Chapter 146: Final (Part 2)

"Hm, why aren’t you using that power-up you used in the semi-final? You can’t beat me like this," She called out as I eyed her warily, keeping my distance."Oh, that’s off the table. I can’t use it for another...eighteen minutes," I responded, as I glanced at the cooldown.

"I see, that’s too bad. This fight isn’t going to last that long, so I guess that means I won’t get to see it...oh, well, I suppose I might as well end this, then," She sighed as she tossed her blade up, before sprinting forward rapidly as she caught it.

"Hey, now, don’t go writing me off just yet," I replied as she began to close on, an explosive sphere charging up in her left hand and her blade in her right, as I chanted, "<Spite>, <Lethargy>!"

"Wha-...?" She blurted out as I cut her stats by twenty-five percent and hit her with a wave of fatigue, before I shot forward and drove my hand towards the middle of her torso.

While she’s disoriented, I have to strike, I can’t waste this opening!

"Now, <Slumber>, <Mana Pulse>!"

She let out a sharp yell of pain as her body shuddered violently, shakily swinging her sword at me, which I swiftly ducked down to evade, before quickly springing back and leaping across to my right as she fired the charged up explosion, the trajectory veering slightly as she stumbled back, coughing out blood.

A trickle of blood ran down her left nostril as she trembled in pain, before gritting her teeth and shakily firing out a barrage of explosions at me as she chanted under her breath.

I shot across the arena as fast as I could, a symphony of deafening explosions ringing out in rapid succession, bits of the arena floor flying out all over the place with a clatter, before I came to a skidding halt as the barrage finally ceased.

Damn, that was a full-powered Mana Pulse, and while she does look pretty shaky, I was expecting it to inflict a lot more damage.

Her breathing is getting more and more stable, is she healing already? Must be her high HP and Vitality at work.

"Now, then...<Arouse>," I chanted, resisting the surge of arousal as my stats got boosted by twenty percent, my body getting warmer and warmer.

"W-Wow, that really hurt, it’s like a powerful jolt went through my entire body-...hm? Oh, your Aura’s gotten bigger...it’s not as big as it got during the semi-final, and that purple energy isn’t swirling around you, so this must be a different power. Why’s you face so flushed though?" She inquired curiously, as she opened and closed her left fist a couple of times, a slight grimace on her face.

No doubt about it, the damage inflicted by Mana Pulse is fading fast. Still, though, I piled on a good amount of fatigue on her with Lethargy and Slumber, she’s got dark circles under her eyes now.

And her stats will be twenty-five percent lower for the next five minutes...minus however many seconds have passed since I hit her with Spite, of course.

But even with the boost from Arouse on me and the debuff from Spite on her, she’s still a bit stronger than I am, though the gap’s a lot less wide now.

Man, that tight top she’s got on really accentuate her boobs, it’s so-...shit, no, focus, damn it! I can’t let Arouse control me, I need to keep it in check.

I shook my head before taking in a deep breath, letting out a slow exhale before springing across to my left as a rapid explosive projective came shooting towards me, erupting powerfully as it struck the barrier, the arena shaking slightly.

The two of us then shot towards each other in unison, before she swung her sword across as I drew out my gun and fired out a Pulse Bullet at her, blocking it with her blade before firing an explosion at me.

Using Drain to swallow it up will only trigger her to go on a raging rampage against me, in which case...

I swiftly manifested a copy of a box of chocolate powder from Treasury, before hurling it forward with all my strength.

As the box zipped through the air, it intercepted the explosive projectile a few meters ahead, a deafening explosion bursting out upon impact, a dark brown cloud bursting out as the smell of burnt chocolate filled the air.

I raced through the chocolate cloud and leapt forward, her eyes widening as I unfurled a rapid downward slash of my blade.

She swiftly raised her sword up defensively, before tensing as my blade sliced right through hers.

She twisted her body across as fast as she could, the tip of my blade slicing through her armor over the top of her right shoulder and dragging down along her skin, before she slashed at my face with her broken blade.

I quickly tilted my head back, the tip of her blade inflicting a shallow cut across the bridge of my nose, before I ducked down as she drove her left fist towards me, brushing my hair before I got lower, planted my left hand on the floor and launched my feet up, shooting them out towards her stomach like a spring.

She let out a sharp gasp as my feet slammed onto the middle of her stomach with a firm, thudding impact, her feet skidding back a couple of meters across the arena, before she shakily raised her left hand while clutching her stomach with her right hand, firing out a fierce volley of small but rapid explosive projectiles as she chanted under her breath with a grimace.

I sprinted away at top speed, her explosions peppering the arena and erupting with intense bursts of force.

These are a lot less powerful than her previous attacks, but they’re a lot faster and she’s firing a much higher number too...I’m barely outrunning the projectiles, I wouldn’t have been fast enough to evade them if I didn’t activate Arouse.

I came to a swift stop as her barrage petered out, taking a moment to catch my breath...the rise in body heat from Arouse burns through my stamina more than usual and wears me out a bit faster.

On the bright side, my chances in this fight aren’t as hopeless as I’d initially assumed.

I’ve disarmed her of her sword, what’s left of it is shorter than most daggers. The debuffs from my Sloth Skills are definitely affecting her significantly too, her movements and reaction time are noticeably slower than before.

And another thing, she doesn’t fire her explosions at close-range...I should’ve figured as much, she’d wind up getting caught up in the blasts too.

Still, despite the debuffs, not to mention the boost to myself from Arouse, I only have a very slight edge over her.

The fatigue from my Sloth debuffs won’t fade, but the effect of Spite will wear off in less than three and a half minutes.

I’ll lose what little advantage I have when than happens. If I’m going to win, I’ll need to do it before that...