What the...? It looked like Katie was about to give up, when suddenly, her opponent, Yugi, began yelling something furiously, and the next moment, Katie was frozen in place, as if she was in a trance.

And then, a few seconds later, she let out a tortured, blood-curdling scream, which sent chills down my spine, as she lay writhing on the ground with a look of excruciating terror on her face. He then walked over to her, slamming a vicious kick onto her midsection, before slashing at her neck with one of his X-Blades, teleporting her out.

​​

That guy...he must have shown her a truly horrifying illusion, before literally kicking her while she was down, to get back at her for zapping him with her lightning. What a dick, his opponent had all but run out of steam, she was no longer a threat to him...and just because she landed an attack on him, he responded in such a...spiteful, petty manner.

I mean, okay, when it comes to being spiteful and petty, I'm not really one to talk, considering how I hold onto grudges and derive pleasure in the misfortune of those that I hate...but if nothing else, I'm only spiteful and petty to those that deserve it, I'm not a dick to anyone and everyone.

Katie then stopped writhing and screaming as the announcer grabbed her opponent's arm before he could leave and said something to him with a grimaced, urgent look on his face, to which Yugi scoffed, before sighing and snapping his fingers.

Looks like he broke the illusion. But Katie was still unconscious, and I don't think she'll be waking up for a while...she'd likely completely drained her XFE, which can be pretty exhausting, and on top of that, she'd probably taken a significant amount of psychological damage from whatever that last illusion was.

Also, was it just my imagination, or did Yugi's expression look a bit strained just now? Huh...that last illusion was likely a powerful one...maybe it took something of a toll on him when used? Well, not that it matters to me...either way, his illusions are useless against me.

Which is good...because I'm kinda, sorta, maybe feeling a desire to beat that guy within an inch of his life. Like, it wasn't as intense as how I feel with Asshole, but it was still at least half as intense...which is saying a lot, considering how much I passionately and utterly DESPISE Asshole.

"Hey, Kilzachs...let's make a deal," Suddenly suggested Sakura in a serious tone, as the announcer called us out for the second semi-final, "Whichever of us wins this match, will have to shoulder the responsibility of reducing that douchebag to a bloody pile of steaming meat."

"Kinda gross, but yes...I agree with the sentiment," I responded, standing up and shaking her hand, before we both headed out of the waiting room and towards the arena.

The audience sounded pretty lively as we walked onto the arena, though I could also hear murmurs and whispers...guess they still weren't over my display in the last match. The arena was looking pretty battered at this point, with deep, heavy cracks spreading out all across it.

As we took our places inside the Duel Field, the announcer declared the start of the countdown, and I took out my X-Blades in preparation...her Anomaly powers may not directly work against me, but that doesn't mean I can underestimate her.

That said, if it comes down to close range combat, I'm confident that I'll have the advantage. Let's see how she plans to approach this fight...

I activated my X-Blades as the countdown went below three, while Sakura manifested a wind cannon on her left arm, a look of focus and determination on her face...looks like I definitely can't take this lightly, she isn't going to hold anything back...

I braced myself the instant the countdown ended, as she swiftly took aim and fired a wind blast straight at me...I stayed still, selecting myself and activating Cut, before getting ready to use Paste in order to teleport myself away...

But just as expected, the wind blast dissipated right before it struck me, though some of the momentum it had generated through the air hit me and caused me to stumble back a bit...the mass of wind in that blast that was generated by her XFE dissipated, but not the additional wind that was generated by the momentum of the initial blast.

Since my X-Weapons work against other Anomalies, I was a little worried that her wind blast might have hit me, but it looks like none of her attacks with copied manifestations will work against me. That makes things a whole lot easier.

She then fired another wind blast at me-...no, this one was aimed at the ground right in front of me. I quickly sprang back, and as the blast of wind struck the floor and kicked up some of the bits of crumbled rubble, wear and tear from the previous matches...good thing I wear glasses, I can avoid closing my eyes.

As some of the bits of rubble struck me, I took aim and fired out a couple of shots at Sakura, as she dissipated her wind cannon manifestation and switched to those large arms manifestation, using the left arm to block my shots.

And then, with her right arm, she swiftly reached down to the ground and tore up a piece of the arena floor, before powerfully flinging it towards me with a spin, like a rapid frisbee. I quickly selected the spot right behind her and activated Paste, teleporting myself behind her and evading the projectile.

She quickly spun around and swung one of her arms towards me, aiming to strike my face with the back of her fist. I swiftly tilted my head back instinctively, as the fist of the manifestation dissipated and one of her knuckles brushed against my nose.

I responded by countering with an upward slash from one of my X-Blades, which she quickly sprang back to avoid, the tip of the energy blade grazing the left side of her face and leaving a small cut there.

I then fired out a barrage of shots from my X-Blasters at her as her arms dissipated, before a wall of XFE manifested in front of her, cracks appearing in it as my bullets struck it.

I then quickly used Cut and Paste to teleport myself into the air, right above Sakura. A look of alarm appeared in her eyes as I fired down at her, forming the arms manifestation again and raising them above herself defensively as she quickly backed away, though right before she got them up, one of the bullets snuck through her defenses and grazed her right shoulder.

I used Paste again to teleport myself behind her and began to slash at her back, as she swiftly responded by forming stilts under her feet and shooting straight up into the air, my energy blade striking one of the stilts, but she managed to maintain her balance...in which case, what if I do...this?

I swiftly pinned my X-Blades into the ground and reached out to grab both the stilts, dissipating them right before I could grasp onto them. Sakura began to plummet down, her mouth starting to move, likely trying to recite an activation chant...I don't think so!

I swiftly fired a barrage of shots from my X-Blasters up at her, aimed at multiple vital spots, right as a wall of XFE formed below her and blocked my shots...just as I expected.

The instant it formed, I grabbed my X-Blade handles and flung them upwards with wristy flicks, spinning them rapidly as they zipped around Sakura's defensive wall and then curved in towards her from either side like boomerangs as they got past the wall of XFE.

She began to react in alarm, forming shield manifestations on each arm and blocking both blades, which struck her shields and ricocheted off of it, leaving heavy cracks on them. I then used Cut and Paste to teleport myself above her again, while she was still reeling from the double impact of my blades striking her shields.

As I took aim and fired down at her from my right X-Blaster, she quickly raised her arms above herself, bringing her shields up and blocking my bullets...but I was prepared for her to do that.

As I fired from my right hand, I reached behind my back with my left hand and pulled out my Square Blaster, which was fully charged and set to maximum output.

Let's see her block this...as I began to plummet down towards her, I ceased my attack with my X-Blaster and took aim with the Square Blaster, before pulling the trigger and firing out the thousands of streaks of my Dark Attribute XFE down at her, like a mini black meteor shower.

She began to form her arms manifestation, but it was no use. She got teleported out before my attack could blast her full of holes, instead raining down onto the floor of the arena and tearing it apart, the already-heavy cracks deepening further and bits of rubble breaking apart and getting kicked up by the force upon impact.

I then teleported myself back down before I could fall all the way down. Ah, crap, looks like one of my X-Blade handles got too badly damaged, it's not activating anymore. The other one's still working fine though, so that's something, at least.

Still, this isn't ideal, I've just lost one of my most heavily relied upon options that I've got up my sleeve, and while I may not have taken on any damage in round one, I did use up over thirty-five, nearly forty, percent of my XFE.

Sakura then returned to the Duel Field with a frown, looking even more determined than before. Well, then, it looks like this fight is just getting started...

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