The Villain's Sword Is Sharp

After watching these fights, all the participants went home. Of course, they left with mixed emotions: some were jubilant, while the majority was dispirited. Isaac was neither. He was supremely clam.

After all, reaching the last 16 was nothing to get excited about. He had greater goals in mind.

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Most of the others arrived earlier than Isaac the next day. When he looked around, he saw 11 other contestants. Many of them eyed him up, guessing how strong he was. However, Isaac ignored them.

Instead, he turned his gaze upwards. The group tables which hung in mid-air had vanished, but the tournament tree shone much brighter than before. Titles such as 'Group A winner' had also been replaced with the participants' names, making the tree much easier to follow. Isaac's gaze was drawn to the tree's top left bracket:

Erling Thorgard vs Isaac Dahl

Isaac already knew he would be fighting Erling, so he'd bought some information from Abbie last night. Unfortunately, it didn't tell him anything he didn't already know.

From watching Erling, he'd seen the man use 2 Anima: Pool Of Needles Anima and Kilo Fist Anima. The former was a defensive Anima. It created a large circle of water in mid-air, and any attacks which hit the 'pool' would cause water to splash out. This wasn't normal water: its droplets were sharp and needle-like, and they would fly out with equal force to the force of the attack which the pond blocked.

It was truly an excellent defensive Anima, but it also had weaknesses. A pool could not be created instantly, taking half a second to create. The ponds weren't too big either, and could only block a limited area.

Erling's second Anima was the one he used the most. The Kilo Fist Anima aided attacks. Each time he hit something, it would add 1 kilo of force to his hits. That might not sound like much, but the effect stacked so long as the Anima was active. After 20 hits, his punches would have an additional 20kg of force. After 50 hits, they would have an additional 50kg. If a fight dragged on for 10 minutes like Johan's had yesterday, imagine how many punches he could throw. Imagine how much strength he could accumulate!

However, accumulation time was one of the Anima's weaknesses. He wouldn't be able to build up much strength during three 1-minute duels.

There was a saying from a famous strategist: 'If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.' When Isaac heard the official call,

"Erling Thorgard and Isaac Dahl, please take the stage for the first duel."

It was this saying which gave him great confidence. He walked down, shoulder-to-shoulder with the tall, muscular, blond-haired Erling. However, they did not speak to or even look at one another. The atmosphere was icy as they entered the ring.

The crowd around them was screaming and the colosseum had an electric air to it, but the ring seemed to be isolated in its own tense bubble of space. The two stood less than 5 metres from one another in the small ring. They were both slightly crouched, ready to spring into action.

"On your marks. Begin!"

This was the day's first fight and there was ample snow around the ring. Isaac activated the Snowshoe Anima and shot forwards, a sword appearing in his hand.

On the other side of the ring, Erling stood his ground. There was no visual effect, but Isaac guessed he'd already activated the Kilo Fist Anima.

Suddenly, the space in front of Erling changed. A vertical circle appeared at stomach height and Isaac could see a deep pool of water within the circle. However, the apparent 'deepness' of the pool was an optical illusion. It was in fact paper thin.

Isaac slowed down when he saw the water circle appear. He didn't know why Erling had activated the Pool Of Needles Anima so early, so he reduced his speed and stayed cautious. This was just as well, since Erling did something utterly unexpected.

He stood behind the pool, wrapped his fist around the side, and hit it. He withdrew his fist quickly as drops of needle water flew forwards. Isaac quickly dodged the needle rain. However, another volley of sharp needles came flying again. Erling continued to pound the pool of water like a drum and water needles continuously flew at Isaac.

The strategy was extremely ingenious: using a defensive Anima to create a ranged attacking effect. However, it was extremely hard for Erling to aim these volleys. They were all inaccurate, and Isaac dodged them while continuing to approach.

After several volleys, the pool of water had dried up. There was no water left and it quickly vanished. By this time, Isaac was almost on top of Erling.

*Sheen*

His sword swung through the air, ruthlessly attacking the man's neck. However, Erling was equal to it. He ducked under Isaac's blade and aimed a punch at his torso.

Isaac quickly changed directions with the Snowshoe Anima. He evaded the punch and tried to get behind Erling. Erling spun to face him, but he was ever-so-slightly off balance. Isaac thrust with his sword, but Erling predicted the strike.

A small pool of water appeared in mid-air and Isaac's sword struck that instead. There was an explosion. All the pool's water sprung out towards Isaac, while the pool itself dried up and disappeared.

A great storm of needle droplets bore down on Isaac. He wanted to destroy all the droplets with his Nihility Intent Anima, then attack the defenceless Erling. However, that was not a favourable option. He felt he could win this fight without revealing the Nihility Intent Anima.

Isaac brandished his sword to protect his head while retreating. He blocked some droplets and dodged many, but a large number still struck him. They tore his coat to shreds and dug into his skin. Isaac began bleeding lightly from countless spots on his body. However, the pain didn't bother him. Instead, this was an opportunity to surprise Erling.

He hadn't retreated far. As soon as the needle rain ended, he sprung forwards before Erling could try anything else. Unfortunately for him, Erling had already created another pool and was beating it like a drum again. More needle droplets flew at Isaac, and he had to dodge them while approaching.

He was agile enough not to get hit again, and he reached Erling before the pool dried up. Two pools couldn't be active at the same time, so this gave Isaac a better opportunity to attack. His blade darted forwards in a snake-like motion, seemingly aimed at Erling's shoulder.

The blade was slightly slow, and Erling moved to bat it downwards. That way he could break Isaac's guard and launch an offensive of his own. Alas... fighting Isaac wasn't so easy.

The path of Isaac's blade suddenly changed. It curved right, attacking Erling's chest instead. Erling reacted at the last moment and drew his other arm across his chest to protect himself. Blade vs bone. Isaac had seen this scenario many times, but there had only ever been 1 winner.

Isaac's sword cut clean through Erling's forearm. He severed it halfway between the elbow and wrist. There was a moment of stunned silence, as even the audience held their breath. Isaac could hear the severed arm land with a dull thud, then the crowd erupted. He couldn't even make out whether they were cheering or booing. It was just loud.

Isaac did his best to ignore the commotion and focus on the fight. Severing Erling's arm had taken all the force out of his strike, and his sword barely made it to Erling's chest. The fight wouldn't be official over until he dealt a 'fatal' blow.

Of course, that was just a formality. He delivered a merciless jab to Erling's forehead, but a thin film of bubbles protected him. It was obviously the referee's work.

"Isaac Dahl has dealt a fatal blow. There is no need for more duels: he is the victor!"

The cheers around the stadium intensified. A medic rushed over to stabilise Erling's condition, but that wasn't any of Isaac's concern. He returned to the stands just in time to hear the official call,

"Can Tore Kolden and Eva Damsgaard please take the stage."