'Throw the dagger on its head as quickly as you can! It will succumb to your onslaught once you strike the forehead.
"But that's just an infant."
'You can't call that an infant anymore. It is an unborn child that has been doomed to reincarnate as a monstrous being. It's a cursed child.'
"But—"
'Kill it now or it will eat you alive!'
She immediately threw the dagger at the hideous-looking infant that was now crawling towards her with the intention of devouring her. It terrifyingly looked gruesome and hungry for blood as it crawls further towards her direction. And because she was so terrified of the possibility that she would be eaten by it, her first attempt to hit it with her dagger unfortunately failed to be successful.
This time, in an effort to avoid failing again, she clenched her hand around the hilt of the last dagger she was holding. She took a deep breath, as she hoped that this would be the last time she would fail. If this very last attempt were unsuccessful as well, she would be left with no other choice but to run and escape.
'Before you throw that one, wipe your blood against the blade,' the mysterious voice eventually instructed.
"Why?"
'Just do as I say.'
She was still pondering how she would be able to wipe her own blood against the blade when she came to the realization that what the mysterious male voice had instructed her to do was to make a small cut in her own skin so that she could draw blood from the wound and wipe it against the blade.
Ever since she started following the mysterious male voice inside her head—ever since she entered the arena—every action that she has taken has been an insane thing that she never would have believed she was capable of doing in her normal life. However, because it had saved her up to this point, she had no choice but to continue listening to the mysterious male voice that had been instructing her to avoid the possibility of dying from her first match. And this was her only option at the moment.
However, her anxiety about the situation significantly hindered her ability to concentrate on the matter at hand. Because of this, the dagger slipped out of her hand without much force and proper concentration on her aim. Her plan was doomed to failure as a result of this unfortunate recklessness that she just made.
Her last dagger was unable to penetrate the monstrous infant's skull, instead, it sailed in the air almost harmlessly past above its head while leaving only a slight wound on its forehead.
She swore and exclaimed, "Shit!" as she was at a loss now to come up with any other strategies that would be effective in vanquishing her adversary. At this very moment, she suddenly felt her knees gradually falling to the ground while she slowly approached the end of her life as a result of her failure to defeat her opponent.
Right now, all she could do was deliberately observe from a short distance how the monstrous infant wriggled its way closer and closer to her. She shuddered at the horrifying image of her being slaughtered and ingested by this demonic creature. It petrifies her to the point that the fine hairs which covered her skin are visibly standing on end.
However, regardless of how she may be feeling right now, it wouldn't even matter anymore. She had nothing left to do but wait for her apparent death, as the monstrous infant was now close to reach her foot. She had given up hope as there was nothing else that she could think of doing to win this match.
'Giving up so soon?' the mysterious male voice echoed in her head once more. The voice repeated itself in her head, questioning why she was giving up so quickly.
"Like I even have any choice." She answered promptly with a snort at the end.
'And if I told you there's another chance?'
"At this point, there is nothing I could bargain for because I have nothing to use. I've run out of daggers."
'Yes, but right now, you don't need one anymore.'
The mysterious male voice's words managed to get her full attention in some way, and she paid close attention to what he said. It set off the final thread that allowed her to stay on the brink of defeat for a little while longer. Because of this, she was able to pull herself up off the ground and asked him, "tell me then. What's your plan?"
She felt a tinge of shiver from the way the mysterious male voice speaks just as it let out an alluring cackle before he responded, 'Your blood.'
"My blood? How exactly is that going to be useful?"
'You are too dense.'
"Just so you know, I don't have the luxury of time to play mind games with you. Please explain to me how I can vanquish this monster by making use of my blood."
'At the moment, its mentala is significantly weaker than you believe it appears to be. He may have a repulsive and frightening appearance, but underneath it all, he still has the weak foundation of a child. You were successful in wounding its forehead, so it won't be around for long.'
"What exactly do you want me to do at this point? Charge it? I don't do close up combats."
'No. Instead, you should wait for it to get closer to you and then listen to what I have to say once it is here.'
She truly thought that everything he ordered was ridiculous, but in some strange way, it was actually very helpful. Up until this point, the mysterious male voice had been giving her combat tactics on how she could withstand all of the assaults launched by her opponent, all the way down to the most minute piece of intelligence that he was able to glean from her adversary. She had no choice but to admit it right now that the only remaining possibility she had was to go along with the mysterious voice's plan.
Her attention was lured back to the reality as the mysterious male voice instructed her once more. And this time, he told her, 'Now draw out your hand that's been dripping with your blood'. And as the monstrous infant inched closer to her with its claw, the mysterious voice eventually added, 'Prepare to pierce it into the wound. The greater the depth, the better.'
"How in the world should I go about doing that?"
'Just do as I say.'
"You are completely insane!"
'And this insanity will be the one that'll save you.'
While the monstrous infant reached out to claw its hand on her, she immediately dodges that and just as the mysterious male voice instructed, she was left with no option other than to thrust her hand, which was dripping with her blood through the open wound on the monster's forehead. With her final blow, she was successful enough to penetrate the wound deeply. It instantly caused the hideous infant to below in so much pain.
She then quickly ejected it as she jumped outward, opposite from the monster before it could even get back on her. Because of how quickly she launched her onslaught attack, she wasn't even sure if it had any effect at all on the monster.
What she did not anticipate was the fact that the hideous-looking infant would become more interested in killing her as a result of her attack, causing it to immediately speed up its charge towards her. This was something that she did not anticipate to happen. She had no idea that this would only trigger her opponents' anger even more.
She was down to her last attack, and the thought of being devoured alive was petrifying to her. For the second time, she made the same attack and pierced her hands against the wound again. she made sure to thrust it with all of her might, and this time it spun forward beyond his head and skewered the hideous infant's entire head across her arm.
"So, you said that this thing would actually work?" She called out for the mysterious male voice that had suddenly turn mute for a short while. "Why is it that it's not even having any effect at all? Are you trying to make a fool out of me?!"
All of a sudden, the mysterious male voice finally replied to her again. And this time, though, she was only given no other response than, 'Just wait,'.
"I simply am not capable of delaying it any longer. I'm doomed to get killed now."
'You are such a scaredy-cat. Just chill out!'
"How could you possibly tell me to chill out in a situation like this?"
She continued to mutter in a hushed tone for her to be the only one who can hear her, however, she suddenly noticed that the hideous infant in front of her was acting in a peculiar manner. Her pair of brown eyes were witnesses at how it suddenly refrained from attacking her any further.
The hideous-looking infant was groaning in an even more intolerable sound of pain as it rolled over across the ground, growling throughout the ordeal. She was in a state of complete bewilderment as to what could possibly be happening with her opponent.
"What exactly is the problem with it? Why is it acting weird?"
'It's not acting weird.'
"Then what is it if it's not?"
'Let's just say your assault is successful in gaining the upper hand. Just observe…'
It appeared that the last attack that she had made on the hideous infant was finally having its effect on it, which was in line with what the mysterious male voice had said after all. And because her hand—which had been dripping with her blood—penetrated deeply within the cursed infant wound, it instantly let out a tremendous amount of heat and light from its insides, which in the end caused it to be consumed by fire and pass on.
After securing that her opponent had exhausted its remaining resources, the announcer stepped in quickly to verify the other contender's defeat. Despite the fact that she appeared bewildered and tense at the same time, the announcer raised her right arm above her head and declared her the victor of this match.
She questioned herself over and over, but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't figure it out. How on earth was she able to pull it through. Even with the mysterious male voice, it couldn't even be possible to gain such courage.
Moreover, it would seem now everyone in the arena was rejoicing and cheering for her, despite the fact that they were earlier making fun of her and telling her to leave the area.
Based on what she saw right at that moment, however, it appeared as though she would be attracting an even more large numbers of attention and sarcasm from the crowd starting from here on. Not only for the reason that she was the only female competitor in such a competition, but also by virtue of the fact that she won her very first match.
She was unable to refute the possibility that it was, in all likelihood, her calling in the end. In fact, it seemed as if she really was destined to take part in the contentious competition in Paradexia out of fate chance. The only significant distinction that could hamper her progress though was the fact that she was a woman.