‘Seven.’

Violet’s eyes narrowed as she watched the fight unfolding.

She had seen the fights online that Seven had taken part in. She knew the girl could fire off shots with precision and deadly ferocity. She had seen the player dancing out of the way of attacks with the poise of a butterfly being blown by the wind. From the beginning, she had never underestimated the magi on the screen and never doubted that she was talented.

Anyone who thought she wasn’t talented after seeing her fight was a fool.

This was the player that Nastin had praised as being more talented than even TidalWave. Even if she was a magi the mere thought of having an opponent be that powerful made her blood boil in anticipation. But as she watched the fight unfolding she couldn’t see the reason for Nastin’s high praise.

The girl was performing exceptionally average.

This wasn’t an arena where she could exploit her talents. Violet didn’t know what class Seven had but she felt it was suited more towards dodging and fighting, but Jein and Claire were both magic users of the highest caliber. Seven had been completely helpless against the wave and the blizzard, unable to resist the spells at all. And she still hadn’t used her aura step.

Violet had seen the fight against Azeroth. She had replayed TidalWave’s fight until her eyes had gone red and she knew that Seven had the ability to fly through the air.

‘Is she hiding her skills? Even against Jein?’

Violet couldn’t help but admire the balls on the magi if Seven was holding back against her opponent. But she knew that it wouldn’t last. If a truly skilled player was hiding within that girl, then the thrill of the battle wasn’t something that she could ignore. She would soon learn the true terror that is Jein. Players around the world touted the Korean professional as the head of her field. The girl with skills that could wipe out the entire platform, and who could learn abilities simply by watching them.

If Seven truly would rise through the ranks, then just as Violet hadn’t been able to hold back against TidalWave, the magi wouldn’t be able to stand losing to this Wizard. They were destined to be enemies at every turn.

‘So then.’

Violet gazed at the screen in anticipation, watching Jein’s attacks floating around her, ready to pounce at the helpless magi.

‘Show me what you’ve got.’

****

‘She’s holding back.’

Ji-Woo’s eyes narrowed as he watched the girl on the screen. He had known her for years, fought both against and alongside her and seen the fire in her soul. He knew that deep inside that beautiful figure was a heart made of fire, burning for battle and igniting at the thought of a challenge. But now this person was surprising him by doing the exact opposite of what he would expect.

Jein was holding back.

Ji-Woo wasn’t a fool, nor was he blind. Jein could have eliminated both Seven and Jacob in that barrage she had shot towards them. Both players had been unaware that Jein had learned aura step simply by watching the video of Azeroth’s fight. They had both hesitated and she’d had the perfect shot. But she had only hit Seven once.

A single shot in return for the one she had taken.

“Flying girl~” Jein’s playful voice came through the screen. “Why don’t you come and join me?”

‘Ah’ Ji-Woo’s grin spread across his face as he heard his ally speak. ‘So that’s what it was.’

It should have been so simple for him to realise, but it was rare that he ever saw her like this. Few opponents had the luxury of holding back against Jein, nor did they want to even if they could. But now Jein knew that Seven had been holding back her aura step. She knew that they were probably holding back spells that other opponents had never seen. She knew that this one player had decided as they stood underneath her that she wasn’t worthy enough for them to unleash their full skills. Ji-Woo let out a little laugh as he put it all together. Jein was putting her full effort into showing that she could kill this player, trying so hard to get them to go all out in their fight, and yet her challenge was being ignored.

And it pissed her off.

I couldn’t agree more.

‘What?’ he heard a new voice sounded out from the screen, one that he recognised immediately. ‘How is that possible?’

Ji-Woo’s eyes widened as a new figure blazed onto the screen and the arena lit up.

[Claire: Level 44]

****

“It’s time to finish this.”

Seven watched Jein twirling her fingers in the air. Her ice shards seemed to follow her movements like a swarm of minions and they swam playfully through the air, as beautiful as they were deadly. Seven knew that each one carried enough power to injure her seriously. They had taken out Jacob in an instant. And she could see that the girl had created dozens of them.

I couldn’t agree more. A voice boomed through the surrounding area, echoing from all sides.

‘What?’ Seven whipped her head towards the sudden intrusion. ‘Oh my god.’

A bright flash of light covered Seven’s eyes as familiar-looking orbs began appearing in the air. Standing above the wave that had crashed over the golden titan their creator was standing and smiling as she walked over the jumble of snow and stone. Calm and confident even in the face of the gathered horde of shards and spears that Jein had summoned.

Her eyes were glowing bright gold and covering her was an aura of golden magic the likes of which Seven had never seen before.

“Claire.” Jein’s voice oozed frost.

‘How did she survive?’ Seven knew it wasn’t the time to be wondering about this, but she couldn’t help but be curious.

She was certain that the wave would have killed anyone in its path.

Yes. Claire’s silken voice seemed to resound throughout the area. I have a lot to thank you for.

She turned her head and Seven saw that Claire was smiling at her. She felt her hands sweating as she realised that she was missing a vital piece of information. The magi seemed to be thanking her for something but she couldn’t figure out what.

Jein seemed to come to the same conclusion, and she turned to Seven with an irritated expression. “What did you do?”

Ah, are you sure you have time to look away? Claire smiled and with a click of her fingers the orbs began to zoom in on Jein, You might just die you know

“God damn i-” Jein swore as the orbs rained fire on her, spitting out dozens of golden bullets.

‘Now.’ Seven saw Jein creating platforms to dodge the lights and throwing spears at the bullets and immediately knew what she had to do next.

She had already injured Jein. The wizard was being attacked from all sides by an enemy that had time to prepare and install her attacks in the optimal position. So inevitably, she would fall to the barrage, maybe not now, but at some point. So Seven needed to take advantage of this to take out the one player in the dominant position.

She was going to kill Claire.

She turned towards the magi that was manipulating the orbs and brought out her wand to fire at her while Jein distracted her.

Only to find that she had disappeared.

‘What? Where’d she go?’ It immediately reminded Seven of the situation with Jein and she looked up, ‘Oh- You have got to be kidding me.’

Up in the sky, a figure was using golden platforms to approach the fleeing Jein.

Claire knew aura step as well.

‘No.’ Seven’s fist clenched as she saw Claire wobbling from side to side as she warily climbed through the sky. ‘She’s not used to it.’

Seven watched in despair as the magi grew more and more confident in herself. Only a second before she was too scared to step onto a new platform, but with a few jumps she was already catching up to Jein as the wizard fled. It was obvious what had happened but even now Seven was finding it hard to accept. A single magi that was struggling to use a skill was a clear sign that even Seven had acknowledged. Claire had learned aura step by watching Jein use it.

It had only taken her a few seconds.

‘So this is a genius.’

Seven stared at the sky in disbelief. The entire arena was lit up with rays of light and deadly skewers of ice being shot in every direction. Both players were so far above her both that they didn’t even have the time to spare her the smallest bit of attention as they focused on killing each other.

Claire hadn’t even spared a single shot to send at Seven before she went all out to attack Jein.

‘Is this how I want the fight to end? With me not having a single say or impact on these two?’ Seven looked up at the players that were completely ignoring her and shook her head, ‘No.’

She lifted her wand and fired off magic blasts at her opponents. If they were going to ignore her then she would force them to acknowledge her existence.

She watched the perfectly aimed magic blasts fly true into the platforms that the girls were standing in, only for every attack to explode at the last second as they came into contact with ice and light. The magic blasts exploded into showers of magic particles as the two girls turned to face her and the battle stilled.

And Seven shot even more attacks at them.

Yes? You were still alive? Claire waved her wand and more orbs appeared near her, firing shots at Seven’s magic blasts and obliterating them.

“You should have stayed put.” Jein stopped running from Claire and sent her spears to intercept the magic missiles.

They had both easily blocked her attacks.

‘Ah crap.’ Seven realised that she had made a terrible mistake.

Now she had their full attention.

“Heh~”

This is not your fight.

Jein and Claire gazed at Seven from the corner of their eyes and with a flourish of their weapons they directed their attacks towards her. Shards of ice formed in the sky and cut lines through the air as they screamed towards her. The orbs fired their rays of lights which flew towards Seven like shots out of a machine gun, too many to count. And then the two girls immediately turned back to each other. They hadn’t even considered the possibility that Seven would survive.

“So you two never even had me in your sights.”

Seven let out a dry laugh as she saw the shards of ice and bullets raining down on her. Each attack was designed to kill her with the least amount of effort. It hurt her that the two other players had already turned back to each other and forgotten her. To them, this was a match of two people fighting against each other; Everyone else was simply an insect they would squish under their feet, and Seven was no exception.

She had never felt this way before.

TidalWave, Nastin, Third, and Archy.

There were monsters in her life that she believed could take these two on. Each one had fought her more times than she could count and they had always treated her as an equal the entire time. But now she had met players of the same skill that weren’t her friends. Complete and total strangers whom she had no relationship with. They were under no obligation to be nice; They didn’t need to pretend to admire her skill or patronise her with attention.

Climbing the ice wall. Landing an attack on Jein with the coordination of another player. Firing her attacks with perfect precision. They had seen what she was capable of. They had taken in her attacks and skills and had chosen to ignore her.

And she hated it.

‘This feeling again.’ Seven grabbed at her chest as she felt her emotions writhing and changing into anger.

A single smug face appeared in her mind. A friend that had abandoned her and had taken every opportunity to downplay her achievements and actions. He’d gone from skilled player to skilled player and challenged them to fights, treating them as equals and gods while throwing her feelings and name into the gutter.

Now it wasn’t just him.

“Why?” She whispered to herself, “All of you,” She looked beyond the attacks raining down on her and towards the two girls locked in combat, “Why are you ignoring me? Why am I not skilled enough for your attention?”

Seven took a deep breath as the attacks neared her. In a few seconds they would slam into her body, obliterating her and sending her back into the waiting lobby. She couldn’t use aura step, but even if she could the attacks were coming from every angle. There wasn’t enough space to stone shift away, and she couldn’t fire enough magic blasts to destroy the attacks. There was no way to escape.

‘Is this how I’m going to let it end?’

She clenched her fingers and wrapped them around her wand, closing her eyes as the barrage fell towards her.

“No. Not this time. Not now, and never again.”

A cacophony of sound burst through her eardrums as the ice and light hit the stone, flakes of frost and magic splashing onto her as the attacks shattered into a million pieces. All around her it was as though an apocalyptic rain had descended to earth, destroying everything in its path.

‘Good.’ She opened her eyes.

Not a single attack had hit her.

Above her the deadly attacks were frozen in mid-air, destined to never hit their target. In her eyes Seven could see the attacks being held into place by six focus points in the air above her, defending her like an invisible shield. Her focus points forced the attacks into the ground and she grinned. She had been perfecting this move ever since using it against Attracting’s inescapable blue light.

‘This time I’ll make sure that I carve my name into your minds forever.’

She looked up at the two players that had sent their attacks into her and then ignored her.

Now was the optimal time to attack.

‘No.’ Seven took a deep breath and closed her eyes again. ‘This isn’t the time, not yet.’

She could feel the pressure crushing her as the sounds of battle raged above her. The sounds of players so much stronger and grander than her. Their mere presence showed her how far below she was in the hierarchy.

The knowledge of how huge her opponents are spurred her thoughts further into overdrive.

She had to make sure that there was no way for them to escape. And she couldn’t avoid their retaliation while she was on the ground, not if they knew she had some method of blocking their attacks. If she wanted to fight against those monsters and win, she had to be on the same playing field as them.

Seven destroyed her focus points and reformed them into a single one in front of her.

She had manipulated her enemy’s focus points to her own gain. She had seen that it was possible for someone to copy an attack only seconds after seeing it. If she wanted to be on their level, she had to at least demonstrate ability similar to them. They had shown her so much. Now she would try it for herself.

She willed her magic into the orb and began to shape it. A simple square, wide and long enough for her to step on it and not have it shatter. As she viewed it with closed eyes, she could feel the very air around the orb gathering together and the space warping as a new shape began to form out of the focus point. One second… two…

In front of her the orb seemed to have completely transformed into a translucent platform. She had completed it. After a week of fighting, practicing and failing, she had finally learned the spell she’d been aiming for.

‘Ha.’ Seven opened her eyes and grinned.

[Skill created; Aura Step.]

[1/4 Skill creation’s used.]

‘Now it’s my turn.

****

‘God damn it.’

Claire gritted her teeth as she realised she had seriously messed up.

Jein had been in the palm of her hands. She’d gotten the jump on the Korean and had been causing her to flee from her firepower. In a matter of seconds, she would have completely dominated the wizard and destroyed her.

Then that other player had interfered.

They had used their attacks to overwhelm the lone magi and immediately swirled back to concentrate on each other. But Claire knew in that moment that it was already too late.

Jein had regrouped, forming her spells and firing back at Claire. It was getting harder and harder for her to break Jein’s defence. They had only turned to the other player for a second. It was a single split second. A moment in an eternity that no normal person could take advantage of. And yet Jein wasn’t an ordinary human.

She was a monster.

Claire jumped from platform to platform with ease as she fired off lasers of light from her wand. Each shot would drive a hole into the strongest wall and yet Jein dodged each one with ease. At this rate the girl would recover enough mana to turn the tables on her. It was a situation where she couldn’t win. Not unless something unexpected happened.

Then a bright light shone out towards her from the corner of her eye.

“Magic Blast.”

What? Claire spun around as she heard the spell being chanted, You?

It was the magi that had interfered in their fight.

Claire watched as six magic blasts flew into the air, three aimed at her and three aimed at Jein. Seven had fired when they had distracted each other.

Jein immediately turned towards the attacks and fired her ice shards to obliterate them. Each magic blast popping into showers of magic light as the ice shards destroyed them. Claire stared at the magic blasts as they flew towards her.

And she grinned.

She had played countless virtual reality games. She had fought through mage after mage, magi after magi and she had perfected the ability to see the route of an attack. These magic blasts seemed like they would get close, but that was all. She could tell that every single one of the magic blasts was going to miss.

Claire smiled as she saw the magic blasts fly past her body.

You’ve finally screwed up. Claire’s expression turned vicious and her glowing aura burst into life alongside her emotions as she prepared to fire on the defenceless Jein.

The wizard had wasted her time by directing her attacks to destroy the magic blasts. Now the Korean had no defences available to stop her attacks.

-106

-106

-Immune

‘What?’

Claire gazed at the sky vacantly as she felt several attacks smash against her, activating her survival ability and magic immunity.

No.

She watched Jein growing further and further away. She had lost her concentration and fallen off the platform. She remembered the very first kill of the match. She had praised that magi for the high damage her magic blast had dealt. The same shots she had ignored only a second before.

NO.

Claire called out helplessly as she felt her body smash into the floor and her entire world turned gray.

“So you’re finally done holding back.”

The last thing Claire saw was Jein turning towards a figure stepping on bright blue platforms, climbing higher and higher above her into the sky. The Korean grinned as she saw the magi approaching; Fury and intensity blazing in her eyes.

"It’s about goddamn time."

****

Seven held her eyes steady as she watched Jein intently.

She had killed Claire, but from the beginning Jein had only been faking an underestimation of her skills. The moment Seven had fired her magic at the two, Jein had been prepared for it. Somehow she had known that Seven was alive and kicking.

“I appreciate that.” Seven smiled as she finally reached eye level with Jein. “You didn’t think I was dead for a second, did you?”

“Of course not.” Jein smiled. “But even if you were it didn’t hurt me to double-check.”

“Heh.” Seven waved her wand and she formed focus points all around her. “And I was feeling so bad about being ignored.”

Every focus point around her could defend her or turn into platforms at will.

“I’ll say.” Jein’s fists curled around her staff as she saw Seven move. “I was wondering how long you would stay hidden.”

Seven could see the wizard was wary of her. Her opponent still didn’t know how she had killed Claire. It had happened too quickly. But Seven had no such doubts.

“Magic blast.”

“Ice shards.”

Without hesitation, Seven jumped from platform to platform as she used the remaining focus points as a shield that hovered around her and collected Jein’s attacks. With every spare second, she fired off magic blasts that flew into Jein’s attacks and shattered them. Each second she grew closer and closer to the wizard.

It was an all-out charge straight into the heart of her enemy’s territory.

“Hm.” Jein grunted as she saw Seven flying towards her, “So you want to play it that way, huh?”

Seven saw her lift her staff into the air and the ice shards immediately stopped, freezing in mid-air and then they gathered together in a grand flowing lake of ice that shimmered and swirled in the air around Jein.

The moment Seven saw it, she knew that her focus points wouldn’t be able to hold back such a huge horde of objects.

“Don’t think I can’t do close combat, too.” Jein’s ice lake pierced through the air towards Seven as she drew closer to the wizard.

It was an unstoppable torrent aimed to kill everything in its path.

Seven lifted her wand with a smile. “Magic blast.”

She fired off five blasts in quick succession. Each one skimmed past the ice lake and flew into the air and past Jein. Straight into the focus points that she had formed behind her.

- Blocked

- Blocked

- Blocked

“Heh~ So that’s how you killed Claire.”

Seven could physically feel the sensation of her attacks being stopped as the ice lake suddenly appeared near Jein and surrounded her. One moment it had been heading straight for her and the next Jein had retracted it like a whip and used it as a shield to destroy the magic blasts.

‘But that’s not going to be enough.’

Seven leaped into the air as Jein retracted her attack and in that split second she saw the lake retract fully around the wizard, an impenetrable armour of magic. Her magic blasts wouldn’t be able to get through that.

But she wasn’t trying to damage her.

“Wind blast.”

- Blocked

Seven smashed her spell into the wizard and saw it fly into her body even with the lake surrounding her. She watched as Jein stumbled off of the platform and the wind’s knockback effect pushed her over the edge.

‘No.’

Seven looked at her opponent and realised she wasn’t going to die.

‘I'm not done yet.’

****

“Wind blast.”

- Blocked

Jein watched helplessly as the spell knocked her off of her platform and she began to plummet to the ground.

Seven had dealt her a hefty blow, but it wasn’t enough to phase her. It caused her to worry, but as she focused on her surroundings, she quickly formed another platform below her and fell with a thud. She hadn’t fallen far enough to have any damage dealt to her.

“Nice try.” Jein grinned and pushed herself up.

She had only just created a platform underneath her as the spell knocked her off of her previous one. She felt the wind being knocked out of her after that last attack but if she had hit the ground she would have been little more than a blood splatter across the stone.

But now she was low on mana. Let alone fighting against Claire, forming enough ice shards to create an entire lake had drained her of almost all she had left.

‘Now to return the favour.’ She pivoted around and released ice shards into the air where she knew Seven would come from.

“What the hell.” Jein’s eyes widened as her ice shards hit thin air

Seven had completely disappeared.

“Flying girl! Where are you~?” Jein hovered in the air atop her platform as she moved from side to side trying to spot Seven.

Light blue platform after platform hovered around her, seen but unused.

“How are you doing this? Are you invisible?” Jein’s eyes blazed with fury and then simmered down as she felt a wave of uncertainty.

‘How is this possible?’ She couldn’t work out what was happening.

She couldn’t see her opponent at all. But she definitely hadn’t seen or heard the girl use magic. Was it some kind of trick?

She scanned her surroundings carefully, observing every platform and she stepped from side to side nervously. But that was only an act; Internally she was processing her situation as carefully as possible, trying not to miss a single detail. She couldn’t see her opponent in front of her, below her or above her.

‘So she has to be behind me.’ Jein’s lips curled into a smile.

“Magic blast.”

Seven’s voice floated through the air gently and Jein saw a magic blast burst through the air from behind her. But she had already moved onto a new platform. The magic blast passed through the air harmlessly and the Korean’s smile widened as she turned to face her opponent.

Only to be facing empty air once again.

“What the hell!” Jein couldn’t believe what she was seeing, or rather, what she wasn’t seeing.

Beads of sweat were dripping down her forehead as she began to feel a pressure rising from deep within her chest. She turned her head from side to side, trying to grab even the slightest sign of Seven’s shadow. But the girl had disappeared as though she was a ghost.

‘What is this?’ She held her free hand to her chest as the air around her seemed to shrink and the sound of the breeze magnified uncomfortably. ‘What is she doing to me?’

She could feel her heart racing as she tried to predict where her opponent would jump from next. She tried twisting her body to catch her blindspot behind her but there wasn’t a whisper of a person to be heard or seen. It was as though Seven had completely vanished.

‘Uncomfortable, clammy hands. Racing heart. Distorted hearing.’ Jein’s eyes widened as she realised what was happening to her.

This wasn’t a spell, Jein realised as she finally found the truth behind the strange events.

This was fear.

‘Fear? Me?’ The mere thought that someone had brought her down so far caused her entire body to shiver.

For the first time since joining the game she realised a simple fact. No matter which opponent she was facing, no matter how she acted and despite the playful attitude, there was only one thing that really mattered to her now.

She didn’t want to lose.

She couldn’t see her opponent in front of her, below her or above her.

‘Then we’ll try this one more time.’ This time she didn’t know that her opponent was going to be behind her.

It was the only bet she could make; She was out of options. Jein’s chest felt as though it was going to burst from her chest as she swerved impossibly fast to face behind her. If she was wrong, she would die. If she was right, then she still had a chance.

And as she turned, she found herself facing the missing magi, her enemy lifting her wand in the air and magic crackling around its tip.

“MAGIC BLAST”

“ICE SHARDS.”

****

“Wind blast.”

- Blocked

Seven watched Jein falling down in the air with a serene calm. She knew that if she jumped down after the girl she would be making a big mistake. Even now, Jein was quickly regaining her footing and forming a platform underneath her. If she jumped in after the Korean the girl would counterattack straight into her face. So she jumped down behind the wizard instead. She felt the rush of the wind through her robes as she fell and at the last moment she formed a platform underneath her.

‘How am I going to play this?’

Every strategy that Seven had tried had failed so far. She couldn’t go near the girl in a head-on assault. She definitely couldn’t win a long-range battle. She couldn’t even risk the girl’s blizzard and other cooldowns from resetting.

She was stuck.

‘I have nothing.’ Seven thought furiously as she saw Jein firing into the air and recoiling in surprise as she realised Seven wasn’t there.

The Korean still hadn’t seen her. But the moment she formed a magic blast she would give herself away. And she knew that this person was fast enough that she couldn’t risk firing from anywhere but the closest range for fear of the attack being dodged.

The moment Jein spotted her it would all be over.

‘Close range? Ha.’ Seven couldn’t help but chuckle to herself as she felt the panic wash over her. ‘When did I become such a chicken?’

She had fought hundreds of duels in close range against opponents that caused others to shiver in fear. She had faced off against the greatest players she knew and learned their ways. She improved herself beyond the limits of what she was previously capable of. And now she was choosing to feel fear?

The thought almost made her laugh.

She had forgotten what kind of player she was. But it had all come rushing back to her as she viewed the battle between the two monsters. Before she had discovered the wonders of magic, she was just an ordinary player that couldn’t even dodge a rabbit. She wasn’t a player that overwhelmed others with majestic and grand attacks. Nor was she a magi that allowed titans and orbs to fight for her.

She was a nimble magi.

She was the first in the game to gain the class. An acknowledgment of her skill and passion. A monument given to her for surpassing her limitations.

And the nimble magi specialised in close-range combat.

Even now Seven could see the girl turning around. Jein had no idea where she was, but she would soon find out. In a second she would spot Seven and send her magic to destroy her. But for now, Seven was in her blind spot.

‘Stone shift.’ Seven mimed the words with her mouth and felt the platform underneath her shift as she used her ability.

She had spoken so softly that Jein had no chance of hearing her. The moment the Korean turned around to check her surroundings, Seven jumped using her ability into the next platform she formed. Then when Jein turned back, she jumped again.

And again.

And again.

‘Nimble, nimble.’ Seven muttered the words in her mind repeatedly like a mantra.

Beyond attacks, beyond magic, this was pure and simple skill. She wasn’t dodging killer magic or a sword striking with deadly precision. She wasn’t trying to avoid a rift or arrow aimed precisely for her eyes.

She was using her abilities to dodge her opponent’s sight.

The moment she saw Jein shift she moved behind her, sneaking closer and closer with every move. Even the fastest player wouldn’t be able to catch a sniff of Seven’s shadow as she continued to shift closer and closer to her prey. And then she finally got close enough to see the hairs on the back of Jein’s neck.

“Magic blast.”

Seven lifted her wand and fired.

-Miss

‘Shit.’ Seven swore as Jein jumped back almost presciently and moved onto another platform.

She hadn’t even turned around.

‘Is she even human?’ Seven’s spine shivered as she used her stone shift ability to glide her platform through the air.

With every move she made, she gazed at the back of Jein’s head intently. Every twitch of muscle and every strain of her neck taken into consideration as Seven tried to avoid her eyesight. But every stone shift she used brought her closer to her opponent again. Continuously moving through the air.

‘I’ll only have this one last shot.’

Seven could feel her skin prickling as she once again moved into Jein’s blind spot, the girl wasn’t even attempting to turn around now. With a final stone shift, she brought herself behind the Korean and lifted her wand, magic glowing as it prepared to fire off her attack.

“MAGIC BLAST.”

Seven lifted her wand to fire off her attack as she leaped towards her opponent. She was in Jein’s blind spot, completely unseen and unstoppable.

Then she saw something that horrified her.

With reflexes that seemed to transcend beyond human Jein’s body spun around with her staff aimed at squarely at Seven’s chest. The wizard’s eyes stretched back in anger and fury as the tip of her weapon swirled with magic and ice.

“ICE SHARDS.”

‘No.’ Seven refused to admit defeat.

She twisted her body in mid-air, stumbling to the side and formed a platform underneath her. As her feet touched the light blue material she saw the ice shards passing by her, hitting the space she’d just been at.

The attack had missed.

She had won.

She turned her wand towards Jein and prepared to fire off her final attack, and her eyes widened as she felt her wand and hand stiffen.

‘When…?’

Seven hardly had time to register what had happened before she fell off the platform and into the empty air. Starting from her hand and spreading across her body was a layer of ice that seemed to restrict all movement. It had caused her attack to stop before she could complete it, and then she had fallen as it froze her feet.

As the air rushed through her ears and hair, she couldn’t even concentrate enough to form a platform to stop her fall.

‘Ah,’ She suddenly realised what was happening. ‘I lost.’

She closed her eyes as she felt the seconds stretch out, the cool breeze of the air cushioning her fall. She would still hit the ground, she would still die and she would still come second. She had lost. She pushed herself to her limits, overcame every obstacle in her path and use magics which would once have been beyond her imagination. And she had still lost.

And yet, she couldn’t stop herself from smiling.

At that moment she had caused her opponent to feel fear. She could see it in Jein’s eyes. There was no cool and calculating expression, and there was no sense of inevitable victory. There was only fear and adrenaline rushing through their veins as they rushed to get the final shot off. A race to determine who would be the winner among equals.

Seven felt her body smash into the ground and her world turned gray.

[You have been killed by player: Jein]