Now things are going to get interesting. Hand of the Lightning God is definitely going to be a challenge for her. One thing I realised when using this gauntlets is when I summoned a lightning for Lightning Charge but ending up not using it on any of my weapons, it actually charges the gauntlets instead. Perhaps this was it's original function. This makes it an extremely effective weapon at punching and shocking people simultaneously, rendering them immobile and exposed. This was something I recently discovered when I was training and accidentally destroyed a tree from a casual swing with my gauntlets when it was charged. No doubt Lily wouldn't know about this but I can see that she is being cautious about it. I will force her to show me her true powers as to why they gave her the nickname Elemental Ice Queen. What ice powers does she have or is it just because of her turning down guys after guys?
She is probably puzzled as to why I summoned my gauntlets instead of Inazuma. I called forth a lightning with my left hand and it slammed directly on the gauntlet with force. The crowds went wild and started cheering upon seeing such a spectacle. To be able to call forth a lightning from the sky even in broad daylight is just unimaginable if you had not seen it before. I gripped my hands together and upon releasing them, lightning were streaking between the both of them.
I readied my stance as a boxer. What I need to do is to deliver fast punches to Lily as quickly as I can to shock her to the ground. She will have to dodge my attacks completely instead of blocking if she doesn't wish to get shocked by touching it. She took a deep breath and readied her stance. That is.. oh ho, she definitely knows something is up when she is using water style now. Let us see how well you can dodge my fast punches.
It was my turn to be on the offensive. I rushed in and delivered a few jabs at her which she dodged skilfully. I got low and performed a leg sweep which she jumped in response. I continued spinning myself and delivered a backhand to her which she leaped back upon touching the ground. But she was unlucky. My gauntlets graced her left forearm and I can see that it had an effect on her when her hands were shaking profusely now.
After checking her left hand's status, she pouted and squinted at me. I responded with an awkward smile but kept my guard up. What is she going to retaliate with, I wonder? Her guild spells? Will that really help her against my Lightning Charge?
She took a deep breath and changed her stance as she realised it was hard to avoid my gauntlets. What stance… is that? I had never seen such a style before. It looked a bit like mantis style but she protruded her index and middle finger. If I am right, she is going to aim for my acupoints. But I had never seen such a style before so I need to be extremely cautious. One tap on the wrong point and I'll be dead, like literally dead if she happened to hit my death point. Not that she would be aiming for it, right? I just didn't choose her as my wife, she won't be 'that' vengeful as to kill me when she literally resurrected me from the beyond, I hope?
She rushed at me with speed. I thought she would be more cautious because of my gauntlets but she seems to be fearless. She began her assault without hesitation. As I suspected, her stance is primary used for aiming for acupoints. I'll admit, I could not master this technique well enough to use it for offensive purposes. This technique is only effective against humans or elves as our acupoints are relatively similar. Completely ineffective against armoured beings, monsters or unknown beings. Not unless you are Peter who had mastered it well enough to predict what each acupoints does depending on what he is facing.
She was quick with her hands in trying to strike my points. I thought that my gauntlets would had made her hesitate in attacking but I literally could not move fast enough to even touch her hands. I did not even realised she had activated Concentration which is probably why she could move this fast. Such is her focus in aiming for my pressure points. Her eyes were literally wide opened with a single purpose in mind.
She poked my shoulder which rendered my left arm useless. Damn it, only my right hand is still working but Lily is not letting up her assault to give me a free arm to undo the pressure point that she just hit. I tried my very best to release my point but she did everything she could to prevent me from doing that, even swatting my gauntlet aside with her bare hands even though it shocks her.
Alas, I failed to stop her from hitting my other shoulder's acupoint and I slumped my right arm. She let out a "Phew" and wiped the sweats from her forehead. That must had taken a lot of focus on her part to pull this off. She checked both of her hands and they were shaking a little. If she touched even more of my gauntlets then it would had rendered her hands numb for a couple of minutes due to the shocks from my gauntlets.
"Fuh.. damn it, Zen. Peter really downplayed your unarmed combat abilities. He said that it was just your secondary fighting techniques. Its been a while since I had such a workout," she panted.
"Well, you're still better at it than me. It's literally your fighting style," I said as my two arms dangled downwards.
"It's my only fighting technique, Zen. Not everyone is as lucky as you," she smiled.
"Surrender, or I'll hit the acupoints on your legs as well. You don't wanna be embarrassed by me in front of all these audiences, do you?" she smirked with a 'fu fu' remark.
"What's going to happen if I don't?" I asked and returned a smirk of my own.
"I will make you kneel for what you did. I deserved that much at the very least," she frowned.
"Ahh.. I meant no disrespect, Lily. You're one of my best friend, after all. But I'll like to see you try," I moved my right hand and undo the acupoint that she hit on my left shoulder.
Lily's eyes went wide opened when I suddenly moved my hand. Little did she know that before she hit the pressure point on my right shoulder, I moved it just at the right time so she misses the point that immobilises my entire right arm.
Taking the opportunity where she is caught off guard, I closed the short gap between us and sent Lily flying with a palm strike empowered by the last few second of my Lightning Charge spell. I hope she's fine after receiving a direct strike while being shocked by my spell. Who asked her to not protect her stomach area with armour?
She landed on her knees while clutching her stomach. I was worried that might had hurt her badly which was not what I wanted. She started vomiting and I started sweating buckets upon the sight.
"A.. are you alright?" I asked while moving closer to check on her.
"You... arse! I just had a good meal today. I'm going to kill you, ya bloody wanker," said Lily as she channeled her inner British.
I moved away from her as she was really serious now. Her aura had completely changed and I can tell she is really angry at me with those glowing red eyes. My first instinct was to summon Inazuma at my side but I stopped myself. I should not be responding to her anger with retaliation. No matter what, she is still my friend.
She stood up and casted her guild spells. Fire spell on her left hand while lighting on her right. Since when did she learned how to dual cast? I thought only selected people knows the secret to cast it. Did Rose taught her or was it Peter? Either way, she is planning to fight me seriously now. Although I am not sure why she decided to use her usual spells. Perhaps there are some extra tricks to it that she had discovered.
She took a quick glance at Peter's direction as though she was asking for some approval or something. It was then she reactivated Concentration. I shouldn't be lax now that she had activated Focused State of Mind.
"Zen, you should take things seriously if you don't wish to get hurt badly," she warned.
"Oh, you don't need to worry about me. I've always been serious when it comes to sparring with you. Don't wish to get my head smashed in by you," I chuckled.
She maintained her posture and demeanour despite my attempt to make her laugh with my lame joke. I decided to activate Concentration as well to make things even. I don't want to give excuses for losing just because I got too cocky.
We glared at each other. I can see sweats dripping down her forehead. Is this due to her being focused or is it from the heat of her fire spell? Instinctively, my eyes moved lower to her.. ahem, the curse of being a male. She had certainly maintained her body figure for sure. I could had made it all mine but I decided not to. But what Rose told me yesterday was starting to sound really appealing right now. Zen, stop it. You have a wife now and you're in the middle of a fight. Keep your hormones in check!
Perhaps she noticed that I was staring at weird places that she decided to strike first. I raised my arms to protect myself or to counterattack when possible. She got in but crouched extremely low. I thought she wanted to attack my legs but to my surprise, she did an uppercut with her right hand which made me exposed myself due to such an unexpected attack. She then performed a kick to my chest immediately which caused me to fall. What a fast and unexpected reaction. I was supposed to be faster in speed but her attacks are quicker. She must had trained this move many times to pull it off so smoothly.
I quickly got back up but she was right in front of me. I quickly delivered a punch but she dodged it skilfully. It was then my body went cold. What I saw was a knife shaped stance on my chest with her right hand. Shit! I need to dodge this now!
I leaped backwards as far as I could but Lily did not miss her chance. She swung her left hand coated with her fire spell and an extremely huge explosion erupted from her fist. Despite my efforts to dodge it, the shockwave sent me flying until I made contact with the colosseum wall. That is to say, I am out of the arena zone and that means I had officially lost.
I dropped to the ground with wide opened eyes. Everything happened over the span of a few seconds. So this is Lily when she is serious. Lily, who had always been the weakest in our group had beaten me fair and square. Well, I wasn't exactly being a fully serious but still, I wasn't exactly slacking off either. She had me with her sudden burst of speed and unpredictable techniques. And her Fa Jin Zhòu is absolutely crazy! Holy crap, that was like a TNT explosive. Did the fire spell boosted her Fa Jin Zhòu's power? No wonder she gave me a warning earlier. If I did had not avoided that seriously, I would had been dead.
I turned to look at her as she crouched at the arena's edge grinning at me. She told me that is what I get for not taking her seriously. And she had not even showed me the reason as to why she was called the Elemental Ice Queen. I should had taken things more seriously after she gave me that warning. I resigned my defeat to her with a sigh. I guess I really am kneeling to her at the end.
The cheering stopped after I was sent flying out of the arena zone. The crowd was stunned that Lily had defeated one of the member of the four great powers. It definitely happened way too quickly for people to realised what had just happened. Even the announcer had to slap his cheeks to snapped out of it.
"W.. what.. what the hell is going on?! Our Elemental Ice Queen had just defeated number four! Holy shit, is that a monumental achievement! Does this mean that Peter's newest pupil is going to replace Zen Hawthorn as the fourth member? I think not. The winner is Lily Moonshine!" shouted Oliver.
"But stay tuned for a more exciting announcement as we take a short break. Seriously, do not leave exit the premise as you will regret for what is about to come," continued Oliver.
Lily hopped down from the arena and came over to me with a smile while placing both of her hands behind her back.
"That's what you get for ogling at me and making me puke in front of all these people~" she whispered.
"Ehem.. caught red-handed, huh? I guess it's my lost for not taking things more seriously," I chuckled.
She extended her hand to pull me up. I won't lie, my heart is definitely beating fast now and it was not due to the fight. I know full well I loved her, even now. But spending time apart had made me forget about my feelings for her and focused on Rose and Daisy. But meeting her once again, I can't help remembering all the things we did together. And the one forbidden night that we shared.
I headed towards the exit, fully expecting Rose to be waiting there to poke fun of my defeat but she was nowhere in sight. I think she doesn't want to reveal herself just yet and wished to maintain the surprise. Lily tagged along with me which puzzled me. Did she not realised that Oliver had not announced her as the champion of the tournament yet?
"How you been? Is everything good with Rose and Daisy?" she asked awkwardly.
This is probably the first time we talked alone since 15 years ago. When she visited previously, the 3 of us spoke together. I am not about to miss my chance in letting her know how worried we are about her.
"I miss you, Lily. I thought we'll be able to see you often but we haven't seen you in five years or so. I.. hate that not seeing you makes me worry," I told her.
"You don't have to worry about me, Zen. I'm way older than you and can take care of myself. There's nothing you need to worry about. Don't miss me and focus on Rose," she said.
"Oh, I know you can take care of yourself. It is more like.. the aftermath of my battle with Tom and you suddenly had to go with the elves, I can't help but worry that you had broken a rule or something by resurrecting me. You were gone for 10 years before you visited us. Then again you disappeared for 5 years. Even Rose is worried about you," I explained to her.
"It's been such a long time, Zen. As you can see, I am fine living here, training under Peter is something I've been dreaming off. There's nothing you have to worry about, really. Then again, how are you feeling lately? You.. looked exactly like you were 15 years ago," she asked with concern.
"I would like to ask on what you did to resurrect me but I doubt I'll get an answer from you. But yeah, I've never felt better," I said as I headed towards a side store that was selling food and beverage.
"Here, this is yours," I handed a drink and some food to her.
"Huh? You didn't have to. I can buy my own," she retorted while waving her hands.
"C'mon, we haven't met in ages. Just take it. It's your favourite strawberry milkshake and nuggets. Don't push it back to me as you know I don't like it. Consider this an apology for making you puke earlier," I chuckled.
"Y.. you remembered. Um, thanks. You really didn't have to," she took the drink and started sipping while turning away.
"Think nothing of it," I smiled to her.
She uttered something beneath her breath that I couldn't hear but I decided to not ask her about it. I hope I did not ticked her off. She seems to hate kindness ever since I met her.
She continued to follow me as I strolled around the colosseum. Does she.. not know that she will be sparring against Rose later? We stopped at main entrance of the colosseum and she told me this was were we part ways. I stared at her with a confused look. Why is she exiting the colosseum? I instinctively grabbed her forearm preventing her from leaving.
"W… What's wrong? There's something I need to be doing," she said.
"Um, are you sure you should be leaving? Didn't you hear what the announcer said earlier?" I asked her.
"Oliver? Nah, it's just something that they are promoting to persuade people to purchase. It's got nothing to do with me anyway," she replied.
"A.. are you sure? Can't we spend a bit more time together? We haven't met in ages," I asked as I was running out of ideas to prevent her from leaving.
"Zen.. you have Rose who is your wife. And I have somebody else now. We shouldn't be spending so much time together when we have our loved ones," she said with a sorrowful look.
I was taken aback. She.. have a partner now. I guess Rose was wrong after all. But why does it bother me? I felt like pins and needles were piercing through my heart when I heard her saying that.
"Um.. I'm sorry. I didn't know about that. I just thought we can spend some time together as best friends. I was not asking for a date or something," I replied.
"Well.. we can. But I'm not sure if we have much chance to meet up when you have a family of your own and I have my trainings," she answered.
"W.. why does it feel as though you are pushing me away?" I asked her sternly when her facial expression did not match the words that she was uttering.
"No, I'm not," she pulled back her forearm.
"Yes you are. Did I do something wrong? What is going on? Is this because you saved me that time?" I followed after her.
"Zen.. stop! Stop... following me. Don't.... don't give me...." she trailed off as her back was facing me.
I stood there stumped by what she said. It doesn't sound as though she was crying but she was sad. I thought of giving her a hug but that would had made things worse for sure.
"I'm sorry," was all I could reply to her as I began walking away.
As I headed back into the colosseum, I turned to look at her. She was still standing there looking downwards. What did I do wrong? I just bought her a drink, food and made some small talks. Did I said something wrong? I scratched my head as I thought of what I did in this short amount of time.
A few people ran towards Lily and started talking to her. Based on her reaction, she was surprised and confused on what they are telling her. She followed after them while still holding the drink that I bought for her. If she hated me, she would had thrown it away on the spot. I am just so confused right now as I proceeded to where Peter and Daisy was.