Now, there were just four contestants left.
Tsubasa, Raiden, Haruto, and a wild card, a student named Ren Nishida.
A Peak A-Tier, he had a S-Tier affinity, Shadow, which made him a powerful figure, rivaling S-Tier's in terms of power and affinity ranks.
Rather unfortunately for Haruko, this cannon fodder wasn't going to be his opponent. It was going to be Tsubasa.
However, Raiden's match came first, so the two contestants sat on the VIP seats, observing the battle unfolding before them.
"So...I'll be fighting you, huh? Huhuhu, I want to see what you can do! Please don't disappoint me!"
Even though her statement was made in an airy tone with what seemed like a bubbly and friendly personality, Haruto knew she hid a more cunning side to her, and he wasn't going to fall for it.
"Raiden Arashi versus Ren Nishida! Semi-finals round 1, begin!"
A blue firework was shot into the air, and before it even ignited, Raiden launched himself forwards with terrifying speeds towards Ren.
[Skill: Shadow Step]
Ren blurred into nonexistence, a hazy smear taking his place. Raiden started in alarm, and more out of instinct than anything else, raised his sword behind his back just in time to deflect a strike that would have ended the match.
Ren's face contorted into a growl as his trick was discovered. He somehow had the ability to teleport behind an opponents back!
Would this be trouble for Raiden? Or would he counter it easily? Haruto sat on the edge of his seat. Maybe it would be more interesting than he thought.
[Skill: Lightning Chain]
A series of crackling yellow orbs appeared around Raiden, and he quickly flung it in a circle around the arena.
They didn't explode, but Ren was clearly wary. They clashed in the middle, using mana circulation and coatings to improve the durability of their swords and their speeds.
Their blades came together in a blur, and lightning trails scorched the packed dirt beside Raiden, turning it black.
Ren blurred into existence behind Raiden again, but this time he was prepared, instantly turning and thrusting his blade.
As Ren stepped away, the lightning orbs suddenly activated, sending streaks of electricity straight into Ren's body.
"Arrrrggghh!!"
Ren cried out, and keeled over from the shock.
Raiden, taking advantage of this, dashed in, intending to finish him off.
[Skill: Flash Step]
Raiden covered the distance in a blink, bearing down on Ren.
Yet Ren still had tricks up his sleeve.
[Skill: Shadow Puppets]
Numerous identical clones of Ren suddenly got up from the ground, surrounding Raiden.
Snarling, he sliced through a few, but they all disappeared into smoke, as yet more surrounded.
The puppets stepped in, and occasionally, the real Ren would land a solid blow, forcing Raiden to constantly keep his guard up.
But the sheer amount of blows eventually reduced Raiden to shambles, who could now barely stand on his feet.
The shadow clones, harmless as they were, had proved their worth in holding Raiden's attention while Ren slipped amongst them, unseen, landing strikes everywhere.
As the clones moved in for the kill, electricity crackled around Raiden.
[Skill: Discharge: 80%]
A humoungous explosion of electricity ripped across the arena, vaporising the shadow clones, and blasting Ren away.
When the dust cleared, Raiden, panting and charred, was alone in the arena, with only scorched earth and a burnt log the only evidence of Ren's fight.
"R-Raiden Arashi is the winner of semi-finals round 1! A round of applause, please!"
Wow...that's a tremendous skill, how does it work? I noticed a percentage, could it be based on the amount of damage he recieved? Or some other factor?
Haruto contemplated. Yet it was now his match against Tsubasa, and he wasn't sure if he dreaded it or was excited.
As sand was quickly tossed over the arena and the place was scraped clean, the announcer introduced the contestants.
"Semi-finals round 2! Haruto Ichika versus...Tsubasa Fujimoto! Good luck! Begin!"
The blue firework shot into the air, but in contrast, neither of them moved yet, instead circling around the perimeter of the arena.
Tsubasa was the first to strike, initiating the fight.
[Skill: Thousand Blossom Strike]
Sh*t, I have no real defensive moves, and I don't think I can evade this either, I need to use my Seraphic wings! But it has a long cooldown...it's risky, but I have to do it!
[Skill: Seraphic Wings]
Haruto dashed to the side, evading the chasing petals. He tried to close in on Tsubasa, but the petals formed a tornado around her, shredding anything that dared to come close.
Damn! That's way too op, how am I supposed to counter that? There must be a weakness or time limit!
Tsubasa smiled, realising that Haruto had no choice other than his Seraphic wings to evade her cherry blossoms. This meant...he was weak. No defensive moves whatsoever.
[Skill: Orchird Blossom]
An orchird seemed to bloom to life, then exploded, blasting a cone in front of Tsubasa that Haruto just managed to dodge.
As his Seraphic Wings ran out, even more bad news hit him.
[Skill: Heavenly Judgement activated! All stats decreased by 5%!]
Though it wasn't a significant change, Haruto would still need all the advantages he could get, and this was a significant setback.
Dashing close, he attempted to engage in close combat, but Tsubasa darted back, clearly well aware of his superior swordsmanship skills.
She kept the marjority of the petals spinning around her in a defensive vortex, but there were still more than enough spare to chase after Haruto.
He was forced to run from the petals, dodging and rolling.
He tried a gamble, thinking that if he could force her to get into close combat, maybe he would win.
[Skill: Celestial Enshacklement]
The golden chain shot out, but they didn't even get a chance to wrap around her.
Concentrating her mana into a dense, pink shield, she cast it out, making the chain clank uselessly against it.
Dang it!
[Skill: Dazzling Blade]
The same thing happened, his blades sparking ineffectively against her shield.
Her monstrous mana capacity had her easily generating powerful shields, while her annoying skill served as both a powerful offense and defense.
With these petals on his tail, he had no chance to think or to mount a proper attack. Running was all he could do.
Suddenly, Tsubasa closed the gap. The blossoms swirled in a chaotic frenzy, surrounding both of them in a flowery embrace.
"Arcane Realm."
The flower wall seemed to solidify, turning into a perfect hemisphere around him.
Tsubasa smiled coldly, reveling in his near panic.
What was this? Was this some sort of skill? So why didn't he get the skill notification?
"Confused? You must be. This must be the first time you would have seen an arcane realm before. This is only a technique the most powerful of manablades can pull off, a manifestation of a realm of the mind.
Inside here, mana can be...influenced by me. My mana becomes stronger, yours weaker, you get the idea. Just because I feel sorry for you, I'll tell you how this works. Each realm has a 'unique effect' whuch directly draws from the user.
This can be lethal, or non-lethal. I'll let you guess which one this is. However, outside forces cannot interfere with things inside this realm, unless someone more powerful than me breaks this down. So, the only way for you to win now, is to beat me.
That's impossible, and I'll tell you why. My realm's 'Unique effect', well, I'll let you see it for yourself..."
A storm of cherry blossoms erupted from the ground, razor sharp points all directed straight at his face.
As the seriousness of the situation started to set, in Haruto was hit with dread.
Did this girl intend to kill him?
[Heavenly Judgement updated: All stats increased by 400%!]