Before she knew it was the next day. After dinner, Sylia returned to her quarters in the arena, wiped her body down with a wet towel, and went to bed as soon as possible.

While you’re in the waiting room of the arena, you can hear the cheers of the crowd to an extent. Apparently, there were a lot of spectators for the finals. The arena manager must be grinning ear to ear right about now.

“Fighter Sylia, to the arena!” the clerk calls out.

The waiting room that was so noisy during the first rounds, was now dead silent.

“Now, then,” the clerk said.

Sylia said as she got up from her chair and picked up her gigantic sword off the wall, it makes a metallic sound as it comes down.

“Are you still heading out?”

Sylia puts her sword on her back and proceeds to the arena as instructed. As she left the dim corridor she was greeted by a bright hell.

“Fighter Sylia, on the field!” the announcer cried.

The moment you enter the arena proper, the flood of sunlight and the intensity of the cheers hit you first. Though Sylia thought it was annoying, she headed toward the center, as her vision gradually adjusted to the bright light she noticed the armored knight standing before her. It seemed that he’d arrived first.

“Honestly, I hadn’t realized I’d be fighting you,” the knight said.

“Is that so?” Sylia replied bluntly.

The knight seemed to know Sylia but she didn’t know how unless she asked him. He was surprisingly careless about his opponent. “Once we fight, I’ll understand why,” Sylia decided.

“I have a suggestion for you,” the knight says.

“I refuse,” Sylia replied without hesitation.

It’s the same old story. In short, this kind of opponent would recommend surrender. Most likely he doesn’t want to hurt a young girl like Sylia, or he’s got other reasons.

On that note, Sylia decided the man standing before her is probably the former.

“I am here because I have a goal I’m striving for,” Sylia continued. “I can’t bear to hear such a proposal.”

“… I see,” the knight said. “No, my apologies. I was a bit confused. Now then,”

The man holds a sword in his right hand and a shield in his left. At first glance, it looks like he’s wielding it normally, but the sword is always slowly swung around his opponent’s center of mass, and the shield is aligned with the knight’s center of mass, making it difficult to read his next movements.

(This is going to be bad,) Sylia thought.

Without a doubt, he was a strong opponent. After making that judgment, Sylia wiped off her sweating palm on her clothes and put that hand on the giant sword on her back.

With the sound of her unsheathing her blade, the venue calms down, if only for that one moment.

“Begin!”

And with the crash of a gong, the arena exploded into violence.

“Shih, fuh!” Sylvia grunted.

Sylia’s expectations were correct. She couldn’t hit the knight with her massive sword when she feints then swings head-on with terrifying speed, he just dodged the actual attack while deflecting its arc with his shield.

“Hah!” the man shouted.

He countered smoothly and cleanly, as best as he could strike back while in an evasive stance. Sylia barely avoided it by forcibly kicking off the ground and launching herself back.

How long had it been since they started fighting? Sylia figured it had to be quite a while for all the injuries and fatigue she’d built up, but it seems time was passing extremely slow, probably because she focused her mind.

“Hah, hah!” Sylvia panted.

As Sylia struggled to control her labored breathing as much as she could, she kept her eyes on her opponent so he wouldn’t find an opening in her.

“……….”

The knight doesn’t say a word. It seemed he was just looking for the right time to focus his strength and kill Sylia.

(This is really bad…) Sylia thought.

Among the opponents she’d fought so far, many spoke in the breaks between clashes. These were often setups for various plans like a simple taunt or confusing their opponent. But those tactics wouldn’t work on Sylia. If you let yourself become upset by those, you’ll likely lose your life, or at best become the winner’s plaything.

However, unlike all of them, some difficult opponents don’t bother to speak at all in these brief moments of peace. One of them was the knight before her.

“Shih?!” Sylia gasped.

The knight raised his shield and charged. Sylia can’t predict his next move, he was hiding the tip of his sword and his hand behind it. And she realized too late he was only planning a shield charge.

“Kuh, ugh…” Sylia groaned.

The shield struck and knocked Sylia off-balance, its massive size gave it enough heft to break Sylia’s guard, not to mention the strength of the knight holding it was also significant.

(Bad!) Sylia thought.

Her sword falls to the ground on its side. It was too late to stop it from flying out of her hands. Hence, the only way to prevent more damage was to absorb the blow with the most solid parts of her armor, Sylia used all her strength to twist her hips and do so.

“Guh, ouh!” Sylia gasped.

Her chest armor had iron reinforcements that kept her torso from being sliced in half. However, it wouldn’t stop the force of the impact. Sylia flies away from the strike, you would think she would faint from the tremendous blow to the chest, but she stayed conscious thanks to living as a mercenary since childhood. Then, the moment her feet hit the ground, she instinctively dodged to the side.

“Stop,” the knight mutters softly.

His sword comes down where Sylia was standing. If it hits, it’ll certainly kill her instantly.

So was her situation.

Sylia couldn’t afford to worry about her imminent death or the intense aching of her waist. She quickly recovered her sword from where it was laying on its side.

And then she glared at him again.

“Fuh, fuh…” she panted.

The audience was quiet. Sylia didn’t know if they were intimidated by this match or if they were thinking about the fates of the knight and the young girl about to kill each other, but it doesn’t matter to the two fighters standing in the arena.

“Sei…!” Sylia cried.

“Muh…!?” the knight gasped.

Sylia was the first to strike this time. However, it was a surprising move for the knight.

“…!!”

The knight barely deflects the “flying” sword. Yes, Sylia just hurled her titanic sword at him with incredible force.

(Throwing your weapon away by your own volition… have you lost your mind?!) the knight thought.

His shield blocked his eyes for a moment, preventing him from seeing the murderous ball flying toward his face.

“… Wha…?” the knight mutters.

That moment was enough for Sylia. In the beginning, she moves with her heavy sword on her back. Without it, her speed was ridiculous and it was easy to close the gap between them.

The knight was shocked by the speed, but at the same time, he wondered what she was planning to do with such a useless move. He didn’t think she’d hit him.

(Just what are you planning?) he thought.

He was certain it was her loss. One of the most unbearable emotions in a battle. And in the next moment, he felt that the weight of his equipment around his hips suddenly became lighter.

“Impossible…!!” he cried.

It was too late when he noticed it. Sylia had stolen the knight’s scabbard with terrifying speed and hostile intent. Then,

“Seeeeeeeeeei…!” Sylia roars.

As the knight was confused, she struck the side of his helmet with as much strength as she could manage. It was the best strike she could make from her posture stealing his scabbard.

Kaan!!! The metal scabbard and the metal helmet collide then the sound of a bell ring echoes in the arena. And when the knight’s head received the impact, he collapsed and stopped moving.

“Haah, haah…!” Sylia panted.

It was down to the wire. Sylia also falls to her knees after she reaches the very limits of her concentration, it finally breaks. However, she had a strong spirit.

She had to laugh at herself, for how insane all of that just was. She threw her beloved sword, albeit to rob her opponent’s sight. If even one aspect of her plan didn’t go through as expected, there was only surrender or death.

(I won the bet…) Sylia thought.

The referee approached and confirmed the knight’s condition, then he put his hand skyward.

“We have a winner!: Fighter Sylia!”

As the crowd roared and the sunlight continued scorching her, Sylia finally lost consciousness. It seemed she’d taken a lot of damage.