Waiting for movement, Kallias watched Saki’s still body. A variety of expressions transitioned across his face from boredom to wonder to concern. ‘I find it hard to believe one shot was enough to kill her. I wounded her, but considering everything else she shrugged off I expected her to be back on her feet.’ Kallias took a couple of steps to get a better view of Saki. He needed a sign, anything to show some life. ‘…hmm…’

Nearly a minute passed with no movement. Things started to become awkward for Kallias. He took a few more steps and then a few more again. The longer he waited the less sure he became. ‘It could be a trick, but she was so straightforward before, seems a little out of character for her.’ Kallias continued approaching her until he was nearly on top. He stared down, still cautious if it was a trick.

Forming a couple of balls, he tossed them at her body to check for signs of life. No response came from them, even destroying chunks of her tunic. Kallias checked her once more before he started to test a vein for life.

Life suddenly resurged in Saki’s eyes. Moving too fast to see, she already had a hand around Kallias’ neck. “I’ve got you now! I’m inside your defenses! You can’t do anything about me at this range!” Saki wound up her free fist to put Kallias out.

Chapter 182 – Guardian’s Answer

Kallias gritted his teeth in pain from the tight hold she had on his neck. It was enough to make him gasp a little for air, but not so far as to feel like he was choking, yet. “Playing dead? Didn’t think you had it in you…”

“I don’t care about the fight so long as it is ended! I already told you before I’m not doing this for the honor of a clean fight!” Her fist came in for the finishing blow.

Placing a hand on Saki’s strangling arm, the look in Kallias’ eyes changed. “Then you won’t mind me doing this.”

Saki’s punch continued to come at him, but no longer at the same speed. It was too slow. Her arm felt strange as though a great weight pulled at her. When she realized something was wrong her eyes widened in surprise. It wasn’t just her arm, but also her body. “What?!” She tried to fight the force on her arm, but it was too strong. Her fist never connected.

Kallias grabbed her arm and pulled it away from him, almost as though she did it herself. He took a step away from her, while rubbing his hand over his sore throat. A bit of a smirk resurfaced when she saw her picking up on the changes. “You never noticed, did you?”

It made it even more clear to her that he did something to her. She kept trying to fight with her body that wouldn’t move the way she wanted. “What did you do to me?!”

“It’s the water,” he replied, using his finger to point out the water that clung to her body. “I haven’t only been firing water orbs at you. They cling to you on impact. And all water in here is under my control!” Kallias looked on with anticipation. ‘You’re caught now with no escape. Now show me everything you’ve got! I want more!’

“…Damn…you…” Saki struggled against the forces on her body. It felt much like when he caught her in the water sphere. Nothing responded how she wanted. As though with a ton weight strapped to each of her limbs. It was all encompassing. Fighting it did no good when not even an angle could be made from it.

‘She’s down for good this time! Stay down!’

‘Do you need a little more motivation,’ thought Kallias. Water bullets spun up at his fingers' request. Targeting non-vitals, he released the bullets. Skimming off her skin or making shallow wounds, each bullet found a place. Blood sprayed from the wounds across his face. “Come on!”

Saki glared at him, fighting off the pain. She knew what he wanted. She saw it the entire time in the fight. It never changed for him. ‘I won’t do what you want… I won’t succumb to a fight!’ Despites her injuries, she still tried to pull against the water, however it only made her blood flow faster out of her wounds.

More bullets riddled her body. A lightheaded feeling started to swarm over her. Memories and the present blurred together in her mind. She kept hearing the yelling of the children from the dojo. They taunted her and ridiculed her. It all blended together in mind, none of it really matters. ‘What should I do?’

‘That’s easy! Power up and beat him up like you always do!’ responded Yuki.

‘Eh?! Yuki! Why can I hear you?!’

‘Because this is a self induced motivational hallucination for the sole purpose of providing you the resolve to win!’

Saki’s face turned flat listening to Yuki’s answer. It sounded like something he would say, but it was still a little too direct. ‘Aren’t you giving away a little too much?’

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‘It’s fine, this is normal for this type of story!’ Yuki closed in with Saki. He reached out his hands to grab Saki. The joking part of him disappeared as quickly as it appeared. ‘You must not think so little of yourself, when you protect me, Saki.’

‘But I…he just wants entertainment…I can’t…’

‘So you plan to die?’ Yuki’s question stirred Saki in a way she didn’t expect. She didn’t have an answer for him. She didn’t have one for herself. ‘Saki, don’t forget protecting yourself is just as important as your promise. Don’t fight for him or even to win. Fight to live!’

‘…Yuki…’ A wellspring of energy surged inside Saki. It restored her resolve back to her eyes. Saki discovered her strength returning. The water no longer seemed as heavy. An explosive force burst from her body disintegrating the water and freeing her from Kallias’ control.

A powerful yellow aura surrounded Saki in protection. It caused her hair to flutter to defy gravity turning blonde. ‘No! You didn’t just,’ Yuki protested (just kidding!), ‘Bastard!’

Saki, normal not super-anything, tightened up her fists. Blood soaked her clothes and coated her body, but none of it mattered to her. “It’s time we ended this!” She disappeared from sight and suddenly appeared in front of Kallias, water already came to prevent her, but then she disappeared again. Saki reappeared on the other side of Kallias, but faded away almost immediately. Water kept sprouting up around him with fading images of Saki surrounding him.

Kallias looked around him through the water. ‘Is she moving so fast there’s leftovers of her?’ A bit of sweat dripped down his neck watching her go at him. There was a tingling in his back, an unknown sense from Saki. He liked the feeling. ‘You’re doing it! Show me everything you’ve got!’

Keeping up her attacks, Saki started noticing that her punches broke through the water more than before. ‘I can do this!’ Her speed kept her coming in from multiple angles nearly simultaneously. However, she began to notice something was wrong with her speed. The timing was no longer the same. ‘Why am I slowing down? It’s like my feet are going through…’ She looked down to discover the water level of Kallias’ Field had increased. It was already up to her knees.

“You didn’t think my Field was so shallow as that trickle of water?” he remarked, as the hits on his water came to a halt. The water defense protecting him returned into the large pool. “However, you should notice something else about it as well.” His hint to Saki brought a dark grin to his face.

‘I can barely move! There’s too much pressure!’ Saki tried to get up to any sort of speed, but her legs couldn’t move enough. Her strength failed her. The water continued to rise on her up to her waist. ‘I’m a sitting target!’ As right as her thoughts, Kallias summoned up his bullets for her again. She ground her teeth down at her situation. Her eyes darted around while her legs kept trying to move faster.

Nothing changed her situation. The bullets sped towards her like a blur, her eyes barely tracking them. ‘I can see it! Then…’ Saki rammed her fist into the water with all of her strength and dragged across in one motion. It created a tidal wave that intercepted the bullets. Ripples spread out from the impacts as the water absorbed them quickly. The wave settled back down revealing a more confident Saki. “Objects entering water slow down significantly and with how dense you’ve made the water it’s pointless.”

“Getting clever now,” Kallias answered, excitement clear in his voice.

She knew it would do nothing to faze him, but Saki still hoped for something. However, it did allow her the time she needed to free herself from the water. She jumped into the air and came to a landing atop the water. Ripples repeatedly came out from her feet.

The odd ability displayed made Kallias narrow his eyes in confusion. He worked over the makeup of the water to change its properties, but she remained on top regardless of what he did. It seemed like she just stood on the water. He kept staring at her trying to read the situation for anything he might have missed. ‘If she could do this before she would have shown it rather than struggling. What is her trick?’ Nothing came to him.

Summoning bullets, he had to test her. He needed more information. The bullets sped towards her with no reaction from her. They hit Saki square in the chest, then passed through as though touching nothing. It made his eyes widen with curiosity.

A slight distortion came across part of Saki that lasted for less than a second before it was gone. However, it was enough to alert Kallias. The ripples on the water drew his attention down. ‘Can’t be…but she is…she’s moving fast enough to not break the water’s surface tension, but in a tight enough space to appear as though standing!’ Kallias had to clap, it came suddenly, but he gave her a very brief applause. “Amazing! The things you can do, simply amazing!”

Saki felt a little annoyed by his response, but forced herself to keep her emotions in check. She required a lot of concentration and coordination to keep from sinking into the water. It bought her time, but barely any. ‘I have an end to this…it’s going to be the only way to deal with his defenses. It's the best way to defeat someone too gung-ho for entertainment. I’ll deprive him of it!’

The idea sparked a fire inside Saki’s chest. She felt an end in sight for her. Suddenly, another Saki appeared next to her followed by another. They spread out away from Saki surrounding Kallias with clones counting to eight. “Which one is the real one?” they all spoke.

Kallias crossed his arms looking a little bothered by what he saw. “You think you can trick me with that? I already know you’re moving too fast for me. It won’t matter which I attack, they're all fakes.”

“I thought you wanted to play?”

“Trying to bait me now?”

Frowning a little, Saki became frustrated with her initial attempt. She wasn’t ready to give up on her plan. All of the clones disappeared suddenly. Massive waves erupted along with chunks of earth. Everything cascaded at Kallias with his water blocking it. The assault continued without end.

Unlike before, Kallias couldn’t see anything. Clouds of dirt along with layers of water made it impossible for him to see anything. He felt the ground quaking each time of the impact. It unnerved him a little not knowing what she was planning. ‘I’ve just got to keep the defense up. She’ll stop eventually.’

Yet it did not stop. Sweat dripped down his face and his breathing started to run shallow. The assault continued for a minute and ran on past. The quaking shook in his legs with them feeling like jelly. He could barely stand. Headaches popped up in his head as sweat poured down his face. ‘Can’t…no…I haven’t seen everything…yet…’

Suddenly the water evaporated and the pounding ceased. It was all silent. Kallias stood wide-eyed as though something came to him, but uttered nothing. He just stood, void of any other expression.

Saki reappeared, dry, next to Kallias. She stared at him and then turned away. As she took her first step, Kallias collapsed unconscious to the ground drenched in his own sweat. A bit of a smile came across her lips. She won. His mental energy was completely exhausted. His fun was over, unsatisfied.