First match, we act as capturers.

“Oh shit! We haven't told this man about our strategy yet!”

“There is no time anymore... Just let him use his power and fight one by one with the enemy's great carrier, while the five of us stay in the plan. Now, go!” The two people behind me talked to the others, ran away leaving me alone in the middle of the arena.

“Yo, that's cruel, Ya know?!” I'm not even allowed to get along with them… I want to cry.

But I think that guy’s words are actually true, because suddenly I heard the sound of ice cracks moving towards me out of nowhere. That's when I started to feel anxious, seeing many ice spikes slowly forming but with a quick rush from the side, turning as if to form a semicircle line of sharp cold crystal on the floor, almost hitting my head.

Instead of backing away, I went forward to avoid it… Simply because I don't like situations where I can't see the whereabouts of my own enemy.

But Ellie appeared teleported to attack me from the front. As I, who's still not used to her teleportation magic, having her suddenly being right in front of my nose makes me panic for a moment.

Retracting my decision, I jumped back and slammed my own back against the ice wall, right where Ellie's sword was moving straight at this chest of mine.

I resisted the attack using my sword, before I tried to kick her belly which was wide open at that time… Unfortunately, her reflexes were fast enough to grasp the situation.

Ellie leapt back, breathing heavy enough to speak… “How was that?”

Without replying, I went forward trying to threaten, only to create even greater distance between us... Did this girl really expect me to praise her at a time like this?!

~~~~~

She suddenly disappeared…

“Your back!”

Fending off an attack from behind, after Elis managed to describe where the tip of the sword was coming from, it feels like my ears can hear what my third eye is saying... So I can dominate the field, three sixty degrees.

“How!?” Ellie was beyond shocked, then again attacked me with the sword. “How did you get to see my attack from behind?! Was that your magic?”

“Girl… Don’t talk to your opponent.” Ellie's dozens of sword strikes, I backed away while looking for someone else without her noticing.

“Novita behind you.” Elis gave me some information.

The girl we're after is currently not fighting at all. Instead, she took cover behind Sion, as the man fought two enemies at once. But this will be very easy for him, since for this round they play the role of criminals who can attack enemies in vital areas.

Every sword strike from Ellie seemed to be forcing me to retreat, despite the fact that I was the one who deliberately moved closer to Novita…

Here’s Ellie's final attack, I aborted with a counter slash that was much harder than the previous one… When she was pushed back, that's where I turned around, locking Novita's neck from behind who still didn't care to pay attention to the surroundings.

I pointed my sword towards her neck, threatening Ellie not to move, then I put this bracelet on Novita's arm who had been asking what was going on, over and over.

“One criminal caught.” a flat tone announcer appears from behind the glass. Ellie looked like she was about to cry.

She's pissed off so much…

So I used that opportunity to keep my distance from anyone.

“Caring for his friend's life is not the attitude of a murderous criminal, my cute lady.” Shit… I think what I just said was a little too much.

“You want me to behave like that?! Okay fine!” A rush of icicles sprang up from under my shoes, forming, like intent on confining my legs.

I pull each one of it over and over where the ice won't give up to try to stop my mobility.

Ellie teleported right behind me…

Her legs were trying to kick my back, but then again the goddess inside of me could see it easily, so I immediately grabbed the ankle tightly.

“Your feet… Smaller than what I thought.”

“Wha!?”

“Ahaha… It's so nice to see myself annoyed with his own Daniel… Good one, buddy! So funny!” Elis looks like she's satisfied watching inside there, but suddenly…

Just all of a sudden...

Ellie and I teleported into the air, she swung her legs to throw me down on the ground quite hard, then she came to attack me with the force of gravity.

Damn…

I'll lose right away with this.

But I'm satisfied enough though, so I think it's actually okay.

Maybe next… Time…

Wait…

Ellie's sword stopped right in front of my head... She yelled “Stand up!” in a trembling voice. She is crying…

“Elis? This girl… Ellie… She’s… Crying, right?”

“Yeah… And that's what I've been waiting for all this time.”

“What the fuck is wrong with both of you two?!”

“Stand…! Up!” This time Ellie shouted even louder.

Obeying her will, I backed away and stood up slowly, but I still tried at least to calm the situation down. “Ellie, you've won! I've been disqualified… Calm yourself down a bit, okay?”

“I stopped my sword... You haven't lost yet. Now fight me!”

She charges forward, I feel the air explode by the psychic effect this girl has around her practice sword.

Since the very beginning, she had been holding back her strength by around two souls to be equal to all the participants in this arena, but... This time I can sense that she is currently using all four of her powers.

Shit, now I'm in danger!

Dodged as fast as I could, but this body of mine was still pushed back by the torn air. Before having the right time to look around, Elis shouted to warn me of the attack that was coming from behind.

That one slash… I could even feel the glass wall vibrate with her strength as I parried until my sword shattered into pieces.

“Use your power.” Ellie simply ordered me.

“Ellie. Enough…” I ask her calmly.

Everyone had stopped fighting, the attention of each and every one of them turned towards the two of us.

Both of you are just some very competitive girls who absolutely do not want to lose and also are childish… You know that?

“I know… And now you know.” Elis actually laughs while feeling even more happy. “But no matter what... You really have to deal with her, like how I faced the Daniel of my own world back there. That's the destiny of all of us who have been bound with each other… Oh… That’s it! This is a test for both of you!”

What test!? Where did this test come from? You never mentioned that before... Why all of a sudden?

“Surprise! No, I'm just kidding. But you know? This girl was born with one ugliness... And so do you! Someday she will fix you, trust me. While until then, you’re the one who has to fix her first. Do you understand?”

No I’m not! I mean, what the actual fuck?! I don’t get it… And I don't need to be fixed! I'm not broken!

“What are you all doing? The match is still running! Don't just stop there like a spectator, you piece of shit!” What an annoying old man’s voice! I really want to smack him right now.

~~~~~

The air temperature in this room is slowly getting even colder... Everyone was exhausted, our breaths condensed, the surface of the glass was wet as if it were in a cold drink showcase.

Only one enemy we managed to defeat, that is Novita. While three of our team have fallen with great ease.

Back and forth here and there, I've started to reach my own limit. This head is throbbing, gasping for breath, I slipped and fell on the icy surface that formed all over the arena floor... One of my team members backed down and fell because it was blocked by my own feet.

The two of us were lying on the floor stupidly...

I helped him to stand up… Because it was my fault… Or… I don’t know. He was just as stupid, for not looking back while walking backwards.

But after his back straightened up, he threw my hand away with such an annoyed expression. He said, “What a fucking joker!”

Joker? A joke?

Me?!

That guy scolded me and just left, before a few seconds later being blown away by Ellie's ice attack. He was instantly eliminated after that…

“Yeah, joker… Funny…”

I looked around a bit, where then I realized that… Now, one and only my remaining team mate is being surrounded by four people at once. While I'm here just standing stupidly waiting for Ellie to slowly walk effortlessly on the slippery icy surface.

Very childish...

I'm starting to hate this girl…

“So you happy now?”

I asked with an annoyed and exhausted expression… “Did I upset you, Ellie? Okay, sorry. Even though I don't know what made you like that. But still… You've gone too far, you're just tired and you know it's enough already. So stop…”

“Shut up…”

“Shut up? Me?!”

You know I can still kill you even with this bracelet still on my arm, stupid girl?

Ugh… Wait…

I didn't mean to think so…

Okay, calm down a little bit, Daniel...

We're just too tired. So don't get out of hand here.

“Yo buddy! What a useless great carrier... Trash! You piece of shit!” Someone yelled.

I looked at the same guy as before, a team member who fell and was eliminated by his own stupidity, who said those words without even knowing who he was insulting.

He knows nothing about my power, yet he does nothing…

A mere human…

You know what? Let me teach him a little lesson…

I smiled warmly in reply to his words just now.

Walking slowly over to give a handshake, as the fingernails of my right hand glowed red even before I moved towards him close enough…

But suddenly I knelt down and almost fainted from my own exhaustion. The lethal attack didn't so I took it out, while an icy attack from someone came crashing down from the back…

“Fuck with this girl.” I said.

~~~~~

Before the attack barely hit my head, I turned into black mist. Moving backward quickly right next to this girl, I kicked her on the shoulder until she was dragged a bit away.

Ah…

That pain again…

I can finally feel it.

I can actually feel it right now on my left shoulder.

The pain that I hate the most in my entire life.

It was this suffering that this girl wanted to happen to me...

“So that’s your power…” The girl lowered her head the same as before. As she has never looked me straight in the eye after her tears earlier.

The sword strike came, I don't care about that rule anymore. I fend off using my left arm, this body is dragged far above the ice surface, going down on one knee.

Here she comes again…

I dodged all kinds of attacks, while trying not to move too much. A little gap, I kicked her shoulder again in the same spot as before.

Then she teleports…

Of course she'll appear right behind me again... Because she doesn't know any other surprise attacks besides that one. I dodge the sword, I drag myself by kicking against the walls of the room.

Four people are slowly approaching besides her who is right in front of me. Looks like that last person in my team has lost already, eh?

I turned into mist again, flying until I touched the upper wall. Kicking this hard surface, I accelerated quickly before hitting the ice floor that’s now cracked and shattered even to the corner of the room.

Gaining full mobility, I ran to grab someone's sword that was lying on the floor. Approaching the four of them alone by myself, I hit their legs and arms hard enough until they screamed and fell down, unable to stand up.

Enemy suddenly teleported right in front of me… So I passed her body with black mist form. Kicked the girl's skinny legs from behind, hitting her right in the stomach until she hit the floor pretty hard.

Looking at me with an annoyed expression, she suddenly disappeared completely from the arena. Could not be detected, meaning that she had indeed run away…

Coward…

~~~~~

I tried to stand up straight with my vision getting very blurry.

Seeing the silhouettes of four people also starting to try to stand up, I came threateningly. “I've hit you guys in the leg with the sword. In real combat, you can't fight anymore.”

“Daniel…”

One of them seems to know my name.

Trying to focus, with my body starting to shake violently, I seem to know who that man is. But no use… My vision blurred again.

My cheeks felt cold, I fell onto the floor covered in shards of ice.

“I win…” I reminded them of that one fact.

Slightly losing consciousness, I woke up with my body blown away by an explosion…

Like one with a very high cold air pressure that spreads out to all sides, the ice blast came immediately after some kind of teleportation magic.

From the origin of the attack I could see that girl running towards me... She teleported for the second time, through the air right in front of me floating, her hand came to grip my neck.

But I do the same to her. I grabbed her wrist, then I followed the way she suffocated me. After I slapped her hand, I let out this one deadly attack, which is enough to turn her body into dust in an instant.

Five black claws suddenly came out from beside me…

But after I looked back at her face faintly, somehow I actually didn't want to hurt her. I turned the direction of the attack, slightly deviated towards the back of this girl instead…

“Ellie…”

Let this be a warning…

Or a threat for her to realize what she's been doing. To her childish nature, to how her emotions controlled the authority she had over herself.

Looks like I'm not the only one who can lose to something that I hate the most…

I used to think that I was the only devil who could turn into a very different person than what I wanted from this Daniel.

And then there's this girl...

“Ellie… Wake up, you idiot.”

My words finished right before those claws scraped against the surface of the wall, emitting some kind of terrifying scream sound that in an instant created a sort of air blast.

Ellie was looking in the direction of the explosion, while we both got deflected by the same one thing.

~~~~~

I can feel a fresh breeze passing from one place. It wasn't cold, but... Something far more comfortable than that. Oh… Also the smell of the forest. The same scent that I always smell when I run in the morning.

I opened my eyes, everyone was silent looking in the same direction. The super-thick wall, which separated us from the outside world, had become brittle with holes that tipped each surface, like a claw.

Beautiful scenery but with a monster’s claws frame as black as charcoal…

“This wall should be able to withstand the strength of a carrier even for one who had killed over forty humans… But… I knew it! Son, you can't lie to the grace that you have.” The old man coach stood with his hands behind his back, speaking in such a calm and full of hope tone.

I turned this weak body of mine to the side, where Ellie sat with that regretful expression... Then I remembered something on the surface of the skin on my left arm.

The counter-curse is already quite big. It was very painful…

Very annoying…

~~~~~

I tried to support myself. Dragging each leg right up to the side of the glass wall, leaning there, controlling my own breath.

Ah…

So jealous to see Ellie being helped to her feet by everyone around.

Where all backs are facing me, their eyes were only fixed on that one destruction. I'm sitting here helplessly... Enduring pain and fatigue. No one really cares for this one guy.

But... It's okay…

I'll be fine with that…

I’ll be fine…

I don't need anyone to care about me, right? What I need is the strength to protect the people I care about…

Fanya… Deo...

This is exactly what I wanted… So, I will be fine.

I really will be just fine….

~~~~~