She subconsciously tried to clear her throat to give an order, but the voice that came out was a rough, hoarse, broken-gong-like roar.
"BLAZING FIRE ACADEMY!!!"
The sound was nothing like her original clear and melodious voice. Instead, it sounded like a burly man roaring at the top of his lungs. Huo Wu herself was stunned. Her concentration wavered, and the action of condensing her spirit power paused for a critical instant.
What's going on?! My voice?!
[Resentment from Huo Wu +99!]
But before she could process it, something even more terrifying happened. The effect of the Mental Curse instantly took over her brain, filling her with a mysterious and unshakeable confidence in her new, broken voice. She felt that her voice was full of power and a deep, magnetic charm. It was, she thought, the sound of nature itself. At this critical moment of battle, she felt an overwhelming urge to use this magnificent voice to sing a song—to inspire her teammates and intimidate her enemies.
This thought was so powerful that it was impossible to resist.
And so, just as the terrifying giant fireball of the Fire Dance Blazing Sun was about to be unleashed, with the entire audience holding its breath in anticipation, Huo Wu suddenly raised her head. With her incomparably rough, broken-gong voice, she began to sing. Like a warrior marching to their doom, she passionately and desperately roared out a battle song that was so off-key it sounded like the wailing of ghosts.
"BUUURN!!! MY FLAMES!!! BE AS HOT AS MY SOOONG!"
"BURN ALL ENEMIES! WOO LA LA LA—OUCHIE WOAH—!"
"VICTORY BELONGS TO BLAZING FIRE ACADEMY! HO HO HA HEI—!"
The rough, distorted singing, combined with the terrifying pressure radiating from the giant fireball above her, created an unbelievably bizarre scene. The entire venue fell silent. Everyone, including the members of the Blazing Fire Academy team, stared blankly at their captain as if they had been turned to stone.
Huo Wushuang almost spat out a mouthful of blood. "Little sister?! What… what are you doing?!"
He simply couldn't believe his eyes or his ears. Was this his sister? The proud and beautiful Huo Wu he knew? Why did she sound like a drunk brute howling at the moon?
After a brief moment of stunned silence, the audience erupted into a fit of laughter even more frantic and out of control than during the Elephant Armor Academy match.
"Pfft—hahahahahaha!!!"
"Oh my god! What is that demonic sound?!"
"Is Huo Wu crazy?! She's actually lost her mind!"
"Is that a battle song? It sounds like a wail from the depths of hell!"
"Did Blazing Fire Academy change their profession to opera singers?"
In the VIP box, Emperor Xue Ye choked on a mouthful of tea, coughing until his face turned red. Ning Fengzhi was so shocked that his folding fan slipped from his grasp and clattered to the ground. Salas's expression was already numb from the day's events. Hu Yan Zhen, however, was shamelessly slapping his thigh and roaring with laughter.
"Hahaha! That's karma for you, you fiery little leopardess!" he bellowed. "You all made fun of our Elephant Armor Academy! Now you get a taste of it! Hahaha!"
On the Douhun Stage, Huo Wu herself was in turmoil. Her rational mind told her that the singing was horribly, terribly awful. But the Mental Curse was screaming in her head that it was the most beautiful sound in the world. The intense mental conflict made her suffer immensely.
What was even worse was that her spirit power was fluctuating violently because of the cursed singing. The massive Fire Dance Blazing Sun above her head, already unstable due to her momentary distraction, began to shake violently. Its light flickered erratically, as if it could lose control and explode at any second.
"No…!" Huo Wu was terrified. She wanted to stop singing, but her mouth was completely out of her control, continuing to howl the off-key lyrics with all its might. She tried to stabilize her spirit power, but the more anxious she became, the more chaotic it grew. The gigantic fireball trembled in the air, emitting a destructive and unstable aura.
"Quick! Stop her! The fireball is going to lose control!" Huo Wushuang was scared out of his wits. Forgetting everything else, he prepared to rush forward and interrupt his sister.
"Let me help her out," Ye Yin said softly from across the stage, "so she doesn't suffer too much."
His second soul ring flashed, and a white light shot toward Huo Wu. It was his second Spirit Ability, Soul Skill Blessing. It targeted Huo Wu's Fire Dance Blazing Sun. The ability had a negative effect: the fireball's damage was reduced by 40%. But it also had an additional bonus: its damage would now become area-of-effect.
The moment the ability landed, the gigantic fireball, which was already on the verge of losing control, finally broke free. Huo Wu desperately tried to command her spirit power, but the curses made it difficult for her to even move a finger. She could only watch in horror as the deadly fireball began to swell violently, deforming as countless terrifying energy fissures cracked across its surface.
"Little sister!!!" Huo Wushuang's eyes were bloodshot. He was the closest to her and could clearly see her bizarre reaction and the signs of the imminent explosion.
"Quick, defend!!!" the other members of Blazing Fire screamed in terror, trying to retreat or activate their defensive Spirit Abilities.
But it was too late.
BOOM!
A terrifying, earth-shattering explosion erupted directly above the Blazing Fire Academy's formation. The Fire Dance Blazing Sun, which had accumulated all of Huo Wu's spirit power and now had its explosion range expanded by Ye Yin's "Blessing," transformed into a fiery storm that swept across her entire team.
A blinding, orange-red light bloomed from the center, and countless shattered flames splashed wildly in every direction like a meteor shower.
"Ah!"
"No!"
Although Huo Wushuang had lunged toward his sister, the violent flame shockwave threw him away. The two agility-attack Spirit Masters barely managed to create some distance with their speed, but they were still caught by the edge of the explosion. The two support-type Soul Masters didn't even have time to scream before they were instantly engulfed by the surging flames, falling heavily to the edge of the Douhun Stage, their fate unknown.
In an instant, the Blazing Fire Academy's formation was completely ravaged. Figures were thrown through the air, flames raged, and screams were incessant. The once-imposing team had collapsed in an instant, all because of their captain's song and her rampaging Spirit Ability.
On the Douhun Stage, only one person remained in the center of the explosion. Huo Wu's figure swayed precariously. She had barely managed to remain standing. Her fiery red team uniform was charred and torn in many places, revealing burned skin underneath. Her once smooth red hair was singed, her pretty face was covered in black ash, and a trickle of blood spilled from the corner of her mouth.
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