Clones in this case still refers to the topless legs from earlier. Arnold was basically getting attacked by those.

As expected, the clones or afterimages if you could call them that, were quite strong so getting through them was tedious since all of them surpassed his previous opponents in the tournament in raw power and speed. Having enough of them, he cut them all down with Luxtivin. They faded away like smoke.

Speaking of smoke, Mian was using it to her advantage at this moment. Multiple identical signatures appeared in the smoke the next moment so she was trying to confuse Arnold. He deduced that her ability was preventing her from hiding her signature so extreme mental focus must be required to use it properly.

To confuse him even further, she was jumping around in the smoke so that he can’t pinpoint where the first signature originated.

Their signatures were exactly identical so warrior sense was completely useless at this moment. He decided to not use it anymore.

Arnold closed his eyes and released the tension in his muscles. For a moment, he achieved a state of peace, a state martials use in battle to sense concealed enemies when gathered in a jungle or when dealing with an enemy that can hide their signatures.

“!”

‘There you are!’

Unlike using the conventional “Warrior Sense”, he made use of his natural instincts, something Sebas taught him. By listening to which afterimages had a beating heart, he was able to determine where Xian really was.

Turns out only one had a heartbeat. Confirming—along with the bodies fading away like smoke—that the “clones” were just projections/afterimages like his illusions. This could mean her martial skill is compatible with his illusion skill.

He appeared right in front of her, his pressure alone causing the smoke to disperse.

“Eek!” for the first time since the start of the fight, she looked panicked by his relentless assault.

Before she could disappear again, he grabbed the hanging loose flesh at the chest and held his sword at her neck.

Strangely enough, she didn’t summon clones. Which means…

“Duplicates, multiplication of strength through sucking your opponent’s lifeforce, invulnerability—What else do you have up your sleeve, woman?”

She stared at him with a glare as she took out two daggers.

“Finally going to stop with your tricks?” he let go of the flesh but kept his eye on it, “Make this easier for all three of us and tell me your weakness so that I can finish you off. Unlike you, I’ll never run out of stamina but the crowd won’t like a fight that’s too dragged out.”

It was easy to assume the flesh coming out of her was her weakness but what’s the explanation for how she was unscathed from his full body assault? He should’ve been able to hit that flesh at that moment but his hands always went through.

“I’ve given up on trying to figure out how your martial arts works. For now.’

He’ll definitely find her later. Since he won’t be bound by tournament rules, he can fight to kill. What he was after right now was the multiplication technique that both allows her to summon clones and increase the strength of those clones. Imagine what he could do with such power in a war.

In any case, he wasn’t able to test if she herself becomes stronger since she’s remained on the defensive and only made the clones attack.

A laugh came out of her, “You may have found a way to push me into a corner, but you’ve only seen the least of what I can do!”

A powerful wind emerged at the center where she stood, pushing away the clouds of dust. A gigantic white fox with long horns appeared the next moment, Mian standing on its head. The fox opened its mouth and a beam of white energy manifested at the center.

‘My lifeforce is being sucked out again.’ He could feel himself being drained by the second as the white ball of energy grew bigger.

Meanwhile, Mian Xi felt incredibly distressed, the most she’s been all her life.

Her opponent was incredibly fast and powerful but she couldn’t rely on her martial skill right now.

It’s best to release her strongest attack. The announcer could only watch while trembling at her immense power.

The massive white fox, its pristine fur shimmering with ethereal energy, widened its maw, swallowing the condensed ball of transparent energy she had gathered. The moment the sphere settled within its throat, it expanded outward like an inflating balloon, stretching the creature’s form to its limits. The Húlíjīng struggled, its head drooping under the crushing weight of the energy it held.

‘Guh—this man’s lifeforce is immense!’ Mian Xi’s thoughts raced as she fought to maintain control. ‘How can a single human have so much drained from him and still remain unfazed!?’

Nova stood before her, utterly still. His sword was lowered, his expression unreadable. There was no panic, no sign of strain—only an eerie, unwavering calm. It was unnatural. The very sight of it sent alarm bells ringing in her head. If she didn’t act now, he would cut her down in an instant. There would be no second chances.

Desperation surged through her veins as she drained more of his lifeforce—not to amplify the attack, but to help the White Fox stabilize the overwhelming energy. Yet, even as she pulled more from him, Nova did not waver. He did not flinch. He did not even blink.

Even though she was about to unleash a very powerful attack, not adhering to the rules, he was still studying her to find out the secret of her martial art.

His unnerving calm threw Mian off more than she thought it would.

‘I have to keep myself calm…’ she breathed deeply just as the fox lifted its head and opened its mouth.

“Turn reality into a void, Húlíjīng!”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

A massive wall of pure white energy erupted from the fox’s maw. The moment it touched the ground, there was no explosion—no deafening boom or outward force. The earth did not shatter; it simply ceased to exist. The attack consumed everything it touched, erasing it from reality. The energy surged forward, bypassing the protective barrier of the arena as if it were nothing, spilling out into the open world beyond.

The audience screamed in horror. Some scrambled for the exits, while others clung to their seats, paralyzed by fear. The sheer power at play defied comprehension.

Then, just as the energy threatened to spiral out of control, Mian Xi flicked her wrist upward. The entire white blast veered sharply, ascending into the sky with blinding speed. The clouds were obliterated in an instant, drilled through as though they were nothing but vapor. The beam of destruction continued its ascent until it vanished into the heavens.

The blast took a lot out of Mian even though she wasn’t using her own Ki. That Ki is reserved for keeping an unknown truth hidden from the world so she always relies on her opponent’s Ki.

Lowering her arm, the giant white Fox Húlíjīng, vanished. She fell toward the ground. While freefalling, she examined the aftermath. There was a giant hole in the arena, but it looked so smooth, as if a scorching hot cylindrical object fell through a stick of butter.

‘Odd, that blast isn’t able to disintegrate human bodies as easily as inanimate objects. So, where is his body?’ she noticed that Nova’s body was gone. Instead of destroying the human body, the blast is meant to kill cells in the body, causing permadeath but so long as his soul is still present in his body, Mian will be able to fully revive him and avoid a disqualification.

“What an odd martial skill. It’s like molten lava fell through the ground.” Nova’s face—upside-down—appeared in front of hers while still falling.

“!” she was so startled that she jumped to the side on instinct. But forgetting that she is “impervious” to physical attacks so long as her mind is a void, she examined Nova instead.

‘No abnormalities at all…’

Her hands were trembling so she grabbed her right hand on instinct to stop it.

“Lady Mian…” unbeknownst to the purple-cladded beauty, Sing looked at her worriedly. She silently wished for Mian to win this match.

Doing her absolute best to calm herself, Mian breathed deeply while steeling her mind. The fact that Breuk was strangely silent this whole time only made things worse since there’s no telling when he’ll attack.

An attack from the front and back while she’s “regenerating” is going to be troublesome. She had to keep her distance to paint the illusion that she can use the skill continuously and that there were no weaknesses.

However, that was easier said than done.

‘Why is it taking so long!?’ she took a quick glance down. The loose flesh was slowly returning into her body, ‘I can’t use my other skills just to give me some time to recover.’

Truth be told, even she was worried that her martial skills will get copied the same way as the others. It’s just too abnormal for someone to see a martial art or skill once then use it themselves. At least what she’d done so far is unable to be copied by a mere human.

“You look worried,” the silver-haired young man stood in a relaxed posture, eyeing her like a dragon from its mountain top, “Why don’t you just forfeit? Remember that the people will soon get bored of this and that will ruin that image you want to maintain.”

He was right. Usually around this time she would forfeit but she had grown bored over participating just for the money. She was now as rich as a noble so she wanted to do other things—one of which was to start a new sect where she could train war orphans or any willing volunteers. Of course, the “training” referred to here will require them to make some sacrifices and change who they once were to suit the circumstances of using her martial art.

That was a worry for another time. What’s important now is that Ko doesn’t allow new sects to be created unless they’re affiliated with the imperial family, likely because he feared they would produce powerful warriors who can then threaten his rule. Of course, Mian could just ask a noble to register her sect—many have brought forth offers for this, even dukes. But she wanted the highest privilege available to martials—that is, being connected to the emperor’s inner circle that gives you a sea of information and political power.

Mian Xi wanted to rescue the children who were part of those destroyed sects. This number wasn’t small at all. There were tens of thousands of orphans either living on the street, adopted (this number wasn’t very high since people feared being connected to sect members), or still in orphanages.

She was born with talent and power and now that she has the money, it was best to put her privileges to use. Of course, this was something she wanted to do.

Mian took out the needle holding up one of her buns. She brandished it as if she were holding a sword. Miraculously, in the next moment the needle transformed into just that—a pitch-black sword brimming with a contrasting white energy.

Not waiting for her to get into a stance, Nova charged at her and swung his own sword—however, just like before, his sword went right through Mian Xi.

Taking that moment when his face was inches away from her chest as he went through her, she struck at him, aiming for his shoulder joints.

Clank.

But her weapon was repelled by a powerful force—an Aether Shield.

“Kuh!”

He tried to hit her chin with a palm strike but that also passed through her. A strange feeling suddenly spread through her body, signalling her to retreat immediately. She jumped back. Nova suddenly swung his sword, its tip narrowly missing her neck.

“Haa… Haaa…” her distress almost caused her body to go solid again. The mental strain was just too much. Maybe it was a bad idea to block his earlier attack. That just proved to him that depending on the situation, she’ll be vulnerable to his attacks. He might even try to force the situation like that so that he can take her down.

Try as she might to calm down, her heart was beating like crazy. It was difficult to stay calm in a fight with such an overwhelmingly powerful opponent. Gulping, she looked toward Nova only to realize he was gone.

“Huh? Where did he go—"

“My master always said to follow my instincts in battle.” Nova’s voice came from right beside her before she felt something hard and strong hit the back of her neck, sending a powerful shock down her spine and up to her brain, “It seems I was right to follow it.”

The world suddenly went dark.

‘Eh…?’ she felt her body lose strength and when she opened her eyes, looking through tunnel vision, she noticed she was lying on the ground, ‘How… could he? Ah…’

At that moment, she recalled what her master told her about this martial skill:

-“Hesitation, fear, desire—those are the three things that can be said to be the Doppel Dancer’s natural weakness. That is because this technique relies on its wielder’s will and being afraid, hesitant and wanting something while in battle, will be your demise. Remember that, Little Xi. You must have a cold heart and be uncaring, even to the deaths of loved ones so that you can continue to use this ability. If you feel it is a burden, pass it on to someone—whether human or yokais like us—you deem it worthy to give it to.”

Her master’s voice became more distant but she heard a “because”—

-“There is bound to be someone out there more ruthless and uncaring to suffering than yokai.”

After the voice faded into silence, her tunneled vision caught Nova’s piercing gaze fixed on her. His cold, golden eyes glowed faintly, radiating a frost that seemed to seep into her very soul. A shiver crawled down her spine, and an unfamiliar dread gripped her—an emotion she had not felt in centuries.

“They” had lived among humans for thousands of years, but she had never encountered a gaze so devoid of life, so utterly inhuman. It was colder than the frozen wastelands of the Jotungar, more desolate than any abyss she had peered into. As a yokai, her spiritual connection to humans and creatures of the physical world allowed her to glimpse their essence. Yet, Nova’s eyes revealed no essence at all—only a void, an endless, bottomless pit where evil festered and multiplied.

It wasn’t the raw malice that unnerved her most, but the precarious balance teetering on the edge of his soul. A sliver of reasoning still lingered, like the last fragile thread holding back the tide of chaos. But she could feel it stretching, fraying, ready to snap. And when it did, the dam would break, unleashing something far darker than anything she had ever known—something that would drown the world in its wake.

That is why he must never this martial art.

Nothing alive would be able to stop him.

Mian Xi lost consciousness, and with that the referee announced her disqualification.

This was fine. She could always try again next month…

> Jotungar is the realm of giants in the Star Fantasy universe. More realm names will be mentioned in the future.