Chapter 65: Now or Never

  (Scarlette’s POV)

  I was on my way back to my room when I chanced upon something unfortunate. The lift reached the fourth floor and the doors opened. A girl was waiting outside.

  I groaned internally.

  “Scarlette! I’ve been meaning to speak to you!” Zara raised her hand in greeting.

  “You were waiting for the lift?” I asked, attempting to mask my impatience.

  “Don’t be like that! Anyway, how’s the tournament going for you?”

  “Fine, I guess.”

  “I was hoping we would face off, but I got some random girl instead.”

  “That’s a shame.”

  “Who did you get?”

  “Look, I’m sorry but I really need to use the bathroom,” I awkwardly smiled.

  Zara looked disappointed. “Take care. Don’t lose tomorrow, alright?”

  “I’ll try. Good luck to you too.”

  I hustled my way past her and rushed into my room. I was aware that I was being rude, but at this stage of the tournament, I was starting to get mentally exhausted. Drawing Ignar as my next opponent hadn’t helped my case. But the more I thought about how I acted with Zara earlier, the more guilty I felt. “Guess I’ll buy her a drink or something to make up for it,” I mumbled, burying my face into my pillow.

  Day 10 of the event. This time, both Cadel and I were scheduled for the first half. His match was first, and mine was second, so we headed to the prep area together.

  “I’ll make this quick so you don’t have to sit around for too long,” he announced as he took to the player’s tunnel. We could hear the road of the crowd echoing through it, just as intense as the day before.

  “Get him for me,” I whispered.

  Just like before, they had provided the live feed of the match in my holding room. I watched as Felix sauntered onto the platform, playing to the crowd. Cadel meanwhile seemed as if the whole thing was a chore.

  When the fight began, Felix summoned his deadly shuriken-cards, sending a multitude of them in Cadel’s direction… which of course were redirected back at him. I shook my head. Do they ever learn?

  With a sweep of his hand as if he were a magician, the cards vanished. 5 giant playing cards floated ominously in the air above Cadel… and the next moment, Felix was lying dazed on the ground.

  The cards tumbled behind Cadel with a heavy crash. The arena was stunned to silence. I was speechless. I had barely even seen the attack, but I was sure it had happened. Cadel had knocked him out.

  And by that, I meant Felix had knocked himself out. For a split second, I noticed his hand that was used to summon those cards ball into a fist and twist backwards, crashing into his nose at full force. His head snapped back and he fell flat on his back.

  The 5 gigantic cards immediately floated over and slammed on top of him, one after the other. Felix’s smug expression was completely wiped as his eyes rolled in the back of his head.

  But Cadel wasn’t done. In a flash, he was kneeling beside Felix, his hand aimed dangerously at his throat. His mouth moved, but I couldn’t tell what he was saying. He looked almost... threatening. The next thing I knew, the referee raised his hands and the announcer had declared a knock out.

  The crowd wasn’t sure how to react, but some of them started clapping. The Horizon High students meanwhile were too much in disbelief to even mock him.

  I swallowed. I’m sorry, but there’s no way my performance is gonna be that dominant. Speaking of which, it was my turn now, wasn’t it? I hurried out of my room as the facility prepared for my match.

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  Ignar and I arrived at the same time at the tunnel.

  “Guess I got lucky dodging Cadel, huh?” he smirked.

  “And I’m assuming you think you’re lucky drawing me?” I retorted.

  “I think I hit the jackpot,” his features twisted into a grin.

  Anger surged within me. “You’re gonna wish you hadn’t.”

  Ignar was the first to be called out. He strode onto the platform and waved to the Horizon fans in reassurance.

  I followed about a minute later, but I wasn’t exactly in the mood to entertain the crowd.

  The announcer went through the usual spiel. “… the rules…be reminded that going overboard… immediate disqualification…”

  I brushed them off and waited for the bell.

  As soon as it chimed, I took to the air and slowly flew backwards, hurling fireballs as I went. One advantage I had over Ignar was my range, and I intended to make good use of it.

  To my surprise, Ignar didn’t seem to be in a rush. He calmly swatted my fireballs aside as he strolled towards me, lava spraying from his fingers.

  “What’s the matter, Scarlette?” he called. “Are we playing catch? That’s kinda boring. Let’s play another game! Have you heard of The Floor is Lava?”

  He slammed his palms into the concrete below. Cracks spread through the surface as it started to glow. Suddenly, the earth erupted as lava burst forth. In seconds, the ground was a sea of lava, with only a few scattered concrete chunks between them.

  A new attack? The heat was incredible, and that was coming from a fire esper. Instinctively, I floated even higher, so high that I was almost touching the force field’s roof. I felt like a bird trapped in a cage. Even though the match had barely started, I was already panting heavily.

  What would happen if I fell in? Was this even allowed? I glanced at the referee. He didn’t seem to be bothered.

  “What are you lookin’ at!” Ignar rumbled towards me, riding a wave of lava. I blasted myself out of the way, spraying columns of fire from my hands towards him which he promptly blocked. His arm was coated with lava, acting as a shield.

  Was it me, or did he seem stronger than before? I dodged and weaved, constantly raining attacks on him, but he parried them perfectly, countering with attacks of his own. It looked set to be a long match.

  The good news was, Ignar didn’t seem to have much range, so if I kept my distance, maybe I’d be able to land a few lucky hits.

  However, I soon realised this was futile, as my fiery assaults simply dissolved onto his lava coating. I snuck at glance at the timer on the wall. 10:54 and counting down. Only 4 minutes had passed, but it felt much longer than that.

  It wasn’t looking good. My mind started racing as I went into autopilot mode.

  Should I try being more offensive? Maybe increase my firepower? Or play the long game… surely all these lava effects had to be taking a toll on him.

  I dodged to the side as another lava wave sprayed past. Little droplets landed on my arm, and the pain was instant. I winced. Fortunately, the Abizium material, though scalded, seemed to be holding strong for now. Still, I was sure I had suffered some pretty significant burns under there.

  “You can call it quits now if you like,” Ignar taunted, as if reading my thoughts. “Don’t worry, I won’t fatally wound you. A couple of third degree burns here and there and the medics will heal you back up in no time.”

  I gritted my teeth. “You wish.”

  To the audience, I’m sure it looked like a fantastic battle. The two of us were going at it, seeming evenly matched for the most part. Ignar, however, was making it harder for me to dodge. As the fight wore on, he began cooling lava in random spots, leaving behind solid, black masses in its wake.

  Then it happened. It seemed like Ignar was finally done playing around. The lava around us surged toward him, and his figure began to swell, growing larger as it sloshed around him. In seconds, he was three times his original size. A humanoid lava giant.

  Without warning, it extended its hand towards me, and I just barely managed to dodge it. This was starting to look really bad. Ignar was now about 5 times his original size, and he almost had me cornered. His arms were outstretched, keeping me boxed in. Fear welled within me. This was it, I had to do it now.

  I summoned as much heat as I could possibly muster from within me, igniting my entire frame. My features sharpened as my body morphed. Within seconds, I was fully transformed. I had done it. I had once again activated my falcon form in battle. And just in time too.

  As Ignar reached out with his massive, fiery hand, I dodged and instead crashed into his wrist, instantly severing it. The molten mass splattered onto the ground below. Lava sprayed toward me, but for the moment, I couldn’t feel it. I twisted just in time to avoid his other hand as it swatted toward me.

  My vision seared, red tinging the edges of my sight. A familiar loud roaring noise bellowed in my ears. I bared my talons, eager to rip that ugly head right off him.

  So you wanna play it like that? I’ll show you how—

  Stop!

  I hesitated, hovering mid air. Don’t do it again! a voice in my head whispered.

  Yeah, but he—

  Just like we practiced, okay?

  I blinked, my vision clearing just in time to see his fist flying toward my face. I threw up my arms—my wings—as he connected.

  I hurtled across the arena, slamming into the ground below. Ignoring the world of pain my body was in, I forced myself up. There was no time to recover. I had to end this soon.

  Ignar reached out again, sending streaks of lava flying with his good arm. Expertly, I bobbed and weaved through the attacks, finally colliding with his face. The impact was too much for him to handle as he slowly pitched backwards with a low groan.

  Again, my vision clouded, but I blinked it away. Just a bit more! As Ignar’s form shrank while he tried to gather himself, I landed blow after blow to his face, each one shaking the arena.

  Ignar sputtered as he struggled to get up. “YOU LITTLE—”

  With unbelievable speed, he reached out just as I landed another attack on him, grabbing me by the neck. His hand began to glow as lava built up.

  It was now or never. In a panic, I positioned my face directly over his. Pure, white-hot fire exploded from my mouth just as the referee blew his whistle.