"The finish line is finally in sight, and what a competition it’s been! Have you all enjoyed the tournament so far!?" Exclaimed Phyurio, the crowd cheering enthusiastically in response.

Yeah, I think I made the right call having him replace Mysst as the announcer, he’s done a great job hyping up the crowd after he took over the role.

And based on the reaction of the spectators, looks like it’s safe to say that this tournament has been quite a hit. We’re definitely going to make this an annual event.

On top of the fact that the audience has been entertained, it’s also been highly profitable, there isn’t so much as a single empty seat in the stadium, and there’s been some pretty heavy foot traffic around the concession stands in between the matches.

If we can get the other nations in the Dark Continent to be more heavily involved for the next edition and conduct the tournament on a larger scale, I could definitely see it becoming the most anticipated event in the continent. Also, I’ve really enjoyed it myself, I doubt I’ll participate in every edition, but still.

It’s been a great success so far, so to cap it off, we should make sure we end it with a bang...

I then headed out, making my way towards the arena, the cheering of the crowd growing louder as I stepped out into sight, along with my fellow finalist, Satan.

"Here they are, ladies and gentlemen, our two finalists! Before much longer, we’ll know who the champion of the first edition of the Arcadia Championship Clash will be! It’s Larrk Stryker vs the Demon Lord Satan! Which of them will emerge victorious in this final clash of the competition!?" Phyurio continued hyping up the spectators, as Satan and I stepped onto the arena.

"This’ll be my first time fighting you since I freed you...let’s see how it goes," I greeted Satan with a slight smirk. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"And this will be the first time I fight you while conscious. So you should expect much more of a challenge," He replied, as the barrier formed around us.

"And now, for the last time, let’s kick off the countdown! Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! THREE! TWO!! ONE!!! ZEROOOO!!!!"

I swiftly unleashed a blast of flames at Satan as he fired off a swirling sphere of Negative Energy at me, our attacks canceling each other out as they clashed, before I turned my gaze up as he rapidly zipped up into the air and swooped down towards me with immense speed.

I manifested my whip as he closed in, sharpening and stiffening it as he extended out his claws and slashed at my neck, as I swiftly swung my whip across, striking his claws and slicing them off along with his fingertips, before he quickly flew back as I turned my whip flaccid again and swung it at his chest while extending it out.

The tip of my whip sliced across the front of his chest as he avoided sustaining significant damage, before firing a rapid blast of Obliteration at me as his fingertips regenerated.

I quickly formed a Black Hole in front of myself, swallowing up his blast before I dissipated the Black Hole and unleashed an intense sonic screech towards him.

He swiftly clapped his hands together, triggering an intense shockwave that nullified my sonic screech, before he unleashed several piercing beams of Negative Energy towards me.

I flew up using my Wind Magic, before weaving through the air to evade his beams, a couple of them grazing me before I fired off a powerful bolt of lightning towards him.

He swiftly canceled it out with a Negative Energy blast, before he flew towards me with immense speed, swerving across as I stiffened and rapidly extended my whip straight towards him, grazing the top of his right shoulder before he closed in on me, clenching his right fist and driving it towards my chest.

I quickly crossed my arms in front of myself defensively, his fist slamming onto my arms with immense force, triggering a devastating impact before his eyes widened as my arms turned to acidic slime, the skin around his fist sizzling as the slime wrapped around it, before the force of his punch sent my flying back several meters.

I unleashed an intense burst of wind behind myself to keep from crashing onto the barrier, before taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling...the barrier was tweaked to account for the effects of my Slime King Contract, I’ll get teleported out if my head, neck or the left side of my chest are about to be hit with a lethal amount of force, even if I’m in a slime state.

It’s only fair, otherwise I’d be effectively undefeatable, at least so long as I have enough Mana to maintain my slime state. There is my Core as a weak point, but I can move it around my body at will, and it’s super durable, hitting it accurately and with enough force to damage it would be extremely difficult.

"Not bad...even without the full use of your Contracts, not to mention Soul Weapon Ascension, you’re still quite formidable. I think that was enough of a warm up, don’t you? It’s time to turn things up a notch or two," Remarked Satan, looking like he was raring to go.

"Yeah, you read my mind, man, I was just thinking the same thing myself," I replied with a smirk, as I cracked my knuckles...

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