Carlotta succeeded; her intuition was correct.
She was just one intense battle away from becoming an eighth-tier apprentice, and this duel with the Listener successfully ignited her epiphany, allowing her to step into a new level.
She swung her sword with graceful poise, as if dancing slightly, yet a mournful song accompanied her movements.
Spencer couldn’t help but burst into tears, breaking his invisibility, his face filled with grief, as if he had just lost a loved one.
This scene leaves the others with strange expressions. A Listener crying while dealing with a seventh-tier apprentice?
Of course, everyone understood it must be related to the method Carlotta used, but such a sight still had a tremendous impact on them.
Some who were at odds with the Shadow Adventure Team even secretly had their card magic practitioners use photo cards to record this scene, planning to mock Spencer with it later.
Such a scene was too unforgettable.
Even Spencer himself felt embarrassed. He desperately wanted to control his expression, wipe away his tears, and stop crying, but the song persisted, and he couldn’t suppress his emotions.
The many gazes around him made him feel so ashamed that he almost wanted to bang his head against a wall. Even if he defeated Carlotta today, he knew he would be laughed at because he had cried.
Regardless of the reason, crying was crying, and those at odds with him would surely mock him.
Filled with anger, Spencer decidedly charged at Carlotta, determined to interrupt her technique. He couldn’t afford to lose face any further.
With two daggers tightly gripped, Spencer thrust them forward, turning them into two black streaks, extremely sharp, colliding with Carlotta’s sword.
Spencer had thought this strike would at least force Carlotta’s sword away, given that in previous clashes, Carlotta had been visibly affected. However, after the collision, he felt something was wrong.
A strange stickiness emanated from Carlotta’s sword, pulling at his daggers, making it impossible to separate them, even forcing him to move closer.
Sonia’s gaze shook violently.
She had already realized that Carlotta had broken through to the level of an eighth-tier apprentice during the fight and had mastered the eighth movement of the Elven Knight path, the Elven Elergy.
But what she hadn’t expected was that Carlotta had perfectly combined the eighth movement with the fourth movement, allowing the Elven Elergy and the Elven Dance to be performed simultaneously!
She was familiar with the Elven Knight path and knew that only certain non-conflicting movements could be performed together.
For example, the Elven Butterfly Dance uses the feet, so it wouldn’t conflict with other attack movements.
Only a few movements didn’t conflict; most movements had conflicts, and the Elven Elergy was particularly conflicted with all movements except the Elven Butterfly Dance.
This was a difficult problem to solve before becoming a Listener.
But now, the Elven Elergy and the Elven Dance were being performed simultaneously by an eighth-tier apprentice!
This requires an extremely deep understanding of the Elven Knight path, something that most apprentices, no matter how diligent, could hardly achieve.
Yet this young girl before her was so astonishing, not only combining mixing Elven movements but also unleashing a synergy where one plus one was far greater than two.
’Am I witnessing a genius?’
Sonia looked deeply at Carlotta.
The combination of the Elven Elergy and the Elven Dance, complementing each other, left even a Listener like Spencer unable to retrieve his daggers, stuck firmly.
He was even pulled closer, feeling hundreds of sharp edges emerging from Carlotta’s sword, forcing him to let go of his daggers and retreat, or else he would be drawn into the attack.
Spencer managed to retreat, but without his weapons, he was at a loss on how to deal with Carlotta. Moreover, he was still crying, tears streaming down his face, as if he had encountered some great sadness.
After taking Spencer’s daggers, Carlotta leaped forward, taking the initiative to attack, her sword radiating with sharpness.
Seeing this, Spencer tried to turn invisible, thinking that since Carlotta had changed her attack method, she wouldn’t be able to make him cry uncontrollably, thus not breaking his invisibility.
But as soon as he turned invisible, he broke it again due to his uncontrollable sobbing.
The effect of the Elven Elergy hadn’t ended!
As Carlotta thrust her sword forward, the mournful song still echoed from it.
She not only could combine the Elven Elergy and the Elven Dance but also integrate them with all other Echoes of Elven Steel. For her, combining two movements was no challenge.
Unable to turn invisible and without his weapons, Spencer could only dodge repeatedly under Carlotta’s increasingly fierce attacks, looking extremely disheveled.
In no time, Carlotta had her sword at Spencer’s neck.
Carlotta smiled slightly, announcing the result to Spencer, who stood stiffly, tears still streaming down his face.
The crowd erupted in uproar.
A Listener had lost to a seventh-tier apprentice?
Even though this seventh-tier apprentice had broken through to the eighth tier during the fight, she was still just an apprentice. A Listener losing to an apprentice?
This was undoubtedly a highly disruptive event, shaking everyone’s hearts, making it hard to believe.
But no matter how unbelievable, it was the truth; Carlotta’s sword was still at Spencer’s neck.
"Moonlight Adventure Team wins!"
Sonia announced the result.
The guild hall fell so silent you could hear a pin drop.
But outside on the streets, countless voices rose like a tidal wave, many people showing expressions of shock and disbelief.
This uproar quickly spread throughout Pine Town!
Carlotta sheathed her sword and approached the staff with satisfaction, watching as they transferred the Shadow Adventure Team’s contribution points, a full one million points, making her eyes sparkle.
Sonia couldn’t help but ask.
Only then did many realize they didn’t even know Carlotta’s name, only that she was the leader of the Moonlight Adventure Team.
Hearing this, Carlotta simply replied, "Crescent Moon."
This was clear just a code name; the name she registered with the Adventure Association was Crescent Moon.
As for Amelia, it was Full Moon.
Using code names was allowed; adventurers were free to do so.
This code name was quickly remembered by everyone present and spread throughout Pine Town.
The battle was over, and Spencer had stopped crying, but his heart was still heavy, unable to accept the outcome.
With a face as pale as death, he returned to the spot where the members of the Shadow Adventurers Guild were gathered. The atmosphere there was heavy.
Only Thomas seemed somewhat relieved. He said to his returning brother, "See, brother? It’s not my fault that I lost. You had stepped in, you also lost it too."
Spencer’s face twitched, and he turned his head away, not wanting to talk to Thomas.
Thomas continued, "And compared to me, brother, your loss was even more humiliating. At least I didn’t cry from being beaten."
Hearing this, Spencer was so angry that his nose was almost twisted. Was it really because he was beaten that he cried? Clearly, he had fallen victim to the opponent’s tricks!
"Are you done talking?"
Spencer, already filled with pent-up anger, grabbed Thomas and started delivering a series of heavy punches, making Thomas howl in pain.
While shielding his face, Thomas shouted, "You have time to hit me? Think about how you’re going to explain this! You’ve just cost the guild a full million contribution points!"
Spencer, who was in the midst of beating his brother, froze. A chill ran up his spine, and a flash of fear appeared in his eyes.
He thought of the guild leader. He had caused the guild to lose a full million contribution points. Would the guild leader let him off the hook?
The joys and sorrows of people are not shared.
While some were suffering, others were rejoicing.
Carlotta was very happy. After the series of duels, she now has over three million contribution points. This was an extremely substantial amount of wealth. She felt that even if she exchanged it for a spot in Sky Island, it wouldn’t cost too much, and she would still have plenty of contribution points left to exchange for other things.
At this moment, someone asked Sonia how to obtain a spot for Sky Island.
This was the reason everyone had gathered here. Carlotta’s duels with various adventurer guilds were just spontaneous events.
For a moment, all eyes turned to Sonia.
Sonia was still deep in thought.
She wasn’t good at management, and she had never handled the affairs of the Adventurers’ Association before, so she wasn’t sure what the best arrangement would be.
But one thing she understood was that there were far too many people who had come for Sky Island, both inside and outside Pine Town. If she set the requirements too high, preventing too many people from entering Sky Island, how would these people feel?
They might resent her.
After all, it was Sky Island. There were so many legends about it, deeply captivating everyone. Many people were willing to risk their lives and use every possible means for a chance to change their fate.
Even though she was quite capable herself, Sonia didn’t want to offend too many people.
After some thought, she said, "100 contribution points can buy a spot to Sky Island."