Paralyzed by the scene, Sero almost failed to register Zioth finishing his cast time, swinging his gigantic Soul Blade around.

Then, the Soul Strider stepped forward and vanished.

"Master!"

Sting quickly moved forward in front of Sero, her rapier drawn. Seeing his Joker poised in an offensive position snapped Sero out of his stupor.

"Wait, no!" Sero tried to call Sting back, but before he could even get the words out, Zioth blinked in front of the Joker, his sword already swung downwards. Sting could only gasp as her body was sliced into two, causing her to dissolve into green dust. Zioth turned to Sero, his sword primed to attack again.

In the back of his mind, Sero wondered if there was any chance of winning. Maybe he should just give up, like Liam said. The others didn’t need him to advance into the semi-finals, so he didn’t need to try this hard anymore. Yeah, he was never someone who liked hard work, preferring to live the easy life. It was fine, Sero could lose right here and go see his father right after.

At the thought of his father, Sero blinked in confusion. He had promised Tiero that he’d see this through, so didn’t that mean he should give it his best? Why did he always resort to giving up when things were getting hard?

Sero let out a growl of frustration, injecting more mana and energy into his Recovery. He was already low on energy, his body beginning to protest. He could feel his mana reserves dipping below the halfway point, limiting his skill usage.

Zioth, on the other hand, still had plenty of mana to spare even considering the speed at which his Undying Spirit was consuming. The Soul Strider bent his knee, preparing to push off. It was either now, or never.

Pushing his efficiencies to their limits, Sero stopped his Recovery, Iron Skin, and Inspiration as he casted Fairness just as Zioth launched himself forward, forcefully balancing their strengths. The overwhelming power flooding through Sero threatened to implode, but he gritted his teeth, enduring the strain. He was able to see Zioth’s movements a lot clearer now that they were on even ground, but Sero was struggling to handle the additional power. He felt his mana reserves sitting at a quarter full, but that should be more than enough.

"Champion, don’t tell me–!" Aphiel protested as she sensed what Sero was about to do.

"If I don’t, then I’ll have no chance of winning," Sero thought back with a grimace as he used Undying Spirit for the first time.

A dark green aura roared forth from within Sero, engulfing him in dense concentrations of mana. On top of the Fairness bonus, Sero nearly fainted from the massive boost of power coursing through his veins. His mana reserves were nearly empty from using just those two skills. It was a risky move, stacking buffs to increase his strength even though Sero knew his body wouldn’t be able to handle it at his current state, but he wasn’t relying on that to win this match.

Zioth’s eyes widened with surprise as he felt the incredible pressure emitting from Sero, but he didn’t stop his charge, gripping his Soul Blade tighter as he started swinging. Compared to the beginning of the match, Sero found it laughably easy to track each slash as he avoided Zioth’s attacks. He knew that the audience were seeing a blur of pink and green, but to him, Zioth seemed like he was fighting underwater as Sero nimbly evaded his sword.

Though it was exhilarating to taunt the Soul Strider by dodging everything, Sero could feel his body begging to give up, his energy and mana reserves running on fumes. Ignoring the pain once more, Sero began to pummel Zioth with punches and kicks, sapping his mana and strength with each successful hit.

"Champion, stop! You can’t handle that much power! Your body will destroy itself!" Aphiel pleaded, sounding almost hysterical. Sero wanted to tell her that everything would hopefully work out, but his concentration was devoted to dealing with attacking Zioth and the subsequent stat stealing.

Zioth himself was unable to defend against Sero’s onslaught, slowly getting pushed back as his strength and mana was drained away, his Soul Blade dispersed. Finally, Sero felt the Fairness bonus wear off, yet his strength was still unproportionally high due to Undying Spirit’s effect. Thankfully, his mana reserves were almost to full capacity again.

Sero pulled back his fist to strike Zioth again, but then stopped as a wave of pure agony wreaked havoc on his body. He screamed, dropping to his knees as the consequence of breaking his limits took its toll.

"Fuck!" Sero roared as the rebound attacked his body in swarms of sharp, searing stabs. Zioth teetered unsteadily on his feet, slowly regaining his bearings as he noticed Sero on his knees. The Soul Strider conjured his blade again, preparing to end the match with one swing. Sero’s body refused to listen to him as he tried to ride out the rebound.

"Not yet…" Sero growled and managed to make a mana knife in his hands, dropping it as soon as it was formed. With a snap, the knife detonated in between the two, launching Sero away from Zioth. In hindsight, it was a bold and idiotic thing to do, but at least it confused Zioth and gave Sero some ground between them.

As he flew through the air, Sero conjured 13 playing cards in his hands, letting them go in the air. The cards exploded with a green light, summoning the 12 face card familiars and Sting herself. Sero hit the ground, timing his fall to cast Force Field and Recovery at the same time. He heard the sounds of combat and hoped Sting would be able to command the Jack and King face cards to buy him just enough time healing to be able to move.

"God… dammit." Sero groaned as he gazed up at the sky, sensing the four queens rushing to his aid. His Recovery worked in tandem with their magic to alleviate the pain in his body.

"What... What was your plan?" Aphiel asked through his thoughts.

"Honestly," Sero winced as he found himself able to sit up. Zioth had already cut through the Kings and Jacks, engaged in a fierce sword fight with Sting herself. "I'm just winging it as I go along, but it seems to be working so far."

"And that is?"

Sero inhaled sharply as he shakily stood up, feeling his injuries slowly fade away. Though his body was becoming stable, the issue remained that he was exhausted and his mana reserves were already dipping below the halfway point.

"In the match against Anya, my Revenge was limited to reflecting damage that she dished out, not her familiars," Sero began. "But the interesting part was that she was able to fuse with her Joker."

"I hope that's not what you're planning on doing, since I can tell your body can't handle any more exertion."

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Nah. I'm wondering if I can do the opposite."

Zioth blasted Sting away with a mana shockwave, turning towards Sero, but the Joker was relentless, coming back to divert his attention.

"How... exactly do you plan on doing that?"

Sero nodded his thanks to the queen familiars, watching their green suit symbols glow in acknowledgement as they raced off to support Sting. Dropping his Force Field, Sero carefully stretched his body to feel the once searing pain now a dull ache. He left his Recovery running with minimal mana supply, focusing his attention on Sting's battle with Zioth.

"I noticed that the Joker is distinct from the face cards in that the faces possess a finite amount of mana within them. Sting, on the other hand, draws her mana from me. Thankfully, it doesn't seem like Zioth's Undying Spirit stealing bonus works on her, otherwise I'd be in big trouble."

Sero took a deep breath, beginning to flood Sting with his mana. To his relief, Sting seemed to realize what he was doing as she pushed Zioth back with renewed strength.

"Anya was a lot weaker than me when we fought, but she had more mana than I did. When she summoned her Joker, her strength was proportional to Anya's pool." Sero dismissed the queens as he focused on dumping more mana into Sting. "That meant that the more mana was being pumped into her Joker, the stronger it would become. Anya's downfall was that she merged with it, fulfilling the conditions for my Revenge."

"Oh!" It sounded like Aphiel understood. "That's why you decided to do something risky. To drain his resources for your familiar to use."

"Yup. I just hope it works."

"And if it doesn’t?"

Instead of replying, he desperately prayed that Sting would be able to overpower Zioth due to being weakened from Sero's previous assault. The Joker’s three-pronged bell hat had fallen off during the sword fight, rips now appearing in her attire. Despite suffering heavy damage prior, the Soul Strider wasn’t letting up, fighting back with the ferocity of a cornered animal.

Sero swallowed hard. He was just barely able to move, but if he was pushed to action, Sero worried his body would give out. Just the intense concentration itself needed to supply Sting with mana threatened to knock him out. At least now he knew why Summoners and similar classes stood in place while their familiars did the work.

As the crowd cheered on Sting and Zioth, Sero’s legs trembled, finally giving out as he dropped to one knee. His mana was running out quickly while Zioth still had plenty left over. At this rate, Sero wouldn’t be able to keep Sting out for much longer, losing the war of attrition. He had to think of a way to beat Zioth in one fell swoop.

"Master!" Sting’s voice suddenly echoed in his head.

"What the– Sting?" Sero started, but then figured it was common sense for a Summoner to be able to telepathically communicate with their familiars. "I mean… yeah?"

"This man isn’t going to go down any time soon, and I believe that you are running low on mana as well?"

"Yeah," Sero gritted his teeth. "I’m outta ideas."

"Might I suggest merging?"

"If we do that, I don’t know if my body will be able to handle it."

"Master, this man seems to hold a high impression of you. If it were to come to it, I believe that he would not be opposed to a final decisive strike between the two of you."

Sero was at a loss for words, watching as Sting and Zioth broke apart just to clash again in a spectacle of green and pink sparks.

"You mean, he’d be down for a showdown of our strongest attacks? That’s so… cliche."

"This man seems to hold you in high regard. It wouldn’t hurt to exploit that." Sting replied with a knowing tone.

"Oh. Ohhh…" Sero got what she meant. He found it pleasing that the Joker seemed to take after him.

Without another word, Sero recalled Sting to his side, immediately beginning to merge with her. Zioth had a fleeting look of surprise on his face when his opponent suddenly disappeared, but as he turned to Sero, he quickly understood the situation.

"Champion, what are you doing?! Your body will be a wreck!" Aphiel cried out as she realized what Sero was doing.

"Master, please do your best." Sting encouraged as she dissolved into green smoke around him.

"Whoa, hold on, what the fuck? I’ve got two voices in my head now." Sero muttered as he finished merging with Sting. Power flowed through his body, but it was a painful stimulation as every nerve in his body started burning. Zioth moved forward, readying his blade.

Sero knew that this was his last chance, and conjured his own Soul Blade. With a hiss, a formless green spear of mana appeared in his hands, crackling with magic. He crouched, holding the blade as if preparing to draw it from a sheath.

Zioth’s eyes widened as he wordlessly understood Sero’s action, smiling with acknowledgement and respect as he stopped a few paces in front of him. The Soul Strider assumed the same position, tensing his muscles.

"Sero Kassel. You’ve pushed me to my limits as I’m sure I did yours. I am honored to have fought with you." Zioth said, channeling enormous amounts of dark pink mana as his Undying Spirit roared around him.

"Ditto. You’re actually a beast," Sero replied, forcing down a sense of guilt.

The pair stared at each other, both preparing to make their final strikes. The crowd simmered down, watching the two intently.

"A-amazing… it seems that Sero and Zioth have come to a mutual understanding of having a final showdown!" The announcer said with a hushed awe.

Sero inhaled deeply, feeling his mana reserves nearly empty. His entire body was on fire, his veins like molten lava. Sting’s power flowing through him squeezed his muscles, causing them to cramp. The Soul Blade he held sparked with mana, struggling to be unleashed.

Zioth’s eyes narrowed, his pressure increasing rapidly. Sero could tell he was putting everything into this single slash.

Slowly, Sero drew some of the Soul Blade’s mana into the hand that held it, gathering the rest from his inner reserves. Thankfully, Zioth didn’t notice.

For a moment, the two were still, readying themselves for the climax. The crowd had gone silent, watching with bated breath.

Sero twitched, causing Zioth to blink forward with blinding speed. Everything happened in a matter of seconds.

Both of them drew their Soul Blades, trying to cut each other in one strike. However, it seemed like Zioth was faster, swinging his sword much faster than Sero could. But, that wasn’t the goal of Sero’s plan. In fact, he was counting on Zioth to move quicker than he did as Sero converted the rest of the Soul Blade into mana, holding his palm out towards Zioth. Too late, the Soul Strider’s eyes widened with surprise as his blade connected with Sero’s chest.

Sero felt Zioth’s sword cut into his body, leaving a gashing wound that he didn’t feel right away. He casted Revenge on top of the mana nuke immediately after Zioth’s attack connected, hitting the Soul Strider directly.

The nuke exploded, sending the two flying in opposite directions. The Revenge enveloped around Zioth emitted another explosion, showering the audience with emerald dust. Sero and Zioth slammed into the walls of the arena, with the latter causing the entire space to shudder from his impact.

When Sero hit the wall, his mind went blank, the noise around him not registering as he fell to the ground and immediately lost consciousness.