Emeri’s shock at seeing the gaping hole in my chest was quickly cast away as she hurriedly moved to block a sword arc I sent her way. She flinched, only barely able to block the sudden surprise attack. That proved to be enough to finally catch her off guard. While crouching low to the ground, I phased to her blind spot. I noticed her defensive skill activate, but it was too late. My sword left a long red line on her waist, before I dashed backward to dodge her counterattack.

As I dodged her strike, I noticed the wound I had left behind turn slightly green, though Emeri didn’t seem to notice any difference. I heaved a sigh of relief, now that a path to victory had finally shown itself. All I would have to do was repeatedly strike the curse mark to make it spread. The moment mark became strong enough, it would turn corrosive and force the announcers to pull her out of the arena.

I almost felt like monologuing and telling Emeri that she had already lost, but the risk was too large and the reward for doing so too little. As a result, I kept quiet.

For the next few minutes, Emeri and I sparred half-heartedly. I didn’t land any hits on the mark, while Emeri’s attempts to wound me hadn’t had any lasting effects either.

My goal was to tire her out, since her mana and stamina were limited, while mine weren’t. As for Emeri, it seemed she wasn’t willing or capable of pushing me any further. For some reason, she hadn’t used any new skills or combos since I pulled the apparating trick on her. Instead, she stubbornly persisted to use her spearman ship and admittedly powerful skills in an attempt to overwhelm me. The thing is, once I’ve seen someone use a skill or combo once, there isn’t much use in trying to use it against me a second time. I had already witnessed Emeri’s superior combat sense on numerous occasions. At this point, she would have to attempt something new if she still wanted to win.

For a while, I thought she was either preparing for something or waiting for an opportunity, but her frustrated expression made me realize that she really was trying her best, yet failing. This realization filled me with such disappointment, I couldn’t put it into words. The fight that I had been looking forward to, the one competitor I saw as a genuine threat to my victory… Was this all she had to show? It was impressive, no doubt, but surely there was something she was still hiding from me?

Sighing, I dodged an incoming illusory spear, before pushing an overloaded orb in its direction, ending the summoned weapon. At this point, she was dancing too my tune. I held full control of the battle’s pace, yet I dreaded to deny Emeri the opportunity to show me something… new, something incredible. I wanted to feel my blood boil in the face of defeat…

Unfortunately, Emeri’s increasingly desperate and panicked facial expression told me everything I needed to know. Emeri possessed the ability to fight at the peak of tier 2, but she couldn’t go beyond her own limits. Resigning myself to this reality, I prepared to commence my final assault and end this battle. Right as I did so, I heard Emeri call out to me.

“Fight me seriously! If you don’t have the heart to finish it, then just resign! Can’t you respect my efforts, at least?” she shouted desperately, her voice breaking. She was infuriated, her eyes watering. Was she angry at herself?

Her movements were starting to become sloppy at this point and she was breathing heavily. I redirected one of her strikes and left a cut on the curse mark, which flashed dark green, before spreading up her waist, toward her ribs.

“It’s not that I don’t respect your efforts, Emeri. I had simply hoped for… more. Your fighting style is as beautiful as it is efficient. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like there’s anything more to it. Arcellus, Cerion, Gaius, hell, even Reana… their foundations aren’t nearly as good as yours, and yet… in their own ways they all managed to reach for more. What you lack isn’t skill or talent, it’s ambition.”

Emeri grit her teeth when she registered my words, and charged forward with her spear. I phased into shadows and took advantage of her reckless attack to empower the curse mark a little more. It flashed an even darker green and spread a little more, reaching halfway up her torso.

As she made some distance and prepared to strike again, she refuted my point.

“What do you know? I have trained my entire life for this! The church places their hopes on me! I can’t fail them, I just can’t… Lack of ambition? How ridiculous…” she said, whispering the last part to herself.

With a furious roar, she summoned five more spears of light, which whirled around me as she sent a series of stabs my way. They each aimed for a different part of my body. Instead of defending, I took the hits head-on and left another cut on the curse mark, which now bordered on black and spread up to her shoulders and down to her knees. One more hit would make the mark corrosive, I knew. With nearly half of her body marked, that would prove to be the end of the match I knew.

“You misunderstand. I never said you lacked outside pressure. What you lack is personal ambition. You don’t seem to want power for yourself. As a result, you’re satisfied with the optimized yet imaginative skillset you have now.”

Noticing her hateful glare, I thought of something. Why not add some fuel to the fire? I could just end the match here, but… I wanted more. I wanted to see what Emeri was capable of when she was pushed, even more than I wanted the recognition of first place. Strange, I know. Why shouldn't I have both? I could ask for forgiveness afterward, I considered as an afterthought.

I felt the dark mana coursing through my body thrum in agreement. Why shouldn’t I get what I want? I was strong enough to get it…

Knowing that Emeri valued the church, I knew just how to awaken the fire within her. With a false, cruel grin, I started to speak.

“Whoever taught you those skills must really not like you… I suppose they just wanted the perfect puppet to further their goals…”

Instantly, I knew I had struck a weak point, because Emeri’s demeanour shifted from frustration to pure rage.

“Don’t talk about the bishop like that…” she whispered fiercely, her eyes burning with white light.

“I mean, with your skills, you wouldn’t be a threat to their position, even if you rose to a high tier. I guess they just intend to get rid of you once you’ve fulfilled your purpose. I feel sympathy for you. Don’t worry, when I’m strong enough, I’ll save you from those selfish cowards…” I said, acting the part of a sympathetical bystander, a hero willing to save her from her tormentors.

Immediately, I knew that I had finally managed to push her off the edge, because the usually timid Emeri actually snarled like a wild animal. Her mana skyrocketed, to the point that my weak mana sense started to flare as if I was staring at the sun. Light affinity mana coalesced around her form, vibrating with a strange heat. Emeri’s veins turned white, emanating a holy aura. The light that poured forth from her eyes could have lit a moonless night.

I watched the spectacle in awe, captivated by Emeri as a torrent of mana whirled around her spear as she slowly lifted it to the sky. I only snapped out of it at the last second, realizing that I had to act fast if I still wanted to win this. I apparated and used my overloaded sword skill to send a black wave of mana at the curse mark, hoping to activate it.

At the same time, I was laughing like a fool, anticipating the greatness, the ‘more’ I had asked for. The white mana gathered above Emeri, forming a giant, 50 meter long spear made up of three rivers of light-affinity mana. Here it was… what I had hoped for. My blood boiled, in the face of defeat…

Then, the spear came down and the sky collapsed.

~scene break~

When I woke up, I found myself alone, staring up at a red, silk drape. I attempted to look around, but a sharp pain assaulted me when I tried to move. As a result, I was stuck analyzing everything I could see from my ‘lying down’ position. The bed I was laying on had expensive red covers and drapes with golden accents. To my left, a large window opened up to a balcony with a few ornate wooden chairs, while to my right it looked empty as far as I could see, apart from a richly decorated wall and double door. This didn’t look like any hospital or medical wing I was used to…

Thankfully, my questions were answered as my uncle entered the room through the double doors. He smiled when he noticed me staring at him. I attempted to speak, but strangely, nothing came out.

“Don’t try to talk, Arthur. That girl’s last attack did a number on you. You’ve been unconscious for three days now, Art. Thankfully, we knew you would be fine because of your healing skill. Despite its remarkable efficacy, the doctors believe it will take at least another day for you to recover fully.”

I nodded slightly, surprised that I had somehow been wounded so badly, yet relieved that there would be no permanent after-effects. After a moment of silence, my uncle continued to speak.

“You must be wondering what happened, right? Well, unfortunately… you lost. Emeri’s final attack turned you into a burnt husk in seconds. Considering that it covered the entire arena, there wasn’t anything you could have done that wouldn’t have resulted in disqualification, so don’t be too hard on yourself.”

Hearing that, I grit my teeth angrily. Why did I have to taunt her? I had despised Reana for doing the same to me, and because of my actions, I had lost the match. At the same time, just seeing that final attack might have made it worth it.

Noticing my conflicting feelings, my uncle steered away from the topic.

“Still, you gave as good as you got. Several seconds after the dust settled and you were found in such a terrible state, the girl’s side started to melt and sizzle. Something about your curse mark hurt her so bad she, too, is still recovering. Thankfully, she isn’t in mortal danger at the moment. The award ceremony has been postponed and will take place when the whole tournament is over in a few weeks, so you’ll get your rewards then.”

I smiled bitterly. Missing out on the first place reward would be costly.

“By the way, the bishop came over to thank you yesterday. Something about teaching his adopted daughter to be a little more selfish… Strange fellow, huh? He gave you a gift, too. A 'consolation prise', he called it.” my uncle said with a smile, before taking out a letter and a small pouch. The letter had the church’s symbol on the front, so I knew who had written it.

My uncle opened the pouch and pulled out an oddly familiar blue crystal.

[Skill merge pyramid]

Combine three skills into one. The resulting [Unique skill] will be one tier higher.

The resulting skill will be stronger than the sum of it's parts.

Now I felt even worse about calling that old man a pragmatic coward... Carp.