The Gamer's POV-Chapter 265: The 250 Gold Tie

The moment Athena spoke to Goldie after blinding her, everyone thought the duel was over. Even Cedric began to gloat to Leon when he saw the angel scream and clutch her bloodied eyes.

"Haha! I won!" Cedric barked, his voice cracking with twisted glee. "Let me see that despairing face of yours, Leon! I want to carve it into my memory!" He leaned in with a triumphant sneer on his face.

But Leon simply exhaled. He looked at Cedric with a hollow, detached expression. "You do know that the power of imagination is incredibly dangerous, don’t you? It’s hard to imagine things in a duel that won’t kill your opponent."

A sharp ripple of muscle tensed along his jawline. "If this was a match to the death, your... high elf, that’s what she’s called right? She’d be a corpse already." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"Damn..." Evelyn whispered, her eyes fixed on the display. "What a match."

Somewhere not too far away to their side, Uriel sighed. She raised her hand, her voice booming as she began to call the end of the duel, prepared to hand the victory to the elf.

However, the moment the first few words left her lips, the expression on the angel’s beautiful face twisted into a mask of pure malice. Suddenly, she screamed in Kaldor. "Arrogant! You think because I can’t see, I can’t kill you?"

She extended her hands to her sides, and her rage-filled voice grew even louder. "You fool! I already have you and this arena saved in my imagination!"

The moment she said that, she expelled every last bit of mana within her core into the space around her.

Athena’s eyes widened as a golden field of energy erupted from Goldie, a shimmering dome that snared the elf and surged back for several meters.

In that moment, Athena felt a really bad premonition and her instincts screamed at her to flee the bubble. But just as she flapped her wings to bank away, the world went silent. The air was ripped from her lungs in a violent burst, and the next thing that happened was: both she and Goldie suddenly fell to the ground like heavy stones.

They crashed onto the ground, the force of the impact spider-webbing the stone beneath them.

And for a long, agonizing moment after, both just lay sprawled in the dust, groaning and gasping as they struggled to draw air back into their lungs.

The entire Palestra was silent for a few seconds as everyone was stunned by the display. And then, the little crowd broke into murmurs as they tried to figure out what had just happened.

"What was that? What just happened?" Evelyn repeated, looking toward Cedric and Leon, who were also lost in a daze of disbelief.

Then, after a few seconds, a smile of grim appreciation suddenly broke across Leon’s face. "Did Goldie... just create a localized vacuum?"

Cedric arched a brow. ’Even I didn’t know she could that.’

He began to run the scenarios in his head. The only reason Goldie could not sustain the vacuum for longer than a second was her exhausted mana core.

What would have happened if she used that from the very beginning?

’No.’ Cedric shook his head imperceptibly. ’Despite it being a killer technique, it’s clearly a double-edged sword. Unless she can find a way to shield herself from the lack of pressure, she will always be caught in her own trap.’

At that moment, Uriel who had walked up to the creatures and was now studying them said, "It looks like they are both out."

She looked up, raised her hand, then concluded, "This duel ends as a tie."

After that, she knelt down and placed Goldie’s head on her lap. Uriel’s expression was unreadable, but her touch was gentle as she brushed a few blood-matted strands of hair away from the angel’s face.

At the same time, Cedric sighed.

He was experienced enough to understand that the outcome was fair.

Both of them were strong in their own way, but there was a clear mismatch of abilities.

One was more of a physical warrior while the other was an imaginative powerhouse. And let’s be honest, it’s not exactly an easy task for a warrior to beat a Manifestor.

So, of course, the outcome was inevitable.

Regardless, he was glad that he had included a draw to the bet.

Turning to Leon, he tapped the man’s shoulder and said, "You owe me two hundred and fifty gold coins."

Then his form vanished, appearing beside Athena.

***

Faint ripples of emerald light pulsed across Athena’s body as the magic mended her bruised skin and restored her strength. Slowly, she pushed herself up and sat upright on the cracked stone.

When Cedric swapped with a raven beside her, appearing in a flurry of dark feathers, he reached out a hand to her. But the moment she saw him, her expression crumbled into a mask of shame. She looked like she had failed a sacred duty.

Without taking his hand, she bowed her head deeply, avoiding his eyes as she whispered, "I’m sorry. I’m sorry I disappointed you."

It was silent between them for a brief moment, then Cedric sighed and crouched down, bringing himself to her level. He reached out and held the side of her face. Then, as he used his thumb to gently wipe a smudge of dirt from her skin, he said softly, "I’m proud of you, Athena."

Her emerald eyes widened, and she snapped her gaze up to see a warm, genuine smile on his face.

"You did your best," Cedric added. "That’s all that matters to me."

Those words filled Athena with so much relief that she struggled to maintain her composure. A fragile smile tugged at her lips as she leaned into the warmth of his palm, feeling all bubbly from his validation.

Cedric chuckled softly as he pulled his hand away a moment later. He then looked to the side where he could see Uriel comforting her angel. Leon was there as well, and an exceptional healer from Aurora’s party was also with them. But Cedric decided to help instead. Healing the Grade Three angel’s eyes would take more from the healer than it would from Athena.

"Do you think you have enough mana left to heal that angel?" Cedric asked, looking away from them to Athena.

She nodded enthusiastically. Suddenly, dozens of daffodils that had been scattered across the ground flew toward the fallen angel, while a few more detached from Athena’s own wings.

As they swirled around the angel’s form, the daffodils melted into a thick emerald mist that flowed into Goldie’s wounds, healing the jagged gashes on her skin in seconds. Then even more flowed into her eyes to heal them.

’So Athena uses the daffodils around as a catalyst for her magic.’ Cedric analyzed as he watched petals dissolve into pure energy. ’Those flowers... I can tell that they come from the field of daffodils in my inner sanctuary. It seems that she can only carry a limited supply with her at a time. Once her current stock is exhausted, she won’t be able to heal again until she can return to the sanctuary to gather more from the field of daffodils.

He narrowed his eyes, tracking the speed at which the flowers vanished. ’It also seems the greater the injury, the more daffodils are consumed to mend it.’

He was still analyzing how Athena’s powers worked exactly when the last of the emerald mist vanished into Goldie’s pores. Slowly, Goldie opened her eyelids to reveal her miraculously healed white eyes.