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[Chapter 31]

[Brindle]

I let out a deep breath as I walked to the center of the arena, meeting up with Andy, the leader of the Bladers.

I knew he was strong, but what made it bad was that I was part of his faction. That meant that he had an understanding of my fighting style since he was also the person who watched over us when we were running through training.

Though, he had only seen my basic fighting style. He had yet to see any of my abilities.

Andy smiled at me. "Well, I didn't expect to be fighting you here, Brindle."

I shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me. I just have to win, that's all."

"Then good luck to you," Andy said.

I nodded. "Same to you."

As we finished giving our best regards to each other, Harez floated down. "Ye lads ready?"

The two of us nodded. Harez formed a wide grin. "Alright! Then let's not waste any more of yer time, eh?"

Andy and I locked eyes while Harez floated away. "BEGIN!"

"...!"

*Clang!*

The two of us had snapped our weapons out and slashed at each other, sending sparks flying and sending us both back as our weapons clashed.

I gripped both of my swords and did my best to read his movements. Even if he didn't have an ability, he was still very strong.

"…!"

*Clang!*

The arena began to change to a different environment, casting a white light around us. However, that was when Andy struck.

As I strained my senses to listen for him, I suddenly slashed to my right, knocking him back as the light faded away. Just before he recovered from his strike, I lunged forward and tried for a cross slash.

However, I was only parried as he continued to back away.

I took a quick moment to examine the new environment. The arena had been turned to an opening deep inside a cave. Dimly glowing crystals on the surfaces of the walls allowed us to see each other.

The two of us were in the clearing.

I bit my lip. If I were to use any of my abilities here, I wouldn't be able to hide well in the shadows. But, I could also use that to my advantage.

There was barely any light so I could hardly make out Andy. Because of that, I strained my senses.

*Bang!*

I watched as his figure moved into the darkness. Feeling his presence behind me, I slashed there with one of my blades, connecting with his own.

*Clang!*

Using my other blade, I swung in front of me, connecting with his blade again and creating sparks.

He was using the darkness to his advantage and, if he kept it up, I would surely lose.

That's when I realized something.

*FSHHHH!*

Flames burst from my body and created balls that filled every inch of darkness in the clearing. Not only was the room now lit and I could see Andy, but now I had something that could help me distract him.

He stood a few feet away from me, smiling. "Interesting... I didn't know you had such an ability..."

"That was the point," I took a stance and stared him down. "Now, you can't get me in the darkness, and these fireballs will attack at my command."

He let out a laugh and also shifted into a stance. "You certainly are an interesting newcomer, Brindle."

"And I plan to win as the newcomer," I said before lunging towards him.

*Bang!* *Clang!* *Boom!* *Shk!*

I dashed towards him and, spinning as I neared him for momentum, I swung my blades at him.

Andy quickly countered by dodging out of the way of one and parrying the other, leaving one side of me exposed.

Before he could strike, I forced my arms to move towards the blades, cross slashing at him and knocking his blade away. I then jumped back and commanded several blasts at him.

The blasts, dimming the light a bit, sped towards Andy. However, he managed to dodge two and slash away the other one.

Just as I got ready to lunge at him again, Andy beat me to it, appearing in front of me suddenly and slashing.

I quickly pulled away, only receiving a slight cut to my forearm.

*Crash!*

He sped towards me while I recovered from the hit. Tensing up, I dodged to the side, avoiding the thrust from his blade. Following up on that, I kicked him into the ground.

*FSHHH!*

While he tried to force himself back up under my foot, I burst into flames and began scorching his body.

"AGGGGH!"

*Shk!*

While he howled and cried out in pain, I stabbed both of my blades into his legs to make sure he wouldn't move.

*Sk!*

"G-Gh!"

Suddenly, I felt a burst of pain enter my ankle. As I looked down, I found a switchblade stabbed deep in there.

*Shk!*

Before I had the time to pull free from it, Andy—enduring through the flames—threw his blade right at me, stabbing right into my side.

I recoiled from the pain and fell to the ground as his flames extinguished.

"A-Agh!" Andy forced the swords from his body and dragged his way over to me, limping badly and holding one of my swords. "I'm going to win..."

*Sk!*

"…!"

I felt pain explode in my arm as he stabbed my blade into it before kicking me at my side.

"J-Just...give up..." Andy suggested. "L-Let's...just end this..."

I smiled though. "H-Heh... You forgot, didn't you...?"

"H-Huh?"

*BOOM!*

I then commanded all of the balls of fire to attack Andy, blasting and smashing him into the ground. The flames slowly spreading as the constant blasts also began to create a crater.

The arena then returned to its original form. Blood leaked onto the area around me while Andy lay right in front of me, body badly burnt and clothes tattered.

Harez then floated down to us, staring at Andy's burnt, lifeless body. "Geez, lass. Ya better not have made him kick the bucket..."

I gave a hard swallow. I hoped I hadn't...

Harez hopped off his platform and checked Andy for a pulse. He then chuckled. "Always knew this lad was tough, but maybe I didn't give him enough credit..."

Harez then looked back over at me. "Congratulations, lass! Ya won!"

"R-Really?" I stared up at him, surprised. I slowly formed a smile. "That's good..."

Harez then cleared his throat and faced the audience. "BRINDLE IS THE WINNER OF THIS ROUND!"

I smiled and let my body collapse. "Thank goodness..."

"The two of ya are gonna need to hurry to the infirmary," Harez said as several men came to take us there. "Ya got matches pretty soon so you should try to recover as much as ye can."

I smiled. "Thanks..."

[Shiri]

I let out a sigh as I pulsed out some energy. Magic sparked at my fingertips. I smiled. "I guess I should be ready..."

As I sat upright on my bed, Neptune and Sigi walked in. "Oh, are you feeling better?"

I turned to them and smiled. "Yeah, I'm ready. Who's fighting right now?"

Sigi frowned. "Actually, we're going now."

"H-Huh? Really?" I could only stare at him with surprise. "Weren't there supposed to be another two matches?"

"Actually, you missed both of them," Neptune stated. "After Brindle and Andy's fight, Uzume and Plutia fought. They whack-a-mole'd each other so bad that they both lost."

"O-Oh..." I let out a sigh. "That's a shame."

Neptune nodded. "Then Angel and Brindle fought against Blanc. She got bopped in the head within a few—"

"Okay, hold on," I cut Neptune off. "Can you use normal words and stop speaking in your own language for a bit? I'm pretty used to it now, but I don't think I can take you seriously right now."

"Fine..." Neptune let out a heavy sigh. "Basically, Brindle and Angel defeated Blanc within a few minutes. Now we have to go fight the leaders of the factions because they're on a team. There, is that serious enough for you?"

I smiled at her. "Yeah, that's better."

"Anyways, that's the point," Sigi said. "We're going to be fighting Andy, Jumon, Tsuki and Kane now. Don't worry about the two matches you didn't get to see. They went by pretty quickly anyways."

"Yeah, alright," I gave a nod. "Anyways, I feel better. Let's go fight them."

Sigi and Neptune nodded as I picked myself up from the bed and the three of us began to make our way to the arena.

[Sigi]

"Hm?" Just before we made it through the hallway into the arena, we found all the faction leaders lined up, waiting for us. "H-Hey, aren't you guys supposed to be on the arena already, waiting to fight us?"

Jumon stepped up to us. Her expression seemed dead serious. "That's what we're here to talk about. We've already talked with Harez about this, but we're forfeiting."

"H-HUH!?"

All at once, our mouths fell open at their words.

Andy shook his head. "Sorry, especially for the late notice. But there's something going on that's more important than the tournament. We don't have time to worry about it when the world could be in danger."

"…" Those words reminded me of something my sister had told me. "Alright, I get it."

Jumon nodded. "Thanks and good luck to you all. Since we forfeited, you guys were moved up the bracket by default. You guys have one match before the fight against the Ruler, Victor. Good luck."

We nodded as they walked off.

I let out a sigh. "Oh well, I guess we only have one more match to go before we get to fight Victor."

Shiri nodded. "Yeah... Let's just hurry and get this over with."

"I agree..." Neptune added. "C'mon! Let's blow this pina colada stand!"

I rolled my eyes as she ran ahead, eager to fight our last opponents. Without anything better to do, Shiri and I chased after her.

As we made it to the center, we saw our opponents.

Standing a few feet away were Angel and Brindle.