Beast Taming: Starting From Zero - Chapter 1449

Chapter 1449. The Immortal Soul (Part Two)

“Absolute Zero!” Seeing that the Steel-Scaled Dragon didn’t break free of the ice immediately, Nefertis suddenly realized something, her eyes lighting up as she exclaimed, “Ice Saint A successfully struck the Steel-Scaled Dragon with Absolute Zero!”

“That absolutely requires extremely fast reaction time to hit!” Auror exclaimed, “If we had been even slightly slower, the Steel-Scaled Dragon’s Dragon Fist would have hit Ice Saint A first!”

“Heri.”

“Heri.”

Heri took a sip of water and elegantly called out twice, indicating that the freezing of the Steel-Scaled Dragon was done by ice-type energy within the Ice Heaven Domain. The Ice Heaven Domain always existed; freezing someone was just a thought for Ice Saint A. Attacking while the Steel-Scaled Dragon was breaking free of the ice didn’t actually require very fast reaction time, but Ice Saint A’s decisiveness was admirable, knowing to seize the opportunity to unleash Absolute Zero.

“Heri.”

After saying that, it thought of something and called out again.

However, it felt that Ice Saint A seemed to have been preparing for the Steel-Scaled Dragon’s attack all along, in order to launch an Absolute Zero attack.

“No, it still requires incredibly fast reaction time,” Nephthys disagreed, saying, “Perhaps Josan had planned the attack of the Steelscale Dragon beforehand, but without lightning-fast reaction time, it would be impossible to freeze the Steelscale Dragon at the perfect moment.”

Auror chimed in, “You might not know, but Lefebvre’s Steelscale Dragon possesses extremely strong explosive power. Its burst speed can easily match the speed of a Psychic-type Pokémon’s teleportation. Under such explosive attacks, the speed of a Steelscale Dragon’s punch is definitely faster than a fleeting thought.”

“If Ice Saintia had been frozen earlier, the Steelscale Dragon would have been too far away and would have broken through the ice shell before Absolute Zero could strike, thus avoiding the attack. If the freezing time was slightly slower, the Steelscale Dragon’s punch would definitely have hit Ice Saintia first.”

“Therefore, both reaction speed and situational awareness are indispensable.”

“Reli.”

Reliroca, after hearing this, showed a look of amazement and called out, indicating that it hadn’t realized there were so many dangers involved.

As one of the world’s ten most endangered grass-type pets, even though it was born on a planet like Yantian Star where battles were prevalent, it had hardly ever fought.

Even watching a match as a guest was a first for it.

After its reflection, Reliroca regained its elegant posture and called out,

“Reli.”

Hit by Absolute Zero, this match should be over, right?

Nearly half of the audience thought so. Qiao Sang’s fans screamed wildly, while Leifeld’s fans remained silent, their faces both solemn and ugly, but they still couldn’t help but discuss it, and the noise rose like a tide in the audience.

“Ice Saint A! Ice Saint A!”

“What’s wrong with Leifide? Everyone knows Ice Saint A has Absolute Zero, and he’s still so careless.”

“Won’t the Steel-Scaled Dragon just lose like this?”

“Ice Saint A is amazing! I thought it would create distance after freezing the Steel-Scaled Dragon, but it unleashed its ultimate move directly!”

“Didn’t the commentator say it was a pre-planned strategy?”

“That’s Absolute Zero, the Steel-Scaled Dragon shouldn’t be able to break through it, right?”

“With the Steel-Scaled Dragon’s power, it can definitely break through the ice around its body, but Absolute Zero can freeze its brain too, preventing it from thinking. If it can’t think, how can it break the ice?”

“If the Steel-Scaled Dragon loses like this, this should be the fastest match to end in a Royal-level pet battle since the start of the Master Challenge.”

“I think the Steel-Scaled Dragon still has a chance to break through. It depends on proficiency and the energy of both sides. Didn’t someone leak online last time that Ice Saint Asia hadn’t evolved for very long? Its energy is definitely higher, and its Absolute Zero is probably only at the beginner level. Beginner-level Absolute Zero shouldn’t be unbreakable.” “

By the way, I also heard that the Steel-Scaled Dragon has trained to the point where its internal organs are constantly breathing and training. Maybe even if its brain can’t think, it will still train instinctively and break through the freezing effect.”

“You’re being a bit idealistic. Breaking through the freezing effect of Absolute Zero requires absolute explosive power. Even if the Steel-Scaled Dragon’s brain can breathe and train autonomously all the time, without conscious control, it can’t even unleash its brain power, let alone break through the freezing effect.”

“Then what can I say! Should I admit that the Steel-Scaled Dragon was instantly defeated by Ice Saint Asia in the finals?”

“Not necessarily instantly defeated. I remember that Leifeld’s Steel-Scaled Dragon has the characteristic of an immortal soul.”

“I’ve watched many battles with the Steelscale Fighting Dragon. Its ability level is very low; it might not even activate once in ten battles.”

On the platform, Lefebvre’s expression was solemn, but he didn’t issue any commands.

He knew that the Steelscale Fighting Dragon wouldn’t listen to a word he said now. To break through Absolute Zero, it would have to rely on itself.

Lefebvre couldn’t help but look at the pet that looked like a work of art.

He had to admit that it was indeed his mistake just now.

He had mentioned Absolute Zero to all his pets. He originally thought that with the Steelscale Fighting Dragon’s reaction speed and explosive power, it could easily dodge it. Even if it was frozen by the Ice Domain, it could break through the freezing effect before the Absolute Zero attack with its absolute power.

Unexpectedly, Ice Saint A risked his life, letting the Steel-Scaled Dragon get so close it was almost within reach before freezing it. His audacity was truly astounding. The previous ice spike shield was likely a decoy, leading him and the Steel-Scaled Dragon to believe Ice Saint A was merely using it for defense.

Various thoughts flashed through Josang’s mind as he finally fixed his gaze, filled with complex emotions and a hint of admiration, on the slender figure in the distance.

It hit! Josang’s eyes instantly filled with excitement.

Absolute Zero was Lu Bao’s ultimate move; a successful hit would essentially end the match. During training, she had Ya Bao and the others test Absolute Zero’s freezing ability.

The experiment showed that Ya Bao automatically activated its Lava Armor property to remove the freezing effect, but even so, it was already severely injured, unleashing a burst of flames. Little Treasure automatically activated its self-destruct ability, falling simultaneously with Lu Bao, then borrowing life from Qing Bao to float up again.

Steelball desperately called out in its mind, using the power of its bond to awaken its consciousness, but even after breaking free from the freeze, it was already severely injured.

The conclusion was that unless there’s a specific ability to counter Absolute Zero, at the same level, virtually no Pokémon can break free from the freeze effect on its own by regaining consciousness.

Even if they do break free, they’ll be severely injured.

In other words, if Absolute Zero hits the opponent, the match is practically won.

Josang was inwardly excited, but still kept a close eye on the arena, not entirely at ease.

The information Michaela had given him mentioned that the Steel-Scaled Fighting Dragon possessed the characteristic of an Immortal Soul. This characteristic allowed pets in a near-death state to undergo a life-extending process, like a phoenix rising from the ashes. Their status wouldn’t be restored, but the pet activating this characteristic would burn through all its power as if it felt no pain.

It was somewhat similar to Blazing Fire, but a bit more advanced. First, unlike Blazing Fire, it didn’t cause pain. Second, it unleashed power beyond its limits, providing a much greater boost to the pet.

Although the probability of the Steel-Scaled Fighting Dragon activating the Immortal Soul was low, it couldn’t be completely ruled out. Thinking this, Josang said,

“Ready.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Bao opened its mouth, and extremely cold energy condensed deep in its throat.

Seeing this, Leifide’s eyelids twitched.

Seconds passed.

Lu Bao remained in the position of condensing energy with its mouth open, not launching an attack.

It waited.

It remembered its Beastmaster’s words: after Absolute Zero successfully attacked the opponent, any subsequent attack skills might break the freezing effect; it was best to keep the Absolute Zero freezing effect in place.

If the opponent didn’t break it, the match was over. If it broke

it through some force, it could simply use Absolute Zero again the instant it broke to finish it off.

“Almost ten seconds have passed, and the Steel-Scaled Dragon still hasn’t broken Absolute Zero! Will this match end like this?!” Nefertis exclaimed from the commentary booth.

Auror analyzed, “It seems Ice Saint is ready to attack at any moment. If the Steel-Scaled Dragon can break the Absolute Zero freezing effect, I believe Ice Saint will launch another Absolute Zero attack immediately.”

“Heri.”

Heri Roca elegantly put down his water glass and called out, indicating that it would be a matter of whether Ice Saint’s attack was faster or the Steel-Scaled Dragon’s reaction speed after breaking Absolute Zero was faster.

One second, two seconds

later, the mechanical-type pet wearing the referee’s badge arrived on the field.

“Can’t the Immortal Soul’s characteristics be activated?” Lefebvre’s face darkened.

In the stands, Lefebvre’s fans finally couldn’t bear it any longer, standing up and shouting, “Steelscale Dragon! Wake up! Steelscale Dragon! Wake up!”

More and more voices rose in shout, some even crying as they cried.

To be honest, they could accept Steelscale Dragon losing the match, but they couldn’t accept losing so easily after less than ten seconds on the field.

On the field, Lu Bao remained unmoved, its mouth agape.

The pet referee wearing a referee’s badge approached Steelscale Dragon, but before it could even begin its examination, it suddenly sensed something and teleported away.

A powerful, silvery-white energy suddenly shone brightly on Steelscale Dragon!

“The Steel-Scaled Dragon has broken through the absolute zero freezing effect!” On the commentary stage, Auror’s eyes lit up, and he shouted passionately, “This is the Immortal Soul! It has activated the Immortal Soul!”

In the audience, the cheering crowd was stunned at first, then their expressions turned to excitement. They were so excited that their faces even turned red, and they shouted desperately:

“Steel-Scaled Dragon! Steel-Scaled Dragon!”

The passion and frenzy in their voices made it seem as if the final victory had already been won.

“Explode!” Lefebvre suppressed his surging excitement and quickly issued the command.

He knew that the Steel-Scaled Dragon could hear his commands at this moment.

Ice Saint Asia was already prepared to launch an attack at any time. At such close range, it was unrealistic to dodge, and it was also unrealistic to use skills to defend. The only way was to use the energy generated by the Immortal Soul to explode, so that the absolute zero would explode before it could hit the Steel-Scaled Dragon.

“This is truly unexpected; this is the first time the Steelscale Dragon has activated its Immortal Soul trait in this Master Challenge,” Nefertis remarked.

“Geri,”

Geriroca called out gracefully, indicating that the Steelscale Dragon seemed to have good luck.

Leifeld’s fans, with tears in their eyes, desperately shouted,

“Steelscale Dragon! Steelscale Dragon! Steelscale!”

But suddenly, their voices stopped.

“Gang!”

A burst of silvery-white energy erupted from the Steelscale Dragon’s body. With a “crack,” countless cracks appeared in its ice shell, and the Steelscale Dragon let out a powerful roar.

The force of its roar seemed to tremble the entire air.

However, before the ice shell could completely shatter, and before the word “scale” could be uttered, a beam of extremely cold light shot from Ice Saint’s mouth, striking the Steelscale Dragon precisely.

Instantly, the Steelscale Dragon stopped roaring, frozen again in its roaring posture, turning into an ice sculpture.

Silence fell over the entire arena.

Lefebvre’s eyelids twitched violently.

“Beautiful!” Josang couldn’t help but exclaim inwardly.

Under the same level of pets, the first freeze from Absolute Zero might be broken by the opponent’s special ability or a bond-like power, but the second freeze, no matter what, couldn’t be broken again. This was the result of numerous experiments conducted by Little Treasure Hunt and Lu Bao, and it wouldn’t be wrong.

Of course, Toothpuff’s situation was somewhat special. The raging fire it unleashed fused with Holy Fire, and even without activating the Lava Armor ability, it could quickly melt away the surrounding freezing effect. But by then, even with the support of the sun’s power, its raging fire was almost extinguished.

Like the raging fire, Immortal Soul wasn’t an ability that could be activated consecutively.

The match was over.

On the commentary stage, both hosts fell silent. Nefertis was the first to react, speaking into the microphone: “The Steelscale Fighting Dragon has been frozen by Absolute Zero again. Will a miracle happen again this time?”

From her tone, it was clear she didn’t believe a miracle would occur.

“Hot.” Hotiroca took an elegant sip of water and called out, indicating that it was watching closely.

A brief silence fell over the stands, then someone shouted again, “Steelscale Dragon! Wake up!”

With his shout, more and more people joined in: “Steelscale Dragon! Wake up! Steelscale Dragon! Wake up!”

On the field, Lu Bao silently opened its mouth, gathering extreme cold energy deep in its throat, ready to launch an attack at any moment.

The shouting audience instantly fell silent upon seeing this.

A mechanical-type pet wearing a referee’s badge came to check on Steelscale Dragon, then waved its flag in the direction of Josang.

A virtual screen appeared in the air; below Lefebvre’s photo, the image of Steelscale Dragon changed from color to black and white.

“Ice Saint.”

Seeing this, Lu Bao dissipated its energy, closed its mouth, and showed a surprised expression.

This match seemed much easier than it had imagined. (End of Chapter)