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Chapter: 38
Ariel, tied in the stream of water, let out a painful groan.
Seeing that, Karina’s eyes sharpened, and without hesitation, she rushed at Marien.
Gale quickly stepped in front of her as she swung her sword.
Clang!
The sound of swords clashing echoed through the arena.
But Gale could not fully block Karina’s sword, which carried inner strength.
At that moment, a wind blew from Gale’s body.
Whoooosh—
The wind wrapped around Gale’s sword.
Then, as if by magic, power surged through Gale’s sword aimed at Ariel’s neck.
Could it be… this guy is also an ability user?
A smile had already formed on Gale’s lips.
An ability possessed by only a tiny few in this world.
Even Karina could not easily measure its strength.
If it were only swordsmanship, Marien and Gale could not match Karina, but as ability users, the situation was different.
Tsk—
Karina’s teeth clicked with annoyed admiration.
At the same time, she was pushed back, and changing tactics, she swung her sword at the water streams aimed at Ariel.
But the broken water streams tangled and reformed like a regenerating octopus, attacking Ariel and Karina again.
With Gale’s wind added, the water streams moved through the air like sharp blades.
A sharp stream brushed Karina’s shoulder as she tried to block it with inner strength.
Thanks to Gale’s wind, the cut was deep enough to hurt.
“Ka-Karina!”
Instinctively, Ariel drew out her inner strength, and light radiated from her body. At the same time, the water around her evaporated into steam, loosening its hold. Taking that chance, Ariel escaped from the stream.
Karina looked at her in surprise.
Even without being taught, she heated her body with inner strength.
Inner strength comes naturally to her, Karina thought.
At that moment, Ariel came up beside Karina and quickly healed her shoulder.
“Are you okay, Karina?”
“Ah, yeah.”
Karina answered absentmindedly, then looked toward Marien and Gale.
Gale rushed at her, and the water streams followed, clearly unwilling to let Ariel heal her freely.
Karina frowned and muttered to Ariel,
“Stay behind me.”
They would attack Ariel first if an opening appeared.
Ariel’s healing ability was almost unfair.
Perhaps, under the pretense of a friendly match, they would try to break her so she could never use her ability again.
The Bartius Duke family, enemies of Ludovico, would not be happy to have a healer on the opposing side.
But Karina had no intention of letting that happen.
No. Since they dared touch her ally, she would repay them doubly.
“Gale! Block!”
Marien shouted as he saw Karina charging through the water streams.
Gale quickly turned and blocked Karina.
Clang! Ching! Clang! Clang!
The sound of metal clashing rang loudly.
Karina had to avoid both Gale’s sword and Marien’s water.
Even for Karina, protecting Ariel while facing two sword-wielding ability users was exhausting.
“Ka-Karina!”
“Don’t step forward!”
Ariel tried to intervene, but Karina shouted.
Ariel froze, keeping one step back.
“Don’t take a single step forward until I reach you.”
Karina said this while still blocking Marien and Gale’s attacks.
She had trained her inner strength to avoid being a burden, but in dangerous fights, she still could not be fully helpful.
Her role was to stay as far as possible from the enemies’ attacks and support her allies.
Even knowing that, Ariel clenched her fists watching Karina handle the enemies alone.
“Karina! Behind you!”
A piercing wind flew at Karina while she was distracted by Gale and the water.
Whoosh—!
Unlike water, wind has no shape and is hard to detect without sensing it.
Karina twisted her body just in time to avoid the wind spike.
But Gale’s sword waited in the air.
As she tried to block it, suddenly, a water stream wrapped around her ankle.
She had left an opening while blocking Gale’s sword.
Then the water coiled around her like a snake.
“Ugh!”
Gale stepped back to avoid getting caught in the water.
Karina pulled all her inner strength to escape the stream.
The water started bubbling violently.
“You monster of a woman!”
Marien gritted his teeth, sweating as he reached out.
Gale put his sword down and stretched his hand toward her.
The wind wrapped around the water, forming a circular vortex.
The water had become a sphere, trapping Karina.
“Kuuh, krk—”
Karina, holding her breath, let out air bubbles while staring at Ariel.
Her look said: don’t intervene.
“How long can you hold your breath?”
Marien grinned proudly, sweating as he maintained the water sphere.
Gale also sweated, feeling the incredible resistance from Karina.
Even with all their power, they could only trap her feet.
Karina could not be defeated by sword skill alone.
But if she endured inside the sphere, she would suffocate and collapse.
A fighter unable to fight meant defeat.
Either way, victory was theirs.
Just a little longer… just a little longer.
“Karina!”
Ariel called.
Krkrk—!
Karina’s mouth foamed, reaching her limit.
The orphans watching shouted anxiously.
“Karina!”
“Someone! H-Help!”
Isaac, who had been silent, clenched his fists tightly.
It wasn’t only the children.
The Bartius Duke on the platform and the gray dog watching from the arena roof could only grit their teeth and watch.
Then, it happened.
“Stop it!”
Ariel could not stand it and charged at Marien.
Using the movement style she learned from Karina, Ariel closed in faster than Marien expected.
Thud!
Ariel hit Marien with all her strength.
“Kyah—!”
Marien fell backward, and the water filling the sphere drained away.
“Gah! Cough!”
Karina, finally free, coughed in pain.
Seeing that, Gale grabbed Marien by the throat in one swift motion.
“Gah!”
Ariel, held in the air by Gale, struggled.
Karina, catching her breath, yelled desperately,
“Ariel!”
