1018 Chapter 1018 Lian Round Lian walked out onto the stage looking particrly tired. Despite that… Kat suspected she’d just decided to go for that sort of style with her makeup today. Why? Who knows, but a quick nce at Bing revealed a very unworried cultivator. *Yeah, almost certainly makeup then. Not sure why she’d want to look like that… but then again I’ve never really known anyone that got into the goth aesthetic. Lily?*


    [I’ve got nothing. There was that one girl at my old school that went goth for a bit… but well… it was a bit before that whole issue with Ste so… I didn’t really get to appreciate the change. I mean… she wares it well, even if it does look like she hasn’t been sleeping.]


    *Oh? Well, if you had to rate her on a scale from… hmm… actually how does shepare to the rest of our friends?*


    [Kat! Rude!]


    *It’s not like I’m going to tell them, and you’ve made it perfectly clear to them all many times over that you think I’m the most attractive. What makes it different?*


    [Well you’re my girlfriend! So of course it’s different. If I thought someone else looked better it’d be weird! The fact that I can im you as a girlfriend makes all the difference. It’s bad form to rank your friends against each other!]


    *Is it?*


    [Of course it is! At least… where they can’t hear you? Maybe if we were all chatting together it’d be fine… hmm… why don’t you go first then! What do you think?]


    *I mean…*


    .....


    [Yes yes, I know that there won’t be any lust. Purely beauty.]


    *Hmm… probably Nira at the top then? Wait, I want to make it clear that I’m also not bothering to count you on the list. Um… I’d probably go Nira… then Nixilei, then maybe… Sue, Green, Kamiko… then Lian? I think? Everything after Sue I think sit about the same. We have attractive friends.*


    [Why was Nira on the list though?]


    Kat didn’t do much to hide the instinctive answer to the question which was ‘intelligence’. [OH. Oh… yeah right I guess I see how that could happen. They’re the most simr to me in your head right? Nira and Nixilei? And Sue is… Sue.]


    *Yeah… I mean… Nira still looks nice, but yeah… intelligence is probably what made me order them like that. I me you.*


    [I will happily take the me for that. As for me… I don’t really know what to say. She makes it so hard! You know my main fetish are thighs and legs and she’s got that allpletely covered!]


    *Are you trying to avoid answering?*


    [NO! Just… it’s not very fair of me to rate her on anything while I can’t see her best feature.]


    *Fine… better or worse then Sue?*


    [Noment]


    Kat grinned at Lily’s embarrassment as her girlfriend tried to mute the link. It… sort of worked. Kat could still feel Lily but it did seem to be a bit muted. *Perhaps I can disguise my teasing as ‘training’.* Kat made no effort to hide her thoughts, but Lily didn’t rise to the bait. Kat turned her gaze back out to the field and saw that the fighter in question had arge war-axe as their chosen weapon. It was double sided, and looked like it weighed enough to crack the ground if dropped.


    The man wielding it was a gruff sort, with a bit of a beard and leather armour with a bit of padding as clothing. He was a purplish skinned elf… probably. He had a helmet on and his ears were hidden. His arms were left bear, though, with just a set of bracers that covered his wrists and about half the forearm and nothing else. His boots were thick leather and likely had a metal te around the toes.


    “Now, let the match between Goroth the Lightning Ram and Lian the Curse Mistress begin!” shouted the announcer.


    Lian started the match the same way as she didst town, dropping down and started to strum as sheyered mines across the ground, bunching them up a bit more directly in front of her, while summoning a shield around herself. Goroth, clearly having learned from the previous round, started to charge forward, lightning sparking from his body as he did so. Mines burst underfoot into ck gunk that seemed to cling to his legs but Goroth didn’t stop… in fact he was still speeding up.


    It didn’t take long for Goroth to make it to Lian. No hesitation was in his swing as his axe sliced into the shield around the goth girl. Lian remained calm even as the axe made contact with her shield and started to crack it. A strum of the zither and a shotgun st of gunk hurled itself at Goroth, who simply ignored the whatever they were going to do and wound up for another swing.


    ck gunk built up across Goroth’s body, some leaving behind bruises but most just leaving behind residue. Goroth didn’t seem to be slowing down and the second sh caused the shield around Lian let out a pained shriek. Lian threw out one more round of blobs but Goroth didn’t let up, he kept his axe in ce and kicked out at the shield. Crack.


    The shield shattered as his boot made contact but his attack was halted. The shield breaking caused an explosion that shot Goroth backwards. If he’d been standing off to the side of the shield he might’ve been sent out of the arena. As it was though… he was sent towards the back of the arena, ck residue still clinging to him but he managed tond without too many issue.


    Lian used this as a chance to load up more mines… but it didn’t seem like she made any attempt to summon up another shield. Line after line of mines was added, once again especially in front, after Goroth’s charge. When he had recovered, he red at the mess on the arena and knelt down. The electricity around his started to grow in size, sparking off to the ground asionally before he thrust a hand forward. A crack of thunder and a massive lightning bolt as thick as Kat’s waist mmed into Lian.


    Lian had actually raised one of her hands in front of her to take the lightning attack before it could spark into her weapon. Her arm looked rather charred but that was just her outfit… hopefully. Lian’s hair had started to frizz up, puffing up slightly and letting off a few sparks. She was breathing heavily but didn’t seem too concerned once the lightning had passed. She started to strum again, but the fingers on that hand spasmed, the lightning still dancing around her nerves.


    Goroth took that as his chance to charge. He did spend a bit of effort dodging the mines at the start… only to realise there was simply too many of them now. He disregarded fancy footwork and simply burst forward, lightning streaming off his body and axe as he tried to make it to Lian before she could recover. Lian red at the running figure and flipped her instrument around, letting her spasming fingers rest on the ends as she strummed out a somewhat shaky tune with her other hand.


    Goroth started to slow noticeably. Tendrils reached up from further away mines, and his charge started to slow. He grit his teeth and overcharged the lightning around his body, letting it spark down into the mines in hopes to disable them. It had little effect. He simply had to deal with it. More and more tendrils reached out, trying to bind his arms and legs but Goroth was a proud man and wasn’t willing to simply give up. He pushed forward…


    …Making it all the way to Lian. He was right there. He just needed to swing. She hadn’t tried to dodge at all. Goroth pulled his arm back… and it stayed there. No matter how much he grunted or struggle he couldn’t bring the axe down. The tendrils of curse qi bound him tightly.


    “Goroth! Can you move!” called out the announcer.


    “YES!” he instantly shouted in response and returned to struggling against his bindings.


    “You have one minute to make notable progress otherwise I’m calling the match!” said the announcer, clearly not quite believing Goroth.


    Lian didn’t move, and notably… she didn’t add any more tendrils either. She simply sat in ce, recovering what energy she could just in case the fight continued. Goroth struggled with all his might. Muscles bulging and rippling, his neck a mess of pulsing veins and straining muscles… but it wasn’t enough.


    “Ten”


    Goroth growled and hissed.


    “Nine”


    Goroth tried to shift his footing, fix his stance up a bit only to be pulled back a bit.


    “Eight”


    Goroth started to lean forward, all of his body weight was put into the movement.


    “Seven”


    Fuck proper stances, he just needed one moment. One moment of freedom…


    “Six”


    To bring the axe down on the little bitch…


    “Five”


    But he couldn’t move. All of his efforts and he couldn’t move.


    “Four”


    Goroth breathed deeply, a moment, just a moment to rx.


    “Three”


    Power surged through his veins. Lightning crackled.


    “Two”


    Goroth pushed forward, the ground cracked…


    “One”


    And he was yanked backwards, down to the ground and covered in darkness.