The structure of the final 12 tournament had been decided, and it seemed luck was on Damien's side. He and Katherine were on opposite sides of the bracket, making it so that if they fought, it would be in the finals.
With the Nexus Event winding down, the tournament would only last 4 days. There would be 2 fights a day, with the final day being used only for the finals and the award ceremony that followed it.
For the final 12 tournament, the use of artifacts would once again be allowed in the competition. Now that only the strongest remained, it would give them the most entertainment this way.
There were still regulations though. The competitors were required to use artifacts of the same grade when they compete. For instance, if one side had an SS rank artifact while the other only had an A rank, both competitors would have to use A rank artifacts.
This was to further the inclusion of fairness. Since there was a dark horse this year, another rule was added. If the participant didn't have an artifact, they would be given one that either matched the grade of their opponent's or both competitors would be given artifacts of the same grade.
Of course, this addition only applied to offensive artifacts and weapons. Defensive artifacts were still banned, as it would be too much of a hassle for the staff to regulate their usage.
Defensive artifacts came in many different forms, with some being armor and others being small rings or accessories that could generate barriers.
The variety was something they didn't want to control, as too many restrictions wouldn't net them any benefit.
Damien thought over these rules in his head. As he walked to the stage. he encountered Ethan who proceeded to start a conversation.
"Yo! It seems the tournament staff had kept our first fight in mind when they structured the bracket and made it so we would only face off in the semi-finals"
Damien nodded. The dark horse and Katherine were also set up in such a way. The tournament staff definitely knew that the outcomes of the 1v1v1 fights were decided.
Although the other supreme geniuses ended up winning their King of the Hill matches, they were extremely close games, completely unlike those of the aforementioned 4, who dominated their competition.
"Of course they'd do that," Damien responded, "our fight will be too amazing, how could they start the tournament like that?"
Ethan broke into a fit of loud laughter. "You're right! But I saw your king of the hill match. I know I can't keep up with you if you use that crazy barrier, but I'll entertain to the best of my abilities."
Damien also laughed. "Sure, I'll be waiting for you in the semi-finals then."
They strongly shook hands before going their separate ways. It was time for them to sweep their first matches.
And that's exactly how it went. Damien barely even had to try in his first match to destroy his competition. It reinforced his belief that not all supreme geniuses were built the same.
The two opponents had teamed up to deal with Damien before fighting amongst themselves, but this was a useless strategy. Damien didn't even activate his vector field, using only his basic distortion ability along with his lightning and plasma beams to win.
Even his sword was still unused. He tried to find enjoyment in every battle after his small bit of introspection earlier, but he couldn't do it against these weaker opponents. He was never the kind of guy who killed ants for fun.
Due to this, he was filled with anticipation for his semifinal fight. Ethan had already proved that he could give Damien a blood-pumping fight, so he didn't have any worries. Now, he was curious about what Ethan used as an artifact.
The impression he gave off was of someone who fought with their fists, but Damien doubted this. Ethan's status within the beast domain didn't seem to be very low, so he had to have an artifact or two.
2 days passed and the other opening matches had ended. As expected, Katherine and the dark horse came out on top.
Katherine had simply trapped the other two in an illusion until they eliminated each other, while the dark horse spent much more effort. He was forced to use many tricks and deceptions to gain a perfect opportunity to snipe his opponents with his darkness arrows.
It was now the day of the semifinals and Damien and Ethan were standing on a cracked and barren desert as they faced each other. Both of them stood unarmed at the moment, but there was no doubt that they wouldn't continue that way for long.
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As the match was started, both of them kicked off at max speed and met each other with fists. It seemed they wanted to start the same way they did back in the first round.
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Neither of them made any moves to block as fists and kicks landed on their faces stomachs and ribs and both of them slowly drew blood from their opponent. It was an extremely primal fight. The ground caved slightly from impact and dust clouds sprang up from the force as the two continued this cycle.
Then, a change occurred. As if they had previously agreed, both of them infused their elements into their bodies. One was on fire while the other was covered in lightning as they once again charged.
Their fight became much more destructive. Wild arcs of lightning bounced around the arid atmosphere as they met with tongues of flame. These meetings led to explosions that would randomly destroy the surrounding scenery.
No matter how much they continued, though, neither of them got the lead on the other. Damien had recently achieved the Master level of control with his lightning element and was focusing on its destructive properties, creating plasma as his main use, but he didn't use this ability.
This fight was a pure frontal assault, and he felt like attacking from range would signify his loss. Ethan shared this feeling, so they continued to duke it out. Finally, they both pulled out their artifacts.
Damien's pitch black sword with its intricate purple designs crackled with lightning as the space around it slightly bent and twisted. On the other side, Ethan wielded a massive dual-sided war hammer. It was a mixture of gold and red and emanated a regal aura. The two grinned before charging again. Damien didn't waste time.
'Void Sword Art First Step: Bladeless.'
His blade vanished as a huge gash was created in the ground, but Ethan was prepared. Sensing an invisible force headed towards him, he let out a resounding battle cry.
"HAA!"
He swung his war hammer down with full force as it crashed into the ground. Shockwaves spread as a wave of fire met the spatial tear created by Damien. A battle of elements then began. Both sides pushed against each other but none could gain an advantage.
Taking this chance, Damien transitioned into dance of the void as he charged towards Ethan. His movements became elusive and graceful as he vanished in and out of space. Ethan was put on the defensive. He was a brute through and through and had never tried to figure out such a patterned and structured movement like Damien's second step sword art.
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Their battle continued to rage on. Ethan had switched his approach as the fire surrounding his war hammer coagulated. Every strike he sent was accompanied by a massive explosion created by Ethan's use of fire's combustion properties. As time passed, his mana capacity began to dwindle. Noticing something, Damien paused his attack as the two made distance.
"Friend, it seems my mana can't keep up with you. I've already lost, but let's end this with a bang. I'll be using my strongest attack, so I hope you'll join me in doing the same."
Damien nodded with a light of respect in his eyes. When it came to physical strength and battle sense, he'd found an equal and a rival in Ethan. Showing him this type of respect in battle was a given. As they stared at each other, their mana raged. At its apex, they released their attacks.
On Damien's side, it was his classic third step, spatial collapse. This was still and might forever be one of his strongest moves. On Ethan's side, a massive firestorm raged. A sea of fire filled with flaming tornadoes charged forward to meet the collapsed space Damien created.
Its result wasn't an explosion, but rather a deafening silence. The flaming sea was swallowed by the collapsed space before a true battle began. The destructive properties of the fire tried their hardest to destroy the portion of space and almost succeeded.
A phenomenon Damien had never witnessed before took place as small cracks formed on the outside of the portion of space he'd collapsed. It was a sign that the area would be broken soon. But it didn't happen. The flaming sea slowly died down before it could escape the collapsed space and continue its charge.
Ethan began falling to the ground but was quickly caught by Damien, who put Ethan's arm around his shoulder.
"I may have won this time, but it was mainly due to my greater mana capacity. I expect an even grander fight from you next time."
Ethan grinned. "That's right. Next time you won't even have a chance to beg for mercy, I can promise you that much."
The two had established a firm relationship through battle and had officially titled each other as friends. With the results obvious, it didn't take long for them to be teleported out. They then witnessed another surprising scene.
Katherine was standing there waiting for them while the dark horse was sprawled on the ground, looking like he had just seen something terrifying.
Looking at Damien, Katherine flashed a demonic smile that caused both men to shiver. "I'll see you in the finals then, yeah?"
As she walked off, Ethan turned to look at Damien. 'He's trying to tame that woman? A true man indeed.'