Round Three: Cloud vs. Shun'ei
This was the focal match everyone anticipated.
The moment Shun'ei stepped onto the stage, his gaze locked firmly onto Cloud, filled with fighting spirit and a trace of gratitude.
"Please guide me!" He bowed deeply.
"Relax. Think of it as a final exam." Cloud waved with a smile.
The battle began. Shun'ei held nothing back, demonstrating everything Cloud had taught him about "condensation" and "transformation."
Blue spectral hands transformed into sharp icicles; red spectral hands became searing whips. His offense and defense finally showed some structure.
However, in Cloud's divine vision, all of Shun'ei's movements were like an elementary student demonstrating "one plus one equals two" before a university professor.
Cloud kept one hand in his pocket throughout, easily neutralizing all of Shun'ei's attacks with just his other hand.
Sometimes he flicked energy icicles away with a single finger; sometimes he sidestepped energy fire whips. His leisurely manner made it look less like fighting and more like playing with an energetic puppy in a park.
"Not bad, you've improved," Cloud even found time for live commentary. "But your power still stops at form without grasping intent."
He extended his index finger, pointing lightly toward Shun'ei.
No earth-shaking energy fluctuations—just a wisp of imperceptible Dimensional Power.
Shun'ei felt as if the entire world had pressed pause on him. The Phantom Power in his body instantly froze; he couldn't move a single finger.
"This is intent." Cloud's voice sounded by his ear. "When your power understands your thoughts rather than your commands, only then will you truly begin."
Cloud retracted his finger. Shun'ei instantly regained freedom, stumbling from the sudden loss of control, nearly falling.
He gasped for air, shock and disbelief written across his face.
In that instant, he hadn't felt like he was fighting a person—he'd felt like he was opposing all of space, all the universe!
"I... lost." Shun'ei lowered his head in complete acceptance.
...
Just like that, Team Slacking Spectators advanced to the finals in an extremely joyful and harmonious manner.
Their opponents would be the South American Team, who had narrowly defeated Kim Kaphwan's Korea Justice Team in the other semifinal.
...
Finals Day. Antonov Stadium was packed to capacity.
The atmosphere reached its peak. Enormous holographic screens cycled promotional footage starring Antonov himself—How Champions Are Made.
The film showed him wrestling bears in Siberian snowfields, deep-sea diving to lift sunken ships in the Mariana Trench, and trekking across the Sahara. The special effects were laughably cheap, the plot so absurd that even Shermie lost all desire to comment.
"The champion's airship is about to descend!" The announcer's voice whipped the crowd into a frenzy.
Everyone looked up at the stadium's retractable dome.
Sure enough, a luxury airship painted entirely in gold, draped with string lights and enormous posters of Antonov's face, was slowly descending.
Beneath the airship hung a glittering golden arena. Antonov stood at its center in his signature gold wrestling outfit, waving to the roaring crowd below.
"Wahahahaha! Fighting fans of the world! Are you ready to witness the true champion!"
Cloud watched from the competitor tunnel as this obscenely wealthy airship descended, shaking his head helplessly. "This guy really takes ceremonial pageantry to the extreme..."
"So tacky..." Shermie commented.
"Will there be ice cream up there?" Kula's concern remained singular.
However, just as the airship was about to reach its designated altitude—
BZZZZT—!
A strange, heart-palpitating energy fluctuation suddenly erupted from above the stadium without warning!
The sky seemed to be violently twisted by an invisible hand, taking on an ominous purple-black distortion.
The smoothly descending airship began swaying violently like a drunk, its lights flashing wildly, Antonov's poster tearing in half mid-air.
"Wh-What's happening?!" Even Antonov panicked. His prized "Champion's Airship" had completely lost control!
[WARNING! WARNING! Detecting ultra-high-intensity space-time distortion! Space barriers are being forcibly torn!]
The system's alert in Cloud's mind was sharper than any before.
He looked up sharply, his divine vision piercing through the stadium dome to witness an astonishing sight.
At the center of the twisted space-time vortex, the Phantom Power within Shun'ei was being uncontrollably extracted, transforming into a bridge connecting reality and another dimension!
And at the other end of that bridge, a massive monster composed of chaotic energy and countless wailing souls was breaking through!
BOOM!!!
A deafening explosion. The out-of-control airship detonated completely, becoming a massive fireball.
Antonov, using his formidable physique, leaped from the airship in the final moment before the explosion, crashing heavily onto the arena below and leaving a massive crater in the solid gold platform.
"My... MY AIRSHIP!!!" Antonov let out a pig-slaughtering wail. That thing had cost him 300 million dollars!
But no one cared about his airship anymore.
All eyes were fixed on the monster in the sky.
It had no fixed form, presenting an ominous purple-black color with patterns like flowing magma across its surface.
Its body seemed to imprison countless struggling souls—distorted, agonized faces appearing and disappearing, their wails and shrieks combining into a sound that made scalps tingle.
It radiated an all-encompassing yet chaotic qi.
Sometimes it was Rugal's arrogance and killing intent; sometimes Goenitz's divine holiness and violence; sometimes Igniz's hypocrisy and majesty; sometimes Saiki's chaos and void...
The auras of countless powerful beings had been crudely fused together.
[WARNING! BOSS HAS APPEARED!]
[Target name: VERSE!]
[Composition: A product of space-time distortion, formed from countless KOF world fighters' soul fragments, memories, and grudges.]
[Abilities: Soul Devouring, Technique Mimicry, Energy Fusion.]
[Threat Level: God-tier (Pseudo)]
"Verse..." Cloud murmured, looking at the monster in the sky.
It had finally arrived.
"Wh-What is that thing?!"
"A monster!"
The audience instantly dissolved into chaos, screaming and fleeing in all directions.
...
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