"Dun… Dun… Dun…"
The sound of banging gongs erupted in the air, signifying the commence of their battle. Xie Yi stood on the frontline position of their lineup. Her fiery eyes scanned past the twin's formation, before they were directed to the distracted man behind her.
"Stay behind me and don't move. Watch me carefully, Xiao Jun. We'll win, I'll make sure we do."
Xie Yi said without giving him any more glance. Once her voice that was as clear as glass entered his ears, Xiao Jun felt as if a bucket of cold water was poured all over him, waking him up from his pathetic inner struggle.
No matter how terrified he was, he was after all a big man. How could he hide behind a girl's back and let her fight by herself?
Xiao Jun gritted his teeth. With heavy footsteps, he came to Xie Yi's side and whispered to her ears.
"Xie Yi, later on, can you keep the two busy on your own? I'm a plant ability user. I'll function better as an assistance provider."
Xiao Jun suggested, not expecting Xie Yi to agree in such a nonchalant manner. She had only raised an eyebrow at his suggestion, before nodding obediently.
"Okay."
"I'll help you restrict their movements from the side. All you have to do is distract their attention from me. Once they let their guards down and expose a flaw, I'll bind them to the ground with a surprise attack and only by then can we win against them."
"I understand."
"Most initial-ranked ability users aren't adept in close combat. In this aspect, you may have an advantage over them since you're using a spear. Therefore, once the match begins, I need you to straight up charge towards them and disrupt their momentum."
"Alright. I'll do as you told me, Xiao Jun." Xie Yi muttered with her back still facing him. Xiao Jun didn't know what her expressions were at this moment however, somehow, her agreeable response seemed to have stirred something within him.
"Xie Yi, protect yourself well and don't let them hurt you. If you can't hold them back, surrender. I won't blame you."
Xiao Jun no longer said anything else after that as he returned to his position. The exchange between them was so soft and faint that no one could hear what had happened between them. The only thing obvious for the onlookers was the fire within Xiao Jun's eyes.
'Great. Hope you two won't disappoint me.' Interest flashed through Xie Lin's eyes when he saw the significant rise in Xiao Jun's fighting spirit.
On the stage, Xie Yi planted her spear onto the hard platform. She watched patiently as the mediator raised his hand, shouting with an energetic voice that heated the crowd below as he did his countdown.
"On the count of three, you may all start your move!"
"One... two..."
"Three!"
The mediator's loud and blaring voice trailed off in the air as his figure flew down the stage in a hurry.
In the instant the mediator finished his words, Xie Yi raised her spear and swung the shaft to point its sharp blade towards the twins.
With her two feet firmly pressed against the ground, she powerfully thrusted herself forward, her figure bursting forth like a launched bullet. Her movement was so fast that one could barely catch the glimpse of her flashing shadow.
Caught off guard, still silence fell upon the nearby onlookers before they exploded into fiery cheers of excitement. Never had they expected a cripple to perform such an astonishing speed!
Faced with Xie Yi's incoming attack, the Xie twin devils didn't move an inch from their spot. They glanced at her figure indifferently as if she was an insignificant fly, before they simultaneously closed their eyes.
9 seconds. Xie Ling estimated that Xie Yi would take at least 9 seconds to reach their position. It wasn't a long period of time but it's more than enough for their form of attack to materialize.
With their hands clasped together, a surge of cooling energy rose from their rigid figures, one calm and collected while the other ferociously sharp and chilling.
Gradually, a thin layer of ice sprung out from the ground beneath them while the aquatic glow enveloping the twins' figure grew thicker and turned to that of a brighter color.
7…6…5…
In the mere count of seconds countable to ones' fingers, almost half of the arena had been covered in a layer of ice, emitting a breath of freezing chill that slows down one's nerves upon coming to contact.
This frightening chill, had not only limit the opponent's movement but also the use of their ability as no weaker form of energy would be able to survive within such a cold domain.
At this time, while Xiao Jun's promised assist was momentarily rendered useless, Xie Yi was just a step away from reaching the area of their released powers.
4!!!
A smug smile spread across Xie Ling's bright face as she thought that their victory was guaranteed. At this point, she was sure that Xie Yi would either struggle moving through the ice rink or fall back to concoct another plan with the cowardly plant ability user hiding behind her.
Of course, they wouldn't be called the Xie twin devils who were undefeatable in the same rank if they hadn't prepared the countermeasure for it.
With Xie Ling being mostly in charge of the ice spread formation, Xie Feng had long divided his attention to block any possibility of their opponent's retreat route.
Whatever the path she chose, she'll be meeting a barrage of icicle forms of attacks that would rain down the sky, pinning her to the ground.
In this case, it'll be a wiser choice for Xie Yi to keep on moving forward for there's nothing blocking her path other than the vast and incredibly slippery ice rink. Although by doing that, she'll be similarly facing the burst of Xie Ling's ability instead.
The crowd watched her moving figure with bated breaths, wondering what her next action might be when they saw her voluntarily entering the frozen territory with a decisive jump.
With the crowd bearing audience to the whole arena, they had long noticed the two's meticulous strategy and thus, they weren't shocked of Xie Yi's decision. However, what made them couldn't believe their eyes were the speed of her movement that didn't falter the slightest as they saw the teenager's slim figure skating her way through the slippery ground with ease.
Wait– Why did they feel that she's going faster instead?
'That! How can it be possible?!!'
Even Xie Lin, who had a very good eye capable of roughly estimating a person's capability whilst calculating the possible trajectory of their next movement, didn't see this coming. He simply couldn't decipher the reason behind her precise balance as he blankly watched Xie Yi navigates her way to the equally flabbergasted twins, seemingly in a deep trance.
'Xie Ling!'
'Xie Feng!'
The twins silently exchanged glances, nodding at themselves as their thoughts aligned.
With a will, the huge thorn-like ice sticks floating in the air, the move Xie Feng had previously prepared to block Xie Yi's retreat route, all flew back as they hovered behind Xie Feng, waiting for his next order.
At Xie Ling's signal, who summoned a blizzard of heavy snow to sink down Xie Yi's figure, locking her on the spot, Xie Feng waved his hand and the sharp ice sticks behind him shot forward, piercing through the cold air to aim at the figure who was now wholly covered in snow.
"Xie Yi!"
In the far distance, Xiao Jun's eyes widened in horror as he shouted on top of his lungs. He quickly gathered his hands to summon a monster-like giant veins to appear before Xie Yi, intending for the giant plant to help block the damage only for Xie Ling to bash the monster, along the defenseless Xiao Jun, away with a huge wave of raging water. Xiao Jun was swept out of the arena, automatically eliminating him from the match.
'Heh, this will be enough.'
Xie Feng inwardly thought with a smirk. He willed for the flying ice thorns to slow down when they were mere few centimeters from the motionless 'snowball', his figure closing in to force the person trapped within to surrender when suddenly, the sharp tip of a pointed blade popped out of the heap of snow. With another forceful swing, the heap of snow was cleanly cut open to reveal Xie Yi's harmless figure.
No one in the area, not even the Xie twin devils, dared to blink as they watched Xie Yi waved her spear with such expertise. Countless afterimages formed in the air, painting the image of an invisible War God in a battlefield.
Under the might of her spear that danced in the air, shimmering under the ray of sunlight as if it was a weapon belonging to the Gods, the numerous icy thorns exploded into tiny particles of glittering dust, garnering amazement as well as appreciation from all eyes.
"!!!"
"St-Step back!"
Xie Ling screamed at the motionless Xie Feng who had long been enthralled by Xie Yi's spear technique. How foolish of him to forget that they were still in the 'battlefield', with the Godly-figure before him as his opponent.
Xie Ling gathered the last remnant of her energy to form another tidal wave of flood. She aimed her attack at the two, planning to sweep them down the stage all together when suddenly, a flash of blinding light pierced through her pupils, bringing her so much pain that she forced her eyes shut. And right after that,
— Shoong!
She fell to the ground with her butt landing first, her eyes wide open as she raised her trembling fingers to touch her cheek, finding them dyed red with blood.
"Aaaah!"
Xie Ling fainted out of fright, and only after the fall of her terrified scream that the crowd, as well as the stunned Xie Lin, could bring themselves to react at the sudden turn of situation.
With their eyes and mouth opened wide in disbelief, they rigidly turned their heads to peek at the wall behind Xie Ling, staring at the long shaft that was stuck onto the broken wall with its pointed head fully drilled within.
"Xie Ling!" Xie Feng shouted in panic, his face turning exceedingly pale. Extreme fear struck him at that moment as he quickly waved his hand to signal his defeat, before retreating back to his sister's side to check on her condition.
Albeit shocked, the mediator raised his trembling voice to announce the result, knocking some sense into the stupefied onlookers' head.
"V-Victor… Xie Yi!!!"
After the mediator's shocking announcement landed, still silence ensued in the air, before a huge roar erupted from the crowd, this time not out of contempt or ridicule but rather adoration and worship.
The dizzy Xiao Jun who was woken by the deafening noise: 'Eh? What about me?'