There's a poll on my page for what story I will write next. Whichever one ends up winning will be written right after the short OCs stories have been uploaded. If you care about what I'll write after the OC stories, then consider voting.

[Chapter 33]

Brindle and Angel stood ready and eager to fight.

The three of us met them at the center of the arena. "Well, you guys made it to the finals, huh?"

Angel shrugged. "Honestly, we weren't really expecting this. I thought we would have more time when you guys fought the four faction leaders. But, I guess that's not happening..."

Neptune smiled. "Still, it's exciting that we get to fight you two to see who'll get to fight the Ruler!"

Brindle nodded. "Yeah. But that also means that this is the last round that will decide who could possibly have their wish come true..."

"It is..." I returned her nod. "And, knowing that, we're not going to go easy on you."

"Same here," Angel said.

I looked back at Shiri and Neptune. The two of them were more than ready. Letting out a sigh, I turned back to face our two opponents. "Then good luck to you two..."

"Same for you," Brindle said.

Harez floated down to us. "Remember, lads! Rules here are the same as the individual matches, except with teams. If one team is unable to continue or forfeits, the opposing team wins. Any questions?"

We all shook our heads, letting a wide grin creep onto Harez's face. "Alright! Then let's get this final match out of the way!"

The stadium began shaking as the crowds thundered with cheers. Harez floated away. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THIS WILL BE THE FINAL FIGHT THAT WILL DETERMINE WHO WILL GET TO FIGHT OUR RULER! THIS IS IT, FOLKS!"

I let out a deep breath, cranking my Limiter up to its fourth level and calling upon the energy that was stored in me.

It's power flowed through my body as I took out my energy sword. This is it...

"BEGIN!"

*Boom!*

Just as the arena began to change into a new environment, Angel rushed towards Shiri while Brindle charged towards us, her body erupted into flames.

Quickly, I rushed to Shiri and parried Angel's strike just before his blade hit Shiri.

Shiri, now open, pulsed at the ground, causing an earth barrier to appear just in front of Brindle.

Brindle quickly backed away and grouped together with Angel. We did the same.

We took the moment to take in our surroundings. Nothing special. It was just a random city street.

I looked over at my two teammates. "What do you say? Wanna just go all out from the start or just build it up?"

Shiri shook her head. "That's a bad decision. They're probably going to take this seriously because it's the final match. We should go all out right now."

I gave a nod. "I got it... Then you should activate your ability, too. Neptune, make sure every warp you do is thought about from this point forward."

Neptune gave a quick salute, putting away her dual swords and pulling out her pistol. "Roger dodger!"

Shiri's body began to radiate a golden aura, her eyes turning to a glowing blue.

I tightened the grip on my blade and turned to face Angel and Brindle again. They were both already prepared, waiting for us to strike.

I stared them down. "Let's go with formation one."

Without any more words, I charged towards the two of them, pulsing lightning out.

*Bang!*

The two of them came at me from both sides, slashing at me.

Rolling out of the way, Shiri's ring of elements now surrounded the two of them. It snapped towards the center to them.

However, as Angel was cloaked in a dark substance, Brindle's body erupted into flames, burning away the ring of elements around them.

Just as Brindle's flames dispelled, Neptune suddenly warped in front of her and fired her gun from point-blank range.

Abruptly, Angel appeared in front of Neptune, taking all of the bullets right to his chest. A crimson aura began to radiate from him. Though, he didn't seem in pain. He then performed a quick slash at Neptune.

She quickly warped away just before the blade made contact with her.

*Clang!*

Suddenly, I found Brindle's blades coming down towards me. Reactively, I parried them before jumping away.

The two of them regrouped again.

I shook my head. "We have to hurry. I'm pretty sure if this drags on for too long, that they'll win because they saw a flaw in our attacks."

"That's bogus," Neptune frowned. "Anyways, which formation do we use now?"

I sighed. "Formation four. After that, we'll just constantly barrage them with attacks. If that fails, we'll probably lose."

Shiri shook her head. "We'll be fine. We just have to outlast them."

I tightly gripped my blade with both of my trembling hands. "You guys ready?"

"Yeah..."

I swallowed hard. "Alright..."

Letting out a deep breath, I cranked the Limiter up to it's highest level. Instantly, I felt my body tighten up and squeeze itself. Gritting my teeth, I struggled to keep the Limiter stable.

Hey, voice in my head, can you crank your output to its max?

Of course. Don't worry.

I felt more power surge through my body as it began to relax a bit. Though it still felt strained.

"I've got about five minutes with this thing," I told the two of them. "We've gotta hurry."

They nodded as I took a stance, trying my best to regulate my breathing. "… Go!"

*BANG!*

Time seemed to slow down around me as I dashed forwards. Angel suddenly appeared in my way, swinging at me.

*Clang!*

His movements were much slower now.

I parried his strike, managing to rip his blade away from him, and stabbed it into him, pinning him to the ground.

I then dashed towards Brindle.

*Sk!*

Just as my blade made contact with her clothes, she managed to jump away. As she did, a gigantic ring appeared high in the sky. Suddenly, thousands of blades began raining down upon us.

"…!"

*Bang!*

As I struggled to dodge and knock the blades away, Angel appeared in front of me again as a blade struck him at his side. Though, that only seemed to make his aura radiate even more.

*Clang!*

Even though he was now faster, I still managed to parry his strike and avoid another few blades, stabbing and pinning Angel into the ground. I was just wondering how he got his blade out the first time.

*FSHHH!*

Just as I regained my footing, I watched as another ring appeared just below the gigantic blade ring. I watched as the blades were set ablaze as they passed the second ring.

I let out a sigh. "That's great..."

While the street was slowly set ablaze, Brindle suddenly appeared in front of me and slashed.

*Shk!*

"G-Gh!"

Just as I parried her dual swords, one of the blades managed to hit me at my side, creating a burning sensation of pain.

Brindle then took the moment and kicked me to the ground, following up by stabbing both of her blades into my arms.

*Shk!*

Another blade stabbed into my gut as I was pinned to the ground by Brindle's swords. Pain exploded in my body as I felt my energy slowly leaving, the tightening pain returning to break my body.

She looked down at me, flames licking at her fingertips. "Sorry, Sigi. You lose..."

*Bang!*

Just before she blasted me with her flames, a bullet hit her at her side, causing her to stagger back. Following that, several blasts of energy struck the circles that cast the flaming blade, shattering them both and stopping the blade storm.

I suddenly gasped for air as the blades were suddenly pulled from my body. I then appeared somewhere different. Looking up, I found that Neptune had warped me away to Shiri, who was now doing her best to heal my body.

Some of my strength had returned to me as I stood back up. I looked over at Shiri and Neptune, giving my best smile. "Thanks."

"It's okay, but I'm not really worried about that right now," Shiri nodded towards Brindle. "I'm worried about her."

"Yeah..." I looked over at her. Angel laid beside her, the dark substance gone from his body. "We've already taken care of Angel. All that's left is to take care of Brindle."

"Sigi, turn off your Limiter," Shiri instructed. "I've got a plan. Plus, your five minutes are about up anyways."

I gave a nod and set the Limiter back to its default. I felt a good amount of the tension leave my body and let out a sigh. "What exactly is your plan here?"

Shiri smiled. "You were on the offensive just now. Though, it seems to put too much strain on you. Now I'll go on the offensive while you and Neptune support. If you see a chance to strike, go for it. Got it?"

I gave a nod. "Yeah."

Shiri then turned back to face Brindle. "Go with formation two."

We nodded as elements surrounded Shiri and engulfed her.

*Bang!*

Shiri then began firing various bolts of elements aimed at Brindle. However, Brindle was able to knock them all away.

*Shk!*

While Brindle busied herself on Shiri's attacks, Neptune fired away at Brindle, warping to several spots. But that didn't stop her as she managed to dodge the bullets and still deflect Shiri's bolts of elements.

The two of them continued firing at Brindle. I lunged forward and slashed at the back of her head.

*CRASH!*

Just as my blade created a slit of blood on the back of her neck, Brindle's body projected a barrier, exploding as I touched her skin, blowing me away and crashing me into the side of a building.

"…!"

*Boom!*

As I pulled myself out, I was met by Brindle blades coming right at my face. Quickly, I jumped away, rolling to the ground.

*Shk!*

While she was pulling her blades out, I lunged forward and drove my blade into her, pinning her to the wall.

*BOOM!*

Jumping away, Shiri fired several blasts of energy at her. The building blew up upon impact and the arena suddenly turned back to normal. I collapsed onto the floor, exhausted.

Brindle fell to the floor, a pool of blood trickling from her body. Harez then floated down and checked both Angel and Brindle for their pulses. He looked over at us, grinning. "Congratulations! Y'all won the final brackets! Ye get to fight the Ruler."

As grins appeared on our faces, Harez cleared his throat. "THE WINNERS OF THE FINAL ROUND ARE SHIRI, SIGI, AND NEPTUNE! THEY SHALL BE THE ONES TO FIGHT THE RULER!"

Cheers roared from the stadium as we smiled at one another.

Harez floated down to us while people came to take Angel and Brindle away. "Like I said, you have a week to prepare for the fight against the Ruler. Until the final match, school is done for the year. Y'all be allowed to leave campus but, once the final match takes place, school will resume."

We all nodded as Harez floated off. I turned to Neptune and Shiri. "So, what do you say we all head off to Jewel's place to celebrate?"

They both smiled. "Sure!"

A/N:

Well, the story's almost over... OR IS IT!?
Yes, it's actually about over. But, there's still a lot more to cover in the last few chapters.
But the reason I made this Author's Note was mainly just to tell all of you that read the story that school starts Wednesday for me. Now, while chapters will continue on with the same schedule, I may end up being a bit late on uploading.
On the bright side, once school does start, I'll start getting a bit more serious about my writing again and see how efficiently I can get the OC stories done. But, until then, enjoy the rest of the story!