Void Evolution System

BOOM!

August refracted another burst of light and returned fire with another tsunami of foaming water.

He was using mainly brute strength against Mikael. For one, this force was his strongest ability. It was also the best way to counteract someone who responded so poorly to water in general.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The swirling water became sharp, adhering to the properties of swords. They became projectiles that acted in direct opposition to the ones Mikael was using, but their effect was far greater.

Beams of light went everywhere.

Some of them flew into the walls, others hit the remaining terminals, and others more went into the inner ring and struck the beast and Eris Noct.

Her eyes darted over for but a second. Seeing August fighting Mikael, she made no move to interrupt.

Eris wanted August to take the consequences of the terminals in her stead, which meant she technically needed him to remain in the game.

However, she wasn't obligated to actually do anything to help him.

Unless he was on the verge of losing, unless she absolutely needed to save him to further her own goals, she wasn't going to go out of her way to bail him out.

It was up to August to prove whether he was actually worthy of a podium finish or not.

Besides, it wasn't like she had the freedom to do anything about it.

The information she received wasn't entirely correct.

Originally, she thought that the beast would only weaken as the terminals were solved. However, as she fought it, she realized that it had several phases.

In its first phase, it just clobbered around and shot flames wantonly, trying to kill everything without putting in too much effort.

Now, it was in its second phase. It had gotten stronger and sharper. It was specifically targeting her and learning how to adapt to her darkness.

She didn't even want to know what its third phase was.

Regardless, she could tell that her attacks were starting to work better, so she was still confident that she could beat it.

After all, when the sixth terminal was activated, it would become a pig on the chopping block. Its strength wouldn't matter at that point.

It was just like Mikael in a sense.

No matter how strong it was, it was destined to be defeated.

BOOOOOOOM!

August knew how to use water to the best of its capabilities even without connecting it to a higher element.

There were definitely ways to make water mimic life, death, or even time. However, those weren't the paths August wanted to take.

He was something of a purist, as were the rest of his bloodline. They could be as intricate as they could ever possibly want, but they would do so with the base properties of water, proving that it alone could match laws of the highest class.

August glanced towards the fifth terminal before glancing back at Mikael.

Eris' current situation wasn't in his best interest.

He needed her to be challenged, but he couldn't let her feel like the situation wasn't in her control.

After all, at this point, it was practically confirmed. Eris had received information about the boss room beforehand.

Essentially, she was cheating.

August didn't plan to call her out. It was too much to draw the entire Noct Clan's attention right now.

However, he had to punish her actions somehow.

In the end, Mikael was just a roadblock. The real target was always Eris.

'It's better if I end this fast, but I don't think that'll be possible.'

If there was one thing he could credit Mikael with, it was his resilience.

He would probably find a way around the refraction problem soon enough. After that, the battle would only get longer and longer.

'Should I try to restrain him again?'

It probablywouldn'twork, but it was worth a shot.

He would be fine even if it failed, since hehad everything under control.

August restrained the waves under his control and prepared another trap,this timebuilt to last for ages.

However, hedidn'thave the time to do so.

It had been roughly ten minutes since Mikael appeared. It passed fast since most of it was spent with himbeing corralled awayand pushed back, but some time hadindeedpassed.

Itwasn'ta lot. The audience was still at the edge of their seats, unable to take their eyes offofthe action.

Still, it was more than enough fora certainsomeone to find a way to the center.

Valeriedidn'teven know how she got here. She ran and ran. She somehow found a path that made her suffer quite a lot, but got her to the center in the shortestamount oftime possible.

Perhaps shereallywas lucky, orperhapsit had been rigged soshe'darrive here and give the audiences the most entertaining show possible.

Either way, itdidn'tmatter.

Valerie was here.

And since she was here, there was no way shewasn'tgoing tojoin the excitement.

***

Valerie'ssituation was theexactsame asMikael's.

She arrived late andwas forcedto immediately assess her options.

On one side, there was Eris Noct and the labyrinth boss.Both of themwere far beyond her level, so shedidn'twant to go anywhere near them.

Another was August. He was her friend, and even if hewasn't, shedidn'twant to fight him right now, especially not after both of them had gotten so much stronger.

That left only one option,didn'tit?

And it seemed like that option was also bothering August.

Valerie shot into the room. Every step she took cracked the tile and caused an overgrowth of flora in the natural ground.

She leapt forward just as Mikael encroached on August, and before he could reach the younger genius, he was body-

slammed into a nearby wall.

BOOOOOOM!

Her eyes went to August, who was staring at her blankly.

"What? It seemed like the easiest thing to do."

August blinked a few times and shook his head.

"Fair enough. Just distracthimfor a whileandI'lltake care of the rest. We can charge to the finish oncewe'vedealt with everything here,"he said.

Hedidn'teven have to ask if they were allying themselves.

"Everything?"Valerie echoed.

"Everything."

August replied with a grin.

Since the two of them had made it to this point,both of themwould stand on the podium.

They could compete to see who came first and who came second once they had the freedom to do it casually.

Until then…

Valerie charged towards the manshe'dbody slammed, giving him no time to comprehend the situation.

And August rushed to the fifth terminal, continuing his plan to take care of Eris Noct.

The dynamic duo, two people who had entered this war through the elimination round for commoners, two people who had fought each other until the end of that round…

Now that they were on the same team, everysingleobserver wanted to seewhat they were capable of.

And they were going to show them exactly that.