I stepped into the repaired arena with a certain calm that I hadn’t felt in quite a while. Not since before I awakened, in fact. After a moment of deliberation, I realized that this would be the first fight I actually wanted to have because I ‘wanted’ to. There wasn’t anything else to it. Until now, every fight I had been in had been for the sake of something else, be it levels, to prove a point or simply to survive.

This time, however, I just wanted to enjoy the act of ‘fighting’. To test my skills against someone I respected. On top of that, I wouldn’t have to hold back like I did against friends. I had to give it to the tournament’s organizers, they knew how to set the stage.

The rough, earthy flooring that the arena had had an hour ago had now been replaced by clean white tiles. To be fair, maybe this change had only been made in response to the previous fights, which had all turned the arena into a crater.

On the opposite side of the circular area, a relatively small woman stood. With blonde hair and stark blue eyes, any sensible person would describe her as beautiful. Her petite face gave away her age, she looked no older than me. The seeded list had put her at just a few months older than me, as well.

Emeri was a holy maiden of the church of Helios, and she represented them in this tournament. I didn’t really know the implications of all this, but it was clear they were proud of their foremost tier 2 classer, seeing as how several priests and nuns were in the stands, holding a banner that said ‘Go, Emeri!’.

Chuckling at the sight, I noticed a faint blush appear on my soon-to-be opponent’s face, though I paid it no heed. Now was the time to fight, after all. With my newly evolved skills, I was confident in overcoming Emeri’s experience and battle-sense. Well, I would hold off on using [Corrosive mark] and [Cascading mana-intrusive swordsmanship] for a while. It served well to keep a few trump cards for later in the fight.

Finally, the announcer began his speech.

“Ladies, gentlemen and others, welcome to the finale of this gripping tournament! After a series of overwhelmingly difficult challenges, only two contestants have made it further than their peers, grating them a spot in the finals!”

“On one side, we have a familiar face, Arthur the [Overloading Death Knight]! People have started to call him ‘the immortal’ after his last series of fights, where he started to show his true power! His superior defences, overwhelming style of combat and nigh-invulnerability make him a truly fearsome opponent! He participated in the tier 2 doubles finale as well, where he defeated Peter Arcellus in a head-on clash. Will he be the victor in the singles tournament as well?!”

“That will depend on his opponent, Emeri Helios, proud holy maiden of the church! A prodigy since birth, this [Angelic spear maiden] quickly rose through the ranks, so much so that even the bishop took notice. As a result, he personally saw to her training! Emeri uses a sharp and fluid style of combat. This, combined with her incredible holy power has allowed her to pierce her opponents’ defences no matter what! The ultimate offence versus the ultimate defence, who will prevail?!”

“And look at this, both participants have equipped their titles! [Dark prodigy], in Arthur’s case and [Holy light] in Emeri’s case. We can only imagine what effects those two titles will have!”

“Now then, without further ado, I shall commence the countdown. Arthur and Emeri, you may start in 3…2…1...start!”

Without hesitation, we both shot into action. I didn’t bother holding back and immediately phased into shadows, reappearing behind Emeri. She reacted instantly and whirled around when she sensed danger. She backhanded her spear and would have knocked any ordinary person out with the blunt force she sent towards my head. Unfortunately for her, she hadn’t known that I remained intangible for half a second after reappearing. As a result, the but of her spear phased right through my head. I moved out of the way and brought down my sword, aiming straight for her neck. I was halfway there by the tile I rematerialized. Emeri’ eyes went wide in shock as she saw her ineffective counterattack. Then, her hands and spear turned into a white blur. The shifted just enough to block my strike in the nick of time, saving Emeri from a humiliating loss.

I recovered from the failed attempt quickly and took a step back, sending a barrage of sword arcs her way. She blocked each one with her surprisingly versatile spearman ship, before sending a strange bolt of mana my way by thrusting her spear in my general direction.

Thinking that that must have been the equivalent of a sword arc, but then for spears, I blocked it and used the strike’s momentum to launch myself another few steps backward.

By this point, five illusory spears had appeared around Emeri. She charged forward, her spears in tow, and assaulted me with a flurry of strikes from her spear’s optimal distance. The giant, illusory copies of her weapons danced around her and moved to join her assault.

Recognising her strategy and the danger it posed, I had to come up with a plan to counter it. I knew that if I got stuck in het flow, I would slowly be worn out or overwhelmed by her varied attack-patterns. Her illusory spears were the real problem. They covered for her shortcomings and would force me in place. Even if I decided to just ignore the wounds they left as they stabbed me, I wouldn’t be able to deal with Emeri. Wounds might not be deadly to me, but even in the best-case scenario, they still impaired my mobility.

To make matters worse, Emeri would have more tricks up her sleeve. Thankfully, I had considered all these facts beforehand and come up with something.

I waited for Emeri to charge at me again and moved the moment her spears got within a few meters of me. Activating a skill, I felt my mana flow into action.

My grin widened as I felt five black orbs come into existence around me. Despite the skill becoming cheaper than before, I felt nearly all my overloaded mana be expended as it gathered in five separate places, but the result was worth it. The five marbles shined like black stars in a white sky, drowning out the light that Emeri gave off.

I saw confusion in Emeri’s eyes, which then turned into panic as she started to realise what I was doing. Luckily for her, I wasn’t aiming for her. With a rough push from my [Overload aura], the black orbs each shot toward a separate illusory spear. I knew they had physical properties, so I wasn’t surprised when every orb exploded on impact. I was surprised by the size of the explosions themselves, though. Both Emeri and I had gotten caught up in the series of blasts. In fact, we were at the epicentre.

I felt my flesh tear and bones break as my legs buckled under the shockwaves that came from every direction. As the dust started to settle, I had to tear several pieces of armour out of my body, because they had gotten stuck there. Slowly, I felt my body mend itself.

Then, suddenly, Emeri shot out from the cloud of dust, her spear aimed straight at my heart. I moved to block with my sword and activated my maelstrom too, in panic. Surprisingly, Emeri all but ignored my maelstrom, though my sword managed to knock her spear off target.

Emeri looked a little roughed up, but a golden halo above her head must have protected her from the worst of the blast.

Both of us backed up in trepidation, unwilling to give the initiative to the other person. Her giant white spears had been destroyed in the blast, thankfully. The five circular craters around us were the only sign that they had even existed. Despite this, Emeri maintained her usual calm.

Then, the calm was cast away by the storm. Both of us launched into a series of attacks, both long and short ranged. Emeri’s bolts clashed against my sword-arcs, and her spear clashed with my sword. We shot back and forth across the arena, our feet digging into the ground each time we tested our strength. I managed to skilfully redirect a few of her ranged attacks and land a few small cuts on her body in direct physical combat, but it was still clear that I was outmatched.

Emeri wielded her spear like a part of her body rather than a tool, and her skills showed this. One moment she would be spinning her spear above her head, creating waves of white mana that threatened to throw me into the air, and another she would send a deadly series of thrusts my way, that left deep grooves in the walls of the arena.

Even though I was holding my own, she was slowly starting to push me back. Already, dozens of wounds had appeared on my body, appearing faster than dark form could heal them. I tried to buy some time by hiding in my maelstrom, but the white halo would appear above Emeri’s head and she would just walk straight through it as if it wasn’t even there.

The few times I came close to seriously wounding Emeri, her arms would turn into a white blur like before and block my strike just in time. Evidently, she had some powerful skills that served to keep me at bay.

Surprisingly, she was the first to lose her cool. She ended our clash and started at me with a resentful look in her eyes.

“I know you can leave curse marks. Why haven’t you? Are you looking down on me? Or are you trying to get something from me? Go all out, coward!” she said, flustered.

Sighing, I decided to just be honest with her since I wanted to avoid stupid misunderstandings.

“My curse mark levelled up before. It’s quite deadly now. Are you ready?” I asked, determined. I knew I would have to use it if I wanted to win.

“Don’t announce your surprise attacks, idiot!” she said, blushing.

I laughed for a moment, before phasing into the shadows. She whirled around with her spear, looking for where I would reappear. In moments like these, I would have to rely on an old trick: appearing above my opponent.

I thrust my sword down as I fell. At the last second, her defensive skill activated again, saving her just in time. Despite this, I had managed to leave a small wound. With it, I had left the corrosive curse mark. Now, all I would have to do was hit the curse mark enough times to win the match.

Then, Emeri pulled a move I didn’t expect. Instead of making some space, she ignored her festering wound and counterattacked. I blocked, but she successfully managed to leave a small nick of her own. The skin on my torso bled a little before dark form moved to heal it. As my dark mana made contact with the wound, I felt a painful pang near the wound, making me stumble.

“W- what? How?!” I shouted. This was the first time I had felt pain this intense since my awakening.

Emeri smiled.

“Did you think the church wouldn’t copy the idea of curse marks? Holy marks are difficult to cast, but they’re powerful.” She said, slightly smugly.

I laughed as the pain intensified, almost making me dizzy. Then, Emeri gasped as I cut off a chunk of my torso, bone and all. The pain stopped, though the chunk of flesh and bone on the floor still sizzled with holy power. Dark form moved to heal my ribs and flesh without issue.

She stared, aghast, at the gaping hole in my chest, which showed my still beating heart.

I grinned.

“Are you sure all that effort to copy curse marks was worth it?”