Phainon turned his gaze back to the Soul Fighting Arena.
On the arena floor, Cerydra had already walked to the center.
The moment the audience saw her, a wave of chatter broke out in the stands.
"Just a little girl?"
"Is she really a support type? She doesn't look like she can fight."
"Gulai's on a forty-win streak. Isn't she about to get wiped out in seconds?"
"Amphoreus is way too bold. Do they really think one win makes them invincible?"
But Cerydra remained unfazed by their doubts.
A pale, gaunt man stood opposite her.
Gulai licked his lips and looked her up and down.
"Little miss, are you sure you want to fight me?"
Cerydra raised her eyes, not even glancing at him. Her tone was utterly indifferent.
"Enough chatter. If you want to fight, then fight."
Gulai didn't get angry. Instead, he grinned, his smile lecherous.
"Since you're so eager to taste defeat, then Uncle here will gladly oblige. Don't worry, I'll go easy on you."
The referee stepped between them.
"Both sides, get ready! Release your Martial Souls!"
Gulai moved first.
Three Soul Rings—two yellow and one purple—rose from beneath his feet.
His body began to twist. A pair of black bat wings spread from his back, and sharp fangs appeared at the corners of his mouth.
Vampire Bat, possessed!
Cheers rang out from the stands.
Gulai was well-known, and his forty-win streak spoke for itself. Many of the spectators were his longtime fans.
"Gulai! Tear her apart!"
"Show her what a forty-win streak looks like!"
Gulai grinned and waved to the audience behind him. Then he turned back to Cerydra.
"Your turn, little miss."
Cerydra slowly raised her right hand. Three Soul Rings rose from beneath her feet.
Yellow, purple, purple.
The entire arena fell silent for a moment. Once again, someone had a yellow-purple-purple configuration.
The last time they'd seen one was two days ago, during Phainon's match against Tang San.
Come to think of it, wasn't Phainon also from Amphoreus Academy?
Good heavens. Was Amphoreus Academy the real Monster Academy?
On the arena floor, Gulai's smile faltered when he saw those two purple Soul Rings.
"Well, this is interesting."
Cerydra ignored him and lightly waved her hand.
Then her Martial Soul, the Scales of Justice, appeared in the air.
But the next instant, the scales suddenly shattered, scattering into countless points of light.
The lights fell to the ground and rapidly spread out.
Blue lines of energy radiated from her in every direction, covering the entire Soul Fighting Arena in the blink of an eye.
The arena transformed into a gigantic chessboard,
its grid lines crisscrossing as blue light flowed across them.
What was even more astonishing was that Cerydra's figure vanished at that very moment!
In the VIP seats, Phainon shot to his feet.
"Where is she?"
Ye Qiong leaned back in his chair, smiling without a word.
Anaxa stared at the chessboard, his single eye flashing repeatedly.
He glanced at Phainon and Ye Qiong, then spoke in a low voice.
"Interesting... She's merged into the pieces."
Phainon turned to look at him.
"What do you mean?"
Anaxa pointed to the blue, floating silhouettes of chess pieces on the arena floor.
"Her body has become part of these pieces. You could say that every piece is her incarnation. She's fused with the pieces, so the entire battlefield is under her control."
"She's turned herself into a chess piece?"
Phainon was astonished.
Was Cerydra really that formidable, too?
On the arena floor, Gulai's smile had completely frozen.
He looked all around, but he couldn't find Cerydra anywhere.
Meanwhile, the blue chess pieces continued to move across the board.
A horse-shaped silhouette made of blue light leaped three squares sideways and blocked his path.
Gulai instinctively stepped back, but a blue rook rose behind him at the same time.
He was caught between them.
"What the hell is going on...?"
Gulai gritted his teeth, beat his wings, and shot into the air, trying to break through from above.
But the instant he took flight, another blue chess piece appeared in the air and blocked his way.
Gulai had no choice but to drop back to the ground.
He raised a hand and unleashed a blast of Soul Power, smashing the horse-shaped silhouette in front of him with a single strike.
But the shattered piece only paused for a moment before reforming on the spot.
Gulai's expression darkened.
He started attacking the pieces relentlessly.
Yet every time he smashed one, another appeared.
The pieces never attacked him directly. They only kept changing positions, trapping him in an ever-shrinking area.
The audience gaped at the sight.
"Holy crap, what kind of fighting style is this? She's completely disappeared!"
"Is she really a support type? This looks like a control type to me!"
"How can a support type put someone under this much pressure? Are you kidding me?"
"What kind of academy is this? They're all ridiculous!"
A moment later, Gulai was panting heavily.
He kept swiping at the annoying phantom pieces, smashing them apart with his claws.
But no matter how hard he fought, the pieces just wouldn't stay gone.
His stamina was rapidly running out, and he hadn't even touched his opponent.
At last, Gulai stopped moving and stood in the center of the chessboard, cursing up a storm.
But before he could finish, every piece on the board lit up at once.
Then a clear voice rang out from above the board.
"You have lost the whole game!"
As the words fell, the entire chessboard suddenly exploded.
A wave of blue energy erupted from the Soul Fighting Arena and swept outward.
Gulai didn't even have time to react. The energy flung him through the air, and he crashed hard beyond the edge of the platform.
The winner had been decided.
At the sight of this,
the entire arena fell silent for two seconds.
Then thunderous applause surged from every direction.
"Holy crap! She won!"
"That was so cool! She blew up the whole board!"
"A support type blasted a forty-win streak powerhouse off the platform? Who'd believe that?"
"Amphoreus Academy, you rock! Caesar, you rock!"
The referee was stunned for a beat, then hurriedly announced in a loud voice,
"Match over! The winner is Amphoreus Academy, Caesar!"
As the light faded, Cerydra's figure reappeared in the center of the arena.
There was no joy of victory on her face.
It was as if this had been the most natural outcome in the world.
In the VIP seats, Phainon took a deep breath and sat back down.
He looked at Ye Qiong, shock and admiration in his eyes.
"Teacher... What kind of monsters have you recruited with that trick of yours?"
Ye Qiong smiled but didn't answer.
Anaxa watched the passage below, a glint flashing in his single eye.
"Interesting... This academy really is different from the others."
Shrek Academy.
Flender sat at his desk, staring at a ledger as his expression grew darker and darker.
"Another loss... Another one..."
He slammed the ledger shut and brought his palm down hard on the desk.
"That damn Amphoreus Academy! They're stealing my students and hogging all the attention! And they made me lose a pile of money betting at the Soul Fighting Arena!"
"This is too much!"
He jumped to his feet and paced back and forth across the room, fuming.
At that moment, he was like an ant on a hot pan.
The academy's coffers were almost empty.
If they didn't bring in more money soon, he and the students would have to drink the northwest wind.
Just then, a voice suddenly came from the doorway.
"Oh? Boss Fu, what's got you so troubled?"
Flender stopped in his tracks and whipped his head toward the door.
A thin, middle-aged man stood there.
The instant Flender saw him, his expression shifted from gloomy to ecstatic.
"Xiao Gang?!"