As Amon decided to back up, Cecilia and John locked eyes on him and shot in his direction almost at the same time. The ground beneath their feet cracked as they came like cannonb.a.l.l.s in his direction, sword and spear in hand.

"d.a.m.n!" Was all Amon could say as his mind raced.

Cecilia was closer, but she was probably stronger than John. Facing her would not be a good idea as he would be probably too busy with her to avoid any strike John dealt from his blind side. On the other hand, if he faced John, he would leave an opening to Cecilia, and he wasn't sure if he would be able to deal with that.

Amon would have to keep them close to each other to be sure he wouldn't leave his back exposed, but the only way to do that was… to make one attack the other.

Amon took a deep breath, calming himself. Time seemed to slow down as he kicked the ground and sped in John's direction. John seemed surprised for a moment, and Cecilia gave a sneer as Amon got out of her reach. She promptly followed him, not giving him the least breathing room.

Amon was rus.h.i.+ng as fast as possible in John's direction, his golden eyes showing complete focus. John raised his spear and prepared to stab it at Amon. Amon looked at him carefully, a.n.a.lyzing his stance, where the weight of his body was supported, the distance between them and how fast John was moving.

When John tightened the grip on his spear a split-second before he unleashed the stab, Amon thought, "Now!"

He hurriedly stomped his left foot on the floor, making it crack as he forcefully stopped. Then Amon lowered his upper body and jumped to the left just as a deafening whistle ran past his ear. Amon saw the s.h.i.+ny edge of the spear's tip grazing past his hair as he got out of the way in the very last moment.

The air howled as the spear moved forward, but the stab that missed Amon was now going in the direction of Cecilia's chest, taking her by surprise. Amon hastily recovered his balance and swung the glowing stick in his hands at Cecilia's exposed back as she ran past him.

Being attacked at the front and the back, Cecilia was in a though spot. Her eyes flashed with a cold light as she raised her thin sword. With a firm flick of her wrist, the sword collided with the spear, changing its trajectory to the left of Cecilia's head.

"You cunning snake!" Amon almost shouted as he forcefully changed his own strike. Cecilia had changed the spear's trajectory back to him, forcing Amon to block the spear instead of hitting her. Like Cecilia, Amon swung his stick at the spear, sending it to his left and creating an opening in John's stance.

Amon felt his hand going numb as the stick forcefully sent the spear away. John had immense strength. For Cecilia to change that stab with a flick of her wrist meant she was even stronger!

Cecilia raised her sword and stabbed at John's exposed chest, aiming straight for his heart. With his stance broken and no time to retrieve his spear to block, John was doomed to be eliminated. At least that is what Amon though.

The next moment, John let go of his spear jumped backwards, letting his body fall to the ground and landing on his back. As Cecilia moved past him, he supported his hands behind his head and raises his knees, kicking out.

Both his feet hit Cecilia's abdomen, sending her flying back into Amon's direction. Cecilia hit Amon and they both fell to the ground, entangled in a mess of limbs and clothes as John used his momentum to jump back to his feet. As Amon and Cecilia tried to get away from each other, John jumped up high.

Seeing this, Cecilia's eyes turned serious as she kicked Amon and slid away from her original position just as John started falling. Amon hurriedly rolled out on the nick of time as John fell exactly where he and Cecilia had been, punching the ground.

'CRACK!'

The floor quaked and a dust cloud rose where John landed. He walked away from it moments after, allowing the spectators to see the ma.s.sive hole on the ground surrounded by a web of cracks.

"Is that how you treat a lady, John!?" Cecilia asked as she got back to her feet, raising her sword again and a.s.suming a fighting stance. Her breathing was rough and her hair was a mess. There were two clear footprints in her abdomen, making her feel embarra.s.sed and mad.

"What lady? All I see is a snake!" John replied as he kicked his fallen spear, throwing it in the air and grabbing it again. In this exchange, he had been the winner.

Amon also recovered, but his ribs were throbbing in pain. Cecilia's kick had been not only strong, but also precise. She managed to dodge John's strike while hurting Amon at the same time. She was really a terrible opponent.

The three of them only had one real exchange, but their breathing was already rough and two of them had been hurt. The three stared at each other, waiting for the next one to make a move.

Amon had to make a decision. He either attacked John together with Cecilia, as he was the only one that hadn't been hurt yet, or he attack Cecilia together with John, as she was the strongest of them and it was a good chance to take her out.

In such fights, alliances and enmities would change at each strike, because no one would allow any of the others to have an advantage. Fights like these would either be dragged out or be over in seconds. Amon had to think very carefully on who to take out first.

"It has to be John." He concluded. Even if Cecilia was stronger, John was not hurt and he showed that he could have a proper exchange with her and come out on top. At the moment, he was the one in advantage.

Amon locked eyes with Cecilia for a moment, and they both seemed to reach an agreement. Amon grasped his stick tightly as he shot forward to John again, with Cecilia closing on him from the other side.

John didn't seem surprised at all as he saw the pincer attack coming at him. He took a step back as swung his spear in a wide sweeping attack. Amon had to stop on his tracks as the spear nearly hit his head, but that was enough. That single moment was enough to break his pace and give John a split-second of time to deal with Cecilia.

The spear was still swinging in her direction as she smiled at John. That strike was too high. It was just a little bit, a few centimeters, but that was enough. Cecilia continued running as she lowered her head.

The spear whistled through the air as it hit nothing, leaving John exposed again. Like a lightning bolt, Cecilia rushed to him, her sword ready. John's expression sunk as he slid his hand through the shaft of the spear.

It was a move that demanded incredible reflexes and incredible strength. As John changed his hand's position to get closer to the spear's tip, he took a step forward with his right foot and pushed out with his right hand, that was now in the middle of the shaft at the same time as he pulled his left hand, that was close to the tip.

The spear seemed to s.h.i.+ft, as what had been a sweeping strike with the tip outwards now turned into another sweeping strike, but with the lower end of the shaft whistling through the air, aiming for Cecilia's waist.

Cecilia was forced to heavily stomp the ground and force herself to stop as she raised her sword to parry the strike. John's brows furrowed as he saw this but he had no time to think as Cecilia smiled again.

She spun her body and kicked the end of the shaft, making the spear stab at John. The tip was pointing at his chest, and he cursed out loud as he was forced to yet again drop his spear, or he would be eliminated by his own weapon.

It was enough time for Amon to get to him. He swung his stick at the back of John's head at a breakneck speed. Somehow, John managed to turn in time and he blocked the strike with his left arm.

'Crack!'

John wanted to scream as his bones cracked, but he gritted his teeth. He was about to punch Amon with his free arm when he felt a heavy impact on his back and he was sent flying through the arena.

He almost fell on his face, but managed to roll and stop sliding just a bit away from the edge. He had difficulty breathing and his back hurt far too much. Moving would be hard from now on. Rage was burning on his eyes as he looked at Cecilia, which smiled sweetly at him. At his back, there were now two clear footprints.

She calmly grabbed his black spear with her left hand and swung it a little. Then, she threw it out of the platform, still smiling as she looked at John. The spear flew in an arc through the air before it fell to the ground with a heavy sound, on the other side of the light curtain.

"You really got a lot better, Johnny." Her smile turned into a pout, but her eyes were br.i.m.m.i.n.g with happiness. "I can't play around with you anymore."

John gritted his teeth as he forced himself to hold back his words. An unwilling expression appeared on his face as he looked at his broken arm. He then raised his eyes to Amon, with nothing but hate on them.

"Who would expect that you would manage to break one of his arms, eh?" Cecilia turned to Amon as she said that, beaming. "Looks like you are stronger than I expected."

Amon felt his hair stand on end as she looked at him, and every cell in his body screamed at him to run away as fast as possible.

"Why don't we have some fun, just the two of us?"