“Won’t work this time.”
“Impossible!”
If the crowd was shocked, then Gaudartha was absolutely beside himself. He widened his eyes as he looked up and down at his weapon. Although his move focused on speed, the sheer mass of his metal axe was more than enough to cut through Fran like butter. Yet Fran was still standing there, grinning, unfazed, and still in one piece. Everyone was confused at how the great giant of a man had failed to move a little girl. She wasn’t even straining to maintain her barrier.
It was impossible for Gaudartha to believe, and Fran exploited his shock.
“Haaaa!”
“Grrr!”
“Urk!”
Now that he was in striking distance, she wasted no time in going on the offensive. She pelted him with powerful spells and skills, all of them greatly draining his mana.
Just a little more! He’s almost spent!
“Tchaaaa!”
“Hrrrngh!”
Gaudartha countered with several quick swings, but they weren’t fast enough. Eventually, his mana pool dried up.
“Gah!!”
He was finally knocked out of his Awakened state. We had to take him down before his armor recovered his mana!
Come on! Short Jump!
We jumped behind Gaudartha, intent on finishing the match with one great attack.
Instead of his defenseless back, we were greeted with Gaudartha’s terrifying greataxe. Teleportation had a very small timeframe in which you could react. Even without Heightened Reflexes, Gaudartha read our play. Maybe he’d gained his instincts from those long years as a soldier, or perhaps beastmen had sharper instincts than other races. His greataxe met Fran’s blade and threw her back. She managed to block his swing, but the force reverberated through her body, making it difficult to hold on to me.
“Hngh!”
Fran rolled to dodge Gaudartha’s follow-up. Despite no longer being in an Awakened state, he was still powerful enough to leave cracks in the stadium floor. We struggled to find a gap in his defenses.
Didn’t expect any less from an A-Rank…!
We had to finish this before he got his mana back…but how? A plunging attack from above? Maybe from the sides? Too obvious. Should we turn on Physical Immunity and attack with reckless abandon? We didn’t have enough mana for that. As I was going through our options, Fran cast the deciding vote.
Teacher, we’ll go up! He won’t be able to stop us, even if he sees us coming!
Got it.
It sounded like a plan. If Fran’s mind was made up, then my duty was to carry it out.
Jet, keep him busy!
Woof!
Long Jump!
“Hm?”
“Grrr!”
Gaudartha looked around, trying to work out where she’d gone. He couldn’t work it out, and Jet would keep him busy enough that he never would. The audience and commentator were as much in the dark as he was.
“What’s this? Fran has disappeared from the ring! Did she teleport? Turn herself invisible? Maybe she took to the shadows!”
The correct answer was the sky. Fran hopped on the flat of my blade as I moved in, so she could concentrate on unleashing her powerful attack. Once she was ready, she muttered.
“Let’s go.”
Right.
She grabbed my hilt and began her descent. She used Air Current Manipulation and Mana Thread to catapult herself to the ground and accelerated further with Air Hop, Rush, and Wind Magic. Her moment of impact was further magnified with Increase Weight, along with two Elemental Blades: Fire and Lightning. The concept was the same as the high-altitude Pressurized Quickdraw we’d used in the battle against Linford, only this time, we were much higher in the sky. And this time, we’d be stronger. Fran was accelerating faster with Timespace Magic, had more control of her sword thanks to Sword King Mastery, and could put out more power with Spirit Control.
“Thunderclap!”
Fran used the Class Skill she had just acquired. Lightning enveloped her body, further increasing her speed. She took the form of a spear of lightning as she fell towards Gaudartha like a shooting star.
“Haaaaa!”
“Where is—”
Gaudartha looked up, finally picking up on Fran’s presence. She had drawn me from her pressurized sheath and my blade was already before his eyes. She crashed into the arena with a dazzling flash. Loud rumbling followed the bolt of lightning that scorched into the earth.
“Graaaaaaaaaah!” Gaudartha let out a bestial roar.
Short Jump!
I teleported Fran to a corner of the ring before she could lodge herself into the ground. There was a large crater where Gaudartha had been, and plumes of smoke emerged from it.
Teacher, are you okay?!
I’m fine, Fran! I’m fixing myself already. But that armor of his is tougher than I thought! I can’t believe that wasn’t enough to cut through…
My plan had been to cut through Gaudartha’s left shoulder to his heart. That should be enough to put the big man down. I’d felt myself cut through his armor and into his flesh, but just as I was about to reach his heart, my blade snapped off. I wasn’t durable enough to withstand that armor.
I’m sorry, Fran! I’ve been useless this whole fight!
It’s not your fault. Besides, he definitely felt that one.
Yeah. Cradle of Time hasn’t triggered yet, but he should have a hard time moving—
Shoom!
I stopped as I felt a huge burst of mana from the dust cloud. It blew away the smoke that had settled in the crater. We had shocked the crowd and Gaudartha with Physical Immunity, but now it was our turn for a cruel surprise.
What the hell?! But he has no mana! How did he recover from that?!
Gaudartha fell on one knee, clearly inches from death. His left arm was missing. His body was broken and fluid gushed out of him. His right arm was crushed and his left leg was fractured at best. I doubted his organs had escaped this onslaught unscathed. Although he’d managed to deflect some of the damage, we still inflicted a huge amount of hurt.
But now his wounds were healing at an unbelievably rate. Instant Regeneration was doing its thing, and even his heavily
