"[Innate Skill: Nature Dragon Spirit Queen]"
Kali's chant reverberated like a nature's bell. With it, Life, Nature, and Wood energies surged toward a point five meters before her body.
First, a small ball of pure green light appeared, like a tiny star made out of Life Energy. From it, a spiral of energy burst, forming the body of a three-meter-tall woman voluptuous woman.
A beautiful floral dress covered her curves while also enhancing her entire being and existence as a spirit for life.
Her glossy green skin, long cascading dark green hair adorned with exotic flowers, and ethereally gentle and charming face were a sight to behold, enough to captivate any creature with their sheer beauty.
After she appeared, her eyes opened, and her arm gently raised to the side. An elegant staff made of coiling branches with a golden orb floating at the top materialized.
Once the people focused on her eyes, they realized that the tall woman had captivating emerald eyes with a rare golden slit pupil that divided her iris in half, adding to her extraordinariness.
After the coiling staff tapped the ground, a gorgeous vortex of flowers materialized, moving her dress, and Kali ordered.
"Valeria, Show my enemies what true despair is."
The countdown reached zero as Valeria acquiesced. "Yes, my master."
On the other side of the battlefield, the bull-man saw the woman taller than himself appearing and frowned. 'What's that? Although it is just a summon, I feel tremendous amounts of pressure coming from it.'
Valeria looked at the bull-man and said flatly, her face devoid of her usual gentle smile. "My master told me to show you despair. With her permission, I'm allowed to suggest surrendering before I start, or else it might scar you for life."
The bull-man snorted. "Just a summon. Even if she can greatly enhance your strength, you can't be much stronger than your summoner!"
Andrea, on the stands, felt her lips twitch. 'Rest in peace. You've not only stepped on the dragon's tail but mocked it to the face. Now, get eaten.'
As soon as the bull-man stopped speaking, Valeria used the tip of her toes and pushed herself forward in what appeared to be an extremely gentle motion.
One second, she was standing by Kali's side. The next second, her knee was deeply inserted in the middle of the bull-man's abdomen, curving his body like a bow.
"Fly."
BOOM!
The bull-man shot skywards, transforming into a shooting star. Valeria's footwork became extremely simple, yet tapping into a highly complicated concept, and her body became a green blur, crossing the distance the bull-man was going to traverse even before him and appearing behind him.
"Fall."
BANG!
The staff hit him on the back, reversing the arch of his body. He fell like a meteor, impacting into the hard floor with a sick sound of bones breaking.
Valeria looked down, her eyes completely indifferent. She used her energy to shoot down at an extremely fast speed.
The bull-man on the ground screamed in anger and pain, using his berserk skill to jump forward and dodge.
However, Valeria had already read his actions and as she fell and her fall curved perfectly to land on his back.
BAM!
"GROAGH!"
A strange sound exited from the back of his throat as Valeria stood on his back. Because the bull-man was a Body Cultivator, he was extremely resistant to pain. So, ignoring the signals going to his brain, he wanted to stand up quickly.
But, to his horror, he couldn't feel his legs. Valeria spoke as if she had read his mind. "They are still there. I've just severed the meridian and spine connecting to them. You've become a cripple."
His eyes widened as he twisted his neck to look up at the woman stepping on his back. Valeria's green slit eyes met with his, and he became frozen in fear. "Have you learned despair yet?" Valeria asked, but as she asked, she didn't give him time to answer and continued. "You haven't. You are in despair, but your heart still hasn't been broken."
Kali, looking from the side, realized that her words were taken quite literally, and she coughed. "Don't break him to an irreversible point, Valeria."
Valeria blinked and looked at Kali with an unusually serious face. "Why?"
Kali paused. "I mean, he didn't do anything to deserve this kind of punishment, right?"
Valeria lifted an eyebrow. She was about to answer when she sensed the person below her wanted to say surrender.
"I S-."
The butt of her staff hit the side of his neck at a perfect angle, collapsing his trachea and blocking his airway to prevent any words from leaving his mouth.
Then, she looked at Kali and spoke again. "This bull tried to kill you, Kali. Why shouldn't I retaliate?"
Kali opened her mouth and closed it, looking down at the bull-man lying on the ground with fear clearly in his eyes. His mouth trying to pronounce Surrender was also quite tragic, making her feel a bit strange. 'Why did I stop Valeria? As she said, these bull people wanted to mess with us first. If they get what they deserve, I should be cheering, not feeling guilty. Then… Why did I feel that way?'
Kali pondered and looked at Valeria. "Ah." She understood. 'He looks so helpless when faced against Valeria that I couldn't help but pity him.'
Kali shook her head. "Do as you please. Sorry for interrupting, Valeria."
Valeria smiled. "Good. Cultivation Worlds are places where resentment can come back and bite you from where you least expect it. Cutting threats by the root by using fear or other tactics is usually the best way to go about it."
Kali blinked. "But… Doesn't that give birth to a cycle of resentment?"
Valeria nodded. "And what's wrong with that? Like the cycle of life, it is a natural thing. Those who try to 'Cut the cycle' are naïve. They might stop it for a generation, perhaps two? But, as long as conflict of interest exists, resentment, envy, anger, greed, and every similar emotion are bound to happen."
Valeria used the tip of her feet to throw the bull-man up, making him reach around half her waist height. Then, she spun and kicked him flying, sending his body hurling against the distant wall.
When she was about to continue, the Judge appeared. "Stop."
Valeria paused and looked upward at the winged man that appeared. "Why?"
The Judge looked at her and said. "He already lost."
Valeria lifted her eyebrow. "I haven't broken any rule, and he is in condition to fight. You can't stop this fight."
The Judge shook his head. "If I consider that the fight can't go on, I'm entitled to stop you."
Valeria smiled. "You are actually not. There are no rules that give you such authority."
The Judge paused and looked at Valeria coldly. "If you don't stop, I'll consider this battle as a defeat for your master."
Valeria laughed. "Junior. If you threaten me again, the results won't be something of your liking."
The Judge snorted, unafraid. "If you kill me, your entire team will get disqualified. There Is no reason to fear you."
Valeria flicked her finger, and a seed almost invisible to the naked eye flew and dug into his body without him noticing. "Sure. There is no need to fear me."
Then, she turned around and waved her hand. "I'll leave it at this."
From the floor, ten vines appeared around the bull-man and slammed onto his body hundreds of times, breaking every bone in his body. While he was a middle-level Epoch Core, his energy was partially sealed because of the previous attacks, making her nothing but a helpless chick in the hands of someone like Valeria.
The judge looked at the half-dead bull-man with a grim face, but he shouted.
"Kali Wins!"
After returning, Valeria bowed to Kali. "Sorry, master. I could only partially complete the mission."
Kali smiled. "Don't worry. Also, what did you place in his body?"
While others couldn't notice, as her summoner, Kali had many extra senses to feel Valeria's actions. She could partially feel her intentions and also sense her use of energy to a basic level. However, it was enough to detect this kind of trickery.
Valeria giggled like a little kid. "I placed in him a common [Heart Eating Root]. If he doesn't realize he has it after a year, he will die~."
Kali shook her head and laughed.
When the bull-man was returned to the others, their faces were grim.
"Did they have to go this far?"
One of them carefully used his energy to lie him down on the recovery bed. "All his bones are broken."
The only bull-woman of the group scoffed. "Don't be so exaggerated."
The person smiled wryly. "It's not an exaggeration. Literally every large bone of his body is broken."
The bull-woman paused and became a bit scared. "Say, I'm next. Who do you think they will send?"
That bull-man commented. "Either the one called Cecile or the one called Andrea. They are not as strong as these two, so don't be that fearful."
The bull-woman nodded and jumped toward the arena after taking a deep breath.
'Cecile is the Phoenix woman, an archer. Her control over space is superb, and her agility is incredible. However, she lacks firepower. I should be able to win against her. Meanwhile, Andrea is just the opposite. Someone who dominates the battlefield with her many auras. Her tactic is stalling time and getting stronger until she can defeat her enemy."
With such thought in mind, she lifted her gaze and looked toward the other side of the arena. However, neither of those jumped down.
Wearing a beautiful white dress, her white hair and sword glowed like the purest of whites. Her skin, silky and soft, appeared so tender as if just touching it would leave a red mark.
Her lithe and petite body looked only cuddly, but her lack of facial expression in her doll-like face gave an extremely oppressive feeling.
'Who is this?'
While some knew about her, others didn't. This bull-woman was between those who didn't. 'Is she a reserve member?'
Her face twisted. 'Are they underestimating us so much that they sent a reserve member?'
"You, name yourself!"
The pure white woman on the other side moved her eyes to look right into hers, crossing their gazes. The bull-woman couldn't help but hiss and look away. 'Huh? What was that piercing feeling? It felt as if the tip of a sword poked my eyes.'
The cold and piercing voice of her enemy reached her ears. "I'm Eira, a maid."
The bull-woman was dumbfounded. "A maid? They sent a maid to fight us?"
"The fight will start in 10… 9…"
Eira didn't answer her quest and slowly and gently placed her fingers on the hilt of the sword—one by one.
The bull woman looked at those strangely amateurish yet elegant movements with anger. 'Is she a sacrifice or something!? They expect me to hit a weak maid!?'
Eira looked at her and commented. "As per Young Miss's orders, I shall ask you first to surrender before the countdown ends."
The bull-woman shouted, blinded by her incredulity. "A maid is still so arrogant to speak like that!? Hasn't your master taught you how to behave!?"
Eira looked at her and spoke indifferently. "She has. Much better than your mother did. [Sword Intent Level Nine]."
SLASH
A flash of light occurred, followed by the bull-woman's body hitting the ground, limbless.