76 Not Bad
Rai nodded his head.
『Nope. Don't understand. Why don't we just have a tournament and show off our new techniques? It's been a while, after all.』[Rai]
Andrew's eyes seemed to shine when he heard this.
『A tournament?! Let's do it. Right now.』[Andrew]
Everyone suddenly got into the idea… but they only had 5 people, which was an odd number.
『...You know what? I think I'll sit out.』[Nova]
Andrew was shocked when he heard this.
『Huh?! Why?』[Andrew]
Nova shrugged.
『If I waste my mana now, who can heal the rest of you?』[Nova]
『...Hmm? Then.. let's have the winner of the tournament fight Nova!』[Rai]
『...Is this because you want revenge for me beating you?』[Nova]
Rai thought about it for a moment before giving him a silent thumbs up.
He quickly input some things into the student ID and the voice appeared again.
『Duel Initiating… Rai versus Leonardo Tsukikaze. Mana shield will be activated when at critical damage.』
『You're fighting Leo?』[Nova]
『I gotta get payback, ri-?』[Rai]
He didn't get to finish before Leo called out to him and interrupted him.
『Hey, Rai!』[Leo]
Rai looked over at Leo and quickly stepped out of the group radius.
Before they could catch on, Leo had sent a kick flying toward Rai.
『Hah!』[Rai]
Rai caught it and held tightly onto it.
An inkstroke suddenly appeared in front of Rai's face.
『Rewind!』[Leo]
Rai's face had suddenly been pulled into the ink and a leg quickly came out of it.
『Dragon scales!』[Rai]
Red transparent scales covered his body and he took the blow without being sent flying this time.
『Hah! Looks like your ability isn't much!』[Rai]
As he said that, he dropped his dragon scales and prepared to strike Leo.
Leo didn't flinch, instead quickly opening his mouth once more.
『Rewind!』[Leo]
Suddenly, another ink stain popped out in front of Rai's face.
『What?!』[Rai]
Rai raised an arm to the side he blocked from earlier, in the hopes that he might be able to mitigate some of the damage.
『Sorry, Rai!』[Leo]
Leo quickly attacked with a high kick to Rai's jaw.
『Ggh?!』[Rai]
The ink stain hit Rai with another straight kick, except it kicked him down to the floor.
『No way! Is Leo going to win?!』[Andrew]
Leo looked at Andrew with a shocked look.
『...That hurt you know..』[Leo]
Suddenly, a shout pulled Leo's attention back.
『Unleash! Zhulong!』[Rai]
From Rai's position on the floor, he had raised his body up and pointed his arm at Leo.
『How didn't you pass out?!』[Leo]
That's when he realized- upon further inspection, Rai didn't get hit by the first hit that should have sent his body into dreamland.
On Rai's arm was a dark bruise that was even bleeding a little.
『He blocked with his arm at the last second!』[Jack]
Zhulong suddenly burst out of Rai's arm and was sent flying at Leo.
He was no longer the little thin dragon that Rai used during that fight with Thean- but he was now more resembling a dragon- as thick as a bottle of water, and as long as a table.
Using length to his advantage, Zhulong wrapped himself around Leo and began to constrict him.
『Wh-Wh-What is this?!』[Leo]
『That's Rai's deific manifestation! Watch out for that!』[Nova]
Jack gave Nova a strange look.
『...You told him after he got caught by it?』[Jack]
Realizing what he just did, Nova awkwardly laughed it off.
『It's payback time!』[Rai]
He jumped back up on his feet and instantly appeared in front of Leo.
Rai began to breathe in and move his hand in a grasping motion.
『Let… go of me! Rewind! Rewind! After!』[Leo]
Ink strokes appeared everywhere, including his hand as he tried to pry Zhulong off.
Strikes and kicks had pulled then battered Zhulong, with any strike that hit Leo phasing through.
『He can't get hit by his own attacks?!』[Nova]
Jack nodded.
『Seems like it.』[Jack]
He grabbed Zhulong and pulled him away from his body, but it was to no avail.
『Zhulong is the most stubborn noodle I've ever met! You can't get him off!』[Rai]
He grinned as his attack was almost ready to launch.
Suddenly, the inkstroke that came out of Leo's hand phased through Zhulong and suddenly materialized.
『GRAAAAAAH!』[Zhulong]
It materialized in the form of a dark black rod before it suddenly vanished, taking that chunk of Zhulong's body with it.
『Huh?!』[Rai]
Zhulong suddenly flailed around in pain, throwing Leo around with him.
『What the?!』[Nova]
『Stop the match!』[Andrew]
Suddenly, they all crowded around Zhulong.
『Leo?! What the hell did you just do to Zhulong?!』[Rai]
Rai stared at Zhulong with worried eyes.
Leo had suddenly panicked.
『I don't know! I've never done that before! That wasn't my Rewind!』[Leo]
『That's your After, I bet! Nova, how does it look?』[Andrew]
『My… After?』[Leo]
Nova stared at the still Zhulong on the floor. He was leaking some type of red particle that floated into the sky.
『...Is this mana?』[Nova]
He had no idea the properties of either of their techniques, as they were supposed to show each other today.
He could only try what he always tried when it came to injured peple.
『Blessed Flame Rebirth!』[Nova]
Rai tried to cover the mana from seeping into the sky, to no avail.
『Wait. Let me try something.』[Nova]
The blue flames covered Zhulong's whole body, but only healed little scratches and decreased the massive floating of particles by a little.
『Does Zhulong have a physical body?! How does he work, Rai?』[Nova]
Rai was suddenly taken aback when Nova began shouting at him.
『Uh…?! He has a physical body, but he doesn't need to eat. He drains mana from me to survive and grow stronger!』[Rai]
Nova nodded, as if he had an idea.
He motioned for Rai to move his hand before inspecting the wound.
It was a clear cube hole through Zhulong.
『The hell?!』[Nova]
It was strange and gruesome to Nova.
He had to try something else.
In his mind, he imagined the concentration of mana all diverting itself into the wound.
『...Birthed from the stars, Burnt to ashes, burn my enemies into nothingness. From ashes to ashes, to stardust and nothing, incinerate the enemy into eternal night...』[Nova]
『Nova?! Isn't that..?!』[Rai]
Everyone else present held their breath, not sure what to expect from Nova's chant- having never seen it before.
『Inferno Purgatory.』[Nova]
Suddenly, a large amount of mana poured out of Nova and all the surrounding flames on Zhulong poured into the wound.
A bright light suddenly flashed and blinded those that were nearby.
Once the light subsided, the wound had no trace of previously existing.
Zhulong wriggled a bit before nodding and returning to Rai's tattoo.
Nova's vision blurred and his body swayed.
The last thing he saw was his friends rush to catch him…. And a familiar voice in his ear.
『...Not bad, kid.』
Nova's eyes once again found themselves in a dark abyss.
