"It hit!"
In midair, the host Gatz was so excited he nearly jumped off the Rathalos's back.
He roared wildly into the microphone:
"Contestant Sesshomaru's Soryuha!"
"What a spectacular strike!"
"Contestant Rhya appears to have suffered a heavy blow!"
The hundreds of thousands of spectators at the venue were just as fired up.
A tidal wave of cheers erupted.
Inside the crater.
Smoke and dust filled the air.
Rhya lay in a sorry state at the bottom of the crater, his white robe already torn to shreds, crimson blood continuously spilling from the corner of his mouth.
He felt as if every bone in his body had come apart.
His internal organs were also churning violently, the pain almost unbearable.
"Cough, cough... You really don't hold back, do you?"
Rhya gave a bitter smile and coughed up two mouthfuls of bloody foam.
But he did not admit defeat.
With difficulty, he raised his right hand, and the grimoire before him glowed with a gentle light.
"Imitation Magic. Healing Light Particles."
Warm golden motes of light fell like fireflies.
They quickly merged into Rhya's body.
His damaged organs and wounds all over his body rapidly began to heal.
As his injuries stabilized, Rhya slowly stood up from the crater.
His head was lowered.
His usually lazy, dead-fish eyes were now covered by an unsettling shadow.
"Looks like... I have no choice but to use that move."
Rhya murmured under his breath.
There was a trace of resolve in his voice, and also a hint of helplessness.
He suddenly raised his head.
His hands formed a strange seal before his chest.
"Forbidden Magic. Evil Eye!"
The instant the words left his mouth.
A vast wave of evil, icy magic power, filled with negative emotions...
erupted from Rhya's body like a volcano.
Under