The last fight was between Hanan Frunkan vs. Mala. Mala was a female Demon Beast of the Jio Universe. As one could expect, fighting a seeded participant was a lot more difficult for Hanan than the previous ones. The Female Demon Beast even used her bloodline power so that she could push the victory.
Hanan, not having another choice, could only activate the Forbidden Technique that Baren Frunkan gave him before the competition.
Once the fight was over, Hanan's condition was anything but good. However, he didn't regret it. Hanan had long decided that as long as he gets one of the five slots, he won't mind even if he loses his life.
Norzulun then stepped forward after Hanan's battle finished.
"Congratulation to the eight participants who advanced. As mentioned before, each of one you will have one battle against the other finalists once. That's is the most straightforward way to decide the top five. As you can imagine, in case a tie happens, one last battle will occur to determine who takes the slots."
"For others to not complain that the Dalin management is being unfair, we will wait until every single one of you recover to your peak condition. After all, some of you fought equally strong opponents, while others had it easier. If you need to recover, enter the Time Formation and take your time."
Not only Hanan, but Sara, Waka, and Laka were also relived by those words. They had gone all out and were still not fully prepared. Without wasting time, they all entered the Time Formations.
Hanan ended as the one who took the longest inside. Although just a few hours passed outside, Hanan had spent over three months in the Time Formation. No one complained about the hours they had to wait, though. Cultivators and Demon beasts can live for hundreds, if not thousands of years. A few hours meant nothing for them.
Once Hanan came out, Norzulun nodded before continuing.
"Very good. Keep in mind that this will be the last time we allow you to enter the Time Formation. The next battles will have to be done with whatever power you have now. That being said, you better know how to conserve your energy well."
With a wave of his hand, a giant image appeared in front of everyone, showing the order of battles. The first battle to happen turned out to be Krune vs. Sara Qanze. As for Iem Turo, he would be Krune's fifth opponent. Laka would be the third with Hanan being sixth.
"Luvile Universe, Krune."
"Kaleu Universe, Sara Qanze."
Krune, already in his wisp form, stepped on the arena. Sara then took a deep breath and took out her Chakrams. She already knows that Krune was the one who forged them and that she can't use it against him. Because of that, she called one of the Dalin Universe management guys and asked for him to keep it. This time, she had no other choice other than using her old ones.
Of course, for a Universe Representative, Sara's Chakrams were still a Peak Stars Path Equipment. Because Krune's weapons were at the 8 Stars Path Level, her old Chakrams weren't that much weaker.
Krune didn't mind it, though. No one would be idiot enough to use his weapons against him, so that was expected.
As Sara looked at Krune, she couldn't help but sigh. 38 Purple Flame Flying Shields were orbiting the rainbow wisp. Can she pass through his defense? She didn't know. Still, Krune is at the 7th Stage of the Divine path Realm, so she has the advantage in cultivation at the very least.
Krune also knew that Sara would be the strongest opponent he fought so far. Unan was obviously strong as well, but he didn't have the chance to show his power.
Noticing that both sides were ready, the judge nodded before saying.
"Begin!"
Sara's Domain immediately appeared. At the same time, her Chakrams flew away from her body. This time, however, it wasn't just two, but ten of them!
"Decay of Time Domain!"
That was her fused Domain of Dark and Time laws. It would use Dark Laws to corrode the opponent's Spiritual Energy as the Time Laws accelerated the process several times. During that time, Sara would use her Chakrams, which also carried her Dark and Time laws, to harass the opponent.
Of course, there was much more to it. Sara would frequently use her Time Laws to slow down the opponent while accelerating her own attacks. Those two Elements/Laws were really a very good combination.
Krune had seen Sara using this Domain Before against Karen, and it had left a deep impression in him. Now that he was feeling it, he could imagine how difficult it was for Karen to fight Sara. Obviously, since she used Chakrams, there was no doubt that she was also a Long-Ranged cultivator.
"Purple Tribulation Lightning Domain!"
Instead of the Primary Elemental Domains, Krune opted to use his Purple Tribulation Lightning one from the start. The Laws of Dark and Time immediately got affected, losing more power the closer they got to Krune. The Chakrams, which were very fast due to the time laws accelerating it, seemed to slow down as they approached Krune. Of course, it was not that they got slow; it's just that the time around them stopped passing so fast.
The Laws of time that were slowing down Krune and the Darkness elements/laws also almost lost all effect close to him.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang...
The Chakrams hit Krune's Purple Flame Diamond Shields head-on, but failed to pass through or cause any damage.
Krune wasn't idly just receiving the attacks either. At the same moment that the Chakrams arrived, his Skills began to bombard Sara in the distance. Tribulation Blazing Wind Blades, Tribulation Lines, Tribulation Lightning Water Dragons, all of Krune's common and most used skills were in full display.
This time, the difference was that all of them were supported by his Purple Tribulation Lightning or Purple Flames. Not to mention the Purple Tribulation Lightning Domain, which was eating Sara's Domain without stop. It is worth to note that Krune's Law Eating Sub-Law had advanced once more with Little Arty's Godly Energy support. At the moment, it was already at the Advanced Stage, which allowed Krune to control its properties much better. That being said, his own Domain or Tribulation Lightning in his attacks barely had any effect on the other laws that he uses.
Although Krune was holding back in terms of Domain, he wasn't doing so with his Spiritual, Elemental, and Chaos Energies. The only thing he didn't use were his strongest skills and Mental Energy attacks. First, he wasn't battling only souls without Spiritual Energy like in the Soul World. Second, his Mental Energy attacks wouldn't have the power to defeat the enemy since Chaos Energy could still protect against it to a certain extent. Krune is far from being as powerful as Heavin with these kinds of attacks, really far.
Sara noticed the dire situation she was in. Krune's attacks were too hard to defend, not to mention his annoying Purple Tribulation Lightning that kept eating away her Domain.
Outside the arena, Iem Turo looked at Krune's Purple Tribulation Lightning with great interest. It remembered him of his battle against Horune, who had a Purple Flame Greatsword.
'What kind of laws are those? How come I've never seen them before? Was it the reason that Greatsword passed through my crystalization so easily?'
Iem looked at his hand for a moment. Suddenly a small Black Flame Spark appeared for a second, quickly disappearing after. No one noticed that, though.
'Could it be...'
The battle on the arena continued. So far, Krune hadn't used his strongest skills like Heaven's Fall, Tribulation Cannon, or Heavens Storm. Those used a lot of Purple Tribulation Lightning, and Krune wanted to keep enough for later.
Sara used her Chakrams and her own Long Ranged Skills nonstop. However, they were all barred by Krune's Purple Diamond Shields, which were all filled with Purple Tribulation Lightning and usually the opposite element of her attacks.
If necessary, Sara could increase her battle power even more. But there was a problem, Sara still has to win another two battles at the very least. And that is considering that she would defeat Krune in the end.
Sara looked at the Rainbow Colored Wisp, who guarded against all her assaults in a leisurely way. Krune barely had to move, which showed that he wasn't really showing what he could do. As for herself, she was running everywhere with the help of her Time Laws to defend against Krune.
'Is this a pretense? Would he be stronger than what he is showing now?'
Sara then thought about how Krune was able to use all the other Primary Elements as Domains. This Purple Tribulation Lightning one was the sixth Domain she saw him using. Still, Krune hasn't shown a single Fused Domain so far. She quickly concluded that there was no way someone with such proficiency in Elements couldn't use a fused Domain like her. He didn't use a fused one simply because he didn't see a need for it.
She also considered that all the attacks Krune used until now were not his powerful ones. It was more like he was trying to drain all her Spiritual Energy pool. Lastly, she remembered Krune's fight against Vasto, the Spider Demon Beast.
"I give up!"
Immediately, all the skills Krune had launched against her disappeared. His Domain retracted, and his Shields were put away.
"So you noticed, uh?"
Sara sighed while feeling the fatigue of the fight.
"You were simply planning to make me run out of Spiritual Energy."
Krune didn't deny.
"Yes. The thing I'm most confident about is my Spiritual Energy pool. For two long-ranged attackers like us, the best way was to show who would last longer. It's good that you noticed so early. That way, you can keep your strength for the next battles."
It would be of no use to tell Sara that he was planning to exhaust her. Why would someone believe the enemy in the first place? So the best way was to make her notice it by herself.
The judge then raised his hand in Krune's direction.
"First Battle, Krune from Luvile Universe Wins!"
Krune came down from the arena and took several Spirit Stones out of his Spatial Ring. The time formation might be out of use, but that didn't mean he couldn't recover without it.
The battles continued after that. Laka's first battle was surprisingly against Hanan. Laka knew how strong Hanan was, so he was very excited. But after just a few exchanges, Hanan gave up, much to Laka's dissatisfaction.
Laka complained without stop, but Hanan only smiled. His ultimate objective if one of the Five Slots. Laka is the type who would definitely fight to the bitter end, so it would be useless to waste his energy against him.
Iem Turo's opponent, Jovlare, immediately gave up.
Lastly, Sule vs. Waka Ulin ended with Waka's victory. In this battle, something incredible happened. Waka's last attack, which gave him the victory, had simply disappeared! When it appeared again, it was already right in front of Sule. Krune was surprised with that because there were no Space Laws ripples around Waka's attack, only his Sword Laws.
'If there were no space laws, then how did he do that?'
Unfortunately, Waka's battle was already over.
With that, the first round of battles was over.