CHAPTER 42 - First Match.
Clang—Chirrr!
Two blades clashed and sparks flew, and a moment later, the owner of the blades jumped back.
"YEAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!"
"Don't fall back blue! Press on!"
"White! Show them the power hidden under that bulky body!!"
"LET'S GO, BLUE!!!"
"WHITE!!!"
And as soon as the owner of those blades separated, the colosseum erupted with cheers again.
Two people, elected by the audience, were fighting, and the battle was not in the least boring, as the size difference between the fighters just made this all more interesting.
On one side was a girl with dull blonde hair and lifeless blue eyes with nothing but determination ablaze in them; she was blue, and on the other side stood a two-meter-tall guy, holding a large battle axe. He had long black hair, freely flowing down his back, uncombed and wild, and his golden eyes, staring seriously at Mira, who was standing right in front of him.
"You are strong. I will now be using my bloodline abilities." Spoke Brisk, the black-haired and golden-eyed guy, gripping his battle axe tighter, closing his eyes, and his large body started to pulse.
"RAAAAA! That's it!"
The audience, seeing this, hyped the guy even more.
Mira and Brisk were the ones who turned up with the highest votes from the audience, making them the first ones to come down the stage and fight.
Both of them were new faces, unknown to the world, as Mira was someone Vanessa had kept hidden due to her special condition, and Brisk was from the barbarian empire known for being not-so-friendly with anyone, making it impossible for anyone to know their internal affairs.
Mira, on the other hand, didn't say anything and just waited for the guy to transform or whatever he was doing. Alex had asked her to put up a nice show, and without even asking why, she agreed to it.
She just wanted to do it as Alex had asked her to, or she was just going to end this fight with her strongest attack as her master, Vanessa, had taught her to never give her enemy any chance.
Mira wanted to join the student council as Alex was there, and she wanted to spend more time with him—she just wanted it. The changes she was feeling by being next to Alex were just too good to let go.
Brisk, however, didn't have such desires. He was a barbarian human—anyone could tell that—and if barbarians hated something after trickery and betrayal, then it was losing. Brisk didn't want to lose, that was all.
"GRAAA!!"
Soon, with a beastly growl, red eyes, and a body filled with bulging veins, Brisk glared at Mira, "You better not hold back, or this will turn really painful for you."
His face twisted as if he were in pain as well, but it was bearable, at least for him. He knew that it was due to his lower control over his bloodline that he was feeling this pain, so he let it be, as this would at least motivate him to have better control over his bloodline.
Mira, listening to his words, didn't say anything and simply glanced at Alex without making it obvious.
Only when she saw him nod did her expression finally change, growing serious; the little light in her eyes died down completely, and the air around her changed.
The moment this happened, the audience went silent—their cheers and whoops stopped altogether. They could feel the fight nearing the end, and the next moment, they saw Mira dropping her claymore.
Clang!
Then, her arms started to crackle with strange white energy, covering them completely.
Crackle—Whoop!
In an instant, even before the audience could guess how it happened, they all saw Mira's hands turned into blades, sharper than any they had seen, their color mixed of white and silver, flashing with the same white and silver energy.
"RAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"
The silence in the colosseum was soon broken by an almost beastly yell as Brisk, with his hair standing to their ends, rushed toward Mira with just one thought repeating in his head, 'Dangerous! Dangerous! Dangerous!'
The moment Mira turned her ability on, Brisk knew that things had turned more serious than he had thought initially, and Mira was not just someone a bit strong—she was stronger than him even though they were both one star.
Sling!
His axe tore through the air, ready to cleave Mira into two, and Mira, who saw that move, hurriedly clamped her palms, and the next moment...
Boom—Crack!
The ground below her cracked, as the power behind Brisk's attack was high.
'What?!' Brisk, however, was left stunned as he saw the result of the clash. Mira was holding his axe's blade between her blade-like palms, and although her body was trembling, a clear sign of her struggle, he still couldn't believe it.
Even two-star barbarians weren't able to take on his attack head-on without relying on their skills; that was just how strong his bloodline ability was.
Yet...
Click—Baam!
'Shit!' Cursed Brisk the next second as he saw Mira using his surprise as a chance to swiftly push his axe to the ground, embedding it into it, and rushing for his neck.
Clang!
It was out of his instinct that he raised the handle of the axe, blocking the incoming attack by chance, making sparks fly into the air.
'Ghh!' His situation, however, wasn't really good, as the attack made his hands go numb. The strength behind this attack was too much; he knew that if his weapon, instead of being a seven-star weapon, was a normal one-star weapon, it would've already shattered.
Woosh
Mira, however, didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon as her hand, after being blocked once, moved again with a speed higher than before, taking Brisk by surprise, and before he could even react, the blade-like hands of Mira were already on his neck, touching them.
Thud
'Wha...'
Brisk, now on his knees, stared blankly at the sword-like hands on his neck in disbelief.
'Did I just lose...?' He muttered to himself, his eyes turning to look up at Mira, only to see her dead eyes not even looking at him. Following her gaze, he found that she was staring at Alex, the referee of this match, making his mind go blank.
'Does she think that she won already?!' Followed by that shock, however, came rage—bubbling anger for being ignored like a loser.
For him, who had never lost a single match since his childhood and was treated as the best prodigy, he just couldn't accept it. He felt like he was being looked down upon.
So, gritting his teeth, he grabbed Mira's blade-like arms, ignoring the blood that splurted out the moment he did so, and yelled, "DON'T YOU DARE—!"
Tap
"—Kah!"
His words, however, were cut short as his eyes blanked, as Alex, who was standing at the side, had, in an instant, arrived behind Brisk, delivering a chop to the back of his neck, making him go unconscious.
"Don't behave like a sore loser. You will tarnish the name of the barbarians who respect strength more than anything."
Those were the last words he heard, making him realize just what he was about to do, but before he could be clouded by regret...
Thud
His body fell to the ground with a thud, making the colosseum return to its original silence.
Step-Step-Step-Step
The surroundings were so quiet that even his footsteps were echoing through the air as he walked toward Mira, standing next to her, holding her blade-like hand, which, although still activated, didn't even scratch his skin, and raised it up high.
Mira, however, had her mind go blank the moment Alex touched her, and that was why, even now, when she knew that he was holding her hand, she hadn't deactivated her ability.
Her heartbeats were raised as she again felt the same thing she had been yearning for, so, ignoring whatever was going on, she just closed her eyes, enjoying Alex's touch.
"The winner of the fight is blue!" Alex, on the other hand, announced the result of the match, and after a second of stunned silence, the crowd erupted into cheers.
""YEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!""
"Hm?" But soon, Alex, who was holding Mira's hand up, noticed something...Nôv(el)B\\jnn
'Did she fall unconscious standing like that..?' He was left a bit dumbfounded as he found Mira, with her body hanging by the support of his hand, was already unconscious.
[She overused her mana.]
And Sophie, like always, answered his question without him even asking, making him sigh at Mira's carelessness.
Even after winning the match, she wasn't able to enjoy the praises...
That was what Alex thought, but how could he have known that Mira, before going unconscious, had already felt the best she could?