Time flew by, and the first day of the rematch drew to a close.
The next day’s matches were held in the same arena as before.
Just as Bars had predicted, Hulim hadn’t drawn Luji Sloan as her opponent. But while she’d avoided him, someone else hadn’t been so lucky......
"Miko...... Well...... Anyway, good luck......"
Right before the match, Hulim offered Miko an encouraging word.
Miko wore a complicated expression.
"What’s with that half-hearted, awkward encouragement? Do you think I’m definitely going to lose too?"
"......"
"Hey—don’t stay silent! Your silence is making me feel even worse!"
"Uh, anyway...... Miko, you’d better get on stage quickly. If you’re late, you might get disqualified by default."
Hulim evaded the question.
"......I know already! Ugh, why is everyone acting like this......"
After watching the unlucky Miko march onto the arena, muttering complaints under her breath, Hulim let out a helpless sigh.
"Hopefully you can win the repechage match tomorrow......"
Back in the West Contestant Waiting Room, Hulim quietly watched the match. Even though she’d already anticipated the outcome, she still wanted to see it for herself......
Before long, Miko’s opponent—
Luji Sloan—stepped onto the arena from the passage connecting to the East Contestant Waiting Room on the opposite side.
Boo——!
The moment he appeared, the entire arena erupted into a chorus of boos.
"Take him down!""Get him out of the tournament for good!""Go home and stay there——!""......"
It was clear the audience had a strong grudge against Luji.
His match the previous day had made him famous across the Grand Arena—though it was infamy, not fame.
Everyone had assumed the number of spectators in this arena would drop today because of him.
But the opposite was true. The crowd had only grown larger.
Countless spectators from the other three sub-arenas had come, refusing to believe his fighting style was really as excruciating to watch as rumors claimed. They’d come to see for themselves, resulting in three new people squeezing in for every one who left.
In a strange twist of fate, this kind of attention was one-of-a-kind—even comparable to the tournament favorite himself......
During the pre-match "friendly exchange" session,
"......"
"......"
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Miko and Luji stood rooted to the spot without saying a word, filling the air with an awkward tension.
As for Luji, no one had ever heard him speak—not once, nor had anyone seen him show so much as a flicker of extra emotion.
As for Miko, she had no idea how to start a conversation. Though she resented Bars and Hulim’s overbearing "concern" and was eager to prove herself, she refused to speak first. If she did, wouldn’t that make her look weak?
And so, the two stood in silence until the match bell finally rang.
Ding——!
"......"
"......"
The entire arena fell dead silent.
The referee stared at the two in confusion, starting to doubt himself.
Did I forget to signal for the bell?
Soon, murmurs broke out in the stands. The whispers grew louder by the second, quickly turning into open dissatisfaction.
"......What are you waiting for? Fight already!""The match has started!""Hurry up and do something!""......"
Unable to bear the growing chorus of complaints, Miko was the first to snap.
"Hey, what’s your problem! You’re not going to move unless I move, is that it?!"
"......"
Luji glanced at Miko silently, then finally made a move.
He lifted his right foot, took one step forward, and then—
nothing.
"......"
"......"
A deathly hush enveloped the entire venue.
In the next instant, that silence exploded into a thunderous outpouring of insults from the stands.
"......Is this guy even here to compete!? ""If you’re not going to fight, just concede and get out of here!""I can’t take this anymore—I’m tempted to jump down there and beat him myself!""......"
Miko’s mind went completely blank.
Luji’s actions had left her utterly confused and frustrated.
Huh? What was that? Taking one step—was that his response to me telling him to move? Just one single step?
Wait, wait a second...... This is a match, right? We’re supposed to be fighting here, aren’t we?!
What are you even thinking! What on earth is going through your head?!
You bastard—
"That’s enough out of you——!!! Enhancement——!!!"
Miko charged straight at Luji.
"Lightness! Battle Roar! Fortitude......"
As she ran, she cast one status-boosting spell after another, quickly pushing her speed and strength to their peaks.
"Storm Surge!"
Boom——!
A violent tempest swept toward Luji.
With a gentle push off the ground, Luji flipped backward into the air. The storm’s force carried his body backward, instantly re-establishing the distance Miko had just closed.
"What?! "
Miko was stunned—then flew into an even greater rage.
"Wings of Wind!"
She soared straight into the sky.
"Nowhere left to run!"
"Storm Surge! Storm Surge......"
Inside the West Contestant Waiting Room,
Hulim watched as Miko bombarded the scurrying Luji with spells, letting out a helpless sigh.
"It looks like this match will be over soon......"
......
"Why...... Why can’t I hit him?! "
Miko, hovering in the air, was completely baffled.
"These are area-of-effect spells——!!!"
Even though she was using nothing but wide-ranging attacks, Luji moved as if he had eyes in the back of his head. He always managed to dodge the areas where the spells dealt the most damage. Every time he dodged, he looked "flustered and clumsy"—but the fact remained: he evaded every single attack without fail!
"Is running all you know how to do?! "
Miko abandoned her spell bombardment and dove straight down at Luji from the sky.
Evading attacks from above was far more difficult than dodging on the ground. It didn’t take long for Miko to catch up to him.
"Got you! Stop running!"
Miko drew her two short blades and slashed fiercely at Luji.
But in the next instant, her crossed blades sliced through nothing but thin air. Luji had vanished from her sight.
"Huh? "
Miko froze for a split second. She quickly reacted, swinging her blades to the right.
Luji leaned sideways, dodging the attack by a hair’s breadth.
Miko launched a relentless follow-up attack without a moment’s hesitation.
This time, Luji simply collapsed to the ground and rolled out of the way, evading yet again.
What followed was a furious, storm-like assault from Miko. But no matter how many times she attacked—
without exception,
no matter how flustered and overwhelmed Luji appeared to be,
he never sustained so much as a scratch!
The battle dragged on, and on......
Miko’s stamina began to plummet rapidly, her movements growing noticeably sluggish.
Gradually, even Luji’s "clumsy" evasions started to look less desperate.
"This is ridiculous! Why do you have to fight like this? If this is a contest, fight with honor! Draw your sword! Can you even call yourself a swordsman if you won’t use your sword?!"
Yet Luji remained unmoved. After all, he’d heard similar insults from the audience countless times before.
"D-Don’t you feel ashamed of your sword? Ashamed of the person who taught you? Or is this how they trained you to use a sword!?! How can there be such a ridiculous school of swordsmanship in this world——"
Ding——!
In an instant, the battle came to an abrupt halt.
