This pain… It certainly hurts, but it's not enough to keep me down. In fact, I feel alive!
Why did I stab myself? Well, it was a heat-of-the-moment type of thing, but then I realized the benefits it could provide me.
My head was telling me to do it, and I just obliged.
Now, let's see how much different you are when your user is the one close to death.
"Dea–th's Vision."
I see it. The movements I'm going to do. The movements that will be countered by Alicer, the movements that I will do to counter his counters.
I can see everything, hahaHA!
"You've gone absolutely mad." Alicer poked at me from the other side of the arena.
"Maybe, but this is the least an author can do for his novel," I responded.
He tilted his head in confusion, but I paid him no heed.
Now was the time for me to seize my rightful authority as the creator of this world.
I closed the distance between me and Alicer at a speed I thought I could never reach.
My eyes could see it. In the next second, I would swing downwards, and it would be deflected.
And as such, I acted how Alicer would believe I would, and swung Dainsleif downwards with all my strength.
I felt the sword cleanly slice through the metaphorical fabric of reality, cleaving through the mana in the air.
Alicer was surprised by the sudden increase in my speed and raised his daggers to defend against my blow.
But just as my sword was about to make contact with his daggers, I pulled it back and kicked off the ground.
With the added acceleration from the kick, I was able to launch myself under Alicer's blind spot.
It was harder to pull off, but I was able to slice under Alicer's knees.
Unfortunately, they did no real damage. Dainsleif had been obstructed by something hard and metallic.
But I felt that the damage from the swing itself had caused my opponent some degree of pain.
"Ugwaah!" I felt a sharp throbbing pain in my head.
With a loud thump, my body fell to the ground.
"Not yet. Not yet…"
Using Dainsleif as a crutch, I gathered myself and stood up. The wound from earlier was still damaging my mental state, and the pain was only suppressed because of adrenaline.
Just like how there have been stories of mothers gaining supernatural strength to save their babies stuck under cars, mine seemed to activate in response to the wound I inflicted on myself.
It was only a matter of time before it wore off, and I estimated that I would pass out once that happened.
This match needs to end immediately.
"Why do you try? Is it for someone you care about? Or is there perhaps something in this academy that you need to achieve?"
"That's none… of your business."
One last time.
I emptied every single molecule of air remaining in my lungs. It was difficult to do thanks to the gaping hole in my chest, but I was able to expel it all complete with a few huffs.
Then, I opened my mouth and nose and prepared to breathe in as much air as I could take.
This would be my last stand. I could already feel my body wearing down, wanting to collapse. But I pushed through it.
"Huuuu…"
Alright. I'm ready.
Death's Vision.
The world around me turned gray. The only thing left was me and Alicer. Time seemed to stop as my mind only recognized the two important people in my sight.
"Alicer… was it? I want to see how long you can hold on against someone who has everything to lose."
"...heh. Do your worst. You'll never defeat me."
***
Everyone was watching, I could tell. The fight between Leader and the man named Alicer.
To put it simply, it was unfair. Someone of that skill would never have been accepted by the Academy. Someone of that skill could easily be a member of one of the top guilds.
Our Leader was thrashed around the arena. The gap between experience, skill, and power was astonishing.
Alicer's ice, along with his dual daggers, were a complete match for Leader's Dainsleif, which he said the damage from could not heal.
It wasn't a duel, nor a spar. It was a full, one-sided beatdown. I felt like complaining to the Academy about the unfair matchup, and the rest of Leader's teammates felt the same.
Even the Eri siblings, who were sitting with us, looked like they would burst at any moment. It just went to show how unfair the match was.
"Hey… don't you think Digni's opponent is a bit too strong? Like, why even bother attending the Academy if you're already that powerful?"
Wang Jin, Leader's friend, whispered to me. Both he and Miss Alter had returned from the infirmary just as his fight was about to begin.
And they saw everything. From how he was beaten like a training dummy, to Alicer's display of skill.
Yet we couldn't do anything to stop it. The rules stated that as long as your opponent wasn't knocked out or hadn't surrendered, then the match would continue to go on.
Right as I was contemplating jumping off myself, Leader did the unthinkable.
He stabbed himself with Dainsleif.
***
Three minutes. That was the maximum amount of time I could continue fighting before I exhausted my broken body.
Before those three minutes were over, I would destroy Alicer.
"Huwraaa!"
With a loud scream, I charged forward. Dainsleif's red blade shimmered a beautiful crimson as I tightened my grasp.
With Death's Vision activated, I was able to see through potential places where I would get hit.
I could not afford to, even once.
Despite me being the one to charge in, Alicer made his move first. The movements that Dignitas would do in an attempt to counter Alicer's attacks would then be countered by the latter. But thankfully, he could see how those unfolded.
He opened his outstretched palms and summoned the twin daggers. Then, he threw them toward me.
I could see it. The one to my right would close in first.
*thwang*
My prediction was correct. The moment the blade rose in speed, I swung Dainsleif in its direction, and it was thrown away from Alicer's grasp.
Based on that, I concluded that he most likely couldn't control them after a certain distance, or if they were knocked away from his control.
The other dagger closed in, this time appearing from behind me.
With Death's Vision activated both on me and Alicer, I was able to figure out the general direction of where it would strike.
The current attack was a ruse. So instead of deflecting it, I ignored the dagger.
Just in time. Alicer seemed to have regained control over the one I blew away. He aimed that dagger towards me and shot it at a fast speed.
Putting even more strength into my swing, I unleashed Dainsleif's full power at the dagger, and successfully battered the dagger a considerable distance away.
Realizing my sudden increase in strength was dangerous, Alicer pulled back the remaining dagger.
I took advantage of this and appeared right in front of him. I pointed my back towards him, hiding the sword.
And just as I reached him, I turned around and unleashed a devastating stab.
Which met ice, once again. But this time, the ice formed cracks all over.
While I was distracted by the ice, Alicer repositioned himself using his control over cryokinesis and walked through the air on flat ice platforms.
I pulled my sword out of the ice and prepared to leap forwards. The mana in my feet gathered almost instantaneously, and I was now in the air with Alicer, albeit only for a moment.
From the change in air about him, it was clear that he was surprised. Maybe even a bit shaken.
That was all I needed.
"It's over." I swung down Dainsleif.
Only to meet… ice? How much can he use?
Shit… my time is running out. I have to end this… quickly…
"Not enough. Weaklings try their hardest, but in the end, they can never truly compete with the talented ones."
"I will commend your fighting spirit. You made me nervous for a second."
There was a short time frame where I wasn't listening to Alicer. My eyes looked over to find a portal appearing behind him, and a grotesque, scaly hand reaching outwards.
"Get out of the way!"
From the looks of it, he wasn't aware of the portal.
Damn it… I can't keep up anymore.
With the last of my strength, I pushed Alicer away.
My eyes gradually began to close, and my body began falling from the air.