“Fellow citizen of Oucropolis! We are here, tonight! To see who is… the STRONGEST!!! To my right! The amazing and mysterious Nut Smasheress! Even though her last fight was close, I think her reputation speaks for itself! AM I right folks!”

‘It wasn’t that ‘close’ though. Yeah, he stuck a dagger in my neck, but it was all under control… fucking amateurs.’

“And to my left!!! …”

Standing in front of Alice was a thin-looking man, looking like a samuraï. His long black hair were carefully tied, and he was wearing a matching-colour armour.

Unlike her precedent opponents, he didn't seem uneasy. He wasn't confident either, he was… calm. In fact, Alice couldn't sense an ounce of fighting spirit emitting from him. She didn't watch his previous fight, and didn't know much about him, other than his name…

"…Sakai! The Black Samuraï!"

What an unoriginal surname... The guy is a samuraï, and he’s wearing a black armour. That’s it.

Nonetheless, Alice was focused. It was her last fight, and she was eager to finish as soon as possible.

Her previous opponent was weak, and although she never came close to lose, she did underestimate him, and the one before that too. For once, she decided to play safe.

The referee shouted the start of the match, as Alice sensed a chill down her spine.

A split second before Sakaï moved, the image of someone flashed into her mind.

A woman.

Kunan.

For the first time of the tournament, she took her stance, guarding herself with her silver dagger.

“⎾Low moon⏌”

He whispered his technique.

Although Alice’s earing was good enough to hear it, widening her eyes in shock.

In a fluid movement, Sakaï drew a moon crescent with the tip of his blade, cutting through her legs.

Well, where they used to be.

Evading by a hair gap, Alice evaded the strike with a majestic backward flip, followed by a brutal landing, burrowing her own feet in the arena slabs.

As the Samuraï started to take another stance, she promptly raised her hand, palm facing the ceiling.

The next instant, an ascending burst of wind propelled Sakaï into the air.

At this point, the crowd had completely lost it, as mad cheer were filling the underground room. The wind attack was so strong a light breeze passed within their rank, but nobody noticed, or cared.

Sakaï was up in the air, showing no sign of slowing down.

However, in no way was he panicking.

He reached the ceiling, and using his amazing sense of balance, landed on it, head down.

A second later, he was jumping toward Alice at full speed, with gravity on his side.

‘Yes… this is fun!’

It was all within her expectation.

Unlike the other, she couldn’t measure his strength just by looking at him, but their first exchange was enough. His style was powerful, and she couldn’t copy it.

For one simple reason.

She already learned it.

Sakaï was approaching at a tremendous speed, and was about to crash into the ground.

At the same time, preparing for impact, Alice was keeping her stance, without any intent to dodge.

A few centimetres above the ground, in front of Alice, he unleashed his technique.

“⎾Ascending Crescent⏌!”

This time he shouted it… but it failed.

Unlike her opponent, she didn't have to scream the name of the technique, mainly because she didn't bother learning it, but also because it would have disturbed the childish smile on her face.

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She was enjoying this, as both of them were stuck in space, Sakaï in the air, the edge of his blade blocked by the tip of Alice’s dagger.

Alice already used this technique, many times. It allows the users to stop a fall while striking your opponent.

But this time, it was blocked, and the ascending momentum summoned wasn’t enough to get the Samuraï up.

So he fell.

Miserably.

On the ground.

Alice didn’t attack him. Instead, she let him get up on his feet, and jump back.

For the first time since the start of the fight, his expression wasn’t calm. He was… scared, and shocked.

“What… are you?”

“Where did you learn this style?”

“I… I learned by myself.”

"No, you didn't. I know who invented them. In fact…"

Gathering her energy as much as she could while keeping her face unchanged, she slashed her dagger behind her, cutting the air, as well as the Coliseum wall behind her.

⎾Spatial Cut⏌

“…she taught me as well.”

It was a huge waste of energy just to show off, but for some reason, she wanted to see the look on his face. In a way, she wasn't disappointed, but for sure she didn't expect that.

She thought he would be shocked, or surprised. Instead, he was... concentrating.

His eyes were shining with a bright and childish light.

Without diverting them from her, he clenched his fist on his handle, bending his body forward.

‘I have a bad feeling about this.’

In a breath, he whispered.

“⎾Spatial… Cut?⏌”

For an instant, the world stop, the crowd went silent, with the only thing moving being the Samuraï’s sword.

It pierced the air, carving a perfectly horizontal cut on the top of the coliseum wall, just above Alice’s one, which head was flying in the hair, detached from her body.

The crowd went silent, for real this time.

The head dropped to the ground, as her body was still standing.

For a few seconds, nobody said anything, as Sakaï put a knee on the ground from exhaustion, as pearls of sweat were invading his forehead, a smile on his face.

“Stop playing around. I saw your previous fight. You didn’t die from this.”

“Of course, but come on… you can’t use the same trick twice, right?”

The illusion cracked, revealing the young woman lying down on her side, resting her head on her palm.

"Good thing you didn't aim for my legs this time."

“How… how did you…?”

“That’s my question, Samuraï kid. What you did was pretty amazing. It took me a few days to get to that point, and I’m a quick learner. Did you perhaps met my master before?”

“I… urgh!”

He painfully tried to get up, without success.

Following this unexpected turn of event, the crowd was totally lost, and nobody was sure what was actually happening.

“Yeah, I don’t think your body can withstand it. Too bad I don’t have a way to heal you. Hope you don’t die.”

She approached him, looking down, with an evil grin on her face.

In the end, it was still fun to play the bad guy.

“What was your name again?”

“Sa…urgh… I’m…”

“Haha, just kidding. Farewell, Sakaï.”

And she kicked him in the face, instantly knocking him unconscious.

Finally, although confused, the crowd acclaimed the victory, throwing their beer inside the arena, running like madmen and screaming like gorillas.

The referee, who was actually close to being split in half by Alice’s spatial cut from earlier, turned on his mic, and shouted.

“AND WE HAVE A WINNER! LADIES! AND GENTLEMAN!!! THE CHAMPION OF THIS YEAR TOUR IS… where is she?”

----------------------------------------

‘Still… I wonder where did he meet with master… and more importantly, man…! A guy that can instantly copy any sword technique he sees?! Even faster than me?! That's cheating!'

“Sigh… At least I’m done with this one. Took me long enough.”

As soon as the word ‘winner was pronounced’, the objective was completed, and Alice was gone. This whole tournament actually gave her more than expected, even though it was nothing compared to what she already has.

It took her about a week, but she had finally finished her 17th struggle, and was already up for the 18th.

Struggle#18

Objective: Leave the Fortress

Sub-objective: none

‘Oh! This one doesn't seem too hard.'