-------

”Why does it feel like your fellow sin just got one over you?” Valor asked with a slightly barbed tone as Karna returned to the platform to wait for the third event. It was a little difficult to judge how much time they had, as the participants of the last event were either thrown out of the arena or transported to the winner’s platform.

"For the moment, perhaps. Envy has always been good when it comes to short-term advantages. It's her long-term planning that needs work. Besides, we've had a game of one-upmanship that stretches through the eons. A little something like this is a fun distraction. A distraction that we might not be able to afford considering our next fight." What she left unsaid that she was going to acquire that pillow, by hook or by crook.

“So you don’t think the third event will be peaceful?” Valor asked a bit sarcastically.

"Theoretically it could be since we've already won. With the psion taking third place in the previous event, neither of the other teams can reach more than two remaining people, and we already have three. There's a rather obvious hiccup though." She mused while taking a glance at the red team's platform where the Kensei was already eagerly waiting for the next bout.

“Yes, that one has been aiming for you from the start. Any particular reason? I’m merely curious.” Valor kept up a discussion while they waited.

“I can think of a few. There’s a political reason, but while that could’ve been the reason she was originally sent, a true Kensei would not be affected by such pointless considerations. Not unless the person I killed was a close friend of hers, and I don’t get that kind of vibe from her. I think it’s mainly because she knows I can actually fight her relatively equally and push her.” She concluded. Guessing how the minds of reincarnators worked was always dangerous, as they tended to be at least a little crazy.

“Huh. That’s kind of arrogant of her, discarding the rest of us like that. Though, I suppose that comes with the territory with being a Kensei.” Valor tapped his leg with a gauntleted finger. He’d met other Kensei before, and they all seemed to be singularly confident in their abilities.

“Well, that, and the fact that she didn’t actually fight you. Envy is…well, she could probably deal with the Kensei given some time and space, and the chance to use a bit of subtlety, but a direct confrontation like this would not be a good match. It’s a bit hard to be sneaky on a flat arena like that. Not impossible though.”

“Considering what I’ve heard from other virtues and what I know of the sins, I would tend to agree. I doubt the ability she gained from the Name is meant for direct combat.” Valor speculated, though he was caught by surprise as Karna burst into laughter. “What? What did I say?”

“You should never underestimate someone who carries a sin in their Name. We are much more complicated than you could imagine. As one that carries both a sin and a virtue, I can say without hesitation that the sins are much more dangerous. And among all sins, Envy’s ability is the one you should underestimate the least. I’d much rather fight Greed or even Pride than her.” Karna shook her head. Pride and Greed were the two sins known for their combat abilities, aside from herself as Wrath of course.

“Noted. I’ll keep that in mind. If you don’t mind me asking, I’ve always wondered what the Name Mercy grants to the one who carries it.” Valor prodded a bit. He rather enjoyed the opportunity to talk with another virtue, even if that virtue was also potentially the worst sin. Few old reincarnators were as free with information as Wrath seemed to be at the moment.

Karna was being open for a reason, and that reason didn’t include sharing information like this. "Mercy is…a double-edged sword. I can reveal to you that much. Look alive. We're starting." There was no announcement this time as all five of the remaining contestants were simply brought to the central platform.

“So, what shall it be?” The muscle-bound giantess asked with a cheery voice. They all knew this would turn into a battle but she was still having fun proposing other options. “Arm-wresting competition? Spitting contest? Eating competition?”

"I'm partial to a dance-off myself," Karna added just as cheerily.

The Kensei pulled out her sword and pointed it at Karna. “The rest of you can do as you please, but the two of us have unfinished business, and I’ve waited long enough.”

“What a surprise. Spoilsport.” Karna muttered sarcastically and started moving to the side of the platform with the Kensei.

“I believe our fight was left unfinished as well.” Valor nodded towards the witch, who only cackled in return before the two moved to the other edge of the platform from Karna and the Kensei.

“Wait, what? Why do I feel like the fifth wheel?” The giantess complained to no one in particular as she was left alone. Suddenly the attention of her, Valor, and the witch was drawn to the direction of Karna and the Kensei, as a huge pressure suddenly engulfed the entire area.

On one side stood a four meters tall Oni with a bright red horn in the middle of her forehead, and teardrop-shaped red markings around her eyes as flames of extreme heat danced around her. On the other side was Titan that was keeping her size to the same four meters with a metallic sheen on her skin. Unlike what one might expect, the surroundings of the Titan were not a storm to match that of the furnace of the Oni, but her aura resembled a calm and unperturbed lake instead.

“Oh, oh! This one I have to see!” The giantess also seemed to grow in size, and the form of a female Storm Giant now stood in her place. She quickly jogged towards the other two gigantic figures.

“That side turned into a kaiju battle quite quick.” Valor commented before taking a glance at the witch’s True Name. “Shall we also join them Witch of Chaos?”

“By all means Valor. It’s going to be an honor to deal with one of the virtues.” The witch had lost her cackle, and even her voice had changed. The fact that she had managed to look at his Name without him noticing anything was not a good sign. Suddenly some chaotic power seemed to take a hold of his surroundings, twisting reality and trying to erase him from it, before the golden glow of his power pushed the power back.

“You’re going to need more than that.” Valor said, with his smile not breaking, while his entire form seemed to be swallowed in a golden glow before he re-appeared in what seemed to be an empty spot, his golden blade tearing apart the spells hiding the witch.

“That only seems fair.” The witch’s voice seemed to come from all around him, as similar-looking witches stepped out of hiding places just like the one he'd just slashed open. This time the witch didn't look hideous, but quite attractive. However, Valor knew that the odds of this being her real form was just as likely as the troll form. The fact that he still couldn't see through her illusions despite being a powerful reincarnator was disconcerting. “We should probably both take this seriously.” The witch stated before all the witches channeled the same chaotic power towards him.

-------

The entire platform seemed to shake as the two giant beings clashed, their immediate surroundings shattering and sending debris flying just from the blast wave of the Oni’s sword meeting the Titan’s gauntlet. Despite the heavy strike, it was immediately followed by another, and another, and another as the two moved with such speed that most would find it difficult to follow. The engagement between the two almost seemed like an intricate dance with hair’s-breadth dodges and expert parries that re-directed the power of the two’s attack into the surroundings, leaving huge gashes in the platform. Someone watching the two would feel there was something discordant about the fight as the two were also constantly trying to mess with their opponent by altering the rhythm of their blows

“You’ve done well keeping up with me, but you know this can only end up one way.” The Kensei taunted with almost a manic grin on her face. She was clearly enjoying the bout.

“Oh? And what way is that? We’ve only just begun.” Karna parried the verbal thrust as well.

“You want to play dumb? That is fine with me. We can dance this dance until the inevitable end. At least it will be fun while it lasts.” The Kensei’s blade suddenly seemed to glow with the heat of a star as she slashed at Karna, while at the same time it looked like three other blades made of pure solar flame slashed from the sides.

“A bad choice." Karna flared her Aura and the flames simply vanished as her phoenix aura took over and smothered them. At the same time, she uttered a single garbled and rough word, disappearing in a puff of dark smoke as the Kensei’s sword seemed to meet only empty air. She appeared in the air above the Kensei, her sing-song voice chanting a spell that caused a bright shining ring of light to appear around the Kensei. Several large runes appeared around the ring of light and started pushing the ring inwards to trap the Kensei. The Kensei noted that the space around her seemed locked, making any movement abilities practically impossible to execute. "Just because I've indulged you so far, you shouldn't forget that I'm actually a mage," Karna added.

"Pshaw! Dividing your focus multiple ways makes you weak." The Kensei closed her eyes in concentration and used her senses to find the core of the 8th circle spell trying to imprison her. Once she did, she slashed at the air in front of her, yet somehow her sword reached the core of the spell, which was definitely out of her reach. “You’re going to need to do much better than that.”

"I did," Karna said simply, and suddenly four long gashes appeared on the Kensei’s shoulder, making her left hand almost unusable until healed, and the dark energy wisping out of the wound was quite suggestive about how hard healing the wound would be.

The spell Karna had used had been nothing but a distraction as her real attack had been hidden in the gesture used to send out the flashy spell. She had used some of the power stored inside her gauntlets, just to see what it would do, and the gauntlet had sent almost entirely undetectable attacks from the fingers, which the Kensei had still somehow managed to minimize instinctually, as Karna had definitely not aimed for the Kensei’s shoulder.

“Very good. If you insist, let’s show everyone why you will lose this fight. You can only blame your low rank for this.” The two had already emitted a heavy presence but now it felt like an entire mountain had suddenly been dropped on everyone, as the Kensei’s Domain suddenly materialized to cover the arena.

Karna wasn’t the only reincarnator able to get early access to her Domain even before reaching the rank of an immortal. Before she could react, several lances of solar energy were about to tear through her body. The strike would’ve been lethal to almost anyone else, but she was saved by the fact that her skin slowed the attack down enough for her to shift into her phoenix form, negating most of the damage. “That could’ve been a little dangerous.” She muttered calmly.

“And what now birdy? You may have managed to survive my first attack, but do you think that was the only thing my Domain can do?” The Kensei seemed to take no pleasure in her words. This was not the way she had wanted to win this fight, but here they were, just like she had predicted. The only thing different was the speed at which they had reached this point.

------

“Hmm?” The witch made a surprised sound as the pressure from the other side of the arena suddenly pushed on her, making movement difficult. Apparently, the knight in shining armor didn’t have that issue as he slashed through another one of her clones. “It seems they’re pulling out the big guns on that side of the arena.” She remarked.

“So, it seems.” Valor replied seriously. He was seriously considering giving his teammate a helping hand. He knew there was no way he’d be able to face all three of the remaining enemies by himself. His thoughts were interrupted by the witch.

“Don’t bother interfering. She’s not going to lose that easily. You people really keep underestimating her despite what she’s shown so far. You’d think the Names would be enough of a hint, but nooooo…” The witch was almost complaining.

“You sound like you know her.” Valor commented.

“Know her? That’s…one way of putting it.” The witch shook her head in exasperation. “Well then. I think it’s about time we finished this as well.” Another Domain seemed to smash on the platform that was now showing signs of crumbling. Spirits made of red and white sparkling energy seemed to come out of the floor and dash towards Valor. Some of the spirits also seemed to veer off and target the other three people on the platform of their own will.

“Purge the unclean.” Valor muttered with conviction in response, and a third Domain was added to the two already present, the golden power pushing away at the wraiths. He lifted his sword high above his head and suddenly a rain of golden energy fell on the entire platform. The energy took the shape of various weapons, ranging from swords and arrows to spears and halberds, as well as the shapes of beasts like dragons and angels, and if the platform had shown signs of crumbling before, now it was losing large chunks as they fell into the nothingness below.

A battle that had just before been between mortals had suddenly turned into a mess of three people borrowing the abilities of immortals. The attacks looked deceptively simple, but Karna could see behind them. The Kensei’s Domain allowed her attacks to reach anything and anyone within her Domain, regardless of distance and any protective barriers. It also granted her greater power over the energies of stars, making for very powerful and pure fire energy. Utilizing the power of cosmic entities always made your power more effective.

Valor’s Domain allowed him to use holy power without any gods granting that power. That allowed him to access powers far beyond his level, as shown by the rain of golden power devastating the platform, and made sure he’d be able to still use the power even if his chosen god cut him off. The power he channeled came from his convictions and his True Name Valor, and Karna imagined it would also be the type of Domain that would allow him to grant great power and protection to any troops he commanded. It wasn’t a Domain for single combat, but for leading armies. He simply had to use it to combat the witch’s power.

The witch’s Domain summoned the spirits of chaotic elemental energies that were pretty much impossible to get rid of, but the spirits would attack targets on their own with an element of their choosing. They’d also find the weakness of their target through trial and error as they changed elements. The Domain was likely supposed to be used in conjunction with her other magic as the spirits could continue the attack indefinitely and on their own, but the witch had called the Domain out too early, and it was incomplete.

Reincarnators might be able to call their Domain out even before reaching immortality, but that didn’t mean they’d be able to fully utilize the power of that Domain. The Kensei’s Domain was the most complete, as it was also simplest in function and the Kensei was the highest rank out of all three. On the other hand, Valor might have gotten his to function in the situation they were in, but it was not suited for the purpose, and he was clearly burning his power quickly to maintain the barrage tearing apart the witch’s clones. Interestingly all three of the Domain were the type that could coexist, as quite often Domains would push against each other, combating for superiority. If Karna used her own Domain for example, then it would struggle for dominance against the three others, clearing them away from the area hers covered.

The Kensei clearly didn’t find the situation amusing as their fight was interrupted by having to fend off against both the spirits and the holy power that attacked her. A moment of distraction that proved decisive. With a burst of flames, Karna appeared in front of her, and she reflexively defended, managing to slash away the left wing of the phoenix that had stuck her. The wound was dangerous enough that it would’ve been decisive in any other fight, but they had all forgotten something important, something that even Karna had momentarily forgotten earlier.

They had all gotten caught in the moment and forgotten that they were not on a battlefield fighting to the death. They were in an arena, fighting in a competition with rules. And one of those rules was that anyone that lost their pendant would be disqualified. While the Kensei’s blow had been instinctual and completely from muscle memory honed over countless lifetimes, it was something that would be decisive if the fight between the two had continued for a minute or two longer. Karna on the other hand had aimed for the Kensei’s pendant and had played to the rules of the competition.

She returned to her own form with a cheeky grin, even as her left hand seemed to be missing from elbow onwards. The last thing the Kensei saw, as the light that would transport her outside the arena swallowed her, was Karna blowing her a kiss with her still healthy hand. The impression was ruined just a bit by Karna having to dodge one of the spirits going for her while her back was turned.