Chapter 262 Unofficial Beast Tournament VII
Despite her strong urge to win no matter what, Shiroi could tell that her tamed beast, the Fluffy Penguin, had reached its limit. Right now, it took all of its strength to just keep standing, staggering left and right as it tried to maintain its balance.
"Looks like your Fluffy Penguin will lose consciousness soon, huh," Lydia muttered to herself. "Frost Elephant! Let's finish this with a blizzard!"
With a deafening roar, the Frost Elephant used one of its special ice-type moves, blizzard. The air circulating in the open area suddenly dipped in temperature as swirling snow enveloped it. The Fluffy Penguin wasn't that affected by the frigid winds, but by the small ice projectiles mixed in the blizzard. It was a continuous attack, and since the Fluffy Penguin was too weakened to even move, well, it didn't take long before it finally reached its limit. With a weak moan, the Fluffy Penguin plopped on the ground, its eyes turning into swirly lines which signified his unconsciousness.
Fluffy Penguin had lost.
"And the winner of the second bracket's semi-finals is... Lydia Schwarz and her Frost Elephant! Please give our tamers a round of applause for showing us such a splendid fight!"
An outburst of applause and cheers erupted from everyone on the sidelines as the fight drew to a close. Dejected, Shiroi walked towards her Fluffy Penguin and patted it on the head. "You did well, Fluffy Penguin, I'm sorry for being such a bad tamer," Shiroi muttered to herself. After all, she only had herself to blame for their loss. The Fluffy Penguin pushed itself to the limits, but the one that prevailed, in the end, was the Frost Elephant.
"Good job, Frost Elephant, let's win this whole tournament, okay?" Lydia said, patting the Frost Elephant's side.
Even though Satoshi wasn't the one who fought against the Frost Elephant, he still felt Shiroi's crestfallen demeanor. Walking up to her, Satoshi wore a smile on his face, hoping that that minuscule gesture would at least cheer Shiroi up even if it was just a little bit.
"That was a great fight," Satoshi said, holding out his hand for Shiroi to hold. It took every cell of his being to suppress his embarrassment when Shiroi reached for his hand. His body jerked, but it was too sudden for it to be noticeable.
"But I lost... and here I was, thinking we'd finally have a rematch." Shiroi sighed.
"A rematch?" Satoshi asked, thinking that he missed something in the past.
"Yep, remember back on the first day of school? We weren't able to fight since we forfeited together." Shiroi pointed out, jogging Satoshi's memories.
"Ah, right! That happened." Satoshi said. "Well, we can always have a rematch next time. Your Fluffy Penguin would need lots and lots of training though."
"I guess." Shiroi's face brightened up a bit as she responded, much to Satoshi's relief.
...
Half an hour later,
It was time for the finals, and everyone cheered louder than ever as Satoshi and Lydia entered the open area. Those who joined the excursion could leave at any time but they decided to stay just so they could see the entire event through. Also, they had no idea who was going to win so they looked forward to it even more.
"And now, for the finals match! On this end, we have Midoriyama Satoshi and his Alpha Red Salamander! Please give them a round of applause!"
The people were already clapping their hands so they just increased the volume and intensity of their claps, hollering and cheering as they go. They were surprised that Satoshi didn't use his Altered Type White Lion against Lydia's Frost Elephant.
"And on the opposite end, we have Lydia Schwarz and her Frost Elephant!" Kim Jin Seok continued his announcement.
Simultaneously, Lydia also walked towards the opposite end of the open area, smiling at Satoshi for his ridiculous pick. He had every chance to use his White Lion but instead, he went for the Red Alpha Salamander who was clearly at a type disadvantage against the Frost Elephant.
"You should've picked the White Lion. Your Alpha Red Salamander won't stand a chance against my Frost Elephant." Lydia called out. "You already lost before the match even started."
"Um... you do know that Ice melts in the heat, right?" Satoshi then returned. "You shouldn't assume the best case scenario when it comes to fights, you know."
"FOR THE FINALS ROUND! ALPHA RED SALAMANDER VERSUS FROST ELEPHANT! START!"
The cheering coming from the audience stopped and they held their breaths as soon as Kim Jin Seok announced the commencement of the fight. Would Satoshi make the first move? Or would Lydia attack first? Everyone started wondering how the finals match would play out, so much so that they turned silent in eager anticipation.
"Frost Elephant! Use ice domain!" Lydia commanded as the Frost Elephant let out a trumpeting sound from its trunk.
Chilly air started surrounding the open area once again, enveloping it in a snowstorm soon after. Ice domain is an area of effect move that greatly boosts an ice-type beast. This move temporarily matches the domain with the ice typing, terraforming it to suit the beast. "Satoshi! You'd better do something about this, otherwise, your Alpha Red Salamander would freeze to death!"
"Alpha Red Salamander, you know what to do," Satoshi muttered, patting the Alpha Red Salamander by the tail. "Lydia, I think this will be an easy win for us so I'll give myself a handicap."Satoshi suddenly announced, much to everyone's surprise.
Gasp!
"A handicap?! Hahhaha~!" Lydia chuckled. "There's no chance you could win right, and you're giving yourself a handicap? Are you crazy, Satoshi?"
"Call it crazy, but it's you who don't stand a chance against my Alpha Red Salamander," Satoshi said. He couldn't help but show off since Shiroi was watching by the sidelines, hoping that he'd win the entire unofficial beast tournament.
"Interesting, then what's the handicap?" Lydia smiled, fully aware that the longer Satoshi stalled for time, the stronger her Frost Elephant's Ice Domain would become.
"My Alpha Red Salamander is more than enough to handle your Frost Elephant, so I'm going to turn around and close my eyes." Satoshi then proceeded to do just that. "I won't give my Alpha Red Salamander a single command... that's my handicap."