Despite her extreme speed, omniscience was enough to let me just about avoid taking any serious hits for a while. My body had it’s limitations, though, so my focus was on minimising harm instead of avoiding it entirely.

I just had to hold out longer than her… just a little longer…

I ran out of options to dodge, and had to accept a powerful left hook that threw me off my feet. The pain was almost overwhelming, my head throbbing from the repeated strikes. I was barely able to get to my feet, my vision blurry and my head spinning. I was barely able to make out the form of Yokoshima slowly approaching me to finish me off.

Slowly… her time dilation had worn off.

By all accounts, the fight was my loss. I was dazed, concussed, bleeding and on the verge of collapse. But I still had just one more idea up my sleeve.

“The trial is your loss, Sugichan. You’ve disappointed me for the last time.” She was just metres away from me as she pulled her arm back to throw her finishing punch. I didn’t answer her. I just closed my eyes, and waited.

Waited for my opportunity.

Omniscience had yet to end. I still had a tiny amount of magic left in my body. I let the vision of foresight guide me, slipping away from the punch and countering with an uppercut that lifted Yokoshima off her feet. As she fell toward the ground, I caught her with an axe kick and slammed her into the ground. In the few moments it took her to process what was happening, I wrapped her in a triangle choke that would be impossible to get out of.

She struggled and grappled at me, but it was no use. Her one short lapse in judgement had turned the entire fight round on her in seconds, and there was now no chance for her to flip it back on me. Slowly but surely, her consciousness started slipping.

I released her from the choke.

“What… the hell… do you think… you’re doing…” she panted, her face red as she rolled away from me. I wiped the blood that had begun dripping from my nose before I spoke.

“The trial never had a kill condition. I just had to beat you. I beat you, so the trial is passed.”

“Idiot… you think… I’m gonna… accept that? I can still… fight you…”

“But this was never about fighting, was it? You wanted to know which of us was smarter. I outsmarted you. You got your answer.” Through my blurry vision, I could see Yokoshima’s face start to twitch, clearly wanting to rebuttal. But no rebuttal came.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Tch. You got lucky.”

“You got cocky.”

“You think this settles things? You haven’t proved anything. You outwitted me once, so what?”

“So I’ll do it again if I have to. But I won’t kill you. We can do this song and dance as many times as you want, it’ll always end the same way. So why don’t we just call it here and come back to it another day. Next time, without the deathmatch.” I slowly raised myself to my feet and stumbled over to Yokoshima, who was still spread out on the floor. I put my hand out to her, and she looked up at me blankly before taking it and rising to her feet.

“Next time? You really think you’re gonna beat Baal, don’t you?”

“I think we have a chance to end this war, at least.”

“There is no winning against him. There is no resisting him. You will die if you face him down.”

“Have you exhausted every option?”

“Exhausted every option? There are no options. He’s just too strong.”

“You’re talking out of fear, not logic.”

“Of course I’m talking out of fear, you damn fool,” she said, looking at me as if I was a complete idiot, “anyone who isn’t scared of that… thing… is stupid. If the existence of humanity wasn’t guaranteed by some cosmic law or something, he’d wipe us out like an exterminator killing ants. We’re nothing compared to him.”

“And that’s why you betrayed your species? Your homeworld? Because you didn’t think it was possible to beat him?”

“Loyalty will get you nowhere but an early grave, Sugichan. Your only chance for survival is to join us. Bend the knee, you might be able to live.”

“But is that even a life worth living?” I took a deep breath in, trying to stave off the pain in my head, and elaborated on my thought. “Will you really be able to live with yourself, looking out over our ruined home, the billions who’ll suffer and die, content that there’s nothing that you could have done? That you actively helped this result come into being? Can you really say you’ll be able to live the rest of your life thinking you made the right decision?”

She didn’t immediately reply, an empty look filling her eyes. She sighed deeply before speaking.

“Of course it’s the wrong choice. Almost everything I love or care about is going to die or change irreperably. But I have to accept that loss and protect what I can. My friends and my life… that’s all I can save. So why… why do you not even want to do that? Why are you so adamant about throwing away your own life and the lives of your friends? And for what? A futile defence that will end before it’s even begun?”

“It’s simple. I love our world too much.” I thought back on my life up to this point. There was just too much I wanted to protect for me to turn back now. “My family, my friends, my fiancé, I love so many people and so many things about Earth that I just can’t stand to see it laid to waste. If my life is what it costs to protect all that… I’ll pay that price without hesitation.”

At first, Yokoshima looked at me in shock. Then in confusion. Then finally, her face relaxed into a smile.

“Dammit… y’know, if I’d met you earlier, maybe I could have been like you.”

“And if things had been different for me, I could have been like you too. I guess one of us just got lucky…”

“Tch. Rub it in my face, why don’t ya?” The smile on Yokoshima’s face looked sad and distant, but genuine nonetheless. “I’ll take you up on that rematch once you get back.”

“Let’s do something a little less painful next time. You any good at Shogi?”

“Better than you.”

“Ha. You better put your money where your mouth is, or I’ll be the one disappointed.” Turning around to face the door, I began to make my way towards the trial exit, before stopping to say one last thing. “I’ll… see you on the other side, Kyoko.”

“Yeah… I know you will, Mai.”