Chapter 11: Finals
After defeating Rai, the following fights leading up to the semi-finals went smoothly. Now, Empress was once again in a dangerous situation.
Her opponent was a hulking brute of a man, but contrary to her first expectation, his powers didn’t involve strength or defense.
“Take this!” he growled.
Suddenly the sands of the coliseum began swirling, creating an enormous vortex of sand that threatened to pull Empress under. The man’s name was Quicksand.
Although she found his name a little too revealing, there was currently nothing she could do to reverse the situation. The sand was quickly causing her to sink into the ground.
In a moment of desperation, Empress summoned barriers, using them like shovels to dig herself free.
After successfully releasing herself, she jumped into the air, using the barriers as platforms to keep herself off the floor.
Quicksand frowned, lifting his hands into the air. Suddenly, the sand began leaping up from the ground, becoming large pillars that headed towards Empress in an attempt to smash her.
Empress teleported out of the way, creating barriers under her feet at every step, allowing her to remain suspended in the air.
She blinked towards Quicksand, punching out with her gauntlets at his stomach
Quicksand sneered, allowing the punch to connect. With a boom, Empress’s hand went into his belly.
However, no blood came out. Suddenly, his stomach reformed, trapping Empress’s fist inside.
He punched outward, connecting with Empress’s face, causing her head to whip backwards from the blow.
Her entrapped arm prevented her from escaping. She desperately attempted to ward off Quicksand’s attacks.
Suddenly, she snorted, realizing the ridiculousness of the situation.
Clenching her fist, she caused a barrier to materialize inside of Quicksand’s body. With an explosion, pieces of Quicksand went flying. He was unable to transform his body into sand fast enough.
The crowed went mad with glee. They began to chant her name.
“Empress! Empress! Empress!”
Vivian smiled and waved to the crowd.
As she returned to the lobby, a white-haired girl sat waiting.
“You must be my final opponent,” the girl spoke up, putting out her hand, “My name is Yuki. What’s yours?”
“Empress,” Vivian admitted, shaking the girl’s hand.
“I remember you!” Yuki’s eye lit up.
“You do?” Empress asked, confused.
“Yup. You caused a huge disturbance on the first day the beginner areas opened. In addition, your heist of Yoro Bank is well talked about.”
Empress blushed slightly.
“The beginner zone incident was an accident,” Empress protested.
“Whatever you say,” Yuki laughed with a wink.
Suddenly, a voice echoed through the arena announcing Yuki and Empress’s fight.
“Good luck!”
“You too.”
The two girls walked outside to the arena under the cheer of the crowd.
They took battle stances opposite of each other.
Yuki made the first move. A blizzard was conjured, instantly covering the arena in a thick layer of snow.
Empress was immediately blinded by the dense whiteness. She summoned a barrier around herself, keeping the snow off her body.
Suddenly, the snow began twirling harder, causing the temperature of the arena to plummet.
The coldness of the arena penetrated Empress’s barrier, causing her to shiver.
Immediately following the drop in temperature was a loud crashing noise. Hail formed in the storm, smashing into Empress’s shield.
Vivian cursed. Yuki was even more difficult to deal with than the sand man. She couldn’t even find her in the snow.
Just as she was contemplating what to do, spears of ice jutted out from the ground. Empress didn’t react fast enough. One of the spears stabbed through the bottom of her foot, soaking the snow red.
Empress grunted in pain, immediately lifting her foot off of the spike. A hole was torn in her foot. She could see through it.
Various idea raced through Empress’s head.
Finally, she decided to make use of her barrier shards. Summoning her barriers, she broke them and released the pieces into the storm.
Minutes later, a yowl of pain rang out and the blizzard abruptly stopped.
Empress could suddenly see.
A beat up Yuki was staring at her. Blood coated her body; her clothes were torn into shreds.
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The shards had swirled around the arena in the blizzard, colliding into Yuki. Although Yuki was immune to the snow and the hail, she couldn’t resist the glass-like slivers.
“I underestimated you,” Yuki frowned, “Looks like I need to be serious.”
Yuki packed snow onto her wounds, then shook it off. Her wounds had healed.
Empress raised her eyebrows. Copying from her, she implanted a tiny barrier in the hole in her foot, sealing it.
Yuki suddenly slammed her palms into the snow, causing the ground to shake. The snow surged towards Empress in the form of a massive avalanche.
Empress’s face twisted. She wouldn’t be able to use her barriers to block the attack.
She immediately teleported as high up into the air as she could, dodging over the avalanche.
However, Yuki had calculated that. The second her body popped over the snow, an icicle tore through her chest.
Empress immediately stopped the bleeding using her barriers. However, she wouldn’t be able to last much longer.
On the other side of the avalanche was a surprised Yuki. Empress was turning out to be more resourceful than she had originally imagined.
She once again slapped her hands onto the snow, creating an army of snowmen. The snowmen had icicles for fingertips. They slid across the snow towards the wounded Empress.
“This girl doesn’t let up, does she?” Empress grimaced in pain.
As the snowmen approached, Empress condensed a small barrier and threw it towards them. With a bang, the barrier expanded, enlarging in size, sweeping the snowmen away.
Yuki frowned and went to create some more icicles.
However, the ground suddenly exploded out from underneath her feet, tossing her into the air.
Empress had planted what she a called “barrier seed” in the snow. By condensing a small barrier and hiding it, she could create a trap that could cause the enemy’s downfall.
The minute Yuki was sent into the air, Empress teleported towards her. She grabbed her fists around Yuki’s neck, choking her.
Deprived of oxygen, Yuki could no longer concentrate. The icicles she attempted to summon dissolved the moment they came into existence.
After a few minutes of struggling, Yuki died.
Force field mastery has reached level 7!
“Congratulations! The winner of the level 1-20 tournament is Empress!” the judge declared.
The crowd roared explosively. Their stomps shook the stadium.
Empress smiled widely, relieved that the tournament was finally over.
“Here are you rewards: an average power crystal and five million credits,” the judge said, trading the items to her.
“Thank you very much,” Empress beamed. She wasted no time in absorbing the power crystal.
Suddenly, a screen popped up in front of her face.
Force field mastery has reached level 10!
Minor Teleportation mastery has reached level 9!
You have reached level 15!
Force field mastery can now evolve.
Evolve? (Y/N)
Empress instantly trembled with excitement. Without hesitation, she confirmed yes.
Ding!
Reflective barriers can now be created!
Empress instantly summoned two barriers. On one side was her normal see-through barrier, and on the other side was a shimmering, glowing one.
She smiled in glee. Reflective barriers would be a useful tool in her arsenal.
After reigning in her excitement, she walked off the stage under the cheers of the crowd.