Chapter 271: Loser’s Bracket Winner - 2 Chapter 271: Loser’s Bracket Winner - 2 "Midnight, fly up!" Uraan shouted, boots grinding against the arena floor as he lunged forward, trying to close the distance on Lyra. But before the Raven could even complete a single flap, Lyra’s rapier flashed—a thin line of silver cutting through the air—and she cleanly severed the pulley tendon in the bird’s wing. The Raven let out a sharp cry as its body tilted, balance lost, and it dropped from its height like a stone. "Midnight!" Uraan was already sprinting toward the point where the Raven would crash. His eyes tracked the fall precisely. Lyra was falling too. Yet there was no fear in her expression. Electricity crackled along the slender length of her rapier, blue arcs snapping and hissing around the blade as she thrust it straight toward Uraan mid-descent. Crackle! Wind surged violently around him. Uraan twisted his body and sidestepped at the last instant, the electrified tip grazing past with a sizzling hiss. BOOM! The ground ruptured where the strike landed, dust and fragments blasting outward. But Lyra didn’t stop. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! She slashed repeatedly through empty air, each swing whipping arcs of lightning forward like feral serpents. Bolts tore across the arena in jagged lines and scorched the stone. Uraan weaved between them, dodging with fluid precision, coat snapping wildly in the wind pressure. THAM! The Raven slammed into the ground with a heavy impact, and a few jet-black, large feathers scattered. The Raptor was already lunging in, claws extended, jaws parting to maul the injured bird. But at that very moment, the Raven’s beak began to glow—silvery, pale and luminous like the surface of the moon. Swish! With a sudden, sharp motion, it pecked forward. The silver beak drove in near the Raptor’s neck, lodging deep. "Screeeeecccc!!" The Raptor shrieked in agony, its body convulsing. The silver light pulsed faintly within the wound—an eerie sheen that seemed to amplify every ounce of pain. Crackle! Enraged, the Raptor unleashed a burst of electricity point-blank through the point of contact. "KAWW!" The Raven’s body stiffened instantly, feathers bristling as paralysis seized it. In the next heartbeat, the Raptor clamped its jaws around the Raven’s neck. On the other side— Slash! Slash! Tang! Klink! Slash! Klink! Lyra zipped around Uraan at terrifying speed, her boots barely seeming to touch the ground. Afterimages blurred in his vision. He struggled to properly track her movement, steel ringing constantly as he managed to block a few strikes while several others sliced across his arms, shoulders, and side. Warm blood seeped through torn fabric. "Heh..." Lyra’s cold voice slipped through the relentless barrage. "I won’t deny your speed," she said smoothly, her rapier carving a shallow line across Uraan’s back, "but don’t you need a run-up time for it?" "Hehe," Uraan replied lightly, though blood dripped from his sleeve, "that would be right, my lady. But do I need it against someone like you?" Lyra’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second. Instead of retreating or defending, Uraan abruptly plunged his sword into the soil directly along her path. Tham! Still riding her momentum, she couldn’t alter direction in time. Her leg struck the embedded blade. Her balance snapped. She pitched forward, slamming headfirst into the ground and skidding across the arena floor before coming to a rough halt several meters away, dust trailing behind her. By the time she stopped, Uraan was already behind her. He stood breathing heavily, blood trickling from multiple wounds. His healing was struggling to keep up—the glow faint and unstable, as if some sort of stored energy was being drained faster than it could replenish. Klink! He slashed sharply at her rapier, sending it spinning out of her grasp. It clattered across the ground. Bare-handed now, Lyra barely had time to turn before Uraan raised his palm directly before her face. [Wind Blade]! A compressed crescent of wind roared forward— But before the damage could become fatal, both Lyra and her Raptor—still holding Uraan’s Raven in its jaws—were enveloped in light and teleported away. "Hufff..." The Raven let out a faint, relieved sound as the tension vanished. "Damn..." Uraan muttered, lowering his hand. He exhaled slowly, wiping blood from his chin. "The girls in the top 10 are way too ferocious... Well, at least they’re not bitchy." He paused, frowning slightly. "I mean, they don’t look like it, so maybe..." He was thinking about Lyra, Dhalia, and Lily. From what he had seen so far, they weren’t overconfident. They had pride—but it wasn’t excessive. They understood their limits. That alone set them apart from the type he was used to back in his city. Lyra, though she resembled those women very much in demeanour, wasn’t overbearing. Dhalia was just a battle junkie—living and breathing only for combat. As for Lily... she was the most unique character he had encountered so far. "Can call her by her first name? I thought I would never hear that from someone’s mouth when I was the one to give respect first... especially a girl." His thoughts drifted to Leo. "I really want to have a match with him. Just don’t let me be matched with that monstrous bastard again in the coming matches..." Uraan was completely certain he would win the loser’s bracket and advance to face the winner bracket students. His goal was 3rd—maybe even 2nd if fate favored him. 1st was impossible. Not after facing Leon and witnessing the sheer disparity between them. What he didn’t know was that Tavian had been watching every single match with sharp focus, dissecting movements, identifying flaws. Except for 2—Leo and Leon—he had found weaknesses in almost everyone. Including Uraan. Uraan was teleported away mid-match. But the moment he arrived in the healing area— THUK! A fist smashed straight into his face. "W-what?!" Uraan staggered back, stunned. He turned— Lyra stood there, fury blazing in her eyes. "What did you do to my Stormripper?! Why isn’t his wound closing?!" she demanded, pointing sharply toward the Raptor. They were inside a large, spacious recovery hall reserved exclusively for the top 50 students. Healers in white nurse-like robes moved swiftly between cots, continuously casting healing magic. The air was thick with mana and the sterile scent of herbs. A changing room stood to the side for students to replace their blood-soaked uniforms. Stormripper’s neck wound was still bleeding. The silver glow faintly shimmered within the injury, negating every healing attempt. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂 Apparently, the healers couldn’t close it. They claimed it required at least a Mid 4th-tier or higher-tier being to remove the effect. The Raptor’s blood dripped steadily onto the white marble, refusing to clot. It was visibly losing strength and vitality. "Oh! I thought they must have a higher-tier healer here," Uraan said, blinking. Apparently they had one, but at this moment he was gone for some business. "Idiot! Do you want my beast dead? Do something!" Lyra snapped, voice cracking slightly under the edge of panic. "Sorry, sorry! Midnight—remove the Moon Poison effect," he called out quickly. The Raven, being escorted toward another healing section, turned its head. For a brief moment, its blood-red eyes shifted—becoming pure silver. A subtle pulse of lunar light shimmered across the Raptor’s wound. The next instant, combined with the ongoing healing magic, the silver glow vanished—and the wound closed rapidly, flesh knitting together. Lyra inhaled deeply in relief. The tension in her shoulders eased. Then she shot Uraan an irritated glare. "Are you an idiot!" --- A/N: I will try publishing more Chapters soon, though tbh, I am very tired rn.