[Chapter 61] Rose – Blood Arena

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Sion Gale, the Child Killer… His affinity is creation, with a minor in air. Possessing the vast experience of anyone on the wall. No obvious weaknesses. Rose grimaced. I should have predicted he’d be here, but what choice was there?

“Hope first.” Sion dashed forward so fast their eyes had trouble following. Nooooo! Sion jumped back as the ground exploded. Thank goodness they made it in time.

“Lily’s phoenixes…” Sion muttered looking up. “A bit of a pain.”

As I suspected, my familiars are the only ones who can keep up. “Don’t let him get close,” Rose shouted. “And stay grouped so I can protect us!”

Sion laughed, “You think you can keep me away?”

This time the others reacted. Roots, ice, fire, sand, and steel flew to greet the immortal, yet he circled around dodging and deflecting all. His relaxed demeanor spoke volumes on how the battle was proceeding.

My Firebirds will tire at this rate. I must pace them… Unfortunately, as soon as she did, Sion found an opening.

Soul moved to intercept while sand engulfed him, creating two duplicates. Oh, no.

Sion smirked, “Die.” He let loose simultaneous strikes on all three copies. Two collapsed while the third barely deflected the blow to his shoulder. The spear tore through the ice armor and nicked off an inch flesh. If it can injure Soul so easily…

Before Sion could strike again, a grenade came flying, and a frozen wall sprung up to shield them from the blast. BOOM. As the shattered ice collapsed, they saw the immortal relaxing, spear on shoulders.

“RSF too.” He mused. “Another hassle.”

Rose took advantage of the pause to study his weapon. The shaft appeared mithril, but the blade was something else. Ivory of some kind, sharpened and enchanted. Her thoughts were interrupted when Sion began crafting a white spell circle.

“Let’s spread you out.” He snickered. We can’t let him! Despite their best attempts, Sion calmly evaded while completing his magecraft. “Atmospheric Explosion.”

A gust of assaulted her from the side. She turned to find Wise stabbing the air with staff. It was mostly canceled.

“I won’t let you cast your magic.” He declared.

“Fine, we’ll do this the hard way.” Sion sighed, stalking them again.

He’s definitely playing around. Sion had murdered dozens of tourists trowing spears, yet he’d refrained from projectiles so far. Since he has ‘time to waste’, he intends to kill us at close range. This arrogance is keeping us alive, giving Free the chance to sow her seeds. Green sprouts were popping up around the arena. Their foe soon spotted them too.

“What’s this? Looks troublesome…” Sion faced Free. “Your work…?”

He charged forward, and her sister reacted by unleashing a flood of vegetation with the Branch of Creation. To their surprise, Sion powered straight through, his spear carving a path as if digging a tunnel. How sharp is that thing? To their horror, they discovered the uncut roots surging past were protecting Sion from outside attack. Free’s too preoccupied to notice!

As he entered killing range, Wise yelled, “Slow.” Sion’s eyes widened as he was overwhelmed, and he quickly cut a route to safety. He wasn’t expecting——.

What are they doing? Rose panicked as Kate and Silver sprinted around towards Orthos. If he realizes… I can’t cover them that far away! Fortunately, Sion was fixated on Wise.

“You used time manipulation? On ME?” Sion seethed. “You’re——” He was interrupted mid-sentence by cries for help.

We must distract him! Reading her mind, a loud BANG rang out, capturing the immortal’s full attention. He scowled and hopped back, spear whirling too fast to see. Hope’s mithril tracking bullets. For a few seconds, Sion danced around fending off a persistent invisible threat. Once he’d swatted the last one, he found a screaming Orthos Braslin flying towards him. The immortal initially prepared to knock the man away, then reconsidered. Even he isn’t comfortable striking an ally.

Rose’s eyes widened when she saw Silver and Kate running behind Orthos. As Sion caught the demolitionist, Kate grabbed his lowered spear. The cat eared girl donned full aura armor and held with such force the immortal couldn’t break free. Next Silver jumped and collided with Orthos wearing the same aura armor. Rose winced as the owner of Dragon’s Breath met his end between an immortal and a human battering ram. Under the impact, Sion was forced back, spear pried from his grasp.

This is our chance. Rose sent a phoenix on a kamikaze attack backed by the others. Worth the sacrifice.

“Soul, slice it!” Rose yelled. Upon returning from Lost World, her brother had trained day and night, mastering of a technique called ‘condensed blizzard marrow’. His hardened body could now unleash Heaven Splitter while only suffering mild fractures. A second use breaks bones half the time. Kate threw the spear in front of Soul, and he obliterated it with Diamonds Edge’s illusory grace. Yes!

Sion finished off the berserking phoenix. He observed Orthos’s corpse and his weapon’s remains, his jaw clenched in fury.

“Now you’ve done it.” He said coldly, shooting towards Silver and Kate. Not good, they’re still too far. Rose desperately sent her firebirds in pursuit. However, the immortal suddenly switched directions and accelerated straight at her.

Oh… Rose barely had time for surprise before a golden spear struck her midsection. So that’s his real speed… He really was holding back…

Rose experienced the familiar pain of being torn apart. When she came to, she saw her legs a couple of feet away. That’s too much, even for Free… Above her, Sion looked down with a scornful smile. *Kill him*. All remaining phoenixes began a frenzied assault. Hopefully that’ll help. She didn’t want the others dying because of the shock.

As Rose attempted to slow the blood loss, she felt Wise at her side. In tears, he dragged her lower body closer. That’s not going to work, you know?

With her vision fading, Rose contemplated. I’ve experienced so many deaths in coliseums. It’s strange knowing this time will be the last. The searing pain was growing hazy. After finally learning who I am and escaping the arctic, this is how it ends? Not fair… There’s still so much to do…

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