I aimed directly for the back of her neck. I didnt hold back and went for the kill.

With the referee in attendance I didnt need to worry about my opponents well being.

The referees knew exactly when to stop the situation, and when they didnt then it was on them rather than me.

I wasnt going to cry over their mistakes.

Xiu!

The thread shot menacingly in the direction of her neck. The distance between her and my hand wasnt far, and with the speed of the thread I didnt think shed be able to react.

But I was wrong.

As if she had eyes at the back of her head, instead of blocking the attack she ducked her head lower and masterfully dodged the attack.

Tsss!

A small hole formed on the spot where she had been.

The speed at which she moved her neck was so fast that I hardly had time to process the situation.

Her figure blurred and I felt a gust of wind heading toward my right. I thought about punching in that direction but decided against it and punched toward my left.

Bang!

Ukh!

I felt my fist connect with something sharp as I took a couple of steps back and looked at my fist.

Drip!

As expected, blood leaked down from my fist as I looked up to see my opponent gathering her steps as she stabilized her body. Evidently, she too had been pushed back.

But she was quick to regain her bearings before she yet again disappeared from my sight.

Instead of panicking I kept my mind cool and extended my hand. Threads burst out, enveloping the area around me in all sorts of ways.

This should slow her down a bit.

At the same time, I pressed my foot against the ground and activated Step of Supression

The entire area around me was now covered in threads. Not only that but the gravitational force around me was also heavy.

I surveyed my surroundings calmly.

With this set up I was confident in stopping her from reaching me.

At least for the first few minutes.

Rustle!

My thought process was shattered by the rustling sound of clothes. They came from just next to me, and I felt my eyes widen slightly as a figure appeared right in front of me.

With her body hunched slightly, she thrust the sharp dagger in my direction.

I hardly had the time to react.

Clank!

A set of chains appeared at the last moment, moving toward my chest and blocking all the most important areas.

The daggers course changed right after that as I felt something sharp stab at both of my thighs.

Pfttt

The pain registered rather quickly in my mind. It was sharp and electric. My thoughts squirmed as I found myself unable to move at all.

Despite the pain, I knew that I couldnt be distracted. Focusing elsewhere but my thighs I looked in my opponents direction and closed my hands, gathering all the threads that were scattered throughout and forming an impenetrable net.

This was the second trap that I had laid out.

In the rare chance that she did manage to get through to my defenses, I planned on creating this net to trap her inside it.

I looked into her eyes in hopes of seeing some sort of reaction from her but she remained relatively calm.

No, rather than calm it was more that she was indifferent to the situation.

My brows knit at the calmness that she displayed but still nonetheless closed the net.

That was when her figure blurred.

Before I even had the time to think, the net closed in on the surrounding area.

But

!

She was nowhere in sight.

Raising my head up, a familiar figure appeared in the distance. With two daggers in her hands, she stood and stared at me with a cold look.

I felt my mind shake at the sight.

Teleportation?

***

The broadcast was closely following the fights that were happening in the second round of fights. Unfortunately, because there were so many matches happening at once, they could only follow one at a time.

It would only be until the round of sixteen that the matches would be arranged at different times.

The first two rounds were more to test the performers endurance and stamina. The goal was to make them compete in situations where they werent in top shape.

<The Winner of Platform 11 is Aoife K. Megrail>

Karl announced, pulling over the screen where Aoife appeared to be.

Her match lasted a little longer than her previous one but she still was able to get rid of her opponent rather quickly.

The same was true for the three other big four.

<It was a great match>

Johanna made her comment.

<Aoifes mastery over her telekinesis is something that Ive rarely seen for someone of her age>

<Are you sure?>

Karl looked at Johanna meaningfully.

That was when she answered,

<She and Caius>

<Hahaha, I thought you had forgotten>

Karl laughed.

<As many of you are aware, Caiuss talent lies in the [Mind] category. He is talented in both [Emotive] and [Telekinesis] which makes him a rare pure [Mind] user. So far he has yet to use his [Emotive] magic and has been able to dispatch his opponents in less than a few breaths. I wonder how strong he is if he uses his full power.>

While Karl laughed, Johanna sorted through the broadcasts before fixing her eyes on two profiles.

She took a quick pick at them before picking one.

<Oh? Are we going in for the next performance?>

Karl leaned forward and looked at the broadcast. His previous joyful expression froze at the sight that greeted him as he turned to look at Johanna who was staring at the broadcast with furrowed brows.

Displayed on the screen were two figures.

On one side was an elegant woman with sharp features and cold eyes while on the other was a bloodied figure who could hardly stand.

He looked to be on his last leg.

<What happened here?>

Karl pressed down and shifted his hand a little bit to the left. The broadcast paused and the images replayed back. Once he moved back a decent amount of time he continued the broadcast, and it was there that he and the entire audience was able to see what had happened.

Hiss

Karl drew a deep breath upon seeing the numerous threads that Julien had set up in order to stop Angela from approaching.

He thought Angela would struggle to reach Julien, but

<Oh!>

He was shocked to see that not only was she able to get close to Julien, but she was also able to deal a heavy blow to him, attacking both of his legs.

That was when Julien activated his trap.

A net of threads appeared, closing in on Angela from all sides. It looked like there was nowhere for her to escape.

But he was wrong.

<How is this possible!?>

He was left utterly shocked by what he saw next as Angela appeared behind the net relatively unharmed in a matter of seconds.

It looked as though she had teleported herself.

<Did she?!>

<She did not>

Cutting him off, Johanna moved the video back and slowed it down by over ten times. She went on to play the video again.

<Take a look>

Karl held his breath and leaned forward to get a better look. He couldnt understand what she was trying to hint at, but he was curious.

He watched in slow motion as Angela ran toward the threads that were obstructing her path with no regard. The scene shocked both him and the audience that was looking.

Karl was about to voice out his thoughts when Johanna stopped him and continued to point at the screen.

That was when Karl saw it.

<Ah!>

His eyes widened in shock. The same was true for some of the people watching the broadcast as some stood up in shock.

<This This is the first time that Ive seen such skill>

Karl turned to look at Johanna.

<Isnt this a little unfair? How can he even fight against this?>

Johanna kept her gaze on the replay. In there, Angelas body composition changed the outline of her gaseous figure appearing for a split second, allowing her to pass through the threads and reach Julien.

She then went on to speak,

<Its not impossible to fight this type of skill>

Her gaze fell on the struggling Julien who appeared on the screen, his entire body filled with cuts as he looked to be in a worse situation than before.

Pursing her lips, Johanna spoke,

<The important thing is having him figure out her skill before its too late>

<I can see that. What do you think Juliens chances are?>

Johanna sighed slightly, fixing her gaze on the broadcast before her.

<Im not sure, but if theres one thing that Im sure about, its the fact that she was built to defeat Julien>

***

Pftt

My head started to feel light as something stabbed against the right side of my torso. My lips twitched as I ignored the pain and took a deep breath.

Hoo.

I could only helplessly stand on the spot, staring at the cold figure that stood on the opposite end.

Her dagger was now entirely covered in red while she looked completely fine.

Clench.

The sight made me clench my teeth as I struggled to properly understand what was happening.

How is she able to dodge everything?

It looked like she could teleport, but at the same time, I knew this wasnt the case. Although she was fast, there were times when I could follow her with my eyesight.

She couldnt teleport, but she could pass through the threads and gravitational pull around me.

I didnt know how she did it, but I knew that I had to figure this out fast.

I was running out of time.

But how?

How was I going to do this?

Rustle!

A familiar rustling sound reached my ears. Following that, I ducked down and a hand appeared right above where my head used to be.

I remained calm and dashed in the direction of where Angela was, in hopes of catching her.

But it was useless.

Ukh!

Just when I thought I caught her, her figure blurred, disappearing from view.

I didnt get angry or frustrated.

There was no point in doing so and focused on numbing my emotions.

How do I win this?

I licked my lips. She was a pretty bad match-up for me. No, more than her being a bad match-up, it was almost as though she was built to completely destroy someone like me.

I tried using Emotive Magic, but that proved futile as well.

.!

The moment I opened my mouth, she raised her hand and the sound around me stopped. It prevented me from using the vocalization aspect of my Emotive Magic. If I wanted to use Emotive Magic then I had no choice but to touch her.

But that was easier said than done.

The more I fought with her the more I realized just how much she was built to deal with someone like me.

What should I do?

I looked around me in hopes of finding some sort of answer, but nothing.

I found myself unable to think of anything. I just stood in silence, unable to figure a way out of the situation.

In such a desperate situation, rather than panicking, I became even calmer.

Abnormally calm.

To the point where all the noise around me drowned out and I found myself standing in the middle of my sea of consciousness.

In such a calm state, I was able to think clearly. With no distractive thoughts, I started to visualize an ideal.

The faint trace of a concept.

It was dark, but I could see something in the distance.

It was faint but there.

Rustle

A familiar rustle reached my ears, but I ignored it.

I continued to stare in the distance, in hopes of seeing what was there in the distance.

It grew closer.

Both the sound coming from outside my consciousness and the strange object in the distance.

It soon came to my view, and my breath stopped.

Glowing faintly, a red orb appeared.