The Villain's Sword Is Sharp

Isaac didn't jump forwards. He already knew Lukas' Anima and battle style, so he could predict what the man would do.

Seeing Isaac's decision, Lukas smirked. His legs suddenly shrivelled up and elongated. His trousers tore, revealing 2 long, thin, scaly legs like the ones a seagull might possess but far longer. His shoes also tore, revealing webbed feet with 3 sharp claws each. The claws weren't long, but their tips gleamed viciously. There was also a 4th hooked claw on each of Lukas' heels.

The Stilt-Legged Anima let him transform with the legs of Stilt-Legged Seabird, an enormous bird with 4-and-a-half foot long legs. Its legs were long, powerful and possessed a powerful jumping ability, compensating for the Stilt-Legged Seabird's inability to fly (due to its great weight).

That jumping ability was even greater in Lukas' hands due to being much lighter. He sprinted forwards to gain some momentum, then leapt high into the sky.

As he began to descend towards Isaac, he kicked out. The limited sunlight shone off the hooked claw on his heel, making it difficult to look at.

Isaac dodged right with his Snowshoe Anima. Lukas couldn't change directions in mid-air so he missed. Isaac swung his sword at the man as he crashed to the ground.

*Crunch* *Crack*

There were crackling noises as the blade struck Lukas, but a large cloud of dust had been kicked up when Lukas landed; nobody could see what had happened.

Suddenly, a large shape was launched out of the dust cloud. It was launched towards Isaac and he desperately blocked it with his spirit sword. His arms turned numb from the impact. Then he fled with the Snowshoe Anima.

As the dust settled, Isaac could see Lukas there, smiling confidently. His coat was ripped where Isaac had cut him, but there was no blood. Through the rip, Isaac could see thick grey and white fur with clumps of ice stuck to it. The crunching sounds earlier was him breaking some of the ice, but he hadn't damaged the fur.

The fur was created by the Hoar Yak's Coat Anima. It was a Rank 1 beast-style defensive Anima so, logically speaking, Isaac should've been able to damage it. However, it was being powered by Rank 2 Qi! This gave it a huge surge in power, making it difficult for Isaac to damage.

There was a small standoff after this probing exchange. Some of the more astute spectators were surprised,

"Didn't Isaac just use upper stage Qi? I thought he was middle stage!"

"He must've been hiding it. But it would be crazy to keep hidden cards in a fight like this: he has to go all-out."

On the stage, Isaac grimaced. Lukas didn't have a Rank 2 Anima – or at least he hadn't showed one – and he didn't possess an attacking Anima, so the fight should be winnable. However, the Stilt-Legged Anima posed a real problem. Not only was it effective for movement, but it also gave Lukas strong charges and dangerous claws, which could function as good attacking methods. All in all, he had few weaknesses.

However, Isaac already had a plan. He retreated to the other side of the ring and Lukas chased after him.

*Phwoom*

He leapt again, but forwards instead of upwards. He was propelled forwards like a bullet, using his own armour-covered body as a projectile. But this was a clumsy attack – at least to Isaac, who used the highly agile Snowshoe Anima.

He evaded the charge, then delivered a sword blow to the same area he'd struck before. Again, the fur shook and some ice broke, but Lukas was unharmed. He pursued as Isaac continued to retreat.

Lukas had already realised jumping at Isaac was a foolish idea; Isaac would just dodge. He changed his tactics and approached more slowly, then engaged in close combat.

There was limited space for Isaac to run in the small ring, so he was eventually forced to engage.

High kick, spinning roundhouse, leg kick. Lukas launch a combination of deadly kicks, attacking Isaac with the claws on his feet. Isaac tried to dodge and block, but it was difficult. Some strikes scraped him, cutting across his left calf or raking down his side and Isaac quickly accumulated injuries.

In comparison, his strikes just bounced off Lukas' thick hide. A thin layer of hair covered the ring's floor and showed some damage had been done, but Isaac had only scratched the defences – he was far from breaking them.

Lukas' attacks became more frenzied and dangerous as the fight continued, and Isaac was pushed into a precarious situation. However,

"One minute is up. I judge Lukas Brink to have won the first duel!"

The two separated and walked to the side of the ring. Lukas was unharmed, but his clothes were in tatters. Meanwhile, Isaac's clothes were in tatters and drenched in blood. He had wounds all over his body, both shallow and deep, but none were in vital areas.

His face was bright as he stepped out of the ring – things were going to plan.

On the other hand, Lukas had a slightly disgruntled expression as he sat down ringside – he was a proud genius who'd never experienced a setback. He couldn't deal a fatal blow despite having superior cultivation, and that was unacceptable.

Still frowning, he popped a Basic Qi Pill into his mouth and sat down. His eyes shut tight and his expression began to ease as he tried to meditate.

Seeing this, Isaac's smile grew even wider. He walked past the referee and kept going to the edge of the stage. He stared out into the audience, lowered his arms, then swung them up into the air. He lowered them again, then swung them up powerfully again. He repeatedly gestured to the crowd, asking them to cheer louder and whipping them up into a frenzy.

When the stadium was rocking, he went back to the ring. Lukas glared harshly at him, obviously unable to meditate due to the noise, but Isaac ignored it. He sat down and started applying cream to his injuries which would slow the bleeding.

He had many wounds, so meticulously applying the cream took a while. He was interrupted as he was treating his lightest injuries,

"Your three-minute break is over. Please return to the ring."

Both he and Lukas stood up and walked back to the ring. Lukas glared at him with more spite and less confidence than before, but Isaac stared back calmly. Despite losing the first duel, he felt that he controlled the tempo of this fight.

"On your marks. Begin!"

Lukas' legs transformed to get longer and thinner. He sprinted forwards with powerful, lengthy strides and quickly arrived in front of Isaac.

Isaac noticed that he hadn't activated the Hoar Yak's Coat Anima, so he rapidly slid forwards and attacked with his sword. Lukas dodged with a step to the side, so Isaac slid past him and moved to the centre of the ring. Now he held the initiative and he relentlessly attacked with his sword.

Lukas did his best to dodge, dive and counterattack without activating his defensive Anima. However, Isaac's attacks were too fierce and precise. After 10 seconds of constant defending, he realised he was making no progress and a layer of thick, shaggy grey fur covered his body, poking out through the holes in his clothes.

This hair wasn't in great condition. Unlike most defensive Anima which were good-as-new once you reactivated them, the Hoar Yak's Coat retained damage previously done to it. Nevertheless, it was still strong enough to resist Isaac's attacks.

Now that he had protection, Lukas began to disregard Isaac's attacks and launched his own offensive. Isaac was back under the cosh. He spent most of his time dodging, some time blocking, and very little time counterattacking. Whenever he did counterattack, his sword would bounce right off the thick fur. Lukas occasionally grimaced since he had to endure part of the attacks' physical power, but the blade could barely shave the fur: Isaac could only inflict bruises, not serious injuries or cuts.

The fight continued like this. Isaac defended desperately. Whenever it looked like he was backed into a corner, he would somehow create an opening and wriggle away. Whenever it looked like he was going to be hit with a fatal blow, he would just about manage to block and endure – Lukas had already broken his sword once. Whenever Lukas deactivated his defensive Anima to conserve Qi, Isaac would launch a flurry of attacks and force him to use it.

Just like this, Isaac endured another round of beatings. Just as it looked like he would be trapped again, he was saved by the bell.

"One minute is up. I judge Lukas Brink to have won the second duel: the score is now 2 – 0!"

Isaac took one last glance at Lukas as they walked out of the ring. Lukas' expression was anxious and worried, not how the victor's expression should've been at all. In contrast, Isaac was neither pleased nor disappointed, despite being down 2 – 0.

Things had deviated from the plan and he'd suffered more injuries than expected, but the fight was still salvageable. He just had to deal a fatal blow in this last round.

Isaac saw Lukas trying to meditate again, so he went back to the edge of the stage. The crowd was extremely boisterous after 2 intense rounds of battle – especially when they all thought it would end in 1. When they saw the blood-soaked Isaac come and try to stir them up, they couldn't help but cheer loudly. Everybody wanted him to make a comeback! Which supporter didn't like a dark horse or a shock upset?!

Again, the noise made it impossible for Lukas to meditate or recover his Qi. He'd even wasted a Basic Qi Pill just trying to.

Just like before, Isaac went back to applying cream on his injuries. He'd tried to limit the damage as much as possible, but his blood loss was getting slightly out of hand. It wouldn't be long before it began to affect his performance.

This time Isaac could only apply cream to half of his wounds. Many of the ones from the first round had reopened, but the referee didn't give Isaac time to treat all of them. He called out mechanically,

"Your three-minute break is over. Please return to the ring."

And Isaac and Lukas obeyed like robots. Both walked to opposite sides of the ring. Lukas' gaze carried a complex mixture of confidence, determination and nervousness – it had sharply declined from the utterly self-assured look he had in the first duel.

In comparison, Isaac's gaze was as cool as ice; as still as a painting. Lukas had seen him keep this exact same gaze at the start of every duel – he hadn't lost confidence or faltered even once. Lukas found this unerring calmness rather intimidating.

"On your marks. Begin!"

This time Lukas didn't rush forwards. After all, he would win the fight even if he lost this duel – he just needed to avoid a fatal blow.

Isaac also knew this, so he seized the initiative. Some of the ring's snow had been kicked away or trampled into slush during the first 2 duels, so Isaac skated through the patches of snow that were still there. He zig-zagged his way towards Lukas in no time at all.

*Sheen*

A translucent orange blade cut through the air with a crisp sound. Lukas dodged without activating any Anima, but then the blade cut again, horizontally this time. He couldn't dodge the follow-up strike so grey hair sprouted from his skin, just blocking it in time.

Lukas deactivated the Hoar Yak's Coat Anima and the frozen fur disappeared. Then his legs transformed as he launched a kick towards Isaac. Lukas' legs were already bloody from being cut so many times, and these injuries made his movements sluggish.

Isaac ducked under his sweeping kick, then slashed towards Lukas's body. There wasn't enough time to reactivate the Hoar Yak's Coat Anima, so Lukas sprung off of his left leg and jumped backwards. Isaac pursued, slashing ferociously.

Meanwhile, Lukas swapped his Anima again. His legs shrunk to normal size while fur sprouted out again. Isaac's attacks didn't let up. He continued to slash Lukas, who couldn't really fight back.

Isaac hadn't been attacking randomly throughout the fight. His strikes had been focused on just a few areas, and these areas of the fur were now badly damaged. Now that he could continuously attack, it would only be a matter of time before the fur gave in.

Lukas was caught in 2 minds. Should he steadfastly defend or should he fight offence with offence? Or should he make a final push to land a fatal blow?

He gritted his teeth. He was a proud genius! He would become the icon of an era! How had he been driven into this situation by an insignificant fly?!

Lukas' arrogance led him to pick the final option. He would stake everything on a final gamble.

His legs transformed, and he allowed Isaac's next attack to land on his frozen, shaggy fur. Then he delivered a spinning head kick. The strike was wild and violent. Isaac dodged it. Then he continued to attack.

Lukas roared in anger, disregarding Isaac's attacks and throwing himself forwards. He launched his own flurry of attacks, forcing Isaac to defend. However, these attacks were filled with desperation. They lacked calmness or accuracy, making them easy to evade.

Lukas was so caught up in attacking that he forgot to monitor his own situation. Just as he launched another powerful kick, he suddenly tumbled and fell! His legs had suddenly shortened, causing him to lose his balance. The fur all over his body had also disappeared.

Now he was lying face-down in the ring. He had no defences; he had no clue what had just happened; the only thing he did have was a mouthful of mud and snow!

The next thing Lukas heard was,

"Isaac Dahl wins the fight with a fatal blow!"