There was no more room in my mind for coherent thoughts.
What was happening right now was exactly what the shadow inside me had been whispering all day:
"Sophia can't protect you, you're going to die and there's nothing you can do about it!"
«No...»
I took a step back. Finch moved forward.
"It's useless... there's no escape."
«NO!»
Another step backwards, and another... Soon my back was against the barrier.
"You will die pleading in vain like that girl."
«NOOO!»
As I watched my executioner approach, I struck the barrier several times with my fist.
Nothing.
I let myself slide to the floor. I opened my mouth:
«P-please, I don't want to die... Mum, Dad, someone! S-save me!»
But nobody came.
I didn't even know if Finch had heard those pathetic words between my sobs.
But it didn't matter. That was my surrender.
That shadow, called the Fear of Death, had achieved its ultimate victory.
All my hopes, dreams and desires were swallowed up in a black abyss. The only thing left to do was to wait for Finch to plunge his sword into my flesh.
"I hope it doesn't hurt too much..."
But the boy stopped, as if in deep thought.
"..."
Finch shifted his gaze to the montionless Sophia.
"No..."
A step. Then another.
"No."
I struggled to my feet, my legs shaking.
Finch was only a few feet away from Sophia now.
He seemed to be on high alert because if the girl suddenly broke free, she would kill him instantly.
But if she couldn't...
"NO!"
In the dark pit that had become my mind, a glimmer of light appeared.
It was a memory, faint but incredibly important:
Three girls in a room.
A new bond formed, sealed by a silly, childish and perhaps unattainable promise.
"I have no intention of letting either of you die."
I drew my sword.
"You know that's useless..."
But this time the whisper seemed distant, insignificant.
This was not the first time I had faced death alone.
It had been the case when I had decided to face Chloe, leaving Sophia behind. It had been the same when I had received the threatening letter and accepted Finch's duel to free Amy.
In those cases I had not wavered. In fact, I had almost felt a thrill of excitement at finding myself in danger.
But why? Why had I pushed forward without thinking of my own survival?
Was it possible that I was not afraid in those cases? No.
The shadow that was now trying to suffocate me had never gone away, it had always been there, I just hadn't had the time to look at it.
I was focused on something far more important:
Protecting my friends.
Perhaps that was the secret of the strength Sophia had shown today.
If she had faced death without hesitation, it was to protect me.
But why? Were we noble heroines of justice, ready to sacrifice everything to protect others? No...
At least I wasn't.
Behind the determination with which I now approached Finch, there could not have been more selfish motives.
"I will not allow anyone, not even death, to take Sophia from me!"
"If you can't save yourself, you can't save her!"
But by now that voice was barely a wheeze.
I had realised. If there was a shadow hidden inside me, it was because something was projecting it.
"I want to live... but living in a world without my friends... it's not even worth it!"
Finch looked at me as I stood between him and his prey. For the first time, there was a hint of surprise on his face.
Surely he hadn't expected me to confront him directly after the pathetic display I'd given him at the start of the duel.
I took a deep breath and assumed the stance Sophia had tried so hard to get into my head.
There was no doubt, the fear had not disappeared. But now my mind was free of hesitation.
"Thank you, Amy, for reminding me of what really matters. Now let this weak, cowardly little girl show you that her promises were not just words."
It was Finch who started with a direct blow to my shoulder, but it was a move I had seen many times in the past weeks.
This time, instead of trying to parry as I had in our first encounter, I took a step back, barely deflecting his blade with mine.
Greatswords were not the big, heavy slabs of metal I had always imagined them to be. But that didn't make them any less dangerous. Quite the opposite.
Their length, combined with their surprising speed and the swordsman's strength, could produce devastating blows.
That was why I couldn't give Finch a chance to overpower me.
"Keep your distance and look for an opening."
Those were the words Sophia had been trying to drum into my head for the past three weeks.
"Easier said than done..." I thought, biting my lip as I dodged three linked attacks from Finch.
I was not naive. Just because I had stopped hesitating, my victory had not suddenly become more likely.
I'd done my best to absorb everything Sophia had taught me, but three weeks wasn't enough time to close the gap between me and Finch. The guy was a battlemage, he probably had years of sword training behind him.
"An opening... I don't see any..."
Finch raised his blade over his head. I prepared to dodge backwards, but the boy took a step forward before launching his attack.
"Shit..."
The cold steel blade reached just above my knee, causing a small cut. I had avoided the worst by inches.
"I can't go on like this for long..."
There was only one way to win: I had to free Sophia.
But how?
"Maybe..."
I tried a lunge for Finch's legs. The boy was expecting it and lowered his greatsword.
I leapt backwards.
"Nothing."
I had taken the opportunity to get between Foster and Sophia. I'd thought maybe it was the eye contact that kept his innate power active, but that didn't seem to be the case.
"Then... there's only one way."
I had to eliminate him.
I swallowed. Was I really ready to take another human's life with my sword?
"..."
That wasn't the main issue at the moment.
If I had thrown myself at Foster, I would have left Sophia defenceless....
Finch was watching me... was he thinking the same thing?
But...
"SHIT!"
Finch suddenly sprinted towards Sophia.
Unlike me, he had no intention of protecting his ally. After all, once Sophia was killed, he wouldn't need Foster anymore.
I had no choice.
When Finch's blade fell on the helpless girl, mine was ready to intercept it.
A blow like that would have snapped my wrists and torn through my torso.
But it didn't.
"There goes my gambit... Sophia was right after all," I sighed.
We were so close I could see Finch's pupils dilate in surprise. I could guess what he was thinking:
"How can this little girl parry my blow so effortlessly?"
Soon he had the answer.
The surface of my sword began to crack and a blue glow began to shine beneath it.
«A weapon enchantment,» the boy whispered.
«Correct.»
Thinking back to our duel, I had noticed an important detail.
When we had clashed in the classroom, the mana shield I had cast before entering was still active.
This meant that while its power would prevent me from casting spells, it would not disable those that were already active.
«More than magic nullification, I think its power is something like mana-release suppression,» I had explained to Sophia.
From that moment, I had started looking for a way to exploit this weakness in his innate power.
At first I looked into buffing spells, but I soon realised that they would not work.
Perhaps due to my inexperience in that branch of magic, I had found their duration far too short to make good use of them.
If I had cast one before the duel, it would have worn off after about thirty seconds and I wouldn't have had the chance to cast it again.
Of course, if I could have defeated Finch quickly, that would have been enough. But the tests against Sophia had made me realise that a little more strength and agility wasn't enough to win against an experienced fighter.
So I had looked elsewhere until, thinking back on my previous experiences, I had come up with an idea.
An enchanted sword. That was how Sophia had tried to hide her innate power at the beginning of the school year.
I had immediately noticed that it was much easier to enchant an inanimate object than a human being.
Besides, a well-performed weapon enchantment would last much longer, at least until the sword had taken too many blows.
I soon decided which one I would use.
"The strength of greatswords lies in the size of the blade and the momentum it can generate."
"So if I could negate that momentum..." I had thought.
Shock Absorption was the enchantment I had chosen.
Right now, with Finch trying to crush me with all his might, I was having no trouble bearing the weight of his blade on mine.
But this idea wouldn't have helped much without an additional trick.
"An enchantment always leaves a mark on the blade..."
Finch would have been on alert if he had seen my sword glowing unnaturally.
But I had found a solution. I had used magic to create a thin sheet of steel to wrap around the real blade.
But all this work...
"It's useless..."
Sure, I had managed to defend Sophia from Finch's attack, but now that I had laid all my cards on the table, I had nothing left to surprise my opponent with.
The original purpose of this trick was to buy me valuable time while Sophia defeated Foster. But that wasn't possible now...
Finch slid his greatsword away and tried to hit my legs with a slash.
I lowered the blade and parried again.
I gritted my teeth.
"Now I'm at a dead end!"
I couldn't move or Finch would hit Sophia. I could defend against his attacks as long as the enchantment on the sword held, but if I misjudged and gave him an opening...
"If I knew it was going to go this way, I would have used a different enchantment!"
While it was great for defence, it was completely useless for attack.
Finch continued his attack without a break.
My arms were starting to hurt. Even though I didn't have to use my strenght to block his sword, the weight of my weapon was beginning to take its toll on my untrained body.
"Think, Elizabeth..."
But as I desperately searched for a solution, Finch raised his greatsword over his head again.
"I need to parry it!"
But as I raised my blade, a very powerful blow struck my exposed stomach.
Finch's kick sent me flying backwards, knocking Sophia to the ground with me like a ragdoll.
I got up from her. My eyes met hers. She was still conscious, fortunately she had not hit her head on the floor.
But she was looking at something behind me...
I turned and, holding my sword in one hand, parried Finch's greatsword at the last second.
I watched in horror as the blue glow of enchantment flickered.
"I'm running out of time."
I saw Finch's eyes light up with realisation. He understood that his victory was at hand.
I saw his arms swell as the boy put all his strength into his sword, giving everything he had to break my spell.
Everything he had...
"An opening..."
My free hand sought Sophia's and...
«AAAAAAH!»
With all the strength I had left in my body, I plunged my friend's sword into Finch's leg.
The boy screamed in pain and the force with which he was pressing his blade against mine decreased considerably.
I released the hilt of Sophia's sword, still embedded in my opponent's thigh, and gripped my own with both hands, deflecting his greatsword.
I thrust through his defenceless left side, using the full weight of my body to drive my sword into him.
Finch was knocked backwards and I fell on top of him. I could feel his warm blood soaking my hands.
But the boy was still conscious and had no intention of giving up.
I felt a sharp pain in my ribs as his fist slammed into my right side. The blow caused me to slip away from him.
My blade was now embedded in his body as well. Finch and I exchanged a look and then...
I sprinted towards Foster. But...
An iron grip tightened around my ankle, causing me to fall forward.
"FUCK!"
Even with two swords in his body, he was still so much stronger than me.
I kicked desperately, screaming in pain as Finch twisted my ankle so hard I feared my foot would come off.
I looked back. Aside from the pain, something else was animating the boy's face, which had been so unfazed.
A primal feeling I knew well...
Fear.
He held me as if I were the last thing holding him to life.
"I'm sorry... but I'm going to have to break your lifeline."
I put all my strength into my free foot and kicked him right in the nose.
His grip loosened. I was free.
Biting my tongue to ignore the stabbing pain in my ankle, I ran towards Foster.
But... I no longer had my sword.
"..."
I pulled out the only weapon I had left, that useless piece of wood.
With an inhuman scream, I threw myself at Miles Foster and thrust my wand into his eye with such force that it knocked him over.
Suddenly the boy's motionless body came to life and he began to writhe and scream beneath me.
I had no pity for him.
If that was not enough to stop his power, I was determined to drive the piece of wood deep enough to reach his brain.
But as my victim muttered incoherent pleas, a shadow fell over me.
"Shit... Finch!"
The boy's greatsword came down on me.
But that was not the only thing.
Half of his body, from the waist up, fell forward as well.
Behind him stood the grim reaper known as Sophia, one of her hands stained red with Finch's blood.
«Move, Elizabeth,» the girl ordered, her eyes fixated on Foster, that was still screaming in pain under me.
«No.»
I got up and bent over Finch's corpse, drawing my sword from his side.
I turned.
«NOOO! PLEASE! I DIDN'T WANT TO HELP HIM, HE... MADE ME DO IT!»
"This is probably the spectacle I offered Finch at the beginning of the duel, huh?" I thought coldly, looking at my victim. My wand was still stuck into his bloody eye socket.
Was he lying? I didn't care.
From now on, I was not going to let Sophia be the only one to get her hands dirty.
If anything stood in our way of getting home, I would eliminate it.
"A noble hero of justice?" I thought as my blade landed on Foster's neck.
"No... if it is necessary to protect them, I will become a merciless villain."
Another life ended. The sixth on this cursed day.
But maybe it was the seventh.
I could feel that the Elizabeth who had entered that arena was also dead.
A different person would come out.
A person who, in exchange for determination, had sacrificed something that would never come back.