovery, he still needed at least ten days to half a month of rest.
After ten days to half a month, the Rising Star competition would have concluded. So just as Angel said, this match was probably the last Rising Star match for Serum. Although he lost, in Angel's view, it was a relatively perfect ending.
Moreover, halfway through the fight, the Black Classic was clear that this was Serum's last match. The Black Classic also knew that Serum did not care about the victory or defeat of the Rising Star competition. Therefore, what the Black Classic did afterwards with Nausicaa seemed more like doing a favor for Serum, not about contending with Nausicaa for a win or loss.
Normally, there is a feeling of prickly opposition between the Black Classic and Serum, but in fact, deep down, they both cared for and were tender towards each other.
After leaving the medical room, Angel saw Nausicaa and her brother Lyon waiting outside.
“Xiliu fell asleep again, Shan took her back to Fangling Hall first, we'll wait here,” Nausicaa said. “Is Serum alright?”
“Don't worry, he's fine.” Angel briefly explained Serum's condition.
“And what about the Black Classic?” Lyon asked.
“As for the Black Classic, just like Serum, he's currently in a deep sleep as well, should wake up after a while.” In fact, Angel wasn't sure whether the Black Classic would wake up or not. After Serum made that move, it was unknown whether the Black Classic would successfully evolve or completely dissipate. But since the Black Classic had promised he would return, Angel chose to believe him.
Hearing that everyone was okay, Lyon and Nausicaa finally let out a sigh of relief.
Since there were no other competitions today, they prepared to take Serum back to Fangling Hall.
Along the way, Nausicaa also inquired about the incident during the competition when the Black Classic turned into the “God of the Prison Codex,” to which Angel only smiled and said that it was Serum's secret trump card, not revealing any details.
It wasn't that Angel wanted to keep it a secret intentionally, it was Serum's matter after all, and even if he were to talk about it, it shouldn't be him telling it.
As they chatted, they started to discuss other competitions.
The one they talked about the most was the match “No. 1 vs. Shining New Star.”
This match was held at the same time as Serum's battle against Xili, and after Serum's match ended, Nausicaa went to inquire about the outcome of this match.
Angel took out a communicator to check the internal rankings: “These two people… don't seem to be the focus of potential seeds.”
No. 1 is a Bloodline Apprentice with good luck, having only encountered ordinary opponents so far and has accumulated four consecutive victories. The fifth match was today's battle against the Shining New Star.
The Shining New Star was rated relatively high internally, speculated to be a hidden gem, a potential contestant similar to Xili.
But it was just speculation.
So, Angel was curious why they would talk about this match?
“It's because of this No. 1,” Lyon replied. “During the time you were at Black Castle, No. 1 actually came to Fangling Hall often and taught me a lot about combat skills.”
Angel was stunned for a moment: “This No. 1 is?”
“Reynaud,” Nausicaa continued. “You might not know him, I met him during my travels at the Shampoo Coast, a Transcendent who is…”
Nausicaa seemed to choose her words carefully and after a while said: “Do you know about John's comeback?”
“I do.” Angel looked a bit surprised; he had just discussed the meme of “John's comeback” with Sabo, and now he heard it again from Nausicaa's mouth.
“Reynaud is like that John, a hot-blooded youth with a natural aura of luck.”
In fact, Reynaud's strength was not as good as Nausicaa's, but his luck was too good. All of the opponents he met were weaker than him, and even those slightly stronger, as long as he heated up, he stood a chance to turn defeat into victory.
After listening to Nausicaa's words, Angel had already tagged Reynaud with the “hot-blooded male protagonist from novels” label.
However, at this time, Lyon added: “Unfortunately, this time he didn't achieve a come-from-behind victory against the Shining New Star. We just looked at the results of the match, and he lost to the Shining New Star. It seems his good luck has run out.”
Angel: “Sometimes, a loss doesn't signify misfortune.”
“Ah? Why?” Lyon looked confusedly at Angel.
“On a competition field where life and death are not at stake, if the price of victory is ten years of stalled cultivation, or if your Magical Core is damaged and you can't advance further, would you rather win or lose?”
Lyon: “Of course, I would admit defeat, but isn't that a rather extreme example?”
Right after Lyon finished speaking, Angel's communicator received a new message about the latest matchups.
Angel handed the communicator to Lyon: “Take a look at their next opponents.”
Lyon took the communicator and saw a match notification at a glance.
“No. 1 VS Book of the Sage”
“Shining New Star VS Son of the Ocean”
The Book of the Sage is Serum, currently being carried on Lyon's back. Judging from Serum's condition, he definitely won't be able to participate in the next match.
And the opponent of the Shining New Star – the Son of the Ocean.
That's Jiebo, currently the most favored contestant for the New Star Championship.
Comparing the two, Lyon suddenly understood something, silently handed the communicator back to Angel: “I see now, it seems he really does have the 'John's comeback' aura…”