Correy was too busy evading pursuit and planning counterattacks to notice this scene.
Soon after, Correy finally realized something was wrong.
Because those letters were simply too conspicuous:
“lo color.””
Combined with the arrow, it was as if Dickel had marked Correy with a humiliating label. Contrary to Richard’s expectations.
Correy, who had been calmly analyzing the battle situation and steadily holding his ground against Dickel, was now completely enraged.
He activated multiple artillery ports and began obliterating the markings on the ground.
Dickel, having anticipated this move, swiftly closed in and swung his chainsword directly at Correy.
Correy reacted instantly, activating his particle shield.
“BOOM—”
The deafening impact sent a tremor through the hearts of the Starsea team.
The Meteor mech’s shield was its last resort. With this move deployed, Correy’s situation grew increasingly perilous.
Sure enough, by the twenty-first minute of the match, Dickel effortlessly flipped Correy’s Meteor mech onto its back.
Planting one foot on the mech’s dorsal armor, Dickel raised his chainsword and leaned in close to Correy’s audio receptors, saying, “Let me carve these letters into your back, Starsea trash.”
The referee began the countdown.
“Ten, nine, eight…”
At this moment, Correy’s mech arm suddenly twisted backward, preparing to strike at Dickel.
In the next instant, Dickel effortlessly caught Correy’s wrist as if everything had gone exactly according to plan.
Coach Gamma of St. Clythus had warned his team: “Correy excels at finding opportunities through rational analysis, often catching opponents off guard. His weaknesses are his pride and lack of raw strength.”
“So against Correy, you must find ways to humiliate him during the match. When he’s distracted, use your strength advantage to overpower him. Oh, and watch his mech arms—even when prone, he can still attack backward.”
—Gamma’s exact words.
The match unfolded precisely as Gamma had predicted.
Correy had fallen perfectly into Dickel’s trap.
With one hand gripping Correy’s reversed wrist, Dickel prepared to engrave the letters.
But then something nobody expected happened.
Correy still activated the artillery port in his palm.
The audience was baffled; with Correy’s wrist immobilized by Dickel, the shot would only hit the arena’s edge barriers. What good would that do?
Dickel didn’t even bother stopping him.
Yet in the next second,
Just as the artillery was about to fire, Correy suddenly clenched his fist with tremendous force!
“BOOM—!”
The blast failed to discharge, detonating instead within his clenched hand.
The tremendous energy from the explosion directly obliterated half of Correy’s mech arm.
Since Correy had raised his arm, the mech limb was closer to Dickel who was crouching. The blast simultaneously destroyed Dickel’s shoulder and his entire mechanical arm!
Dickel was caught completely off guard. The shockwave sent him stumbling backward before he crashed to the ground.
The audience was stunned by this shocking turn of events.
In the waiting room, the members of Star Ocean Military Academy collectively rose to their feet, staring wide-eyed at the live broadcast screen.
Had Correy just turned the match around?
“The countdown has ended.”
Yet despite this astonishing move, Correy had been a second too late.
Yun Xingze watched the scene unfold, his eyes flickering slightly.
He could sense that Correy hadn’t acted for the sake of victory, but for something else—
Dignity?
No, there was another layer of emotion beneath it.
An emotion Yun Xingze had never experienced in this world before.
The first round of the solo match concluded with St. Clythus taking the win, bringing the score to 0:1.
Though Correy had lost, Dickel’s attitude toward him carried noticeably less disdain than before.
After stepping off the field, Dickel frowned and asked, “Even if you’d blown up my mech arm, you still wouldn’t have won. What was the point, besides driving up repair costs?”
“Because I couldn’t stand you, is that reason enough?” Correy gritted his teeth, the pain in his arm still lingering, but he forced the words out. “Besides, if there’d been enough time, there’s no way I would’ve lost to you.”
“All because of those letters I wrote?” Dickel sneered. “I didn’t realize you were even more obsessed with saving face than I thought.”
“None of your damn business.” Correy glanced at the battlefield now utterly ravaged before turning away, his gaze hardening. “Next time we meet, I’ll blow your head off.”
Dickel scoffed, swelling with pride as he unconsciously glanced at his “masterpiece” on the field.
But a moment later, he froze.
It suddenly struck him—
The first marks Correy had erased weren’t the letters, but the massive arrow.
And that arrow had pointed directly toward Star Ocean Military Academy’s waiting room.
Dickel stared blankly at Correy, only to find that seemingly mild-mannered, pale-faced guy had already walked away, his back resolute, his arm trembling faintly.
The people from Star Ocean weren’t what he’d expected.
After St. Clythus secured the first victory, their morale soared.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere in Star Ocean’s camp grew tense.
Next up was the first team match.
He Haoming, Chi Yu, and Caleb versus St. Clythus’s golden trio.
It was immediately clear that St. Clythus’s team was in high spirits, their coordination seamless and dazzling.
During the speed phase of the team match, St. Clythus left Star Ocean far behind.
It was obvious without Yun Xingze, this team’s overall strength appeared to have improved, but in reality, they’d grown far weaker.
As Chi Yu and Caleb charged forward under He Haoming’s lead, they both found themselves missing Yun Xingze’s heroic figure clearing the way ahead.
To be precise, they missed that ugly cat.
Richard once again realized that Yun Xingze wasn’t deadweight. He was the backbone that carried the team.
A backbone like that could shine brilliantly in both team and solo matches.
When the blue beam of Stellar Naval Academy lit up, the green beam of St. Clythus had already been shining for a long time.
From the very start of this match, Stellar Naval Academy was at a disadvantage.
In the 3v3 confrontation on the intersecting battlefield, St. Clythus dominated Stellar Naval Academy from beginning to end.
This golden duo once again showcased St. Clythus’s “fine tradition” during the match.
They first eliminated Chi Yu. Seizing the opportunity, He Haoming managed to take out one of their opponents as well.
Subsequently, the two St. Clythus members didn’t immediately eliminate Caleb after restraining him with chains. Instead, they…
slapped him across the face.
This was a tactic St. Clythus had used repeatedly with success. Being a rather chivalrous person, He Haoming naturally stepped forward to help Caleb.
As a result, the two threw Caleb to the ground and seized the chance to gang up on He Haoming.
Though He Haoming was strong, even the best fighter can’t take on two at once. He was eliminated in the fortieth minute.
St. Clythus won the first team match with an absolute advantage.
Many spectators cheered for St. Clythus. The score became 0:3, reaching St. Clythus’s match point one more win would secure them the victory!
These people had come specifically to see them humiliate their opponents, including citizens from the Black Swan Galaxy, St. Clythus students, and many spectators with a taste for schadenfreude.
“Amazing! St. Clythus is killing it this year too!”
“Keep going, don’t stop! I love seeing Stellar’s players seething helplessly!”
“St. Clythus forever! Love your shameless style.”
When the audience realized the next match, the second individual combat. Would be between Bai Jiashi and Yun Xingze, their excitement reached new heights.
Bai Jiashi, St. Clythus’s most notorious player, perpetually ranked first on the “most dreaded opponent” list.
“Infamous” barely did him justice.
In his last match, right in front of the referee and during the countdown, he snapped off his opponent’s mech fingers one by one, breaking all ten before time ran out.
As for Yun Xingze he was a fair, pretty-looking Omega.
The atmosphere in the arena peaked when the two entered.
St. Clythus’s “fans” were eager to see how Bai Jiashi would humiliate this Omega.
But what Bai Jiashi wanted to know was.
“What exactly did that expert say??” he immediately asked Yun Xingze upon entering.
