Reborn as an Extra

Using 'Sword Intent' or 'Dao Rhythm' in an 'overload' state means that Rio and Link are going beyond their usual output by pouring an immense amount of mana into their respective skills.

The user's control over their skill weakens in the 'overload' state, but their output significantly increases, allowing them to deal more damage.

Link and Rio both took their stance and attacked each other with the maximum strength that they could use.

Link covered his fist with 'Dao Rhythm' and punched towards Rio; on the other hand, Rio covered his sword with 'Sword intent' and slashed towards Link.

Their attacks collided, and the ground cracked.

The collision of two legendary rank skills at such intensity caused even the space-time fabric to tremble and start cracking.

Even the SS-rank barrier trembled a bit, and the massive air pressure created by their attack destroyed the whole stadium ground.

Sparks of sword intent and Dao rhythm flew everywhere, and some of them hit Link and Rio too.

Rio was wearing his shadow robe, so he was rarely injured, but Link was getting hit again and again.

Rio's shadow robe can't defend against a legendary skill if the concentration is too high; thus, he gets hit when an occasional spark with greater concentration hits him, but still, he was getting less injured than Link.

At this moment of final confrontation, the whole audience had their eyes widening in shock.

Link and Rio have been fighting back and forth for more than fifty minutes without a clear victor. Some people were already thinking that this match might end in a draw, and they might get two champions this time.

But this one last confrontation has changed everything.

Up until this point, Rio had been sparingly using his 'Sword Intent' and conserving his mana.

Furthermore, he deliberately employed 'Miasma' type attacks to compel Link to repeatedly use 'Dao Rhythm', thereby wasting his own mana.

Unlike Rio, Link has been using 'Dao Rhythm' for nearly the entire fight, and because his mastery over 'Dao Rhythm' is not as strong as Rio's mastery over 'Sword Intent', he wastes more mana whenever he uses 'Dao Rhythm'.

Link also knew that Rio was purposely making him waste his mana, but Link had no other choice; if he didn't use 'Dao Rhythm', Rio would attack him with 'Time Type' attacks, and he would suffer heavy injuries.

Rio wasn't doing much better either; his 'HP' was clearly lower than Link's, and he had taken quite a few 'Bypass' type punches.

If not for the fact that he can't feel pain, he wouldn't even have been able to move, as nearly all his internal organs are already destroyed and his heart has stopped beating.

He has barely any time left before he faints, and the teleportation circle takes him away.

If the match is not settled right now, then he can lose too.

Since Link and Rio are nearly equal, the only way to determine the winner is by, 'Who can keep standing for longer?'

The one who can keep standing their ground will eventually win.

The SS rankers, the audience, and everyone else who was looking at this match had gone silent at this moment.

Everyone's eyes are focused on this final confrontation.

Some want Link to win, and some are praying for Rio.

Just when Rio was about to lose consciousness, he saw the worried look on Lia's face from the corner of his eyes, and his mind became focused once again.

In the spur of a moment, Rio deactivated his 'Sword Intent'.

[Handling!]

He used all his force to deflect Link's punch's trajectory by a centimeter, and then he twisted his wrist to do a sword thrust.

[Sword Intent!]

Link was taken aback by that sudden change. He didn't expect that Rio would pull back at such a critical moment, and that move was totally unexpected.

He hadn't been using a Dragon field right now, as it was already shattered by Rio a while ago, so he wasn't able to predict Rio's hidden attack coming towards him.

Moreover, he had poured all of his mana into his 'Dao Rhythm' to enhance his punch; thus, his body was unprotected at this moment.

*Boom!*

The sword thrust hit Link directly in the chest, and he flew away like a cannonball from the impact of that attack.

A massive stab wound appeared on his chest; Rio had clearly pierced his heart in that instant.

Moreover, Link had already used all of his mana, so he immediately lost consciousness after hitting the SS-rank barrier and falling to the ground.

The teleportation circle appeared and took him away in an instant.

Rio raised his sword towards the sky with his trembling hand; his shadow robe got deactivated, and his blood-soaked face appeared in full display.

Blood flowed from his mouth, but a smile hung over his face as he knew that he had won at that final moment.

*Amazingly breathtaking!! Rio Flash has emerged as the champion of this tournament and has proved his skills to the whole world!*

Rio didn't even have the energy to hear the rest of the announcement; he just fell down and fainted instantly.

The teleportation circle appeared and took him to the S-rank healers waiting in the infirmary area.

…

VVIP Area.

All SS-rankers stood up from their seats to clap for Rio's victory.

Although it was not their own candidate that had won, denying the hard work of a junior is not their type of thing.

As SS-rankers, they represent the acknowledgement of a race.

By clapping for Rio's victory, they showed that their race has acknowledged Rio as the final victor of this tournament.

The result was clear to everyone at this moment, so it would be weird if you didn't clap now, as it would be seen by others that you were dissatisfied with the fact that your race didn't win.

Since no one wanted to lose face for their race, all of them clapped with smiles on their faces, but they also noted Rio's name.

They all knew that a new 'monster' had appeared in this world and that the next era would be dominated by humans.

All SS-rankers came forward to shake hands with Ashtel and Jin to congratulate them on the ultimate victory of the human race in this world-level tournament.

The whole human race will feel proud when they look back at these tournament videos, as they will feel happy to see that the human race has overshadowed everyone else in this tournament.

Not only Rio, but the other members of team Astra have also dominated the tournament, and technically all of them only lost to Rio, the tournament's champion.

Although it's quite strange that Rio was the one who eliminated the entire team Astra with his own hands, it's still a good thing that he won the tournament on their behalf, at least.

Ashtel wasn't sad that Link had lost this championship; instead, he was happy.

This is the first time Link has ever lost to the same person twice, even after exerting maximum effort.

Not only did Rio defeat him in the New Year festival event, but he also defeated him in this tournament.

Which means Link has found a great rival now.

The rivalry with Rio will undoubtedly give Link massive motivation to improve, and he will certainly improve quickly after today.

[As they say, sometimes taking a step back is the key to progress…] (Source: Trust me bro…)

In the end, regardless of who emerged victorious between Link and Rio, both parties would gain motivation to advance.

Today, Rio only won by a small margin; the outcome could have been totally different if Rio hadn't made that final move or Link still had a 'Dragon Field' deployed.

But there are no 'ifs' in a battle; you either win or lose.

So, this loss will definitely motivate Link to improve his mastery over his 'Dao Rhythm' and come up with some countermeasures to Rio's endless arsenal of techniques.

Thinking about all this, Ashtel felt happy. He shook hands with all the SS-rankers one by one and accepted their praises with a rare smile on his usually stern face.

…

Reserved Area.

Lia, Liam, and Ellie all three of them got up from their seats and left immediately in the direction of the infirmary after the match ended.

To them, it didn't matter who was the victor; it was more important to check on the health of Rio and Link.

Liam is not the type of person to feel anxious about any random person, but now that he has considered Link and Rio as his friends, he is worried about them too.

Furthermore, Rio still has Lia to care for him, but Riya is currently absent, so he would need to visit Link to assess his condition.

If Riya were still here, he wouldn't have bothered looking for Link, but if something happened to Link in her absence, then even Liam would feel guilty.

(In other words, all six of them have become close friends now, so they are worried about each other…)

…

…

Author's Notes.

Yo! It's your beloved author here! After a long and dangerous battle, Rio finally emerges as the victor.. phew~

Question of the day.

Do you also believe that if Riya had been there to support Link, the outcome would have been different?

1. Yes. (She would have been a great emotional support for him…)

2. No. (Fighting Rio is extremely tricky, the guy has too many techniques up his sleeve… the outcome likely won't change…)

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