With things as they were, it was very risky for Lilia to reveal herself.
'Every contestant in this arena has two Sigils, if what he said was correct. While I do have one Sigil, Lilia doesn't have any. The moment she appears, she'll most likely get killed by the other person that's hiding.' Alice thought to herself.
"Before we start fighting for real, care to tell me your name?" The man asked with a smile.
"Only if you tell me yours."
"It's only natural of me to do so. Alright, the name is Tristan. Now, may I know the name of the lady I'm about to kill?" Tristan asked as he entered a battle stance with his blades.
"Alice."
Right after finishing her reply, Alice dashed forward. She had to pressure him and force his partner to reveal himself!
Just before reaching Tristan, she stopped her momentum and kicked dirt towards his face, causing him to frown before swinging in Alice's direction.
Missing his attack, Tristan immediately backed up while preparing the second blade for a follow up if Alice revealed herself.
A small hand suddenly grabbed his wrist, preventing him from swinging the second blade.
"!!!" Widening his eyes in shock, Tristan watched as Alice swung herself behind him with her momentum in an attempt to stab him in the back. Using his main sword, he parried her attack before letting go of the other blade.
Grabbing Alice by the wrist, Tristan attempted to swing her over his shoulder and into the ground. However, just as he swung Alice over his shoulders, a dirty foot kicked him in the face, some dirt entering his eyes.
Stumbling back, he let go of Alice and wiped his face to get the dirt out of his eyes.
Once he managed to open his eyes, Tristan watched a blade enter his vision, threatening to cut his head in two.
'Is this really a girl with no Sigils??? She fights more viciously than some of the beasts I've killed in the past!' Tristan screamed in his mind as he bent his body back, narrowly avoiding the blade.
Before he could counter, Alice had already abandoned the sword that was more than half her size, knowing she could not recover fast enough for a follow up swing. There was simply too much momentum for her to stop.
With the blade now tossed aside, Alice returned to her original spot after picking up the dagger she threw earlier.
Seeing that Tristan was not harmed in the slightest, she clicked her tongue in frustration. She had tried her best during that barrage of attacks, yet none of them landed.
Panting softly, she was trying to catch her breath since it seemed as though Tristan was also taking a moment to recover. As much as she wanted to attack him again, she didn't have the stamina to keep up a fast-paced assault like that back-to-back.
"No more playing around!" Tristan gritted his teeth as his first Sigil lit up with a purple glow. Dashing forward, he twisted his body, putting his full force into the swing.
Watching it in slow motion, Alice caught a small flicker of lightning on the blade. She knew she had to dodge. Putting as much force into her legs as she could muster, she barely dodged a streak of lightning that exploded forth from the blade.
*KSH!!!*
Striking the wall behind Alice, the wood was ripped apart and set aflame. She couldn't help but sweat at the thought of what might have happened if it hit her. If she wasn't able to dodge in time, she would've been taken out of this fight.
Gritting her teeth, she lunged towards Tristan in desperation. There was no telling how many times she would be able to dodge the lightning. She couldn't hold back.
Shocked that she was able to dodge the lightning, Tristan paused for a moment before quickly recovering as he adjusted his grip and thrust his sword forward. A streak of lightning arced towards Alice's face, but once again, she was able to dodge it. She had relaxed her legs and rolled across the floor. She could feel her hair stand up from the lightning.
Throwing her dagger, Alice took the small window of time to drag the blade of the other dagger across her palm.
Since her first Sigil was in her blood, she wasn't sure if it was a passive effect that permanently changed her blood or if the poison was something she had to activate manually. Either way, it was a good time to test its effectiveness.
As long as she cuts him or finds a way for her blood to enter his body, she should be able to test if it worked passively or not!
With a plan in mind, she jumped towards him with her dagger hidden behind her.
"You damn brat!" Tristan shouted out in frustration, his composure long gone. He couldn't believe he wasn't able to kill a brat despite having two Sigils.
Closing his left eye for a moment, he reopened it as Alice felt the fear of death.
*BANG!!!*
Before she could react, a bolt of lightning dropped down from the skies and struck her body. The power of this lightning was weaker than the previous strikes, but it made up for that in terms of activation speed.
Seeing Alice drop to her knees while struggling to stay conscious, Tristan sighed in relief.
He couldn't admit that a no-Sigil brat actually made him panic, but it was the truth. The way she moved, her reaction speed and her instincts were all top tier. Had it not been for the unseen surprise attack thanks to his second Sigil, he didn't think he would be able to catch her without exerting himself to the limit.
But now that Alice was defenseless, he sheathed his second blade and prepared to kill her with his main sword.
'NOW!' Snapping her eyes open, Alice glared at Tristan who had walked within her range and lunged towards him despite being riddled with open wounds and burns.
'She can still move in that state!?!?' Stumbling back in shock, Tristan was unable to react in time as Alice managed to stab her dagger deep into his forearm. With her blood now entering his body, she gave the dagger a twist just to make the wound bigger.
Just as Tristan wanted to throw Alice away, he buckled over on one knee as strength left his body. His muscles fell limp as he seemed to be struggling against something.
Seeing this, Alice realised that her blood had indeed changed; it was passively acting as the Twilight Hunter's poison. However, the potency of the blood was severely weakened as Tristan snapped out of his stupor and grabbed Alice by the head before slamming her against the ground.
*COUGH!*
Feeling the wind being pushed out of her lungs, Alice was not able to move her body at all.
With anger in his eyes, Tristan no longer wasted any time and tried to stab her with his blade.
"ARGGGG!"
Before he could kill Alice, Lilia appeared behind him and stabbed his heel. Forcing him to collapse onto his knees, she sighed in relief seeing the sword miss Alice. Her life was spared, for now.
Changing her target to his neck, she was about to end his life when a wave of spikes shot towards her location. Quickly jumping back, she grabbed Alice's body and created some distance between them.
"Don't smell blood. Careful." Alice muttered as Lilia furrowed her brows. However, she had already breathed in the fumes. Her body was continuously losing strength.
Widening her eyes, it reminded her of what happened to the Assassin against the spider.
'It can't be…' Lilia furrowed her brows since Alice shouldn't have been able to get a Sigil from that kill. However, if she had seen a shaman before arriving at the docks, it would make sense why she was adamant on killing that Spider.
But these were questions she could ask later, once they got out of their predicament.
"Kill them both! Especially that flower eye brat! Make sure she dies painfully!" Tristan ra as he was clutching his heels in pain.
His friend that had arrived was dressed in a similar fashion only with his forearms fully exposed. Spikes could be seen growing out from his forearms towards his fist and it was these same spikes that had forced Lilia to back off.
He was also a two Sigil user as a Sigil could be seen on his forearms and on his neck.
"Alright." The man nodded his head as the Sigil on his forearms lit up with an orange glow.
Flicking his arms, tens of spikes launched towards the two of them as Lilia grabbed some nearby planks and used it as cover. However, the spikes easily demolished the plank as though it was nothing.
But Lilia's goal had been reached and it served as a small protection against the lethal spikes.
She covered for Alice and was littered with wounds from head to toe.
"Things are looking a tad rough huh? If you have any more Twilight Hunter blood, this might be the time to use it." Lilia forced a smile since facing against a duo of two Sigil users was not what she had expected coming into this.
"Alright." Alice nodded her head. This was no time to hold back.
She understood that her first Sigil now had a passive effect, one that was slightly weaker than the Twilight Hunter poison. But there was something more. She could still feel that her Sigil could grant her another ability, an active ability.
Alice just had to reach deep inside and pull out the abyssal power that dwelled within her body. One that required her to active her Sigil.
Taking a deep breath, she could feel a wave of shadows squirming towards her arm as it solidified into her first Sigil. A deep crimson energy pulsed out as a new sensation filled Alice's body.
Seeing the Sigil on Alice's arm, Lilia was shocked speechless, but a smile appeared on her face. She understood that Alice was something that could protect herself when needed. She wasn't something that needed Lilia's protection constantly.