[Raul PoV]
Hearing the Promoter call my name, I rose from my seat to head down to the arena immediately. However, as I was about to walk away, someone suddenly tugged on my sleeve.
"Hey, Raul," Elena said, looking into my eyes. "You have to win, okay? If you don't, I will discipline you personally," she added with a threatening tone.
"You don't need to worry, President."
I left the stands and entered the hallway leading to the arena. There, I encountered a woman with shoulder-length brown hair who was about to enter the same corridor. In her hand was a spear with blades at both ends. This weapon is called a Double-edged Spear.
The fighting style involving a weapon like this is extremely difficult and is rarely used by other members of the Lancer Club. This demonstrated Emilia's innate talent for spear combat.
"Raul de Garcia," she called out to me. "Will the Student Council keep its promise if I defeat you in this tournament?"
"Of course. The other clubs would surely condemn the Student Council if they failed to uphold the agreement," I replied to her casually.
We began walking side-by-side through the hallway toward the arena. As we emerged, the cheers and support of the spectators echoed throughout the stadium, especially from the section occupied by the Lancer Club members.
"Crush that rotten noble, President Emilia!"
"Show them that the Lancer Club cannot be underestimated!"
Walking to the center of the arena, Emilia and I faced one another. Ugh... as a result of the previous battles involving Valeria and Brian, the arena floor was ruined and uneven; there was hardly any stable footing left.
"I will defeat you, Raul de Garcia," Emilia challenged, gripping her spear tighter. "This is the beginning of the Lancer Club's glory!"
I unsheathed my sword and replied, "No... this is the beginning of your club's destruction."
At my words, Emilia's expression shifted into something terrifying—like a lioness about to pounce on its prey.
"Are both combatants ready!?" the Promoter asked loudly.
We both nodded, signaling our readiness to fight.
"The fourth match of the first round of the Grunbelt Academy Tournament... Begin!"
The crowd's roar filled the air the moment the Promoter declared the start of the battle. However, both of us remained still, making no move at all.
The Double-edged fighting technique is a unique ability within the game, much like the Dual-wielding technique. Unlike the aggressive nature of Dual-wielding, the Double-edged style relies on counter-attacks as its foundation. That was why Emilia had not attacked yet and was waiting for me to move first.
Nearly thirty seconds passed in silence, prompting the audience to shout for us to start fighting.
"You're quite stubborn, it seems," Emilia said, shifting her stance. "Fine, I'll be the one to attack first."
She looked as though she was about to perform a thrusting motion, even though I was still far beyond her spear's reach. For some reason, I felt a sense of déjà vu.
"..."
Suddenly, her spear shot forward, extending rapidly toward me. I scrambled to move my body to the side to dodge, but Emilia's spear still managed to graze my right cheek slightly.
Damn! I forgot she possesses a Profound Codex called Almahara. It is an ability that can extend the user's weapon. It's only natural I didn't remember; Emilia was not an important character in the plot of the game Path of Destiny.
"Good reaction," Emilia said as she retracted her spear to its original size. "However, my spear can move much faster than that!"
She extended her spear again; I had no choice but to run to avoid being skewered by her relentless strikes. Emilia attacked me repeatedly with the same move; all I could do was leap between the Earth Walls ruined by the previous battle to avoid her non-stop assault.
Ultimately, I had to initiate an attack on Emilia if I didn't want to keep going like this. Activating Acceleration magic, I lunged toward her after dodging her extended spear. The woman retracted her weapon and shot it out toward me again.
—Clang!
I parried the spear with my sword, but she pulled it back and repeatedly performed the same attack. I kept running while dodging and parrying her strikes. Once I was directly in front of Emilia, I unleashed a vertical upward slash, but it was easily blocked by her spear. I didn't stop there; I spun my body and launched a horizontal slash aimed at her neck.
—Tang!
Emilia blocked my slash again and swung her spear for a counter-attack. Realizing this, I shifted slightly to the left to dodge and launched a left-footed kick toward her head.
—Bam!
Emilia's body was pushed back slightly; she had managed to block my kick with her right hand. She then thrust her spear toward the right side of my body with her left hand. However, I quickly jumped backward to evade her and maintain my distance.
"Not bad," Emilia said with a smile, twirling her spear.
Fighting her with a sword was ineffective; she held the advantage in range. Furthermore, the sharp blades on both ends of her spear made her more flexible in both defense and counter-attacking. I decided it was time to use my bare hands. This time, I would have the advantage in close-quarters combat.
I plunged my sword into the ground and readied myself for battle once more.
"Ah, a wise decision," Emilia remarked, seeing me switch my fighting style.
She immediately extended her spear toward my head with incredible speed. Ducking to avoid it, I caught the shaft of the spear with my right hand. She then pulled her spear back, causing my body to be pulled closer toward her. Activating Temper magic in my left hand, I threw a punch aimed at her head.
—Bam!
She managed to block my punch with her right hand, but her body was still forced backward. Not wanting to let the distance open up again, I activated the Charging technique to appear before her instantly.
"Tch! How annoying!" Emilia cursed, attempting a thrusting attack.
But I evaded it easily. She swung her spear again to attack me, but it was futile. After dodging her strike once more, I launched a right-handed punch at her face. She managed to duck, but my left knee was already prepared to strike her face as she tried to avoid me.
—Bam!
She staggered backward after my knee hit her face. I rushed toward her and launched a spinning kick aimed at her head. However, Emilia managed to block it again. Her face looked extremely frustrated because I was attacking relentlessly. At this close range, her spear was difficult to utilize. She tried to leap far back using Axio magic.
Not letting her widen the gap, I lunged forward using Acceleration to pursue her. Emilia aimed her spear and extended it again, shooting it toward me at high speed. I dodged the attack once more. With this, her defense was wide open, allowing me to attack her easily.
However, Emilia smiled as I stood before her, ready to strike. Suddenly, her spear split into two parts. She then launched a thrusting attack at me with the spear in her right hand.
—Splat!
I tried to dodge, but she managed to gouge my right shoulder.
"The warm-up is over; it's time for the real fight!" Emilia declared loudly as she resumed her attack with a spear in each hand.
Cih, it turns out she can use the Dual-wielding technique too!? I don't remember giving the character Emilia this skill. Did she develop it during her field practice? I didn't have time to think about it now. At this moment, I had to focus on dodging Emilia's attacks, which had now become aggressive. In this condition, fighting bare-handed put me at a disadvantage.
"What's wrong? Not brave enough to get close this time!?" Emilia said, trying to provoke me.
Jumping backward using Axio magic, I reclaimed my sword that I had plunged into the ground earlier. Hm... she isn't pursuing me?
Emilia closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly before opening them again. Her face looked more serious now, and her stance had changed. She then lunged toward me with great force; both her legs and her spears appeared to be wreathed in flames.
Reclaiming my sword, I tried to run from Emilia's pursuit.
"Don't you run!"
Turning my body, I saw she was already in front of me. Her speed had increased compared to before. Emilia performed a vertical downward slash, but I blocked it with my sword. She didn't stop there; she followed up by launching a spinning flame kick toward my head.
I ducked to avoid it, but Emilia did not cease her assault, continuing with alternating thrusts from both her spears. I could only defend for the time being, parrying and dodging all of Emilia's attacks. Several slash wounds appeared on my body.
Leaping backward to maintain distance, I saw Emilia combine her spears back into one. She pointed her left palm toward me.
"Fire Wave!"
A burst of flames erupted toward me; I ran to the side to avoid it. However, I saw that Emilia had already aimed her spear at me.
—Swosshh!
Her spear extended toward me again, faster than before. I tried to dodge, but I was still cut by the spearhead. The spreading fire made the space for me to evade even narrower.
"You're quite good at dodging, aren't you!"
I won't win if this continues. The only way is to catch her off guard and then attack her without mercy. Activating Accel and Temper simultaneously, I lunged toward Emilia. I saw her split her spear into two once again.
There was only one way for me to win this without revealing my Nature Mana. That was to perform a Trading Blow, even though she would gain the advantage initially. In the game, this is a strategy to make the opponent's HP hit a predetermined number so they can be defeated with a single strike. After that, I would catch her off guard and defeat her with one combo.
.***
[Elena PoV]
The battle has been going on for ten minutes. Initially, Raul seemed to have the advantage over Senior Emilia. However, after she used her Nature Mana and split her spear into two, Raul found it difficult to engage her in close-quarters combat. Furthermore, the Senior also possessed long-range magic that proved quite troublesome for Raul.
If this continues, he will lose, won't he? Why is he so persistent about not using his Nature Mana? The members of the Lancer Club looked very excited to see the Senior gaining the upper hand this time.
"Emilia is a fighter at all ranges, whereas that boy can only attack Emilia if he gets close."
"Exactly, he has no chance of winning this fight."
I heard the Seniors discussing the match. It was true; in last year's tournament alone, Senior Emilia managed to reach the semi-finals and defeated several of her Seniors in the first and second rounds. She is a strong woman.
Back to the fight. This time, Raul performed a horizontal slash followed by a vertical one. However, the Senior was able to dodge and parry them easily. But Raul did not stop there; he combined his attacks with a kick and a punch. One of Raul's attacks managed to land, but the counter-attack from the Senior also hit Raul's body.
The two continued to trade blows. Raul was able to land several attacks, but the Senior wounded him more frequently in this exchange.
A Trading Blow? Raul's strategy isn't bad, but it has a weakness: the person who initiates usually receives more wounds than the one who counters. The cheers of the audience grew louder. Understandably so; I think they prefer a back-and-forth exchange like this compared to the long-range fighting from before.
Back to the battle; several wounds were visible on the Senior's body. However, her injuries could still be considered minor compared to Raul, who was now covered in cuts across his entire body. According to my analysis, he will not win if he continues this strategy. What exactly is he planning?
***
[Emilia PoV]
I didn't expect him to be this difficult to deal with, especially his close-quarters fighting style. Although I have been using the Dual-wielding technique, which should give me the advantage in melee combat, he is still able to keep up.
Earlier, we engaged in a Trade Blow. Honestly, this gave me the advantage because it was so hard to outperform this man in close combat even while I was in Dual-wielding mode. My long-range attacks weren't very effective against him either because he kept dodging. Another strange thing is that he hasn't used his Nature Mana at all.
The man's feet glowed, a sign he had activated Accel magic; he then lunged toward me again. Does he intend to engage in a Trading Blow again? I will gladly accommodate him.
—Clang!
The man performed a vertical slash which I was able to block with my left spear. I launched a thrusting attack with my right spear; he then tilted his body while launching a right-footed kick toward my head.
—Bam!
An intense dizziness washed over me as his powerful kick hit my head. However, my spear also managed to pierce his left shoulder; I saw him groan slightly in pain because of it.
We continued the Trading Blow—slash after slash he delivered, thrust after thrust I gave him. My heart beat faster than usual; I have never enjoyed fighting someone else this much. The wounds on my body didn't make me weak; instead, they added to my adrenaline and my spirit for the fight.
"I will win, achieve my dreams, and make the Lancer Club thrive!" I shouted at the man.
He did not respond to my words. His breathing was ragged, his body was covered in cuts from my spear, and blood flowed from his right shoulder due to the previous attack. In this condition, it was certain that my ultimate attack would hit him. I will win.
Jumping backward with Axio magic, I maintained my distance from the man. This time, he didn't pursue me at all. He seemed exhausted and in pain from the Trading Blow we had performed. Landing on top of an Earth Wall created from the previous fight, I began to gather mana to launch my ultimate attack at him. I combined my two spears back into one and began to recite the incantation.
"Dream... Glory... and Honor..."
Raising my right hand, my spear began to float into the air and spin very fast. Seeing this, the man readied himself to dodge my attack.
"Strengthen My Will... Become My Power..."
Flames appeared, enveloping my spear and turning it into a fire tornado ready to pierce through anything in its path. The audience's shouts echoed throughout the arena again. I could hear the Lancer Club members starting to sing a victory song for me. Yes... with this attack, I will bring our club back to its glory.
The man began to run to the side, trying to make it difficult for me to aim my magic at him. Unfortunately, he is very naive if he thinks he can dodge this attack.
"Lanza del Fuego!"
Screaming the name of my Profound Codex, I launched the fire spear toward the man. The flames from my attack trailed behind like a comet falling from the sky. The man activated Accelerate magic along with the Charging technique, trying to escape my attack. However, my spear curved slightly to the side and pierced the right side of his abdomen.
—Boom!
An explosion was created behind the man as my spear hit the ground. Lanza del Fuego... a Profound Codex that possesses the ability to make my attack follow the target wherever they go. Furthermore, this ability also makes my attack five times faster than usual, making it harder for the enemy to evade.
The man lay on the ground, screaming in pain while clutching his stomach, which began to pour blood. That didn't immediately eliminate him? Did my attack just graze his stomach?
Descending from the Earth Wall, I walked toward the man to deliver the final blow. My mana was nearly exhausted after using that magic, and my body was also very tired; I had to end him with my own hands as quickly as possible.
"Hey, lift your face and look into my eyes," I said to him. "Lose with your dignity, rather than screaming in such a pathetic way."
However, he did not respond to my words and instead screamed even louder like a loser while clutching his stomach. Fine, it's time to end this match. Activating Temper magic in my right hand, I launched a punch at him.
"..."
Suddenly, he rose and dodged my punch.
—Bam!
The man landed a direct strike on my solar plexus, forcing me to one knee from the intense pain.
"Radical Blow!"
The man then unleashed a barrage of punches on my body. My stomach, chest, head—all of his attacks landed cleanly. I could not control my body after being hit by that surprise attack.
—Bam! Bam! Bam!
I almost lost consciousness... Am I going to lose...?
—Bam!
He launched an incredibly hard kick directly to my head, sending my body flying. The last thing I heard before losing consciousness were the screams of despair from the club members who had supported me.