Ryuma grimaced. He has been fighting through chest pains the entire match, even to the point he's been trying to hide it from everyone how affected he was. The reality was that wide and exaggerated moves hindered him physically.
One could only imagine his deflation, when he'd almost got one of the four removed, only for it to turn around on him and have him saved. Not to mention, it was with a method like this.
There were wires everywhere around the arena. This meant that he couldn't win by a ring out. He'd have to incapacitate them somehow, or risk going after Clara first
The decision was made swift and with ease. He launched himself at Clara. Even though she braced herself for an attack.
Toga sped in between the two blocking him off from his target. {If Clara's up, they're invincible. This must be Toga's doing.} Ryuma swung his katanas with extreme speed, creating a flurry of blows that Toga could only block against.
"Don't think you're the only one who knows the Artes Ryuma!" Wen said. Being surrounded by his chakram, Wen stuck his foot on the inside and supplanted it still.
Wind Artes: Whirlwind spin!
Wen and his entire weapon spun like a wheel, marking the ground on their path towards Ryuma. He had to take his attention off Toga to block the bladed wheel, spinning like a buzzsaw.
Toga jumped back to avoid the move. It hit Ryuma with such force that it not only pushed him back but lifted him up into the sky.
With the amount of sparks coming out of the blades razing together, the two looked like a fireworks show. Wen was taking him even higher than he previously was before this match. A fall from this height straight into the ground would do severe damage if not outright kill him.
He was serious about this win.
Wen pushed so hard, he knocked Ryuma out of the way, pushing past him and slowing his spin to where his form was now visible.
"You know, I'm still going to be the one to take you down Ryuma!" Wen said.
"If you did, then that was only as far as I was meant to go. What of you though? Can you really be proud that you jumped a man who went through twenty-five people to get to you? Even if you do win, that graduation reward will always be a reminder on how you got it,"
Wen grimaced. "That twenty-five don't mean squat when they're all zeroes!"
"Oh really? I wonder… if I beat you next, will you be counting yourself as the twenty-sixth zero, or does that only apply to the people that lost before you?"
Wen scowled, so much so that he could see the tension in the young man's face from where he was.
"That's it. Reverse spin!"
Wen spun the opposite direction and crashed straight into Ryuma. This time, they were plummeting down towards the arena. Was he seriously planning to kill him? Ryuma couldn't tell anymore, as this match out of all the other ones, began to blend the reality of an exam, and an actual fight between priests. Even Ryuma was starting to forget about the exam.
He was stuck between the pressure of the wind on his back, and the force of Wen bearing down on him. The ground was quickly approaching and the two now looked like a meteorite was slamming into the Skylands. Like that moment with Shio, he had to time this exactly right. They were mere seconds away from impact. When Ryuma decided to make his move.
"Wind Artes: Whirlwind Spin," Ryuma shouted at the last moment. The force of the crash was enough to shake the surrounding area, kicking up extreme amounts of dust.
"OH MY GOD, RYUMA!" Nuna shouted.
He faintly heard her call, but the ringing in his ears were unbearable. It was hard to hear anything. Matter of fact, it was hard to see anything. The entire arena was in a dust cloud. Surely, he could blow it away, but he was limited on energy right now, that'd help his opponents as well.
He had blood trickle down his face from his head. Every bone in his body ached. He lifted his arms and put his hands on the ground. Forcing himself up, though it was tough, it seemed like his body was still functional.
That was the case until he decided to put a little bit of pressure on his right leg. His ankles were screaming throughout his entire body not to use it. The pain quickly caused him to go down favoring his left leg, and immediately hold on to his right one to ease it.
He winced with his eyes tightly shut. This was bad. His mobility was shot.
He took a breather and let the pain ease away. How was he going to continue fighting if he couldn't put pressure on one of his legs? A riddle he would soon have to figure out, as the dust was finally settling and all the spectators bared witness to an injured Ryuma, and an unconscious Wen. The confusion on their face multiplied as more questions than answers were just created.
"That's not right! You were locked in by Wen. How'd you managed to get out?" One of the students asked.
"He must've cheated somehow," Another said.
The rules only stated that leaving the arena and killing the opponent were ground for disqualification. Technically, there was no way he could have cheated with the rules being so relaxed and straightforward.
"It was that whirlwind spin move, wasn't it?" Toga asked. Ryuma didn't say anything, but Toga continued anyway. "You spun in reverse, in order to ride his current outside of the blast radius, making him take the full brunt of his own attack, meanwhile, you minimized the damage to yourself,"
The class started whispering amongst themselves again.
"HE WHAT! Damnit this kid is unstoppable!" Diaga shouted.
"Calm down. It was Wen's own fault to begin with. I told you to whittle down the battle and not to get overzealous. It was to avoid him taking it and reversing any situation he'd find himself in. Looks like my warning was reasonable, yet still ignored,"
"Listen I'm sure you know Ryuma's weaknesses better than anyone here, but we don't work that way… besides…" Diaga turned towards Ryuma. He was putting most of his weight on one of his legs. Diaga dashed towards him. "HE CAN'T MOVE LIKE BEFORE!" he thrusted his spear out as he flew towards Ryuma.
"Wind Artes: Wind Walker,"
Instead of moving with his feet, Ryuma glided across the arena. If he was going to move like this, it's better that he didn't use any of his other Artes. It was an idea he came up with in the moment, but it seemed affective. It was the first wind move he learned so he was pretty good with reserving his Artes while using it. He could last a while, but realistically, it was still limited.
So he had to make this quick, with the most effective strategy he could find.
Ryuma looked around. Although barely, the wires were all visible if you were paying attention to them. If he severed them, he could stand a better chance than trying to go for Clara herself.
He changed directions and headed towards the corners of the arena. A move that had initially confused all parties watching them. Soon as he made it to a corner of the arena, he'd make a vertical slice going downward, before heading off towards another corner.
"HE'S TRYING TO DESTROY THE WIRES!" Clara said.
Diaga ran towards the same corner cutting him off. Ryuma glided right over him, using his body to flip himself over Diaga in the process. He cut down the next set
"Are you kidding me!?" Toga asked. He dashed out himself, heading him off, and sandwiching him between Diaga and himself.
Right then, Ryuma's eye's drifted towards Clara. This was the moment for which he was waiting. She was wide open. If he didn't take her out now, she was going to be a problem later.
Ryuma halted his momentum, and gunned straight towards Clara, both blades out ready to strike. The boys' mouths were agape at Ryuma's sudden shift. Their position was too far away, and his speed was too fast to stop.
He raised his blade and struck down, only for his blade to stop midair. "What the…" Ryuma tried to move his blade, but it wouldn't budge. He even tried to move his body but was just as unresponsive.
Clara smiled. "You didn't think I was completely defenseless, did you?" She took her whole hand and rubbed his cheek. "
Wires started forming out of her fingertips. Clara spun around and encased them both in a massive cocoon of metal wiring, where no man could see, and not a soul to hear.
Ryuma looked around. He really miscalculated a bad one this time. "Clara, what are you doing?"
"Relax wonder boy. I just wanted some privacy. I need to ask you a few questions. You wouldn't mind right?" She asked.
For the first time since he's met her. Ryuma never once seen Clara smile. This time around, she looked alluring doing so.
The chilling thing he noticed, was how seductive and dangerous the tone shifted. Ryuma gulped. Was he going to be, OK?