Reborn as an Extra

'This won't do… If he keeps changing the trajectory of Markom's attack, I won't have any way to defeat him…'

With the space loop shielding him, Liam was certain that Rio couldn't harm him. However, if Liam couldn't inflict any damage on Rio, the match would likely conclude in a draw. This outcome is unfavorable for both Liam and Rio.

In this tournament, the rules are extremely strict.

If a match ends with a draw, that means both parties have lost, and both of them will get eliminated from the tournament.

Liam glanced at the timer, noticing that fifteen minutes had already elapsed, leaving only half the remaining time.

Even for Rio, this match is the longest. None of his opponents have survived past 15 minutes of fighting against him.

But Liam is different.

Even though Rio has used nearly all of his techniques, Liam is still standing unharmed.

This just shows how much better Liam is when compared to other candidates.

If Liam continues to defend himself with that space loop, even Link will find himself in a stalemate-like situation.

Right now, both Liam and Rio were thinking the same thing.

'This guy is strong…'

…

VVIP Area.

"Hmm, this match seems to be heading towards a draw…"

Hearing Jin's words, a solemn look appeared on Ashtel's face.

"I was expecting to see an amazing show in the finals… but if the two of them ended in a draw, then the next match, which is between Link and Vanya, would end up becoming the finals…"

In response to Ashtel's words, Ryul scowled slightly and said,

"Oi, oi, don't underestimate my daughter! She hasn't even shown her true powers yet! It's not set in stone that she will lose."

All of the other SS-rankers just shook their heads at Ryul's words.

Although they didn't say it, none of them thought that Vanya could really win against Link.

Instead, Liam seems to have a better chance of winning against Link, as he can use the 'spatial loop' to negate all of Link's attacks.

Gradba glanced below, and after seeing that Rio and Liam were still fighting in a stalemate, he shook his head.

"More than twenty minutes have passed; this match will most likely end in a draw…"

Other SS-rankers also nodded their heads, but they kept silent and didn't talk much.

Ashtel glanced at the timer and sighed.

"I sure hope to see a clear winner… Sigh, it seems the two of them are really on equal footings…"

…

Stadium ground.

[Time left: 6 min, 43 sec.]

The giant mammoth collapsed on the ground after being hit once more on its head by Rio's thunder-type sword attacks.

In the past ten minutes, Markom has rushed towards Rio many times, but Rio has deflected its trajectory again and again.

Rio's counterattacks were also powerful, and he slowly chipped away at Markom's health, causing it to eventually collapse and faint.

Observing Markom's de-summoning, Liam wiped the sweat from his forehead and pondered.

'Markom, Gamel, and Barduk, all three of my strongest summoned beasts, are already defeated… Even if I summon another one, they aren't strong enough to withstand Rio's attacks for too long…'

'If things continue like this, then the match will end in a draw; there's not much time left… I only have one chance now…'

Liam placed his hand on Kazto's forearm and embedded all of his mana into him.

'I have no other choice now; I would need to bet it all on this one move…'

Liam was already running low on mana after summoning so many powerful beasts, and he poured all of his leftover mana into Kazto; thus, he has already lost the ability to cast any more spells.

Furthermore, he transferred all the mana from his weapon, 'Azazel's dreaming heart', into Kazto. (It can store up to 10,000 mana…)

Kazto's size increased after receiving so much mana, growing to nearly ten meters tall in a matter of seconds.

He was already so tall that he was nearly about to touch the SS-rank barrier in the sky.

Seeing that sudden change in Kazto's size, all of the people in the audience felt horrified.

Kazto is a chimera, and his body looks extremely disordered and ugly. Looking at him makes people feel fear, and his presence makes people uncomfortable.

Even the space-time fabric started to tremble from Kazto's mere presence.

Rio wasn't a fool either; he immediately figured out that Liam was going all out on this one move.

'There's not much time left; he's likely trying to end this match at the cost of using all of his mana… But still, I would have to say, this guy really has a lot of mana…'

Even Rio was impressed at how much mana Liam has.

Not only did he summon powerful beasts one after another, he also cast magic himself from time to time during this battle, and now he still has enough mana left to create such a spectacle.

'Liam, you really are 'the summoner of the millennia', and I think no one can compare to you when it comes to summoning… You have my respect…'

While Rio was admiring Liam's amazing power, Liam was also looking at Rio with admiration in his eyes.

'In the current state, Kazto is nearly equal to a pseudo-S-ranker, and you are still able to stand in front of him without feeling even a little bit of tension…'

'You really are worth defeating, Rio Flash…'

Liam smiled at that thought, and then he relayed his order to Kazto.

[Kazto: Maximum output: Space Type: Spatial destruction!]

At Liam's order, Kazto stretched out his hand wide, and the space-time fabric inside the SS-rank barrier started to tremble.

As if the space-time fabric itself had become chaotic, glass- like cracks started to appear in it.

All of the SS-rankers were so shocked by this scene that they got up from their seats just to see the situation more clearly with their own eyes.

Seeing the space-time fabric getting more and more distorted, a rare smile of excitement appeared on Rio's face.

'Yes! This is it! This is the feeling I have been looking for! The feeling of walking on edge—the rush of adrenaline! The feeling that you could die at any moment!'

With that rare, excited look on his face, Rio took his stance.

'Now that it has come to this, I shouldn't hold back anymore…'

Rio took his stance, disregarding the wounds on his body caused by the distortion in the space-time fabric.

He placed his sword above his shoulder and got ready to attack.

Liam, who was standing on Kazto's shoulder, also noticed that Rio hadn't admitted defeat yet.

Originally, he thought that even Rio would be forced to admit defeat after being affected by the chaos in the space-time fabric, but that didn't happen, which caused Liam to frown.

'As I am not an S-ranker yet, I can't influence the space-time fabric too much… All I can do is create some small cracks and put massive pressure on the opponent…'

'But even then, Rio will get fatally injured if he doesn't admit defeat… What is he trying to do? Doesn't he know that his 'sword intent' is useless against Kazto's space loop?'

The space loop not only covers Liam, but it also protects Kazto's body, so there was no way that Rio's attack could have worked.

But that's what Liam miscalculated.

Up until now, Rio hadn't even gone all out, and Liam thought that all Rio had was 'sword intent'.

Rio isn't a single-trick pony; he doesn't always rely on sword intent to do his bidding; there are other things in his arsenal that are as lethal as sword intent.

'This is the first time I am using it; even I don't know what will happen next…'

[Elemental Sword Art: Space Type: Space Splitting!]

Rio swung his sword downwards with immense speed, and this time, his attack directly split the 'spatial loop' in one go!

Rio's attack was directed at the space-time fabric itself.

Although he can't really create a massive cut in the space-

time fabric yet, creating a small cut is not out of his capabilities.

Rio poured all of his mana into that attack, splitting the spacetime fabric itself.

That attack not only created a massive and deadly wound on Kazto's body, it also affected Liam.

Kazto immediately got despawned, and his skill lost effect; thus, the space in the stadium returned to normal.

Liam fell down powerlessly, as he was already out of mana, and the huge wound on his chest was bleeding like a fountain.

If not for Ellie's timely use of shadow magic to cover his wound, Liam's internal organs would have spilled out.

"Ugh…"

Liam groaned in pain, and his eyes trembled; he was barely keeping himself conscious.

Rio was also out of mana by now; he dragged his tired body and slowly came near Liam.

"You lost…"

Liam's eyes were already getting blurry, but a smile appeared on his face.

"Cough! Cough!"

While coughing blood from his mouth, Liam said,

"Yeah… I lost, I never.. cough! expected you to have the power… to split space-time fabric… I miscalculated…"

Rio simply smiled at those words and said,

"Even then… You are indeed strong; you pushed me to a corner, and you really are the best summoner of this millennia…"

Being praised by Rio, Liam felt happy, and the smile on his face widened.

The teleportation circle appeared and transported Liam away from the battlefield.

Rio raised his sword toward the sky to show his victory.

This is a hard-earned victory; even he felt like celebrating it.

*And after a long-fought battle, Rio Flash has emerged as the victor!*

After hearing the confirmation of his victory, Rio immediately lost consciousness and fainted on the ground.

Another teleportation circle appeared and took him to the infirmary.

He was already out of mana and was bleeding heavily from all of the wounds created by the spatial cracks.

…

…

Author's Notes.

Yo! It's your beloved author here!

Finally, Rio has secured his seat in the finals. Now only one more hurdle is left on his way to victory…

Question of the day.

Do you think Liam really is quite overpowered?

1. Even without using Ellie, he pushed Rio to such limits… Liam is indeed strong…

2. If Rio had used his space-type skills earlier in the match, then things would have ended much more quickly. Rio was playing all along…

3. Rio hasn't even used his shadow robe until now; moreover, he is likely hiding more of his elemental sword art types…

By the way, don't forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Leave a comment with your thoughts about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.