Creak.
The ice covering their bodies broke, and a thud echoed as they fell to the floor. Those two women finally stopped fighting, but their sour faces said that they still couldn't move on.
Klaus was quite surprised to see Sylvia involved in a fight. The red-haired woman was not the type to cause trouble, instead she was a low-key person. If she got into trouble, something must have triggered her.
However, Klaus couldn't rush to accuse Olivia without learning the facts.
"Klaus!"
Turning his head, Klaus saw Joanna running towards him. For some reason, his feelings told him that his sister was involved in this situation.
Joanna pointed at Olivia. "It's all her fault, Klaus," she exclaimed.
"Shut up!" retorted Olivia. "You're the one who threw shoes and bottles in my face." She turned to Klaus. "Your sister is insolent! You should educate her properly!"
"If you hadn't spoken ill of my big bro, none of this would have happened, you fool!"
Klaus sighed. Now everything made sense. His little sister always brought trouble with her.
Those two women continued to argue even as Klaus and the others stood around them. Klaus wanted to find out what the problem was, but they were fiery and impossible to reason with. The same went with Sylvia. Although she looked calm from the outside, her head was actually still heated with emotion.
"Enough!" Klaus snapped. "Cool your heads. You guys are no longer children."
Joanna and Olivia fell silent instantly. They couldn't help but shut their mouths. Joanna looked away, while Olivia crossed her arms, staring intently at the blonde girl.
"Excuse me, buddy. Maybe I could probably tell you the problem."
A voice spoke amidst the tension. It was Akio. Klaus asked him to tell him everything, and that man did as Klaus asked.
After hearing the chronology, Klaus could only bury his face in his hands. He should have known from the start that Joanna was the troublemaker.
"She is a pain in the ass," he thought.
Joanna quickly defended herself before Klaus could ask why she sparked a fight. "It's not my fault Klaus. She's the one who started it. This woman hates you so much. You should have kicked her."
"Hey, watch your mouth," Olivia retorted, and Akio quickly held her back.
Klaus crossed his arms, staring intently at Joanna. She was about to speak in her own defense, but suddenly she felt tremendous pressure from Klaus.
"I know you mean to defend me, but try to think first before you do something, Joanna." he said. "You just follow your ego, just like we did in Chinatown. I knew that you didn't care about helping those people, you just wanted to get into the dungeon. Didn't that incident deter you?"
Suddenly, Joanna turned pale and her body trembled. The bad memories that she wanted to bury deep down had resurfaced.
Looking at his little sister, Klaus felt guilty for reminding her of a trauma she should have forgotten, but he did it anyway to discipline Joanna. Klaus had always complied with her, but this time he wouldn't do it again.
"Well, listen carefully to your big bro," Olivia taunted.
Joanna looked annoyed, but she said nothing.
Now, Klaus' attention was on Olivia. That woman looked surprised as he stared deeply at her.
"I thought our problem was over. If you still harbor hatred for me, you'd better tell me what makes you happy."
For a moment, Olivia was silent, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. Michael seemed worried that Olivia might say something crazy given the woman's bad temper.
Then, a grin rose on her face.
"I want us to resolve our unresolved issues."
Klaus raised his eyebrows.
Olivia hung her hands in the air, and the bamboo sword on the floor flew up and landed in her hands.
"Let's fight. If you win, I'll apologize and never bring this up again. But if I win, you have to kiss my feet and beg for mercy. This is how I settle things."
Everyone around them gasped. Especially Akio and Michael, both of whom had expected this to happen. Meanwhile Joanna was angry, but she could only clench her fists.
Sylvia walked over to Klaus. "Let me fight her, Klaus. I'll shut that bitch's mouth." The words that escaped her mouth sounded furious.
"Thank you, Sylvia. But you're better off resting than fighting," Klaus replied.
"Why, you want to find a replacement?!" Olivia threw a provocation at Klaus.
"No, I don't. I accept your challenge," Klaus replied.
Now, Both sides agreed to fight.
Before the fight started, Klaus and Olivia went into seclusion to prepare for ten minutes. During that time, Klaus did nothing but take off his suit.
Joanna wanted to accompany him, but Klaus told Sylvia to keep her away from him. His sister would only give him a headache. Only Justin accompanied Klaus.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Justin asked. "You might win against me, but that chatty girl is an A-Class."
Klaus chuckled. "Even if you help that woman, she still can't beat me."
His words made Justin hiss. The guild master was annoyed and surprised at the same time, wondering how strong Klaus really was. He was only an F-Class but how could he relax when facing an A-Class?
The preparation time was over. Klaus and Olivia walked to the center of the hall. The resting awakeners seemed interested. They began to gather around to spectate.
"I don't know what your class is, but if you're lower than me, I can give you the first blow." Olivia mocked in arrogant tones.
Klaus held his chin, silent for a moment. "Alright then. I accept your offer."
Suddenly, Klaus flicked a finger and a rubber sphere shot with incredible speed towards Olivia.
Surprised, Olvia responded quickly and used [Psychokinesis] to deflect the sphere's direction.
"Damn it! You stole the start!" shouted Olivia. She quickly ran towards him with a bamboo sword in hand.
But Klaus didn't stop there, he threw another sphere, getting faster and stronger. Meanwhile, Olivia deflected the oncoming rubber spheres and continued to advance towards Klaus, but her movements were interrupted by the spheres as they returned to attack Olivia as if they had a mind of their own.
Seeing her reaction, Klaus smirked as he realized that her [Psychokinesis] had a short range. He launched two more rubber spheres.
Olivia stopped, raising her hands, and then the rubber spheres stopped in midair. Klaus caught the moment and immediately launched himself forward.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
"Urg!"
Parrying the blow with the bamboo sword, the woman did not expect that Klaus would attack at close range. As she intended to use [Psychokinesis] to push Klaus away, four rubber spheres shot out and attacked her. Olivia parried the punches while taking the blows from the spheres.
Whispers began to sound like flies.
"Wow! That's impossible. He can fight like that?"
"I thought that boy could just watch, turns out he has skills too."
"By the way, that woman is A-Class, right? I wonder, what is his class that can overwhelm her?"
All this time they had seen Klaus at the side of the hall when they were practicing, even though the guild master was practicing with them. The members of Rays of Hope thought Klaus was a consultant or ordinary staff, not expecting that Klaus was an awakener.
"Yahoo! Klaus! Get that bitch ass!" Joanna bounced up and down as she cheered on her older brother.
"I didn't know he could fight like that." Sylvia was amazed to see that Klaus could fight at close combat. As she remembered, Klaus had only used metal spheres when defeating the Black Bulls. She did not know what happened after being knocked unconscious.
Meanwhile, the two loan awakeners were dumbfounded.
"Looks like Olivia messed up with the wrong person. What bad luck," Michael said as his eyes glued on the fight.
"Not only rich, but also good at fighting. Lucky bastard. I envy him." Akio praised Klaus.
"Do you know what his class is?"
Akio just shrugged.
In his previous life, Klaus was not just a wizard, but a battle mage. Close combat and using magic simultaneously had become commonplace for him. It was just that he had stopped close combat for the past 18 years, so his body was less accustomed to it.
Olivia tried to survive, but she lost focus as she kept dodging the rubber spheres that kept spinning and darting. However, it didn't last long.
"Arrrrrgh!" She screamed, then tremendous energy exploded from her body.
Thud!
"Wow!"
The crowd erupted as Olivia pushed everything around her, including Klaus. He was pushed far away but he still managed to maintain his stance.
"Hiya!"
Wasting no time, Olivia threw herself forward, drawing close to Klaus. She jumped high and her bamboo sword rose into the air.
Seeing an opportunity before his eyes, Klaus quickly attracted the rubber spheres with a wave of his hand, and they shot at high speed towards Olivia.
Bam! Bam!
Two rubber spheres violently landed on Olivia. The huddled awakeners pouted in distaste as the woman fell to the floor.
"Olivia!" Michael exclaimed in worry.
However, that woman still hadn't given up.
She waved a hand, and Klaus involuntarily darted towards her as if an invisible hand was pulling him.
"I got you!" Olivia exclaimed.
Just when Olivia thought she'd won, her eyes opened wide to see Klaus grinning.
"Gotcha," Klaus muttered.
Four rubber spheres shot towards her like bullets. Olivia tried to dodge, but they were too fast. Two were stopped in midair, while the rest grazed into her body. Before she knew it, Klaus was standing in front of her, ready to deliver the final blow.
"Kyaaa!" Olivia screamed while covering her face.
However, she did not feel hurt.
Opening her eyes, she saw Klaus standing in front of her with his hands dangling in the air. She thought her face would receive a hard blow, but it didn't.
"Do you still want to continue fighting or apologize to me?" Klaus asked in a gentle tone.
It didn't take long for Olivia to realize her defeat. With a flushed face, she grabbed his hand.
"I... I'm sorry," she said while looking away.
Suddenly, applause echoed in the room. The awakeners were amazed after witnessing the fight between the two of them.
"Klaus!"
Joanna ran over to him. "I knew you would win!" While hugging Klaus, she secretly gave his opponent a mocking smile, and Olivia could only make a sour face.
"It's impossible to defeat you. It's really hard to imagine you losing." Justin patted Klaus on the shoulder.
"You really are amazing, Klaus." Sylvia also praised, her eyes glued on him for a long moment.
Meanwhile, Akio and Michael comforted Olivia swallowing a bitter defeat. Michael patted her hard on the back to make her stand up straight.
"Defeat does hurt. But it's good for you," the bulked man consoled.
"How is it? Do you still hate him after he kicks your ass?" Akio quipped, with a mischievous smile on his face.
Olivia could only stay silent as her face turned red. To her, this was very embarrassing, but at the same time she felt relieved as if the weight on her chest had gone. She was only thinking about winning without imagining the consequences of losing.
Klaus was celebrating the victory and Olivia was trying to accept the defeat. They were immersed in their own atmosphere.
However, it didn't last long.
Suddenly, a violent shock hit the hall.
BBBRRRRRRR!!!
"What's going on here?!"
"Earthquake!"
The training hall rumbled, and the awakeners quickly ran out as panic engulfed them. Joanna screamed and held Klaus tightly.
"Everyone get out!" Justin exclaimed loudly.
They all rushed out of the training hall before the building collapsed on them, that's what they thought.
When they got out of the building, it was chaos outside. People were screaming and running everywhere. Cars were stuck in traffic and the sound of horns echoed through the air.
"Look at that, Klaus!" Justin exclaimed, pointing at the sky.
Klaus looked up, seeing a rift emitting a blue aura above the sky. When people panicked in fear, Klaus grinned as if what was coming had finally arrived.
A dungeon break had just occurred above SoHo.