Amane returned soon after, having concluded her battle.

"Nya~ I'm bwack, everyone!" she announced, kicking the door open.

"You won, I'm assuming?" I raised an eyebrow.

"What, you weren't watching?!" she cried in shock, on the verge of tears. "How could you, Xuwan Kwai…"

"U-Uh, no, look. I was using the bathroom, that's why," I said, making a lame excuse.

"Hmph…" she pouted, not buying my lie at all.

She then walked over closer and tilted her head down, as if waiting for something. Her arms were folded as she glanced at me silently, seeing if I would understand what she wants.

I raised my hand and gently patted her head. The gesture she was making was too obvious to not understand what she wanted. At this, her lips curved up into a smile.

"Meowkay, I forgive you~"

I sighed in relief and moved my hand away. "Okay… who's next to fight?"

"Me," Lan Xiao Su said, standing up and proactively heading for the door. "Wish me luck, everyone!"

"You won't need it," Yu An Yan chuckled confidently. "The guy you're about to face is nowhere near your level. We spectated him together, remember?"

"That's true, but it's still best to keep up my guard," Lan Xiao Su replied with a wink.

"I like that mindset," I noted, a smug grin on my face.

"Show them who's boss, Xiao Su!" Xiang Peng cheered.

Lan Xiao Su nodded, smiling at all of us, then left the room shortly after.

"Now then… it's time to discuss the real problem," Obsidia said darkly, turning to me. "Xuan Kai… how are you planning on dealing with that half-Celesticus girl?"

"Lin Luo, huh?" I fell into thought. "She's certainly a problem.'

"Can you beat her?" Yu An Yan asked.

"Hard to say. In terms of raw power, she is nearly my equal. By the looks of it, she isn't exactly stupid either. Outsmarting her won't be easy."

"So there are still people our age who can beat you, huh?"

"Don't get me wrong," I replied. "I won't lose to her. At worst, it will be a tie. But since tieing here means both of us are disqualified… that makes it slightly troublesome."

"Master. You can nullify the spell she used on her previous opponent, with the help of Zero," Mei Gui reminded.

I nodded. "I'm well aware. But you see… after what I did last match, the judges have their eyes on me now. If this were a free-for-all battle, no restrictions, then I could easily beat her, but…"

"… Looks like your biggest obstacle in this tournament is not your actual opponents, but remaining inconspicuous, huh?" Xiang Peng laughed. "Well, this is a nice challenge to help you get stronger anyway."

"Well, if it comes down to it, I can just use Zero and claim it's the power of another artifact I have, but…"

"As if anyone's going to believe that," Obsidia scoffed. "You already used the same excuse for Chaos Mirror."

"Exactly… which is why I would like to beat her without needing to use Zero. But I have no doubt the first thing she's going to try to do as soon as the match begins is trap me inside her spell."

"Then… what if you do what the snakegirl I faced did?" Xiang Peng suggested. "Stop time as soon as the match starts, and end it in the brief window you have."

I fell into thought. "I could do that, but… what's the spell called?"

"If I remember correctly… Chronofreeze," she replied. "I have a friend in Fragment who's quite good with Time Magic. Every time I fought her, she would use the same move to beat me, over and over again."

"Chronofreeze, huh? It's Level Three magic, correct?"

Xiang Peng shook her head. "Nope. Legendary Magic. There is a Level Three variant, but the duration of the time stop is really short… and I'm not sure about the name either."

"Legendary Magic… Mei Gui, am I able to use that at my current level?"

"Uncertain, Master. However, you are nearing the next stage of Chaos, so maybe…"

I blinked. "I am?"

She nodded. "Yes. The next stage is called Divine Chaos — one step closer to the Primordial form. By the time this tournament is over, you should be able to break through, Master. Good rewards await."

"Alright," I replied, stretching my arms. "I'll give Chronofreeze a try, I guess… if it doesn't work, then I have no other option but to use Zero to get rid of her Asura Hell — mere Level One to Three spells can't do anything against a Legendary tier one."

"She also needs time to charge up her lightning attack, so don't let her to do that," Xiang Peng reminded. "I dunno what other cards she has up her sleeve, but those two should be her only extremely powerful ones."

At that moment, the door swung open. It has been mere minutes since Lan Xiao Su left, yet here she was again.

"Uh… did you… forget something?" I asked hesitantly, all of us staring at her in confusion.

"Ah, no… my opponent… he forfeit the match," she laughed awkwardly, shutting the door behind her.

"What? Why?"

"I don't know either," she said, sighing and taking a seat. "He saw me, blushed, and ran off the stage. The announcer counted that as a forfeit, so…"

The rest of the girls exchanged glances knowingly, while I rubbed my forehead in stress. "Well… I was hoping for a bit more time before I would have to face off against Lin Luo, but…"

"Woah, you, getting worried?" Yu An Yan scoffed, folding her arms.

"It's not that…" I denied. "I just like to have a solid plan, guaranteed to work, before doing anything. Oh, and also plenty of backup plans in case the original one doesn't work."

Taking a deep breath, I stood up from my chair and loosened up my muscles, preparing to fight.

"Mr. Xuan…" the IMF staff called from the other side of the door.

"I know, I know… and don't call me that."

Walking over to the door, I strapped my mask around my face and adjusted my cloak. Slipping on my black gloves, I gave the handle a good twist and stepped through the doorway.

Right before I left, however, I felt a tug on my sleeve. I turned around and saw Feng Mian, still in that... attractive attire of hers. As soon as I saw that, I was reminded of the events that happened between the two of us earlier.

Her face was blushed and she couldn't meet my gaze when she said the following words, but her feelings reached me.

"... G-Good luck."

I smiled and nodded. She quickly let go of my sleeve and rushed back to her own seat, pretending that never happened.

"See you later," I said briskly before clanking the door shut behind me, drowning out the sound of the girls cheering me on.

*****

I stepped onto the stage, where Lin Luo was already waiting. Her wings weren't active right now, but the same cold look in her eyes were. She looked at me as if I was no more than a mere maggot, but little did she know, the feeling was mutual.

Silently, she took out her two swords, one in each hand, and got ready to fight.

"You don't want to have a little chat beforehand?" I taunted, shaking my head in disappointment. "How unfortunate… why so serious all the time?"

I had no doubt the girls, watching this fight right now from the screen, were saying things like 'you're one to talk' and whatnot. Still, this was part of my strategy to bait out some information from her, or at least get a better grasp on her personality.

"…" Unfortunately, she didn't buy it, remaining quiet. For a second, I contemplated whether or not she was mute, but then remembered her chanting from her previous fight, so I quickly perished the thought.

Sighing deeply, I opened my hands. "Too bad… too bad indeed."

Come, Chaos Katanas.

Two obsidian-black blades releasing a dark, chaotic red energy, materalized in my hands. I swung them around to get a good grip, as it's been some time since I last used them.

At this, the girl's eyes widened slightly — the first sign of emotion I've seen her shown.

"Those… what are they?"

I smirked. "Oh? Interested in my blades?"

"Don't get me wrong, mortal. I sense an unusual yet highly dangerous power coming from those two… things. You best not use them for too long, lest they corrupt you. Though… I guess that does not matter all that much, since you will be dying here today anyway."

Saying this, she lifted one of her blades pointed it at me. "Be grateful, human. I will release you from your suffering, returning you to eternal salvation. It is my duty to purify all evil from this world — and to accomplish that, those blades, and you along with them, must die."

Human? This girl… she kind of reminds me of Obsidia. Though in terms of strength… Obsidia was probably stronger — in her dragon form. Still, Lin Luo's words made me think.

"Tsk, tsk…" I chuckled. "Lest they corrupt me, huh?" I turned one of my katanas up and glanced at its crescent-shaped eye symbol located in the hilt of the blade. "I've already been corrupted… long ago."

"All the more reason to exorcise you, sinner."

She crossed her blades as she activated her wings, two beautiful angel-like appendages sprouting out of her back.

"You now face divine judgment — may it extend eternally."