"I-I'm so scared, Sorrow..." She quivers in the middle of the stadium, the crowd going wild at the entrance of the two students. Mina proceeded to pull out her two Artifacts, Sorrow and Ruin, already pre-summoned before the match. Sorrow with her dark purplish hue and Ruin's deep crimson. They were both beautiful daggers in the eyes of the people, exciting them even more. But in Mina's eyes, she was in a terrifying situation.
"If I lose, I'll disappoint Harold, and then he'll-"
Sorrow cuts her off. "Stop focusing on the negatives and lock in, Mina." Esmeralda enters the arena, her rapier dazzling under the sunny day. As the cheers subsided, the countdown began. Mina and Esmeralda connected eyes as the countdown went off. Esmeralda's eyes were those of a tiger stalking its prey, making Mina shiver. Esmeralda readied her rapier and got into stance. Mina gulped; the tense air gave her difficulty breathing. "Why did they set us up to fight in the first place... I'm definitely out of her league!" Gripping onto her daggers, she prepared for combat.
As the horns echoed in the skies, the match began. Mina charged in, her daggers readied in her hand. That's when she stopped midway into the charge. "She's not moving...?" Esmeralda had her rapier outwards, taking a bold stance. She stood there with daggers in her eyes, as if she were begging for Mina to make a move. "Don't tell me she's waiting for me to make the first move?"
Indecisive, she also stood at a standstill. "S-Sorrow, what should I do?!" Mina asked, panicking at the tone. "Are you really asking me this in the middle of battle?" Sorrow replied. Moving Sorrow up to her face, she made a desperate plea. "Please tell me, I'm scared right now!" Mina pointed Ruin at Esmeralda, who stood menacingly. "L-Look at her! Clearly she is waiting for me to do something!"
Esmeralda carefully awaits Mina's next move, making direct eye contact with her. "Mina, just do what you've been doing in training!" Sorrow advised. Mina didn't expect such a basic plan to work, but she'll attempt it anyway. Running toward Esmeralda, she creates hellfire with Ruin in her right hand. The flames swirl in the air amongst her dagger, trailing as she moves forward. As she swoops in to slash with the furious flames, Esmeralda swiftly avoids the wide slash downwards and counters right after with a thrust. "Mina, parry that attack, quick!" Sorrow screamed. As Esmeralda's rapier nearly pierced her throat, Mina parried the rapier away with Sorrow, continuing to step back. "You should've gone in to attack me." Esmeralda stated, flicking her wrist downwards, causing her swift and sharp rapier to slash over Mina's right leg. Mina groaned in pain, using Ruin in a panic. Producing a bunch of hellfire to spiral around her, she uses it to assist her retreat. As Mina leaped back, she panted heavily, holding against her wound. As the hellfire dwindled down, beyond those flames revealed Esmeralda's nonchalant face, as if she hadn't broken a single sweat.
Tears streamed down her face, agonizing over the pain. Esmeralda got into a stance once more, focused on Mina's next move. "Mina, focus! You must stop thinking about the pain." Sorrow told her, but the words were beginning to muffle, and her vision began to go blurry. Mina wiped her tears, yet more kept trailing down her face. "I-It hurts, badly though..."
The crowd was in disbelief. Not only by Esmeralda's precision, but by how she effectively shut down the assault of an Artifact user with a standard rapier. Before Mina could fully recompose herself, she noticed that Esmeralda was already running towards her. "GAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! NOOOOOOO!!!!!" Mina squealed, seeing the terror coming right at her. Her legs shook, and the pain intensified; she couldn't hold herself together. As her crying continued, she fell to her knees in despair. Having no choice, Sorrow spouts out harsh words at Mina. "Mina, stop freaking out; you must do this! If you fail now, you're no better than a useless dog!"
"U-Useless dog...?"
"You're not ladylike; you have no talents and no money. If you lose now, you'd be disposed of like a stray dog!"
"Disposed of...? I don't want to be disposed of." Mina's eyes shift at Esmeralda, a soulless glare she gave at Esmeralda, which astonished her momentarily.
"Then fight with all your might, Mina!"
Mina darted toward Esmeralda, charging up Ruin with flames once more. Esmeralda didn't falter in her movements, as she had already taken a mental image of what Mina could do next. "With that broad swinging again, I'll just simply avoid the attack and pierce her right after." Esmeralda thought, analyzing Mina. "She seems to have no combat experience, anyway. She merely just has dagger skills." As she readies to counter, Mina stops swinging with Ruin midway and lunges in with Sorrow. "She's attacking with her left dagger now? Good move, but I already anticipated it."
Shuffling to the side, she swiftly avoids Mina's incoming dagger, readying to retaliate with a thrust of her rapier. In return, Mina had curved her dagger in Esmeralda's direction, producing corrosive acid with Sorrow as she did. Surprise caught her as the dagger flung out the purple acid at Esmeralda, moving at an incredible pace. As she tried to leap backward, it was too late for Esmeralda. The distance between her and acid was close, so the best she could resort to was swiping away at the acid at incredible speeds. The acid, soaring through the air, was deflected from Esmeralda by rapid swings, yet some splattered on her arm. Wincing at the acid that ate away at her skin, Esmeralda focused her finger over her rapier. "It seems I've gotten too cocky in this fight. Let me finish you off quickly." Swiping two fingers over her rapier, blue text glowed on the blade. What she had activated was the inscription laid onto her weapon. As Esmeralda got into stance, her rapier roared with an intense lightning, crackling in the air.
Shuffling her feet around Mina, she attempted to stab underneath Mina's left side at blinding speeds. Mina, seeing this, slashed counterclockwise at the rapier, parrying it away. Yet that action proved to be a massive setback. On collision with the rapier, the lightning jolted through her Artifact and burned her hand, causing her to drop Sorrow. Reacting with the parry, Esmeralda swiveled her wrist, thrusting the rapier again to Mina's neck. Then, with a vicious growl, Mina pulled an unexpected move. She suddenly thrust her upper body downwards, gripping onto the dirt floor with her bare hands. Like an animal, she rotated her body viciously while on the floor, granting her momentum to swing Ruin in that position.
"You..." Esmeralda said, stunned, as she flicked her wrist to direct her rapier downward, quickly blocking the dagger slash. That's when Mina revolved around again, this time with Sorrow in hand. Mina swung her dagger with great might, producing even more acid to go over Esmeralda. Meanwhile, Esmeralda retaliates by slashing upward at Mina, slicing her abdomen and arm at the same time. The lightning on Esmeralda's rapier also seared Mina, causing her to groan in pain. The trade of blows shocked the crowd, exciting them even more.
Esmeralda stepped back, agonizing over the acid eating away at her flesh. She tried desperately to dry out the acid by placing her lightning-infused rapier close to it. While that happened, Mina struggled to stand, holding in her wounds with feral breaths. The cheers in the crowd were muffled out for both of them as the intensity of the battle reached this point.
"You're a greater fighter than what I had expected. Especially how you're a completely different person than before." Esmeralda had noted almost everything in the battle. All of Mina's weaknesses, her inexperience, and a sudden shift in demeanor. "But there's one fatal flaw to your tactics, Mina." Mina had suddenly coughed out blood, dropping to her knees. Sorrow had broken a sweat, realizing the fatal mistake that she had forgotten. "Damn it! I've completely forgotten about Rysen deprivation!"
As blood continued to splurge out of Mina's mouth, Esmeralda continued to speak. "Your Artifact is right. While inscriptions take in the Rysen of the world around them, Artifacts take in the Rysen of the user. One of the many advantages that inscriptions have over Artifacts. This entire battle, I haven't even used my Artifact. I've simply used a steel rapier with an inscription on it, leaving my Rysen at normal levels throughout." Esmeralda aimed her rapier at Mina. "While you have barely any Rysen left."
Mina stood up, a malicious look in her glare, startling Esmeralda once more. "Something is odd about her; I'll finish her off here." Esmeralda activated her inscription, firing a jolt of lightning at Mina. Crackling through the air, it was expected to finish Mina for good, but the results surprised everyone. Mina had weaved past it and then trotted forward to Esmeralda. "You should be near unconscious at this point; how do you still stand?!" Esmeralda queried, firing another bolt. Mina avoided it again, this time letting out a loud growl. Smacking her lips in annoyance, Esmeralda questioned her. "Why are you so desperate to win? You're going to actually die at this rate if you push yourself!"
Then, an explosion erupted in the stadium, making a massive crater form within it. "An explosion had been set off in the engine room!" One of the staff members screamed. As the bodies of many ragdolls were everywhere, it began to rain blood. The stadium was filled with screams as many fled, creating chaos. As the clouds covered the sun, the skies grew darker. Amidst the chaos, Esmeralda couldn't care any less about what went on, as what she saw in front of her had put her in utter disbelief. Seeing the red glow in Mina's eyes, it sent a shiver down her spine. "You're a... demon?"