The Seven Wonders of the World

55. The Levels of Shen

The arena was silent, as Alucard and Zoela had anticipated one and another for a few moments, before Deus raised his staff and yelled, “Begin!”
Zoela would press first as she would use her energy to absorb the rocks around her, as they would levitate around her and be in control. She would throw the rocks at Alucard, as Alucard would use his wind shen to stop the rocks' momentum, as he slowed them down, creating a little air-wheel around the rocks and pebbles.
“I didn't expect that to work!” thought Alucard. “I practiced that alot during our training.”
He would send the rocks flying back at Zoela using the airwheels he had created, as Zoela would dodge them, before taking out her bow as her shen energy had created an aura around her bow.
Her arrows turned into rocks with spikes all around them, as she fired them one after one, hoping to pierce Alucard.
Alucard would take his time, dodging them as he threw a few exploding cards to Zoela, forcing her to move as it gave more time for Alucard to anticipate a move.
“I have to stall her until she is tired,” thought Alucard, “it will give me more time to finish her off.”
Zoela would suddenly be gone, much to Alucard's confusion, before he was impaled by two arrows as he turned around and saw Zoela on a pebble, shooting more arrows as Alucard dived away.
“Shit!” thought Alucard. “I overthank it and she outsmarted me!”
Alucard would then jump in to stop another arrow, as he would then notice a weakness in her strategy. While Zoela has been focused on shooting arrows, she has not moved away from the area she has been standing in.

As the arrow was stuck inside the whirlwind, Alucard would make the whirlwind smaller and smaller, as the increased strength of the whirlwind was now putting significant pressure on the arrow, which was being kept stuck inside. As she continued to try and struggle against the whirlwind, Alucard would start slowly moving it towards her, as she would have less and less room to move, and the increased strength would start to push her as well.As the arrow was stuck inside the whirlwind, Alucard would make the whirlwind smaller and smaller, as the increased strength of the whirlwind was now putting significant pressure on the arrow, which was being kept stuck inside. As she continued to try and struggle against the whirlwind, Alucard would start slowly moving it towards her, as she would have less and less room to move, and the increased strength would start to push her as well.
Alucard would continue to push the whirlwind right up against her, as she would try her best to resist the pressure. However, the pressure of the whirlwind would keep increasing, as it would continue to be made smaller and smaller, and that would increase its strength as well.
Zoela would find herself unable to do anything but move away from the whirlwind, as she realized that if she tried to stay against it, the air pressure would be too much for her to bear.
Having backed her right to the edge of the arena, the only thing she could do at this point was try to dodge away. Unfortunately, with the whirlwind still applying even more pressure, that would not be an option. Alucard would continue to move the whirlwind towards her in a slow but steady manner, as the immense strength and pressure would keep her in place even with minimal speed.
As Alucard neared her further and further, she would realize that she would have nowhere to dodge, as there will be nothing but the ground as she reaches the edge. She would realize that she was about to be pushed off the edge, as she now had to make her final play to avoid that outcome.
Zoela would not have much room left before falling off the edge. She would realize she has no other option remaining, as the slightest misstep would mean she would lose. She would need to do something drastic to even the playing field.
Since she has already gathered a lot of rocks around her, she would now start to use her shen energy to create a large shield around her in an instant. This would protect her from the whirlwind, and it would temporarily block the area in front of her from Alucard's vision.
The large shield would be enough to stall Alucard's advancing onslaught, as it has forced him to reconsider his approach. Her sudden move has given her the much needed break to prepare for her final move, and she would not waste any time doing so.