[17:45]

Ace exits the armory. After his first match in the Netherly Arenas, he never changed his arsenal. He's always kept the blade on his hip and hasn't used it since his failed attempt to penetrate Le Grande Dragoon's skin in the first round. This time around, he carries a couple of projectile weaponry, including a miniature bag tied around his waist that holds an infinite amount of throwing knives. He was testing them out in the armory and realized they immediately and automatically regenerated more to replace what was thrown back into the pouch. The second projectile weapon he acquired was a hunting bow which doesn't come with any arrows until it's in use, and arrows seem to be unlimited like the throwing knives. After watching a bit of Woman Devil in action, he planned and prepared accordingly for the strategy he has in mind.

Denarrow- "A city. Just like Veno said it would be."

The environment generated for the fight is metropolitan, similar to the one Ace had in the first round. The difference is that the flavor and layout is Western Amerigan, meaning wider streets, with most buildings ranging from one to thirty stories tall. Buildings considered to be 'skyscrapers' only number in the dozens and are spread out. The time of day and weather seem to be different than anything Ace has been in, thus far. Before, it's only been clear skies (except the round fourth jungle) and sunny days. This environment is set in a never-ending sunset with an orange-ish horizon on all sides.

Geo- "Good afternoon to all who are watching today and for some around the world, tomorrow. My name is Geo doing the blow-by-blow. My partner here, Theo, the analyst. We are grateful to be hosting the 2040 Tournament For Paradise's final round eighth. The Woman Devil, this tournament's Auron Goose is facing off against The Untitled who hasn't fought since the fourth round. Theo what do we have here as of right now?"

Theo- "Let just say this, the three who put their money on Untitled are some lucky suckers. While everyone who did not bet on him, which is practically the whole world, are hoping Malala will take the crown. Now what Malala has to do to win is not waste any time while at the same time play it smart."

Geo- "Which she is known for."

Theo- "Exactly, she's known to go all out in the opening minutes to quickly finish her opponents. She needs to do this here and she has the overwhelmingly superior firepower. So she needs to do it without hesitation. Her route to victory is a lot more simpler than The Untitled's."

Geo- "For The Untitled, the game plan has seemed to changed. Though he never comes in with the same game plan, clearly he's more prepared than previous encounters. Evident with the hunting bow and bag of throwing knives."

Theo- "He's looking to have some type of range against Malala Hawk, probably to keep her busy at home. She defeated Stone Stace, a formidable Gladiator of all strength and speed but no range. After the first few minutes of the round, she successfully put herself at a good distance and all she did was stay in the same place which was the sky. She tends to be more focused when she has the higher ground. For The Untitled to win, he needs to make the Woman Devil uncomfortable in the air to throw her off balance. And that is why I think he brought projectiles with him."

Geo- "I one hundred percent can't disagree with you on that. We have a minute and a half left and it's time for the rules of the final round. For those that didn't know, you will now. Each round of this round, labeled checkpoints, is thirty minutes long and there are five of them with a five minute break in between. The round itself ends in either knockout, or a death. If there is neither at the end of five matches, then it's decided by the health bar scoring system. The most latter outcome has yet to happen in a finals."

Theo- "Hopefully that outcome does not happen. It’d probably become more tense than an election."

Geo- "That could be true."

They both chuckle."

Geo- "Oh sorry, I was wrong, we only had thirty seconds left so the buzzer will go off anytime… Oops there it is now. Now let the final race begin to see who'll finally finish in Paradise."

[29:59 Remaining]

[Checkpoint 1st]

Immediately Malala jumps, and a small floor of Musu spawns right underneath her. She uses it like a magic flying carpet. Walls of Musu appear and are flung speedily towards Ace.

Denarrow- 'Where is it?'

He runs towards her sidestepping her first attacks without much effort.

Malala- 'As expected.'

A wall of Musu just as wide as the street appears in front of her. It flies fast toward Ace, pushing everything, including light posts, cars, and newspaper boxes, out of the way, it sweeps the whole street clean. He avoids the sweep, activating Grade-1st of Sin, and quickly recollects himself found gets out of the way into one of the few skyscrapers around. Without hesitation, she throws blocks of Musu, bombarding the building she saw Ace enter. She cripples its structure towards eventual destruction. Ace successfully avoids all the attacks and the building's total collapse by moving on to the next building. His agility and ability to move forward save him again.

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Flying on top of her Musu disc, flying three hundred feet high, going around destroying any building she suspects Ace to be in. After a while, she doesn't see any movement, and the destruction ceases to happen.

Malala- 'He's hiding himself on the ground making me hover lower than I usually do. The lower I hover the higher of a chance he has to attack me. That bow, unlike his blade, doesn't look like it's there for theatrics. He's probably going to use it when I'm at a distance comfortable for him.'

Geo- "After a fast start, the Untitled went into hiding. Woman Devil looks to be employing a search and destroy tactic."

Theo- "This urban environment is serving well for Untitled. He's hiding in the buildings and staying clear from the open streets forcing Malala to come down and search for him. Because she's not too high in the air, it makes it somewhat fairer by giving him a better chance to strike close or long range."

Geo- "Would you say that if these two became in arms distance from each other, The Untitled would win?"

Theo- "Yes, absolutely yes. So many scouts and analysts have given The Untitled probably a hundred in the close-combat rating. His form and technique as a martial artist is really something else and we haven't even seen its full extent. It's unfortunate we haven't seen him in more combat on the behalf of outside circumstances for the previous three rounds. With that being said, I assume that his game plan revolves around getting close to the Devvil and possibly punching her."

Malala continuously looks for him. On the inside, she's frustrated and conflicted. She doesn't know where her opponent is, and destroying structures that her enemy is 'possibly' hiding in is becoming exhausting. She knows she hasn't defeated him but doesn't know if he has been injured. And she can't go down and check if he is injured, or else she's at risk of being attacked. She only knows that he's still conscious and alive because the match is still going on.

[10:24 Remaining]

After a while, she relaxes a little seeing how nothing has happened for so long without any sign of danger. Her peace is then immediately interrupted by a barrage of arrows coming from her left into her radar. She quickly reacts, creating a wall of defense just in time. She makes a hole in the wall, seeing Ace on a rooftop of a twenty-story building. Immediately a Musu spear twice as big as the building he stands on, is thrown and completely obliterates Ace and the building. Then two arrows coming from the other direction hit her right arm. She screams in pain and almost falls off her flying Musu disc. She then stops her fall, trapping herself in a box of Musu. Malala holds her right arm in pain and frustration.

Malala- "How!?"

Denarrow- 'Fuck, I missed.'

He runs away after shooting through the shattered window wall sixty floors up in the sky, standing in one of the few skyscrapers around. He runs down the building's stairs and then jumps onto another building thirty floors high into another hiding place. Malala takes the time to pull out the arrows stuck in her arm. Once she pulls them out, they disintegrate into nothing momentarily afterward. She squeezes wounds while her right arm limps lifeless. Everyone watching the television is stunned as it's Malala's first significant injury of the tournament. Her twin brother, Maximus, grits his teeth while watching the fight.

Maximus- 'Was that what I thought it was?'

Geo- "She puts up a wall for no reason and then destroys a whole building for no reason. Right after she gets hit by two arrows from the opposite direction she was facing, I don't know what is happening. Is she off her game?"

Theo- "I don't know either, she either saw a ghost or thought her opponent was there. Either way, The Untitled capitalized on the open opportunity."

Malala- 'What happened? I know I saw him die. I know the arrows were there. How could he shoot from both sides? No, that's impossible. I saw him die.'

She pauses to think back to what her brother had said.

Malala- "Unpredictability." 'Brother said Sin users may have psychic powers. Maybe that was one of them. Whatever the case, I should use this box as much as possible then.'

She takes down the walls and ceiling of her floating cubic stronghold of Musu, leaving only the floor available.

Malala- 'Unfortunately I can't see through Musu otherwise I would just leave these walls up. But when he strikes like that again, I'll resort to it.'

Denarow watches from afar, hiding and thinking of his next move.

Denarrow- 'Plan A failed. Psychic mirage only works consecutively well against non-Paradisian users. Using a Grade-1st psychic trick like that won't work again the second time around. Especially against a Grade-3rd user like her. I'll have to use a Grade-1st trick when it is at the right moment. My only problem is that defensive move of hers. It's already a waste of time to attack those walls and floors of Musu she throws at me. But I definitely have no chance getting to her if she traps herself in that box. I hadn't planned on dealing with that ultimate defense, it's a simple move I would've done but somehow didn't think about it when facing her. She took down the walls and the ceiling of the defensive box. If I was her, I would be staying inside that box the whole time while trying to attack myself. Now that I think about it, her Musu isn't see-through. During the match I saw against her, she never put a wall up in front of her, unless she was being directly attack. And her Musu has never been very clear. While on my way here, I read on Webepedia that lowering the density of Musu makes it look more see-through, like glass, meaning it's also less powerful. While increasing the density makes it thicker, stronger, and non-clear. I read that and didn't think much about the visibility issue that comes with the change in density. I was more focused on the strength and density she could throw. So this leads to two things, first, she doesn't realize she can shift the density of her Musu or probably doesn't know how to. Secondly, no matter what, slightly modified plan C moves up to plan B.'