(Yu An Xue's Perspective)

When I returned to the real world, Sathona was already there. She then, to my surprise, bowed down.

"I have lost. I surrender."

With these brisk words, she walked off the stage.

Master Violet… thank you.

"By forfeit, the winner is Yu An Xue!" the announcer declared as I turned around and began heading back as well.

The audience cheered for me — in their eyes, I had beaten Sathona at her own game, after being dragged into the Void. Unfortunately… that was not the case. Violet had definitely told her to just surrender to me.

I felt unsatisfied, but a win was a win. According to Xuan Kai… in a battle, the process didn't matter. Only the results.

*****

(Xuan Kai's Perspective)

As Yu An Xue returned from her fight, I couldn't help nut notice something different in her complexion, though I couldn't quite place my finger on it. She seemed the same on the outside, but her eyes told me there was something on her mind. Call it instinct, I suppose.

She hurriedly walked over to me, before bending down a slight bit and glancing into my eyes cutely.

"Uh… ah." For a second, I was confused at what she wanted, but then remembered the agreement from earlier. I just didn't know it also applied to the second series of fights…

Whatever. I patted her head gently just as she wanted, to which she smiled happily and returned to her own seat soon after. The other girls watched on awkwardly. As for Feng Mian… she was still unconscious.

"Ms. Yu An Yan — you are fighting next," the IMF staff suddenly said from the door. "Please come out whenever you are ready."

"Well, looks like I'm up," she sighed and stood up from her chair. "Wish me luck, everyo-"

"… W-Wait!" Yu An Xue suddenly blurted out, then hurried over to her sister. "T-Take this."

She handed a purple talisman of some sort over to her.

"What is this…?" the elder sister asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I will… explain… once you come back… so… don't die…"

I grinned. So this was her way of showing care. Very interesting.

Still… I wonder what that talisman is…

Yu An Yan left for her fight soon after, and little did I know, I would soon receive the answer to that question.

But An Yan's opponent… he was not an easy one.

*****

(Yu An Yan's Perspective)

I stored the weird talisman An Xue gave to me in my pocket, and headed onto the stage. There, a boy with long blue robes and square glasses stood, eyes closed. His name was Shui Xing, if I remember correctly.

"… Are you planning on beating me with your eyes closed?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "That's just outright disrespect, you know."

He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, but still did not open his eyes. "You misunderstand, miss. I am merely keeping my eyes closed so that I do not accidentally… gaze at your body."

I blinked. First time I've heard something like that. Quite the good little gentleman, huh? Too bad, I prefer the dark, cold types… heh.

"Oh…? I see. Just don't complain once I beat you~"

"Worry not. I will go easy. After all, you are a gir-"

"Huh? What about it?" I frowned, folding my arms. "Are girls just naturally worse or something?"

"That is…" he fell silent, unable to continue.

"Hmph."

Congratulations. You have successfully pissed me off.

I took out Flaming Dance, my Axe of Fire, and waited for the battle to begin.

"Both contestants are ready!" the announcer declared, stating the obvious. "Now then, the battle begins… now!"

"Level One Sky Magic…" I began muttering under my breath.

A loud buzzer sounded, signaling the start of the match.

Immediately, Shui Xing blinked out of existence for a brief moment, instantly appearing in front of me. He then unleashed a flurry of attacks, but luckily, I had anticipated this before hand.

"… Flight!"

Right before he could hit me, I leaped up into the air, smirking condescendingly.

"Let's see you hit me now…"

His eyes were still closed, but he knew I was now above him. Despite this, however, I still decided to try my luck and throw a spell at him.

"Level Two Fire Magic — Blazing Trail," I said, as quietly as possible.

A homing rocket of pure fire shot out towards Shui Xing below me. However, without even looking up, he adopted a perfect horse stance and moved his arms in a circular motion, forming a ball of water between his hands.

Then, right before my flaming projectile hit him, he pushed outward with both his hands.

"Shaolin Five Element Stance: Aquatic Dome of the Horse!"

The rocket of fire hit his dome of water and instantly vanished, evaporating into thin air while he remained unharmed.

"Oh… not a normal spell. Some kind of special training, huh?" I murmured to myself, deciding to test out his defensive capabilities more. However-

Shui Xing suddenly smoothly transitioned his horse stance into a crane one, before calling out the following words loudly:

"Shaolin Five Element Stance: Thunderous Flight of the Crane!"

He suddenly took off from the ground, electricity sparking on and around his body as he converted into a literal missile — coming straight for me.

"Tch-!" I quickly began flying away, but his speed was tremendous. And somehow, he could track where I was going, despite his eyes being closed all this time.

Gritting my teeth, I decided I had no choice but to face him head-on. I spun around and heaved Flaming Dance upwards, before swinging it down with all of might, increasing its weight to the heaviest possible in the process to maximize damage and power.

The edge of my flaming axe smashed directly into his head, but to my surprise, it didn't melt straight through like I thought it would.

Then, my eyes widened in horror and disgust as I stared at his frame.

He was now ten times as buff as he was earlier, the muscles ripping his robe off, leaving nothing but a pair of black pants. He contracted his body into a turtle stance — yes, in mid-air.

"Shaolin Five Elements Stance: Golden Body of the Turtle!"

I gritted my teeth as I continued pressing down on him with my axe, applying every ounce of my strength. Yet it was still not enough.

He suddenly overpowered me, knocking my axe out of my hand and sending it crashing to the floor from the gravity and its heavy weight.

In a panic, I lost control over my flight and fell to the ground as well, landing painfully on the ground.

"Mmngh…" I groaned. The fire from the axe had singed my clothes a little when it fell out of my hand, thus burning some of the fabric off.

I tried moving, but wielding the axe at max weight had drained all of my strength. Both my arms were dislocated, and the pain caused me to grit my teeth in pain, cheeks flushing red from the agony and embarrassment.

Shui Xing landed back on the ground calmly, not a single sign of injury on him. He walked over to me slowly, still stark naked except for his pants and shoes.

He reared his fist back, ready to finish the job.

But then, I recalled something he said at the beginning of the match.

'To avoid gazing at your body,' he said.

Could it be… that was his weakness?

In a final, desperate last-ditch attempt to win this damn fight, I spoke the few words to make him snap open his eyes.

"Hey… your fly is open."

At that, his eyes instantly snapped open. To tell a male his fly was open was the most embarrassing thing that could ever happen to them. Shui Xing was no different. Naturally, he would check.

But when he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was my body, clothes slightly torn and revealing my bare skin underneath. Because of my flushed expression, it only made the scene more alluring.

He froze in his place, eyes fixated on me. My chest, in particular.

And to put the final nail in the coffin… I licked my lips seductively.

It was over.

A large stream of blood shot out of Shui Xing's two nostrils, unable to take it any longer. He fell backwards, eyes rolled back, unconscious. His nose kept on bleeding, the red fluid dripping all over the ground.

I laughed like a maniac and slowly pried myself up from the ground. It took time and effort, since I couldn't use my arms, but I managed to somehow do it.

"Oh… I can't believe it…" I giggled as I lumbered off the stage, slowly and heavily.

To think this nearly invincible boy with incredible defense, offense, flight, and an indestructible body, would be beaten by nothing more than the killer line, 'your fly is open'.

Call it cheating, call it a dirty method, but I smirk as I quote Xuan Kai…

"A win is a win."