Chapter 56: The Final Battle Begins

  The young man smiled wryly and said, "Didn't I just say that someone had placed a bet on you winning the final victory? That person had bet a rare gemstone worth 5 million gold coins. Your championship odds were 1 to 16, which means that if he wins, we would have to pay out 80 million gold coins. Although we are very wealthy in Western City, 80 million is still an astronomical figure. According to him, it was someone from your academy, but I haven't seen him appear."

  Zixue, who had been silent all along, exclaimed in surprise: "Someone is betting 50 million gold coins that we will win? Is he rich or something? Everyone from our college is already here."

  Ms. Zhuang smiled slightly and said, "Maybe they have their own reasons, these are none of our business, everyone just needs to prepare well for tomorrow's battle." Since Feng Xue has already won, we should head back too." After that, she and the deputy dean greeted the young man and took her disciples away from the contestant passageway without answering his question about me.

  Compared to the evenly matched Xilun and Tiandu, the second match between Fengyue and Songzhi was a foregone conclusion. Fengyue only sent out three students and defeated all of Songzhi's players. Although Songzhi's students were not very powerful, Fengyue's performance was indeed astonishing. I think that if it weren't for me, Tiandu would probably lose tomorrow.

  Back at the inn, the figures of Ziyan and Zixue kept flashing in my mind. I didn't dare to think about what would happen if they wouldn't forgive me. Seeing Zixue's frailty, I really didn't want to hurt them again. But, mistakes had already been made, and I must tell them the truth. Perhaps tomorrow, I will face the most painful trial of my life.

  I sat cross-legged on the couch, concentrating my mind and cultivating the Mad God's aura. Since that day when the death energy erupted, I had stopped cultivating the Heavenly Demon Seal and put all my energy into the Mad God Seal, because only the Mad God's aura could counteract it during the eruption of the death energy. In order to save my life, I had no choice but to increase my cultivation continuously.

  On the third day, before dawn (after a rest day to prepare for the final match), I arrived at the entrance of Xilun Academy with a nervous and excited mood. Just like yesterday, although I came earlier, it was still crowded here. I squeezed in using the same method as before, this time my position was very close to the resting area of the Tian Dou faction. Since it was still early, I stood there calming down my emotions, closing my eyes, adjusting the energy inside me. Today I had to make a move, and I couldn't afford to be careless, so I carefully mobilized the Crazy God's fighting spirit to check the condition of my body.

  I don't know how long it took, but I felt the crowd around me getting restless, slowly dispersing. I opened my eyes to find that it was already broad daylight, but today's weather wasn't very good, gloomy and overcast, making me feel a bit oppressed in my heart.

  The students from both Tiandu and Fengyue have already taken their seats. Since I'm on this side, I couldn't see the situation clearly on the Fengyue side. I didn't dare to focus too much on Ziyuan and the others because it was too close, and with Ziyuan's cultivation level, it would be easy for her to discover my tracks. Unintentionally, my gaze fell on the main stage diagonally across from me. Since we changed venues today, I could clearly see the scene on the main stage. What caught my attention most were the two people in the center of the main stage. One was a middle-aged man with an imposing aura, wearing luxurious clothes and sitting in the very center of the main stage, highlighting his noble status. The other was the young man who had been bothering Ziyuan yesterday and accepted my bet. From his performance yesterday, I understood that he had extremely high skills. It seemed that his identity was also extraordinary. No wonder when I placed the bet earlier, he relaxed as soon as the banker agreed.

  The Director of Foreign Affairs of Xilun stood on the competition stage and said loudly: "Today is the third day of the four colleges' exchange competition, and it's also the last day. Today's opponents are Tiandu College, which defeated Xilun College yesterday, and Fengyuan College, which defeated Songzhao College yesterday. Please get ready for the contestants, the first contestant will enter the stage, and the competition will start immediately."

  The Tiandu team did not send out Fengwen, who was the first to play yesterday, but instead sent a third-year student who didn't perform well yesterday. The Tiandu team brought six regular students in total for this exchange match, except for Ziyuan, who is a fourth-year student, and Fengwen, who is a second-year student, the other four are all from the third year. If we talk about strength, it should be Ziyuan, who has won the grade champion before, who is the strongest, while the others didn't have particularly outstanding performances, and Fengwen can only be considered to have some development potential. Compared with Fengtheir strength still has a certain gap.

  As expected, strength proved everything. The first student from Fengyue Academy won three consecutive games with his outstanding Dou Qi and lost in the fourth game due to physical exhaustion. Tian didn't send out Fengwen in the first four rounds, I don't know what Vice President thought, why put Fengwen so late. The second student from Fengyue Academy easily won against his opponent. Most of the audience thought that today's result would be the same as yesterday's, and Fengyue only needed to send three people to settle all the matches.

  The young man on the rostrum looked very relaxed, and the successive victories of Fengtai made him think that the championship had already been won.

  The fifth match, Feng Wen finally appeared. Due to his outstanding performance yesterday, as soon as he came on stage, the audience gave him a warm applause. Obviously, no one wanted to see a game without any suspense. Feng Wen's outfit was the same as yesterday, he held his sword in both hands and exchanged greetings with his opponent before taking a stance. His opponent was also a warrior who mainly used martial arts, wielding a long knife. Just now, he had defeated his previous opponent with just a few powerful consecutive slashes of the ten-character cut, without expending too much physical strength. Analyzing from their actual strength, Feng Wen was slightly inferior to his opponent. It's unknown whether he has any ultimate techniques that can help him win in the end.

  Fengyue's disciples and the previous one were the same, with both hands grasped together, two cold gleams intersecting in the air, another big cross slash.

  Feng asked, concentrating his spirit and calming his energy. His body flashed rapidly, and a dazzling blue light enveloped him as he burst out from the gap in his opponent's cross slash, charging straight at them. The opponent remained calm and composed, laying down a dense network of blades in front of them with their long knife. The sound of clashing metal echoed continuously, and in an instant, the two combatants' weapons collided repeatedly in mid-air.

  Due to the opponent's aura being slightly stronger than Feng Wen, although Feng Wen had the advantage of a lower stance, he didn't gain much from it. The swift sword moves were unable to find an opening under the opponent's dense defense, and were repeatedly bounced back.

  Just as Feng Wen's momentum was about to dissipate, his opponent suddenly shouted: "Wrong Shadow Slash." His body shook violently, and three figures suddenly appeared on the scene, intersecting with each other, making it impossible to distinguish between reality and illusion. The three clones emerged from different directions, sealing off all of Feng Wen's escape routes. Feng Wen was not willing to admit defeat so easily, and at an astonishing speed, he rapidly moved within the narrow space, leaving behind a faint residual shadow. His long sword glowed with a brilliant light, blocking most of his opponent's attacks. However, his shoulder was still slashed by his opponent's long knife, leaving a wound.

  "Fengyue's contestant praised: 'Good swordsmanship, come at me again.' His three split shadows suddenly merged into one, his hands grasped the hilt and pulled back fiercely, the air around him seemed to be sucked empty by this move. Fengwen's body involuntarily leaned forward, which was exactly what Fengyue's contestant wanted. The long knife that had been pulled back suddenly thrust forward, carrying the entire body with it, merging into a single entity as it charged towards Fengwen's chest."

  Feng Wen, taking advantage of his forward-leaning posture, rapidly spun his body around, and the long sword in his hand flew out, shooting straight at his opponent using the centrifugal force. The sharpness of the long sword collided with the opponent's long knife, producing a "ting" sound, but only slightly slowed down the opponent's advancing speed before being bounced back. Feng Wen didn't dodge to either side because he knew that if he wanted to retreat, he would definitely be unable to withstand his opponent's pursuit. His body rapidly spinning around, he charged towards his opponent.

  The corner of Feng Ya's mouth revealed a hint of cold smile, his momentum unchanged, still charging straight ahead.

  "Clang." "Thud." The two men in the arena suddenly froze. Feng Ya's long knife had deeply pierced into Feng Wen's shoulder, all the way to the hilt, while Feng Wen's hand now held a short sword, pressed against his opponent's neck. Only a few top-notch experts in the arena had seen what just happened, and I was one of them. Feng Wen had quickly pulled out a short sword from his chest as he spun around, using it to block the long knife at the last second, producing the "clang" sound. The force of the long knife was immense, and although it was blocked, it only slightly deviated, before thudding into Feng Wen's shoulder with a "thud". Meanwhile, Feng Wen had used the rebounding force from the short sword to successfully press his own sword against his opponent's neck.

  The contestants on the stage showed a look of admiration, put down their long knives, and nodded: "You won." Feng's short sword fell to the ground with a clang, and he squatted in the center of the competition arena. Teacher Zhuang and Zi Xue rushed onto the stage, and Zi Xue's small hand flashed blue light, a soft glow enveloped Feng, and I saw the bracelet that Teacher Zhuang had given me, which I had then given to her, on her hand, stopping the continuous flow of blood from Feng's wound under its magical effect. Teacher Zhuang gritted his teeth, pulled out the long knife from Feng's shoulder, and Feng let out a dull hum, fainting away. He won this match in a tragic way, but also gained the respect of all the spectators, with applause echoing for a long time in Xilun Academy. I secretly praised Feng - well done.

  Zixue and Zhuang Laoshi used several healing spells in succession to stabilize Fengwen's injuries.

  The head of the Foreign Affairs Department of Xilun walked onto the stage and gave a questioning look to Teacher Zhuang, who shook his head gloomily.

  "The Foreign Affairs Department Director said loudly: 'This game is won by Tiandu College, and the players will no longer participate in the next game. Please welcome the players from Tiandu College and Fengyuan College for the sixth round.'"

  Ziyan stood up from the rest seat, and with her strength, she might still be able to defeat another opponent, but not a second one, unless all the male contestants were defeated by her stunning beauty. However, there were still four contestants from Fengyuan Academy who had not yet appeared on stage. I knew it was time for me to act. I exerted force with my feet and flew onto the stage. Although I wore a fighting hat, Ziyan immediately recognized me from my figure and let out a soft cry. Zixue also raised her head, saw me in the arena, and stumbled, almost falling to the ground. Her eyes could no longer move away from my body.

  The head of the Foreign Affairs Department of Xilun frowned at me and said, "Who are you, coming to the Four Universities Exchange Competition to cause trouble?" I took off my hat, revealing a handsome and resolute face, and nodded slightly to him, saying, "I'm not here to cause trouble, but to participate in the competition." Seeing my appearance, the young man on the chairman's platform suddenly stood up, with an incredulous expression on his face. He hurriedly bowed his head and talked to the middle-aged person beside him about something.

  "Participate in the competition? This is an exchange match between four colleges and universities, it's not open to just anyone, only players from the four colleges and universities..."

  I interrupted him and said, "I am the representative of Tiantu College, a second-year magic warrior student from Class 2, Ray Xiang, participating in the final battle on behalf of Tiantu." The entire Tiantu College's rest area was stunned, staring blankly at my appearance. I spoke fluently, "For this competition, our college has made sufficient preparations, and as a secret weapon of the college, I appear in this final match, can't I?"

  The head of the Foreign Affairs Department at Xilun Academy hastily shifted his gaze to Tiantou, and the first to react was the vice president. He floated onto the stage, glared at me for a moment, then turned to the head of the Foreign Affairs Department and said: "Sorry, our student is a bit impulsive, but he really is one of our candidates, an elite in the academy." The vice president was truly cunning, confirming my identity without batting an eyelid.

  The head of the Foreign Affairs Department nodded and said: "Since that's the case, then he can participate in the competition."

  The deputy dean called me and said: "When did you little guy come back? Are you confident that you can win four games in a row?"

  I replied: "Ziyan doesn't have any confidence either, since that's the case, why don't you let me try and see what happens?"

  The deputy director said, "We'll settle the score when we get back." After finishing speaking, he turned around and got off the stage. I shot a fiery gaze at Zi Xue and Zi Yan below the stage, giving them an apologetic smile. Zi Yan's eyes contained both blame and delight, while Zi Xue was filled with joy and nostalgia, two lines of tears streaming down her face, and I discovered that her body was trembling slightly.

  "Are you here to compete or to admire the beauties?" A somewhat irritated voice broke our gaze, I turned my head to look, and found that my opponent had also arrived on stage, staring at me. I glared back at him and said, "If you want to go down early, then please do so."

  My blunt words suddenly enraged him, and he shouted: "Feng Tuan Si Nian please advise!" The long sword in his hand brought up a red glow and stabbed at me fiercely. From the speed and power of his attack, this contestant's strength was about the same as that of the previous one who had been defeated by Feng Wen. I gave a disdainful smile, my body remained still, and I stretched out my right hand to grab the opponent's sword blade.

  His opponent snarled, "Looking for death." The long sword in his hand surged with red energy and accelerated its thrust. I grasped the blade of his sword, and a wave of heat emanated from it, revealing that his fighting spirit contained fire magic. However, this had no effect on me. His long sword was now stuck in my hand, unable to advance even an inch further.

  A glimmer of astonishment flashed across my opponent's eyes, and I knew he was thinking, "What incredible strength!" Since there were four opponents, I wouldn't waste any more time on him. With a swift motion, I swung my right hand back, charged forward with my body, and slammed my left shoulder into his chest. Si Nian, the representative of Fengyue, proved to be a formidable opponent, remaining calm in the face of danger. He quickly released his grip on his long sword, retreated swiftly, and dodged my attack. His hands transformed into a flurry of palm shadows as he charged towards me. I let out a loud roar: "Crazy Battle Across the World!" My left fist shot out, aiming straight for the center of his strength. A pure yellow column of Dou Qi burst forth from my punch, and I heard someone in the crowd exclaim, "What incredible Dou Qi!" Even without transforming, I possessed the strength of a Dragon Knight, far surpassing Si Nian's abilities.

  Si Nian thought he could dodge my attack, but he found that the air around him seemed to have been sucked out. No matter how hard he tried to dodge, he couldn't avoid my offense and had no choice but to concentrate all his strength on both palms to meet me head-on.

  Without any suspense, Si Nian's body was knocked flying by me and heavily crashed into the defensive boundary. If I hadn't held back at the last moment, he probably wouldn't have been able to get up again. My right hand grasping the sword tip walked in front of him, handing over the hilt. A streak of fresh blood flowed from Si Nian's mouth corner as he looked at me with a dejected and bitter smile, stretching out his hand to grab the hilt. I jerked my wrist, pulling him up from the ground.

  My swift victory instantly caused a stir among the audience and the rostrum, everyone did not expect that after Tian Daliwa another genius student would emerge.

  I said to Si Nian, "Your kung fu is indeed good, but unfortunately you met me. Try harder, and maybe in a few years you'll have the same power as me. Remember, although technique is important, its foundation is internal energy."

  He nodded his head and said, "Thank you for reminding me." After finishing speaking, he turned around and got off the stage.

  My appearance caused a commotion on the side of Fengyuan Academy, and I was delighted to have some peace and quiet. I walked to the competition stage at the edge of the sky and waited for my next opponent. The vice president transmitted his voice: "Good kid, your aura has improved so much." I smiled slightly and replied: "Thanks to your excellent teaching."

  Teacher Zhuang looked at me, her eyes fluctuating, wanting to speak but stopping herself. I felt grateful towards her and transmitted my voice: "Sister, I've worried you for this period of time."

  She glared at me with a warning look and whispered: "Be careful in the competition, let's talk after it ends."

  I nodded, Ziyan and Zixue held hands with each other, four beautiful big eyes stared at me, a silly look that would be settled later, I smiled bitterly in my heart, later I will definitely let you settle well.

  After a brief wait, the next contestant from Fengyuan Academy walked up. This contestant did not appear in yesterday's match against Songzhi and was a female magician who couldn't be described as beautiful but had an aura of being unapproachable. She held a white magic wand with a round blue gemstone embedded on it. In a flat tone, she said to me: "Fengyuan Yunmiao, please advise."

  I nodded slightly, waiting for her attack. Yun Xiao looked at me and didn't launch an attack, calmly saying: "You're not drawing your sword?" I shook my head, saying: "Using a sword against a magician? I want to have a magic duel with you."

  For me to give up the strong fighting spirit, Yun Xiao felt very surprised, but she didn't say anything else. She raised her magic wand and whispered a spell quickly. I dared not be careless and released a wind shield in front of me. The magic wand in Yun Xiao's hand emitted a faint blue light, which gradually moved down to cover her whole body. Her eyes also turned into clear blue, and soft energy was constantly emanating from her body.

  Suddenly, the voice of the deputy principal echoed in my ears: "Be careful, your opponent is a natural water element user." Upon hearing his words, I was shocked. I had seen an introduction to elemental users in the library before. So-called natural elemental users refer to those who have a special connection with a certain element from birth and can only use that one type of elemental magic throughout their lives. Although it's singular, they find it much easier to practice that particular magic than ordinary people do, and when released, it's also much more powerful. It seems her magical power is even stronger than Ziyun's.

  As I became increasingly vigilant, Yun Xiao began her attack. The blue long hair behind her fluttered, and soft, floating snowflakes covered the sky and flew towards me. I was taken aback - this was just a temperature-lowering snow dance magic, only a second-level spell in water system magic that didn't have any damaging effects. What was she trying to do? As soon as this magic appeared, the temperature on the competition stage suddenly dropped. I discovered that the power of this magic used by her was much greater than that of ordinary water system magicians. Even with my strong defense, I felt a chill. Yun Xiao continued to chant, and I didn't know what other tricks she had up her sleeve.

  All the snowflakes drifted towards me, since I said I'd use magic to compete with her, I couldn't use martial arts anymore. She's water, so I'll give her some fire instead. I began chanting the incantation for the fifth-level fire spell "Inferno Heaven Soldier": "Great spirits of fire, heed my call, gather before me, transform into an eternal flame that shall never fade, explode!" A faint shadow of flames appeared around my body, slowly rotating and gathering a total of eight shadows. They carried a dark red heat under my command, charging towards Yun Xiao fiercely.

  Yun Miao didn't show any signs of panic, and just as Huo Ying was about to attack her, she suddenly began to chant loudly: "Water elements floating in the sky and earth, please transform into water spirits and dance freely in this cold snow!" Many pale blue light points started appearing in front of her, and when Huo Ying encountered those blue lights, they disappeared one by one. I was shocked in my heart - she had resolved the level 5 fire magic I released so easily! Snow Dance Spirit? I've never heard of this water magic before. The blue lights in the air began to slowly move towards me, and I continuously cast several attack spells from different elements, but none could destroy them. Finally, the blue lights approached me, and I felt my body getting colder and colder, starting from my feet. The snowflakes that had fallen earlier surrounded me, slowly freezing me. I tried to struggle a few times, but found it impossible to escape, so I began to gather dark magic power. At this critical moment, I could no longer care about anything else.

  Yun Miao saw my body being slowly frozen, a triumphant smile spreading across his face. Finally, I turned into an ice sculpture standing in the center of the competition stage. Yun Miao declared loudly: "My opponent has lost the ability to fight, now shouldn't I be declared the winner? If he's sealed for too long, I'm afraid he'll be in danger."

  Zi Xue under the stage had already cried out in anxiety, if not for Zi Yan holding her back, she would have rushed onto the competition stage. Zi Yan whispered to her, "Don't worry, Lei Xiang should still have a trump card."

  The head of the Foreign Affairs Department of Xilun had already stepped onto the competition stage, just as he was about to announce Yun Miao's victory. The thick ice that wrapped around my body suddenly cracked and shattered, sending shards of ice flying everywhere. I shivered all over, and before anyone noticed, I retracted all the black thorns on my body and pointed a finger at Yun Miao, casting a green magic ring around her. Unprepared, Yun Miao didn't have time to chant any spells and was caught off guard by the ring, unable to move. Since I had added a hint of dark magic to this Wind Binding Technique, Yun Miao didn't stand a chance of escaping. With her under control, I breathed a sigh of relief. Yun Miao's water-based magic was incredibly strong, far surpassing that of Xilun's students who tried to freeze Feng Wen earlier. The seal-breaking spell from earlier had required me to use all my dark magic to dispel it, and I still felt shaken by the experience. If I wasn't mistaken, among this batch of contestants in Wind Valley, Yun Miao's strength should be the strongest.

  I brushed off the ice chips on my body and said to Director Xiren of the Foreign Affairs Department: "You can announce it now."

  The Foreign Affairs Department Director looked at me with a puzzled and astonished expression, then looked at Yun Xiao who was sealed off. His face showed some hesitation. I casually released a gentle stream of Dou Qi, lifting Yun Xiao's body out. Since the defensive barrier had already been removed when the Foreign Affairs Department Director arrived, Yun Xiao was safely sent down from the competition stage.

  Seeing me win consecutively, the young man on the rostrum couldn't sit still, stood up and walked down from the rostrum, rushed to Fengtai's rest area, and had a close conversation with Fengtai's team leader.

  Seeing me win smoothly, Zixue finally stopped crying, and Ziyuan also visibly breathed a sigh of relief, giving me a satisfied smile. I told myself secretly that I must perform better, making Ziyuan happy, in this way, as long as I can get forgiveness from one of them, it will be easy to handle.

  Here is the translation:

  Under the Wind Ridge, the next contestant was a big guy wielding a giant war hammer. As soon as he finished introducing himself, he swung his massive hammer at me with incredible force. The hammer, which looked like it weighed over 200 kilograms, was swung with such ferocity that even I didn't dare to take it head-on. He danced the hammer around with a loud whooshing sound, creating a whirlwind-like effect as he charged towards me repeatedly. His relentless attack left me astonished, and I thought to myself that if he kept this up, he wouldn't last much longer.

  I tentatively made contact with his hammer wind a few times, and indeed it was formidable. In an empty-handed situation, I could only counter his hammer force with my full strength. As I dodged and deflected his attacks, I felt somewhat strained. This trial of strength lasted for about the time it takes to eat a meal, during which my opponent's hammer gradually slowed down. I knew he was reaching his limit.

  Just as I was about to launch a counterattack, he suddenly stopped and bowed towards me, saying "I concede." Looking at his dazed expression, I couldn't help but feel both amused and annoyed - what kind of fighting style was this, where you exhaust yourself only to give up in the end? My peripheral vision caught sight of a young man in elegant attire sitting on the Wind Ridge rest platform, whose eyes seemed to gleam with satisfaction.

  Ah, no way! I'd been had. This big guy was just here to wear me out - they must be pinning their hopes for victory on the last contestant. A cold smile spread across my face as I thought to myself: what could another person possibly do? Could they surpass Cloudy's threat against me?

  The head of the Foreign Affairs Department walked onto the stage and announced in a loud voice: "Fengyue Academy has decided that the final match will be participated by substitute player Tanaka."

  A substitute player? Did Feng Xue still have a hidden powerful disciple? I looked towards Feng Xue's resting seat, and saw that the young man in luxurious clothes took off his outerwear, revealing a suit of armor underneath. He took a long spear from one of his attendants and walked onto the stage.

  I frowned at him and asked, "What? You're a student of Feng Xuan."

  The young man in Chinese clothing, now should be called Tianzhong, smiled and said: "How can you guys from Tiandu College change people, but we Fengya can't? Admittedly, I'm a fifth-year student at Fengya, and I'll graduate this year. Originally, I didn't want to come up, letting younger juniors practice their hands, but there's no way around it. Who made you bet such a large sum of 80 million gold coins? It's a huge amount for our Xilun City, and I don't want to lose it like that, so I had to take action myself." He shook the long spear in his hand, and a layer of deep blue battle aura emanated from his body. In a low voice, he said: "Fengya's Tianzhong greets you, brother." I understand, I've met a formidable opponent. The aura emitted by this guy is not weaker than Liva's at all, and it even surpasses him in some ways. If under normal circumstances, I have confidence in winning against him. However, after the previous battle, I consumed a lot of physical strength and magic power. In a situation where I'm not fully using my dark magic, defeating this powerful opponent is indeed not an easy task.

  I fixed my gaze on him, slowly drawing out the Ink Shadow from behind me. Now, I couldn't delay any longer.

  "You're a Western Ridge person, why would you come to Fengyue to learn?" I asked, voicing the question in my mind.

  Tanaka Michi: "The reason is simple, Seiren didn't suit me. There are many officials in our family who serve the imperial court, and the lord of Tianfeng City where Fēng Yǔ is located is my uncle. He wanted me to go there for further study, so I went."

  I asked doubtfully: "But judging from your appearance, you should also have a close relationship with the leadership of Xileng."

  Tanaka smiled helplessly and said, "Yes, my elder brother is indeed the lord of this castle. Otherwise, how could I have agreed to such a large bet? My only hobby since childhood has been gambling. As the saying goes, 'no cheating, no trickery, just fair play'. If I lose, even if it means losing everything, I will give you the betting money. However, since I was 18 years old, I have never lost again. For this reason, I can only take action now."

  After hearing his words, I had a bit of a good impression of this person. At the very least, he wouldn't rely on his power to weasel out of the bet, but rather use his own strength. Although it wasn't entirely aboveboard, it was also a legitimate tactic. I waved my Ink Shadow, drawing an arc in the air as a sign of respect for him.

  Tanaka's face showed a look of surprise, and subconsciously used his long gun to shake out three bowl-sized gun flowers in mid-air.

  "I said in a low voice: 'Let's begin. I won't lose.'"