The attacks of the 5 demons were instantly countered by 5 afterimages of the peak human. The peak human bent her knees as held her spear facing forward with her two hands; she had assumed a form. She turned into a blur as countless thrusts peppered the 5 variations of the demon and turned them into sieves.

The demon’s face was filled with confusion when she sensed her connections to the variants sever; the peak human had used some sort of soul attack. The peak human started walking towards the demon and the lean demons threw another salvo of javelins at the peak human but they were blocked by her after images.

The original demon elongated her spikes causing them to branch out and creation a tree of spikes. Grey flesh grew from various sections of the spikes and formed variants of the demon. They dropped down from the ‘tree’ and ran towards the peak human.

The peak human ran to meet the demons and she manifested 15 afterimages that separated from her and ran to engage the demons. A one-sided massacre began as the afterimages dominated the variant. The Mad Demon produced more and more variants but the afterimages seemed to get more and more powerful and the demon grew more and more confused.

At this point the afterimages could make other afterimages and their number had increased to 43. The spear of an afterimage was thrown up and landed on the Mad Demon’s feet.

The composure of the demon completely broke apart as she stopped summoning and more variants and sat on the floor holding her leg. It was not just the existential pain of a soul attack that afflicted her but something even more potent, more poisoning.

The afterimages made short work of the remaining variants reaching the original demon. The peak human positioned herself for a spear throw and afterimages combined with her the moment she threw the spear.

“BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Shockwaves spread through the battle field and the force field of Chao Feng acted up to protect the audience as the ground cracked. The golden color of the force field was revealed as the energy in them concentrated to prevent a break.

The spear was deflected by a bright golden force field that came into existence in front of the demon’s head. The host announced the peak human as the winner much to Mira’s surprise. The holographic display ended leaving Mira with more questions than answers. She remembered Funmi’s assessment of peak humans as broken and it made her looked at Tian with a bit of pity.

Tian said “Yep, it doesn’t look like my second fight will be easy but compared to Daisuke who is facing a Celestial grade, I guess I got a better result”. Daisuke was shocked by this revelation and said “The Frost Giant is a Celestial?”

Tian said “You heard me!” Daisuke said “This sucks”. Mira said “I’ve beaten a Celestial before, you can handle it”. Daisuke asked “Can the Celestial you beat win against the Frost Giant?”

Mira said “I don’t know, I don’t know the woman’s full capabilities”. Tian said “It’ll be a surprise for you guys I guess. I already know a lot of the capabilities of my opponent so I guess that’s an advantage”.

Daisuke said in despair “I know nothing”. Mira said “Indeed Jon Snow”. Mira asked Daisuke “Why don’t you have one of those… Holorings?” Tian answered before Daisuke could saying “He is a hoarder. He is trying to save his Yuans for a future purpose that may not even exist”.

Daisuke looked away guilt ridden and said “It’s called planning for the future, anything can happen”. Mira said “Where can I buy one?” Tian said “I’ll show you”.

…

The rest of the day passed by and the next day, as well as the next round of the tournament was at hand. With the Holoring she had bought at a store, Mira watched Tian’s fight with the peak human, Jumanah.

This time the lady wore a magenta gown with a two hip high slits at the sides and a pair of black high heels that had straps that reached the base of her knees. No weapon was visible; the only accessory she wore was a silver necklace that was obviously not just for beauty. Her black hair was tied up in a bun and a golden circle was printed on her chest showing she was sponsored by Avatari.

Many people were confused at her choice of clothing; she dressed like she was going for a fashion shoot not a battle. Her choice of high heels was the most irrational since it would make her foot work many times harder. It gave the impression that she wasn’t taking Tian seriously.

Tian looked at the poorly prepared Jumanah as he floated in the air and thought ‘Sponsors really make a difference’. Tian’s abilities worked on the principles of balance. The doppelgangers Tian could make would have the properties that he could recognize in his opponents. But if he made doppelgangers they would all be poorly prepared since he didn’t know the defense capabilities of Jumanah’s clothing, hence she would easily kill them and get to him.

Tian sighed as the host introduced them “On the left side of the ring is Tian, the Celestial Dragon of Balance, Heaven’s Order!!!! In his previous fight, he showed us his capabilities for emotional manipulation and his ruthlessness. Wish him good luck on his battle!!!”

The audience cheered and the host continued with Jumanah’s introduction “On the right side is Jumanah, the Peak Human!!!! She showed her great prowess in the previous fight by defeating an opponent with a higher Rank that her. This proves that she has grown a lot after the WW3 Event. Although she is poorly dressed, wish her good luck on her battle!!!”

“Now that we have had a sufficient introduction, let the battle BEGIN!!!!”At the call of the host the audience cheered.

“RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

The cheers of the audience was drowned by Tian’s roar. A cone of fire, half of it black and half of it white, instantaneously extended from his mouth towards Jumanah.