WIEDERGEBURT Chapter 40

“You remember the terms of our agreement?” I asked.

Grant sneered. “Of course I do.”

I didn’t let his sneer bother me right now. I hated this person more than anyone even the Great Overlord of the Seventh Plane, but I wouldn’t let that rule me. Taking several deep breaths somehow allowed me to keep my cool. Right now I needed to remain calm, placid, like a perfectly still lake. Deep breath. In. Out. I could do this.

“Should I win, you will cease any and all attempts to force Fay and Kari into an arranged marriage. Furthermore, you will stop bothering them and never darken their doorstep again.” I spoke loudly enough that everyone in the stadium could hear me. The stadium was quiet as well, which helped project my voice to every corner of the Colosseum.

“And if I win, you will cease speaking to those two,” Grant said. “You will never come near them for as long as you live.”

I nodded. That was the agreement we had made when I challenged him to this duel.

The Colosseum was completely silent, with not a single soul speaking out. Everyone stared into the arena. As I glanced at them, I could see several people leaning over and whispering to each other.

“You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for this moment,” Grant Leucht said as he and I stood across from each other. He hadn’t touched the sword by his side, which made me guess the sword was decorative or perhaps only used for a specific Spiritual Technique. “Ever since I discovered that you’ve been trying to seduce my Kari, I’ve longed to let you feel the shame and humiliation that comes from being beaten like a dog.”

“The only person who has tried to do anything to Kari is you,” I said in a clear voice. “I’d call what you attempted seduction, but you’re so inept that you can’t even get a woman to love you and have to force them into arranged marriages using your family’s influence. Men like you are the most pathetic wastes of space in existence.”

I couldn’t remember a time where I had said something so insulting before in my life, but this man had earned all the enmity I could possibly have for a single individual—even the Great Overlord of the Seventh Planes didn’t have to deal with this much of my hatred. Kari might have died at that otherworldly being’s hands, but this man had caused her to suffer for years. I’ll admit it. I wanted this man to suffer.

Grant’s ears turned a startling shade of scarlet as his face morphed into an ugly sneer. “We’ll see how long you can say such things after I’ve burned you to ashes!”

A powerful Spiritual Aura ignited around Grant, swirling around his body like intense flames. The red energy held a serious heat. The ground beneath his feet was actually getting scorched because of the intense fluctuations in temperature, though it was also because he lacked control. Had his control over his Spiritual Power been better, he could have chosen what to burn and what to leave unharmed.

“The only one who is going to lose right now is you,” I said, raising my ruler and pointing it at him.

Grant screamed at me as he shot forward. His speed was quite something, actually. He was using short bursts of fire to propel himself across the ground. It was similar to my Flash Step, but it was far inferior.

I watched him come toward me and channeled lightning through my ruler, which glowed a pale blue before the segments detached from each other and raced forward. With naught but a thought, the Dragon Tail Ruler shot straight for Grant. Sadly, the other man proved adept at dodging and stepped aside.

With another thought, I changed the ruler’s direction, making it curl around and attack from behind. Grant had been expecting it. He moved again, allowing the ruler to race past him and continued running.

“That won’t work on me! I’ve already seen this trick!”

After reaching a certain distance, Grant slammed his hands onto the ground. Two jet streams of fire blew form his hands and launched him into the air. He traveled in a parabolic arc, descending toward me as he rotated his body in a forward flip. The leg that he extended suddenly ignited as he prepared to drop his heel on my head.

The ruler came back, the segments once again locking into place. I took exactly one step back. Grant’s heel slammed into the spot where I was standing, an explosion of fire scattering across the ground. The heat caused me to break out in sweat. However, I channeled the water element through my body and used it to cool down. I wanted to appear completely unperturbed, as though nothing he did could so much as make me sweat.

Grant had some modicum of talent. He didn’t let the fact that he missed stop him. Pushing himself to his feet, he launched a series of rapid punches. His fists were coated with red flames. Each punch caused gouts of fire to shoot from his hands, extending the range of his punches. A left straight was dodged when I tilted my head. The fist grazed my hair, but the water element kept the fire from burning it. I leaned back as he swung at me with a hook. An arc of fire jettisoned from his attack, but it dissipated with a hiss before reaching me. Taking two steps forward, Grant launched a powerful heel strike, his foot similarly coated in flames, but I brought my ruler between us and let it take the attack instead.

“Pathetic,” I murmured just loud enough for him to hear.

Gnashing his teeth in anger, Grant leapt back and moved his arms. His fists traveled in a circular pattern that caused flames to ignite in the circle’s center. Then he tucked in his elbows before slamming his fists into the fire.

The attack he launched looked like a pair of fireballs at first, but then the two fireballs collided together, and the flames changed shape. A reptilian muzzle emerged from the flames, followed by a long, serpentine body. Two wings flapped as the creature flew forward. It was a type of fire dragon.

“Oh… so he knows a B-rank Spiritual Technique,” I murmured as I slid my feet apart and set my ruler on my shoulder. I could feel the heat from where I stood. Gripping my ruler with both hands, I channeled the water element, encasing the massive slab of metal in a condensed blade of water. “It’s awfully impressive that you know a B-rank Spiritual Technique, but it’s obvious that you haven’t even come close to mastering it yet. This fire dragon should be at least sixteen meters in length, but it isn’t even half that.”

I didn’t think Grant could hear me. Not that it mattered. I was mostly talking to myself.

As the fire dragon drew near, I released a soft grunt and swung the ruler down. I felt some resistance as my blade split the dragon in half. The two halves separated down the middle and flew in opposite directions. They didn’t explode, which was what would have happened if Grant had mastered this technique. Instead, they just quietly dissipated.

“What?” Grant’s eyes grew wide and round as his arms dropped to his sides. “You… but you… my most powerful attack…?”

“That was your most powerful attack?” I wanted to frown because of how weak that attack had been, but instead I smiled. “I hate to tell you this, but a Spiritual Technique of that caliber isn’t enough to make me even break out in a sweat.”

Grant’s face had gone pale as his knees shook. I couldn’t stop the hatred I felt for this man as I saw his face. I knew, logically, that the Grant standing before me had yet to truly commit any heinous acts. I knew that. However, even if the Grant from this life hadn’t forced Kari into an arranged marriage, drove Fay to her death, and poisoned Kari’s entire family, I also knew it was only a matter of time before he did.

That was why, upon taking a single step forward, I unleashed my Spiritual Power and bombarded him with the intensity of my Spiritual Pressure.

***

When Eryk’s Spiritual Pressure swept over her, Kari felt her body jolt. She straightened her spine as though a Spiritual Lightning Technique had shocked her. Staring down into the arena, she watched as intense waves of Spiritual Power swept across the ground. A massive pillar of pale blue energy swirled around like a water cyclone as arcs of lightning skittered across it.

She wasn’t the only one who appeared to be shocked from the Spiritual Power that Eryk was releasing. Her three brothers had gone completely silent. Geirolf looked like he’d swallowed something unpleasant. His wide eyes and gaping mouth were very telling. Meanwhile, Mikkel had straightened his back and opened his eyes as he stared onto the arena floor. Earland was also staring at Eryk, but there was an intensity in his eyes that shocked Kari.

“This Spiritual Pressure… it really is the same… The exact same…”

Kari barely realized she was whispering to herself as she pressed a hand to her chest. Her heart was thudding wildly against her ribcage, like a caged Demon Beast trying to break out. She felt as if her soul was resonating with Eryk’s Spiritual Power.

“What is the same?” asked her mother.

“Do you remember that intense Spiritual Power that appeared over two months ago?” Kari asked. She didn’t given her mother time to respond as she nodded at Eryk. “That Spiritual Power has the same feel as Eryk’s… except his feels, I don’t know, more refined, I guess.”

“I thought as much,” her mother murmured. “I’m not as sensitive to Spiritual Power as you are, but I certainly recognized this boy’s unique Spiritual Signature. I thought I might be mistaken at first, but if you’re confirming it, then it must be true. Really…” the woman murmured as she frowned, “how did this boy manage to slip under our perceptions for so long?”

Kari had no answer for her mother, so she remained silent and stared at the boy who was releasing a power that, for some reason, resonated with her soul.

***

“Holy shit!” someone in the waiting room said, though Fay didn’t know who.

The waiting room was mostly quiet as everyone looked out of the window to watch the fight. The battle between Eryk and Grant had started off simple enough, but now it had become something far more.

Spiritual Power unlike anything she’d ever felt was pouring out of Eryk like a geyser. It swirled around his body and caused arcs of lightning to lash at the surroundings. Oddly enough, while the lightning felt like it powerful enough to destroy this entire Colosseum, none of the arena received any damage.

“What an intense Spiritual Pressure,” one of the women present muttered as she placed a hand on her chest.

“I’ve never felt anything like this,” another person said.

“Ugh, now I want to fight this person. I wonder if I can switch opponents?”

“Ha! If anyone is gonna battle that man, it’s going to be me!”

“In your dreams!”

As Catalyna and Marko Kriger began arguing with each other, Fay raised a hand to her chest, feeling the loud, powerful pounding that made it seem as if her heart would beat its way out of her ribcage.

Why is my heart beating so fast?

She didn’t have an answer for herself.

***

I walked toward Grant Leucht one step at a time, moving with a calm, glacial slowness. I was doing this on purpose. The longer it took me to reach him, the more frightened my opponent seemed to become.

By this point, Grant Leucht was already frozen in place. He couldn’t move even if he wanted to. My Spiritual Pressure kept him from moving, locking up his joints and forcing him to watch as I slowly walked toward him, dragging the Dragon Tail Ruler across the ground as I did so.

It seemed like my Spiritual Pressure’s effect increased the closer I got to Grant. At fifteen meters, Grant’s pale skin had become covered in sweat. At ten meters, his body began shaking. At five, Grant had fallen onto his back side and could only stare up at me with wide, horrified eyes. Finally, I stopped walking after reaching the one meter distance, but it wasn’t because I had intended to. Grant had lost control of his bladder. An acidic stench hit my nose as a puddle appeared underneath my opponent.

I wrinkled my nose at him. “This match has been decided. You’ve lost. I expect you to honor our agreement. You will cease using your family’s power and influence to try and force Kari and Fay into an arranged marriage, and you will no longer talk to them ever again.”

There was no telling if Grant even heard what I was saying. His eyes were wide, unseeing, and his pale face was shaking in abject fear. I clicked my tongue and sealed up my Spiritual Power. The moment my Spiritual Pressure faded, Grant’s body became like a puppet whose strings had been cut. His eyes rolled up into the back of his head as he fell backwards in a dead faint.

I clicked my tongue and turned to Rainer, who I realized was looking at me with a shocked expression as though he was staring at the muzzle of an A-rank Demon Beast.

“Are you going to call the match?” I asked.

“Oh. Right.” My words snapped Rainer out of his stupor. He raised his hand and called the match. “The winner of the first match is Eryk Veiger!”

I nodded, satisfied, and turned toward the door. As I began walking off the arena floor, I noticed Valence giving me an odd look. I wondered about that expression for a moment, but then I shrugged and wandered through the door, down the hall, and into the waiting room. When I arrived, all eyes turned toward me. I looked at the people in the room, frowning at them, but then I dispelled my discomfort and wandered over to Fay.

She was standing by the window. As I approached, she smiled at me and tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear.

“That was a pretty crazy match.”

“You think so?” My frown deepened. “Grant Leucht was really weak. To be honest, I had been hoping to extend the match a little longer, but he was so weak there wasn’t much point.”

“You wanted to keep the match going?” Fay looked at me like I’d said something weird. “Why would you want that?”

“Because I was hoping to crush his spirit,” I answered. “Grant Leucht was trying to force you and Kari into an arranged marriage with him regardless of the fact that neither of you wanted it. Our agreement was that if I won, he would stop and never bother the two of you ever again. However, Grant and the Leucht Family as a whole are arrogant and remorseless. I do not have any confidence in them honoring their agreement.”

Fay didn’t say anything for several seconds, but then she nodded. “And so you were hoping that by completely overwhelming him, he would become so afraid of you that he would go out of his way to avoid coming near us.”

“Yes.”

Fay hesitated. “You did that… for Kari?”

“And you,” I stated without pause. “I told you before that I was going to help you. We trained together so you could defeat him on your own, but even if I was the one he went up against, I wanted to make sure he couldn’t pressure your family into selling you off like chattel.”

“Will Hellen Brynhild and Arild Kriger come to the arena?” Rainer’s voice pierced the quiet atmosphere that had been left in the wake of my victory. I only now realized that no one had clapped for me this time.

Two people suddenly moved toward the door. One of them was a powerful woman with a solid build, a masculine face, and full-body armor that clicked together as she walked. A sword hung at her hip. It was a broadsword with a plain scabbard. While her weapon didn’t look like much, I knew better than to underestimate her. This woman was Kari’s instructor, I believed. That meant she was powerful.

The other person was a younger woman with pale reddish hair that bordered on pink, which she currently wore in a leather band. Her body was not covered in full armor like Hellen’s. She wore a chestplate that covered only her breasts but left her stomach exposed. Shoulder pads rested snugly against her, held together by a set of leather straps. The light blue clothing she wore underneath her armor shifted as she walked. The ends of a white tabard swayed back and forth around her legs. Her weapons consisted of two short swords that were slung across her back, forming an X-pattern.

Fay and I watched the two leave the room, and then she turned to me.

“Thank you,” she said simply.

I knew better than to say something stupid like, “you don’t need to thank me” or, “I only helped you because I wanted to.” If someone felt gratitude, they thanked you, and if you weren’t an idiot, you accepted that gratitude and said…

“You are welcome.”

They were just three simple words, but they caused Fay to smile at me, which I returned before the two of us turned back to the window. Hellen and Arild had just emerged onto the arena. The people had become lively once again and were cheering and screaming. I guessed that meant they had gotten over their shock.

“Who do you think is going to win?” asked Fay as the two women took their place on the arena floor. Hellen unsheathed her single sword, while Arild reached behind her and removed her short swords from their sheaths.

“It’s hard to say.” I narrowed my eyes and used Spiritual Perception to judge the two combatants. “Hellen doesn’t have as much raw power as Arild, but she seems to have more control. What’s more, she has a water affinity, while Arild’s is fire, which puts them on even ground in terms of power. A fight like this will come down to which of them is more skilled.”

“I suppose so.” Fay glanced at the two as Rainer announced that the battle had begun. “I’ve heard of Hellen Bryndhild before. She’s a captain of the Nevarian Spiritualists and is currently considered the most powerful among the ten captains. She earned the nickname Water Goddess Brynhild due to her unique style of combat.”

As Fay spoke, Arild released her Spiritual Power, activating her aura, which took on the shape of a dense flame. Unlike Grant, whose flame was red, hers was blue. I’d heard from a member of the Alchemy Association that blue flames were the hottest type of flame in existence. According to him, it had something to do with the amount of oxygen flames consumed. A flame that consumed a high amount of oxygen would turn blue and the heat would increase. I didn’t know how hot they got, but I’d seen someone else whose flames were blue, and their flames could melt steel with ease.

Unlike Arild, Hellen did not produce a Spiritual Aura. It wasn’t because she couldn’t. Hellen had already reached the Second Stage of Spiritualism.

“Hmm… her combat style seems to rely mostly on being incredibly fast and overwhelming her opponents,” I analysed her battle from yesterday. “But I assume you are actually referring to how she uses her element. Come to think of it, I never saw her use the water element during the preliminary round yesterday.”

“That’s because she didn’t get injured yesterday,” Fay said.

“Ah.”

And just like that, I realized what sort of fighting style Hellen Brynhild had.

I turned back to watch the fight, which was now underway. Arild was swinging her swords in a manner that seemed wild at first glance, but it had a definite rhythm to it, and each swing unleashed a powerful crescent shaped wave of blue flames. I couldn’t feel the heat from inside the waiting room. However, each crescent wave scorched the arena floor, turning the ground into a black mess.

Despite a seemingly uncountable number of attacks heading toward her, Hellen remained calm as she slowly walked forward, swinging her sword with precise and swift strokes. A horizontal slash sliced apart the first crescent. Her downward slice split another flame in half. Spinning on the balls of her feet, she swung her blade from the ground on her right, moving diagonally toward her left shoulder. Not only did this attack destroy the flame crescent, but a wave of water flew from her blade. Hellen then swung back down, creating another wave of water, which increased both the size and speed of her first Spiritual Technique.

Arild dodged the technique instead of taking it head on. The powerful wave of water kept going. It slammed into the wall several dozen meters behind her, exploding with enough power to dent and crack the stone.

When Arild dodged the attack, Hellen used that moment to shoot forward, pushing off the ground with her powerful legs and blitzing toward her opponent. Arild suddenly found herself trapped within an intense melee battle. While she tried to do her best, Hellen quickly overwhelmed the girl, who obviously lacked the years of experience that she had. It wasn’t long into the battle before Hellen disarmed her opponent and placed a blade against Arild’s throat.

“Surrender,” Hellen said.

Arild sighed. “I give up. It seems you really do live up to your reputation as the Nevarian Spiritualist’s most powerful captain.”

“I appreciate the compliment.” Hellen smiled. “It’s high praise indeed to receive such a compliment from a member of the Kriger Family.”

“The winner of this match is Hellen Brynhild!” Rainer announced, causing many people in the audience to burst with applause and cheers. “Will Finn Søkere and Fay Valstine enter their arena now?”

“I guess that means it is my turn,” Fay said.

“I would wish you luck, but I don’t think you will need it.” I placed a hand on her shoulder. “Show everyone how strong you are.”

Fay’s smile seemed to have an extra shine as she nodded at me. “I will.”

I removed my hand and watched as Fay walked toward the door, and then when she and her opponent disappeared, I turned back to the arena so I could watch my friend fight in her first one-on-one battle.

***

Fay’s opponent this time was a man named Finn Søkere. He stood about one head taller than her, was broad shouldered, and wielded a sword that was long and narrow. It didn’t look like a standard broadsword. He also appeared to be a Nevarian Spiritualist because he was wearing their traditional leather armor. With his bright blue eyes, blond hair, and calm demeanor, someone might have mistaken him for a prince.

As she stood there, Finn glanced at something above and behind her, causing Fay to frown.

“Are the two of you ready?” asked Rainer.

“Yes,” Fay said as she slid her feet apart and adopted a fighting stance.

Finn returned his gaze to her, held his sword up to his face, and stood with his back straight. “I am also ready.”

“Then this fight is officially underway.” Rainer sliced his hand through the air. “Fight!”

Perhaps it was because of her previous fight during the preliminaries, but Finn launched an attack the moment the battle started. His bright yellow aura activated as he took two steps forward and thrust out his sword. A powerful bolt of yellow lightning erupted from the tip and formed a spear point.

Fay responded on instinct. She clenched her hand, spun it around in a circle, and then thrust it forward. The fireball that flew from her fist and slammed into the lightning bolt. However, Fay found herself surprised when the lightning bolt tore her fireball apart and continued toward her. This forced Fay to leap out of the way, but Finn, who must have been anticipating what she would do, stepped forward and launched another powerful bolt of lightning at her.

Left with no other choice, Fay used the Flash Step to avoid the attack. The world around her blurred slightly as she suddenly reappeared ten meters from where she’d initially been standing. She eyed Finn, who stared at the spot where she had been, and then looked at her.

“I think I understand the basic principle of your Spiritual Technique,” he declared. “I don’t know how you activate it, but that fast movement of yours is clearly done by generating an intense burst of kinetic energy by sending your Spiritual Power to the ground. It’s a simple technique, but it is also very ingenius. No wonder those people who fought you during the preliminaries had so much trouble countering it.”

“You’re awfully perceptive,” Fay said with a grimace. She didn’t like that he’d already seen through the Flash Step. If he had, then it meant he might have also found a means to counter it.

As if reading her thoughts, Finn smiled. “Unfortunately for you, while I don’t know how you do it, I am capable of at least countering it.”

Finn began shuffling his feet along the ground, moving in seemingly random patterns that Fay couldn’t understand. The he swung his sword. Lightning burst from it like a tempest. Fay tried to use the Flesh Step to escape, but then she realized, to her shock, that she couldn’t use the Flash Step.

Incapable of using the movement technique Eryk taught her, Fay was left with no choice but to hurriedly dodge.

***

“Now this is interesting.”

Kari glanced at her mother, who was studying the battle with keen interested. “What is interesting?”

“That young man has figured out a way to counter Fay’s movement technique.” She gestured toward the battle. “Take a closer look at him. What is he doing?”

Kari frowned as she studied Finn, who continued to shuffle his feet along the ground. She didn’t see anything at first. However, her mother wouldn’t have suggested she take a closer look at Finn if there wasn’t a reason.

It took her a awhile, but she eventually discovered what her mother had already found.

“He’s sending electricity into the ground!” she exclaimed.

“Correct.” Her mother smiled. “That strange dance he is doing is generating a sort of static electricity that has spread across the whole arena floor. It doesn’t actually cause any harm. In fact, I’m almost certain Fay hasn’t even noticed it, but the electricity is messing her ability to channel Spiritual Power into her feet. He’s completely cut her off from being able to use what might be her greatest trump card.”

Now worried, Kari clasped her hands, watched the battle, and prayed that her friend would be able to find some way around this man’s counter.

***

Fay knew she was in trouble. She couldn’t use Flash Step, and this man wasn’t letting her get in close. Every time she tried, he would shoot one of those powerful lightning bolts at her. Now she was being forced to run around the arena.

For just a moment, Fay cursed the fact that Eryk hadn’t taught her any Spiritual Techniques except for the Flash Step. If she’d had a more powerful offensive technique than the one her father had given her, then maybe she could have simply overpowered this man. Then she remembered Eryk’s words. Someone who knew a thousand techniques was nowhere near as powerful as a person who had completely mastered one. She agreed with him.

Still, that did leave her in a bind.

Finn launched several more lightning bolts at her one after the other, leaving her little time to create a plan, but it wasn’t like all she was doing was dodging. Fay made sure to watch Finn carefully. She’d already noticed that his Spiritual Lightning Technique relied on the simple thrusting motion of his sword to activate, and he hadn’t used anything else, which meant this was probably his only offensive technique.

If she could just get close, she could end this, but she couldn’t use the Flash Step. That strange shuffling of his was somehow stopping her from using it. She could tell this wasn’t a true Spiritual Technique. More than likely, he was somehow using it to just channel lightning into the ground somehow.

As she continued to dodge, Fay looked around at the arena, to see if there might be something she could use. All she saw were the arena walls, however. Those wouldn’t… help… her…

The walls!

Changing direction as inspiration struck her, Fay rushed over to the nearest wall, avoiding lightning bolts as they zipped past her. She leapt into the air when she was less than half a meter away. Twisting her body around, her feet slammed into the wall as she bent her knees to absorb the impact. For one second, it almost seemed as though she was standing on the wall in complete defiance of gravity.

And then the second was up as Fay activated the Flash Step. Her body disappeared in the eyes of others. Even Finn could no longer see her, though he seemed to realize she was coming for him

Because she couldn’t take that many steps, Fay landed on the ground about five meters from Finn, but just as he sent a lightning bolt at her, she activated her fiery red Spiritual Aura and slammed her hand into the ground, using her only Spiritual Fire Technique to launch herself into the air. Finn’s attack missed as she soared over his head and landed on the ground behind him. He tried to spin around and attack, but Fay rotated both fists in a circle as she tucked her elbows into her torso, and then thrust them forward.

This time, when the explosion went up, Fay did not experience the pain of her knuckles and fists being burned. A powerful detonation of fire slammed into Finn, sending him sailing away from her, striking the ground, and rolling across the dirt. The force was still extreme enough that she also skidded across the ground, but the pain from being burned didn’t come like last time.

Fay took several deep breaths as rivulets of sweat poured down her face. Her knees were shaking and she felt a little light-headed. Her battles during the preliminaries had been relatively easy since everyone had underestimated her, but this Finn had not, which forced her to use more effort and cunning than before. It was strangely exhausting.

Finn did not get up after being hit by her technique. His Spiritual Aura was already gone, and his leather armor had scorch marks on it. Furthermore, the cloth underneath the armor had been burnt, leaving his lower back exposed and showing off the blistering skin from where her attack hit him. His sword was lying several meters away.

“The third match of round one is over! Winner by knockout is Fay Valstine!” Rainer declared to the cheers of the crowd.