Realms of Magic: Demon Invasion

67. The Masked Lady

In spite of the terribly oily peameal bacon and sausages, I finish off the plate. (At least the eggs and the hash browns are okay).

We walk through the empty streets. One massive building is full of lights, so we go there. We deposit our tickets to a guard there, and enter.

The arena is circular, as always. Plastic chairs are arranged neatly. We sit on a high place. A barrier separates the combat zone and the spectators' zone. The circular combat zone is perhaps twenty kilometres in diameter.

"Aelita, you got your Eagle Eye?" I whisper.

"Of course," she whispers back.

Magnolia enters the arena, body covered in armor. She wields a long, straight blade. Her foe enters a second later.

"Curved blade," I murmur, squinting on the Masked Lady's sword. "Almost the same as mine."

Aelita gulps down her spit. Her eyes glow faint green.

"This time I'm taking you down for good!" Magnolia proudly declares. Her foe is silent.

"Magnolia's got no chance," I mutter as my eyes penetrate through their powers. "That Masked Lady is roughly on par with me. Maybe slightly stronger, even."

"This is the thirtieth match in a row. The prize is still on!" The MC brings out the "prize": a shackled Princess Suzuran, draped in tunic cloth. Her body has been whipped. "Start!"

Magnolia leaps backward. "Forest of Doom!"

"Mana Weaving Technique: Spherical Mana Prison."

The white tunics, covered in mana, repels off the vines. The Masked Lady jumps to the air, punching the ground. The arena shakes.

"Explosive Marks: 18 Marks!" The Masked Lady taps Magnolia's body, explosions surrounding her.

Magnolia is unharmed. She brushes off dust from her clothes.

"Bark Skin," Aelita mutters.

Magnolia swings her sword, aiming at her foe's neck. It is stuck somehow. "Bloody hell!" Aelita mutters. "She could shift mana from one part of her body to another very quickly, that's how she could tank that kind of hit."

"That means the best way to penetrate it is to overwhelm her from all sides," John notes.

"If she is half as skilled as my grandma is, she'll have another defence up her sleeves," I say.

"Wood Splinter Rain!"

"Mana Weaving Technique: Spherical Mana Prison!"

The silk defenses repel off the sharp twigs. The Masked Lady jumps, slicing off Magnolia's blade. She kicks Magnolia away, throwing her mana-imbued blade. Magnolia spins, dodging it by an inch.

The sword pierces through the barrier at lightning speed, charging straight at us.

"Divine Cloak!" John murmurs, dampening the blade's thrust. I grab the fallen sword.

Curved blade. The guard is quite thick, the grip colored with silver paint. This sword is almost identical to mine. Perhaps, Angelita had a blade similar to hers made.

"It's over," Aelita mutters while I inspect the blade.

"Huh? That fast?" I sputter.

"A strong hit to the neck," John comments. "You have to keep your distance, Vio."

That kinda defeats the purpose of the entire plan, John.

"Don't worry. I've got a little trick to even the ground in close combat," I say.

"Mind giving my sword back?" The Masked Lady asks, startling me. She is standing next to me. Her hand is extended.

I hand over the sword. "Thank you."

We return to our inn. Night falls and we go to sleep.

Aelita decides against going with me to the arena so that she can prepare her paralyzing potion. John stays with her (damn lovebirds. They're so lucky their love is next to them).

I enter the arena. There are twenty-three others; elves, dwarves, and humans, armed with various weaponry. I guess it would be a free-for-all.

"Beat 'em, Vio!" Magnolia shouts from the spectators' seat.

I unsheathe my blade. My opponents eye each other with caution. A man blows a trumpet.

"Blood Maelstrom!" I scream. A flood of blood fills the arena. The crowd cheers.

"Kh! Damn it!" One of them curses.

"Dance of Bones!" I shriek. Tens of gigantic bones emerge from the ground, impaling some.

"Ice Dragon!" An elf casts her spell, a dragon of ice shards charging straight at me.

"Wall of Anguish!"

The wall blocks the dragon attack. I glance at the leaderboard, with nineteen of the gladiators' name already there, ranked by (presumably) when they fell.

"Damn it, what is she? A monster? Angron, help me out here!" The elf curses.

"Blood Vortex!" I exclaim.

"Celestine, watch out!" The elf named Angron shouts.

"Ice Dome!" An ice dome raises from the ground, fending off my vortex. "Angron, burn her!"

Angron draws a flaming sword. I manifest another vortex from my left hand, doubling the pressure.

"Akh!" Celestine moans, falling to the ground. Angron's fire sword pierces her chest.

It's a free-for-all, after all. But where are the other two?

"Flame Breath!"

"Blood Shield!"

A thick wave of blood quells the flame bursts. "Reverse Blood Shockwave!"

I pull Angron. My blade swings at his head, cutting his throat. His unconscious body falls to the ground.

Just two more, huh?

"Mountain Clap!"

Two gigantic earthen hands break through from the underground, four metres apart. "Blood Shockwave!"

The hands stop in their tracks. "Heah!" I shout, putting them down.

Eruptions of hot lava burst from below. "Those two are hiding underground, huh?"

"Bone Golem!" I shout. My gigantic amalgamation of flesh, blood, and bones rise, blocking off the lava eruptions. It punches the grounds, cracking it. The two dwarves hiding there fall unconscious.

"Aaaand it's over! Marvelous! Never have we seen such dominance in the arena before!" The MC shouts with small jumps in-between. "Will we finally see a contender capable of overcoming the Masked Lady?"

I smirk. "Tell the Masked Lady," I say. "Her days, no, her hours are numbered."