“I can’t believe no one’s talking about what happened a couple of nights ago,” Embla said, sitting in the stands. Memento Mori had been nothing short of paranoid for the past few days. The incident regarding William was well known to everyone who was there. However, the entire city appeared to have simply forgotten it.

“The Sages must be using their influence to keep the media and city distracted by drawing attention to the tournament. It’s such a Mom thing to do,” Yuki said offhandedly. Her focus was primarily on the fight before her.

The match that they were watching was the match between an adventurer and a member of Kaguya’s party, Adori. The girl was a master of the sword and her movements were as graceful as a swan. It was entertaining for two-thirds of the party to watch.

“I don’t even care about the fact that we’re on opposite teams. I just want to see how good her swordsmanship is,” Red said, nodding his head at her parry.

“You can do that later. Focus on winning first,” Yuki said.

None of them had been announced for a match. It was the second day of the Main Stage. The first set of matches had ended. The next set of matches had each of the participants fired up, anticipating for their turn to move onto the semifinals. “I wonder who’s fighting who. I hope none of us are fighting each other until the semifinals,” Pandora said.

“Don’t jinx it,” Cal said, placing his head on his hand. He watched as Adori unleashed a flurry of slashes that broke through her opponent’s defense and sent them flying a few feet.

“Looks like she won,” Embla said.

It was an expected outcome for someone who was in a party with Kaguya. Though, it appeared she was one of the more competent members of the party. William seemed to be the least competent.

“Looks like the next set of matches are about to be announced,” Embla said, ignoring Kvasir’s speech of how strong their citizens were.

“Alright! The next set of matches have been announced! Pandora Izayoi of Memento Mori versus Caelum Izayoi of Memento Mori!” Azalea announced.

The twins blanched at her announcement. Cal gave Pandora a glare as if she had done something to tempt fate.

“You just had to say it,” Cal said.

“I didn’t know we were the next match!” Pandora argued.

The twins bickered as Azalea continued to call their names. Yuki sighed and chopped the twins on the head. Both yelped in pain simultaneously and glanced over to Yuki with some fear in their eyes.

“Go. Remember, only one of us has to win the tournament for our entire party to get the prize,” Yuki said. “Besides, isn’t this a good opportunity for you two to see who’s a better fighter?”

Cal and Pandora pondered her words for a few seconds. They both knew she was right. And in the Semifinals, they might have to fight each other. It was only a matter of time. However, her second set of words piqued their interest in the fight. As twins, Pandora and Cal shared a healthy sibling rivalry. While they didn’t turn everything into a competition as Cal did with Embla, Cal and Pandora still competed against each other in an attempt to get the one up on the other.

Resigning to their fate, the twins got up from their seats and left to go to the stadium’s locker rooms to get ready.

“I hope they don’t hold back against each other,” Embla said, watching as they retreated behind the doors.

“It’s not them holding back that you should be worried about. It’s them going all out,” Yuki said.

“Those two don’t know the meaning of restraint when fighting each other. Their twins so they can read each other so well that their fights often get out of hand because they fail to deal any substantial damage in the initial couple of minutes,” Red added.

“So this match will be pretty long?” Embla asked.

“Probably not. Since this is a tournament match, they might try to get the other to stand down as fast as possible. If not, either one of them might surrender when the match starts,” Yuki replied.

Cal closed his eyes a little as he stepped out onto the arena. The harsh sun bared down on them. Unlike his match in the preliminaries, this match took place during the day. He sighed. Of all the people he had to fight against, his sister was not someone he would take lightly. His honey-gold eyes looked out across the arena.

Pandora stood on the other side with a blank expression. She watched her brother’s steps with every ounce of her analytical ability. One wrong move and Cal could knock her out. Not that it mattered to her. Only one of them had to move forward in this match and she could care less if it was her or Cal. And because of that thought, Pandora could let go and enjoy a friendly match against her brother. She wondered if Cal had thought the same. She scanned him once more and smiled.

“Cal,” Pandora said.

Cal stopped and looked at his twin oddly.

“Only one of us needs to go forward so let’s just enjoy this right, yeah?” Pandora said.

Cal smiled. It appeared that they were twins after all. He gave her a toothy grin and tightened his grip on his bow. “No duh. But don’t come crying to me for round 2 if you lose this match.”

“As if I’ll be the one losing this match, if you win, you got lucky,” Pandora said, twirling her staff.

“Ready!”

The twins got into their respective stances and eyed each other.

“GO!”

Neither of them moved. Both waited for the other to make the first move. And for a few seconds after the match started, the arena was still and watched with bated breath. Pandora eyed her brother carefully as he did her. There was no telling what move Cal would make and Cal did not know what move Pandora would make.

Pandora shifted her finger slightly. It was that action that caused Cal to dash towards her. His bow split apart into two blades.

Pandora’s eyes grew slightly wide at her brother’s sudden burst in speed. His way of fighting was familiar to her yet she always had a hard time against it. She ducked under the initial swipe and barely managed to block the second with her staff. Pandora gritted her teeth and jumped back. She raised her hand in the air and formed multiple icicles.

“Icicle Raid!” she threw her hand forward and released the onslaught of icicle spikes.

Cal jumped back, running from the hail of spears. He reconnected his bow and drew an arrow from his quiver. Fire coated the arrow as he knocked it and fired.

Pandora raised her hand and created a blue barrier, halting the arrow before it could go any further. She closed her fist and created another magic circle underneath Cal.

Cal’s eyes grew wide as the earth erupted underneath him. A large pillar of red flames spewed forth. He narrowly avoided being incinerated by jumping and rolling forward. Gritting his teeth, Cal looked up and saw his sister with a violet magic circle in front of her. Lightning crackled from the arcane symbols as she slammed her palm on it.

A blast of pure electricity shot from the circle. Cal dodged by a hair’s breadth. His skin tingled as the stream of charged particles shot past him and obliterate the ground behind him.

“You really aren’t pulling your punches are you?” Cal asked.

“No, and you shouldn’t either,” Pandora said.

Cal stood straight and looked his sister in the eyes. “Fine then,” he said. Cal grabbed three arrows and nocked them. He fired the arrows simultaneously at Pandora.

Pandora slammed her staff on the ground, causing a wall of earth to erupt from the ground. The arrows hit the wall, causing her to chuckle a bit.

Cal grinned and ran towards the wall. He infused mana into his leg and jumped over it, grabbing the arrows on his way up. Each arrow became infused with an aura of light as he touched it. He nocked all three arrows as he aimed at his sister.

“Photon Needle,” he said calmly as he fired.

Pandora’s eyes grew wide as she looked up. She had no time to react as all three arrows hit home, piercing her in the arms and shoulder. Pandora stumbled back as Cal landed in front of her.

Cal dashed forward, infusing prana into his fist. He cocked his fist back and threw a right hook at her face.

Despite the pain, Pandora managed to dodge the attack and retaliate by swinging her staff into his ribs.

Cal let out a soundless scream as the wood hit him full force. He was sent flying and stopped after a few feet. He quickly got up. Cal raised his palm towards her and fired a beam of light.

Pandora created a barrier, blocking it. She slid back as the light slammed into her barrier, momentarily surprising her at the strength of the skill. However, she had no time to think about it as a barrage of arrows hit her barrier.

An arrow rain? She thought. “Wait… where’s…?” Surprise overcame her face as she turned to her left and saw Cal’s leg filling her vision. The force of Cal’s kick sent her flying across the arena and into the barrier. She slammed into it and slid down.

Pandora glared at her twin, rubbing her jaw in pain. She was surely going to feel that for a few days to come.

Cal stood there for a second before using Super Acceleration to close the distance between him and his twin quickly.

Pandora raised her palm and shot a massive ball of flames at him.

He hopped over it, dodging effortlessly. Cal grinned as he all but appeared in front of her. He split his bow apart and infused each blade with light. Cal swung both blades at her, only to hit flames. Confusion took over his face as the ball of fire slammed into him and exploded.

Pandora stood on the other side, panting slightly. If she had been a second too late, she doubted she could continue fighting on. “You made me use Trick Star.”

Cal stood in the middle of a small scorched crater with burns all over his body. He had managed to cast an Iron Body skill on himself before the flames exploded but still took a significant amount of damage. Cal clenched his jaw. Pandora’s Trick Star was something he had forgotten about. Her ability to shift spaces with objects would be extremely trick to deal with. However, he knew that it was a double-edged sword. The Burst cost his twin a large amount of mana to cast.

“Of course, I did,” Cal said. Several spears of light formed around him as he spoke. “Valkyrie Spear.”

The spears shot forth, intent on skewering Pandora. Pandora pointed her staff at Cal, condensing a large amount of violet dark mana. “Moonshadow Beam.” She fired the beam at the spears. Her beam hit five of the spears, causing them to explode. Cal rolled out of the way.

Pandora raised her other hand and formed a barrier around her. The spears hit the barrier, detonating in a flash of light. The light died down, revealing that Pandora’s barrier had survived with some damage done to it.

“Heh.” Pandora grinned. This was starting to become fun for her. Lightning crackled around her while frost and flames formed on the ground around her feet.

Cal narrowed his eyes. The manifestation of three elements meant one thing. His eyes grew wide as the elements converged around Pandora’s staff.

“Triple Complex Casting: Elemental Maelstrom,” Pandora said. The elements exploded from the tip of her staff. A storm of fire, lightning, and hail covered the arena.

Cal cast a barrier around himself as cyclones of flame and spears of ionized ice rained down around him. He gritted his teeth. This was one of Pandora’s strongest Bursts. A Triangle Cast Burst. Golden flames formed around his hand. He had nothing in terms of burst capable of competing with this.

Pandora raised her hand and condensed a light into the center of her palm. The ball of light turned black with a golden corona, resembling that of an eclipse. “Outset Light.” A beam of ecliptic light shot from her hand and slammed into Cal’s barrier.

Cal fell to one knee from the sheer force of his sister’s onslaught. He poured as much mana as he could into the barrier, trying to keep up with the ever increasing power of his sister’s bursts. Crack after crack appeared in his shield as Cal grew more and more exhausted by the second. There was no mistaking it. He would need to use it to get out of his sister’s barrage.

“Sorry, Pandora,” Cal said. His eyes shone with a golden light. Cal stopped feeding mana to his shield and drew upon his Arts. Golden flames surrounded his body just as the shield collapsed, leaving him at the mercy of two bursts. However, in a split second, Cal vanished in a burst of golden flames.

The combined might of Pandora’s two bursts filled the entirety of the arena floor. The audience had to close their eyes and hang on to their chairs. The barriers, while it contained the initial blast, failed to contain the shockwaves that traveled out through the ground. The entire area shook considerably for a few seconds before subsiding.

Pandora lowered her shield, having put it up just before the blast went off. Smoke and dust covered the entire arena, leaving the visibility low. If Cal managed to withstand that, she knew that he would barely have any energy left to put up a decent fight.

Her eyes glowed with a blue hue as she searched for his mana signature. A confused look graced her features when she did not see him in front of her. “To the side, behind me…” Pandora looked everywhere around her, searching for her missing twin. “I didn’t vaporize him, did I?”

“No, but you almost did.”

Pandora turned around quickly. A fireball formed in her hand. However, Cal moved faster. He deflected her hand, causing the fireball to spiral off to the side. Cal moved in, following his block with a devastating punch to Pandora’s gut.

The girl coughed as she was sent sliding back. Pain shot through her abdomen as she fell to one knee and spat blood from her mouth. Pandora looked up at her brother with a pained expression.

Cal looked down at her with a nearly expressionless face. Without moving, Cal darted to her. He raised his leg, kicking her in the jaw. Pandora was launched off her feet by the force and landed about half a meter from Cal’s position.

She quickly got up, narrowly dodging her brother’s fist. Cal’s fist impacted the arena floor, cracking it.

Pandora growled. She slammed her palm into the ground. A pillar of earth erupted from under Cal, hitting him in the abdomen. Cal was launched into the air by the pillar. Fighting through the pain, Cal created a large spear of light. “Valkyrie Spear!” He threw the spear with all his might at Pandora.

Pandora raised her staff, creating a blue barrier that blocked the spear.

Cal landed on the ground. He used Super Acceleration to instantly move around to the side of the barrier. He channeled prana into his fist. “Sonic Punch!” Cal’s fist moved at blinding speeds, hitting Pandora’s barrier with incredible force. The barrier cracked, allowing the light spear to shatter it.

Pandora’s eyes grew wide as she glanced out the side of her eye. Reacting quickly, Pandora used Trick Star to swap places with her brother. As the spear was about to hit her, Cal appeared in her place. However, this was only a momentary delay. Valkyrie Spear was a burst that sought out its target until it hit.

Cal gathered light into the palm of his hand. The sound of wind being spun in a powerful vortex filled the arena as the light’s density began to gather air into it. “Radiant Spiral!” Cal threw the spiralling ball of light at Pandora.

The light traveled at speeds faster than the audience could perceive. To them, the ball Cal had thrown disappeared in a flash.

Pandora gripped her staff tightly and swung at the Valkyrie Spear. A hail of Mana Ballistas spat forth from the tip, colliding with her brother’s Burst. The two attacks exploded, creating a smoke cover.

Violet mana condensed into the palm of her hand, creating a harsh violet light. “Moonshadow Beam!” She fired the attack at Cal. As the beam of energy left her hand, a spiralling orb of golden light slammed into her torso with the force of a charging bison. Pandora felt the air get knocked out of her lungs as she traveled at high speeds before slamming into the arena wall.

At the same time, Cal had no time to react as Pandora’s high-speed energy beam hit him with equal force. In a split second, he was also slammed into the arena wall.

The audience watched with bated breath as the two slid down, falling to their knees. The twins panted heavily. Pandora felt more tired than her twin. Using Trick Star and multiple high level bursts in quick succession was something that rapidly drained her.

Cal shakily got to his feet. He spotted his bow, lying a few feet from where he was thrown by Pandora’s beam. His legs felt like jelly and pain was the only feeling he felt. He hobbled towards his bow, intent on ending this.

Meanwhile, Pandora got up, using her staff as support. She had enough mana left in the tank. She wasn’t sure about her brother, however.

“Heh, I can’t believe you’re actually lasting this long. Our count. What was it?” Pandora asked, spitting out some blood.

“Our count? Isn’t it in my favor? Ever since we started, it’s been 125-124 me,” Cal said.

“You mean me right?” Pandora said. Orbs of fire and wind formed around her.

“No, me. When I win this, I’ll take a bigger lead,” Cal said, grabbing his bow. He grimaced. She still has enough mana to spam Trick Star three times from what I can see. If she doesn’t use Trick Star, she’ll have a lot to use for magic skills and bursts.

“Did Yuki give you permission to use your Arts in this fight?” Pandora asked.

“You knew?” Cal replied.

“Of course. How else would you be able to move that fast?” Pandora said as if it were a matter of fact. She removed one hand from her staff and raised it in front of her. The orb of wind and flames merged together in front of her. “Blazing Gale.”

A funnel of harsh orange flames spiraled towards Cal, unleashing a wave of hot wind in its wake. Cal gritted his teeth as the wind stung his already pained body. He reached down to grab an arrow from his quiver only to feel nothing. “My arrows were all burned… damn.” Cal used Super Acceleration in the nick of time, narrowly avoiding the flaming vortex. He pulled his bowstring back, creating an arrow of light as a substitute. “Sun Piercer!”

Pandora’s eyes grew wide. None of her barriers would be able to withstand that attack unless she intended to completely drain herself like she did back at the fortress. Pandora had no choice but to dodge. The attack pierced the arena barrier, cracking it.

“Outset Light!” Pandora fired the black and gold beam of light at her brother.

“Sun Piercer!”

The two attacks collided, shaking the arena floor. Two Bursts vying for supremacy. After a few seconds of fighting, the two attacks detonated.

Cal didn’t hesitate. He used Super Acceleration to close the gap between him and his twin. He burst through the smoke and split his bow apart. He had no arrows so this entire part would be entirely short ranged. Allowing Pandora any semblance of range would be tantamount to suicide.

Pandora dodged as her brother swiped one of his blades at her. A ball of fire formed in her hand. She threw it at Cal, forcing him to jump out of the way.

Cal’s eyes narrowed as he dodged a lightning bolt from his sister.

“You’re not making this easy!” Cal said, running from his sister’s ice spears.

“And you’re not sitting still!” Pandora said. She slammed her staff into the ground, causing a small bump of earth to erupt from the ground and trip her brother.

Cal’s eyes widened as he fell face first, eliciting a laugh from Pandora.

“You always fall for that!” she cackled. Pandora raised her hand and fired a powerful burst of lightning at him.

“That was cheap and you know it!” Cal said. He rolled out of the way. He created a ball of light in one of his hands and fired it at Pandora.

Pandora waved her staff and deflected the beam.

“If you’re gonna play dirty, then so am I!” Cal suddenly appeared in her personal space with a ball of light in his hand.

Pandora took a step back, prepared for any sort of attack. Her eyes widened when Cal grinned and closed his eyes before crushing the spear. The next thing she saw was a harsh blinding white light. She dropped her staff and screamed. Pandora covered her eyes, seeing a harsh white.

Cal wasted no time and took advantage of his twin’s temporary blindness. “Enhance Parameter!” He punched Pandora in the gut, sending her sliding back. After that, he followed up with a kick to the side and then another punch, this time to her nose. A sickening crack resounded through the stadium as Cal broke Pandora’s nose.

“And now to end this!” Cal said, kicking her back. Pandora landed on her back, sliding a few meters. Her body shook in pain as her eyes began to readjust. Anger filled her thoughts.

Violet energy gathered into her palm. Cal ran forward, ready to deliver the final blow. Light mana and prana both infused into his fist. As he threw the punch, Pandora leaned her head out of the way and slammed her palm into Cal’s abdomen.

Cal screamed in pain as Pandora’s burst pierced right through his side. He stumbled back, clutching his side. Blood flowed from his mouth, causing the crowd to gasp.

Pandora still had her hand outstretched.

“You… shot me,” Cal said, looking at his sister in shock.

“You broke my nose!” Pandora retorted.

“You shot me!” he fired back.

“Relax, I didn’t hit any of your organs. Besides, that was an underpowered one!”

“You shot me!”

“I’ve been shooting you this entire match! And look at these!” Pandora yelled, referring to the holes in her arm and side. “If you can’t tell, I’m bleeding too!”

“Whatever, let’s finish this,” Cal said.

“Yeah. Let’s do just that.” Pandora coated her hand in electricity.

Cal opened his palm and created a ball of flames. The two ran at each other and threw their attacks. However, Pandora was prepared. As the two attacks were about to collide, she activated Trick Star and swapped Cal’s fireball with a piece of rock.

Cal’s eyes widened in surprise when he felt the fireball vanish. His instincts screamed, allowing him to narrowly dodge Pandora’s lightning covered fist.

“You… You almost had me there!” Cal said. He raised his leg and delivered a devastating kick to the area where his Photon Needle had pierced her. Pandora let out a howl of agony as she was sent sprawled out on the arena. Her vision swam as she struggled to sit up.

“O- Outset Light!” Pandora raised her palm at Cal and fired a black and gold beam of light.

Cal had no time to react. As the beam drew near, his instinct to survive kicked in. Golden flames shrouded his body as he dodged Pandora’s burst rather easily.

Pandora’s eyes widened in surprise at the sudden use of Arts.

Cal cocked his fist back and punched his sister in the face, sending her back down.

Pandora groaned in pain as she gripped her cheek.

“Give up yet?” Cal asked.

“N- No,” Pandora said, struggling to get up. After a few tries, she managed to stand. Her legs shook in protest as she struggled to maintain balance.

“You… look like shit,” Cal said, taking a step towards her. He fell to one knee. Crap… I used up so much energy, Cal thought.

“Speak for yourself,” Pandora said. She weakly threw a punch at his face. Cal blocked the attack, causing him to wince in pain.

“No, you,” he replied. He pushed her back, causing her to stumble. Cal quickly got to his feet, using whatever stamina he had left and delivered a devastating punch to his twin’s face.

Pandora gasped before falling on her back.

Cal fell to his hands and knees after, gasping for air.

“Okay, okay…” He perked up when he heard Pandora speak. “I give. We’re tied now.”

“You what?”

“I give! I surrender the match!” Pandora said. Pain shot through her torso, causing her to curl up.

“Pandora Izayoi of Memento Mori has forfeited. Winner is Caelum Izayoi of Memento Mori!” Azalea announced.

As soon as Azalea uttered those words, healers and medics ran out into the ruined hellscape that was the arena.

“We’re… even,” Pandora said as she was placed onto a stretcher.

“Even? I totally took the lead,” Cal remarked as the medics did the same to him.

“No. We’re even.”

“No we’re not.”

“Yes we are.”

“No we’re not.”

“Yes we are.”

The two continued to bicker as they were carried away from the arena.