Chapter 47: Blinded but Unbroken
Three of the five competitors froze in place.
The memory of the staff girl crumpling under Dahlia’s knee and the sound of the green-robed broken arm rang in their head.
One by one, they dropped their weapons.
"We... we’re out," one of them muttered, backing away.
Another stumbled, almost tripping as he backed away, too.
"No way I’m fighting that monster."
The last one simply turned and retreated.
This made the crowd gasp.
"Cowards!"
"God Gym is terrifying!"
Dahlia ignored the three who had left. She only focused on the two that didn’t leave.
Not only did the two of them not leave, but they were also the favourites to win this tournament: Larris and Elira.
Larris shifted his stance as he reached behind his back and pulled out a massive battle axe.
Beside him, Elira brushed her golden braid over her shoulder as she drew her slender sword from her hip.
Dahlia lowered into her stance again, ready to fight both of them.
"Now... only the two of you are left. Show me why they call you the favourites. Don’t disappoint me."
Elira smirked a little, hearing her words.
"Disappoint? You’ll soon understand why we’re called the favourites. And also, it’s not us that need to prove ourselves."
She pointed her finger toward Dahlia, grinning wider.
"You are the one who needed to prove yourself to us. Don’t disappoint us."
Dahlia’s eyes narrowed, ignoring what she said and getting ready to go.
Larris said nothing. He simply lifted his axe with both hands and stared Dahlia in the eyes intently.
The three of them stood in a triangle, and the crowd leaned forward, waiting for the clash.
---
Elira moved first toward Dahlia. She raised her glowing sword high and shouted.
"Let’s see if you can take this one. Radiant Veil!"
She slashed her sword in a clean horizontal arc, and a wave of bright light burst from the swing.
It was also so bright that it made the front rows of the crowd cover their eyes.
Dahlia stepped back quickly, dodging the blade, but she still never expected that the light would be this blinding.
"What the?!"
Thanks to it, Dahlia had lost her sight, and now she squinted her eyes, trying to recover it.
But Elira didn’t want to let her recover, so she turned to Larris and shouted.
"Larris! Now!"
Larris nodded as he rushed forward and roared, raising his axe high as he leapt into the air.
"Rock Splitter!"
Larris swung his axe down like a falling boulder, aiming straight for Dahlia’s head.
Dahlia frowned, still blind, not knowing what to do, so she tried to calm down.
She soon could feel a surge of mana above her, so she clenched her fist and chose to believe her gut.
At the last second, she sidestepped, dodging the attack that she knew.
BOOOM!
The axe smashed into teh ground, shattering the ground into uneven chunks.
Dahlai raised her arm to shield herself from the debris, and then she was ready to counterattack.
But before she could do so, her footing slipped as the broken ground made her balance broke.
"Tch..."
She clicked her tongue and quickly leapt backwards, putting some distance between them.
She quickly rubbed her eyes, trying to recover her eyes as soon as possible.
Across from her, Elira and Larris regrouped, standing side by side.
Elira smirked as she twirled her sword gracefully, mocking her.
"Not bad. You managed to dodge it even without seeing it. But let’s see how long you can last."
Larris rested his axe against his shoulder, staring intently.
"You won’t be able to dodge all of my attacks forever."
Dahlia’s sight finally returned, and a small smirked appeared on her face.
"Interesting... I didn’t think a skill like that could blink me for even a second."
Elira laughed lightly, her eyes sharp.
"Oh, Dahlia. That was just the start."
The crowd erupted, stomping their feet and chanting.
Some shouted for Dahlia, others for Elira and Larris, but everyone could sense that this match was even better than they thought.
Dahlia rolled her shoulders, smirking as this time she wasn’t underestimating them again.
"Then show me more of your power. This time, I’m not holding back."
Elira raised her sword high again, the blade shining even brighter than before.
Larris lifted his axe, coating his body and axe with mana, making him even stronger than before.
---
Elira moved first again, and her sword shone even brighter than before.
"Radiant Veil!"
She slashed horizontally, trying to blind Dahlia again for the second time.
Dahlia just smirked, knowing it.
"Do you think it’ll work a second time?"
This time, she didn’t panic. She closed her eyes and tried to use her senses to fight.
Elira only laughed loudly.
"So what if you know it? Closing your eyes won’t save you!"
She swung diagonally, trying to cut Dahlia, but Dahlia’s smirk grew wider.
She already knew what the best probable strike after Radiant Veil was, and her guess was correct.
At the last moment, she sidestepped and shot her hand to catch Elira’s wrist.
Elira’s eyes quickly widened in panic.
"Damn it!"
She knew immediately that once Dahlua got hold of her, it was over. She quickly shouted in despair.
"Larris! Save me!"
Larris quickly moved without hesitation to save her, stomping the ground hard.
"Mountain Step!"
The stone floor cracked and shifted beneath Dahlia’s feet, causing her to waver in her stance and balance.
Thanks to it, her grip on Elira’s wrist was lost, giving Elira a chance as she twisted and swung her sword upward.
"Got you!"
But Dahlia’s reflexes were sharper.
She immediately twisted her hips and delivered a hard kick straight into Elira’s gut.
THUD!
Elira’s body was foiled as she was sent flying backward across the arena, crashing to the stone floor.
At the same time, Larris was already on her, raising his axe high.
"Rock Splitter!"
Dahlia’s eyes narrowed. This time, her vision was clear, and she smirked.
"Too slow."
She stepped aside, letting the axe hit the floor, and Dahlia countered.
She already knew the floor was uneven, so she bent her knees and launched herself into the air to deliver a high-jump kick.
But to her surprise, Larris’s arms managed to block her kick.
Dahlia could feel that his skin was even tougher than normal skin.
"Earthen Guard!"
Thud!
Then Larris reached Dahlia’s leg with one big hand and smirked a little.
"Got you!"
With a grunt, he twisted his body and hurled her across the arena.
The crowd gasped again as Dahlia spun in the air, but instead of crashing, she twisted her body, landing safely.
She looked back at both Elira and Larris, grinning wide.
"You two are really interesting and strong."