Decidedly, This Situation Isn’t Ideal. (16.2)

…

Fighting against an enemy of Laulos's caliber wasn't something that I liked to do on a regular basis. The worst enemy to face was the one with nothing to lose, the determination to go through with anything, and who never fought fair. That was the sort of Adventurer I wanted my students and myself to be. Naturally, I never expected that I would ever have to fight my students so I taught them without much restraint. It would be outright idiotic to have an employee that wasn't well trained. The time and resources I spent on each one of them would be wasted if I didn't teach them as well as I possibly could. Ergo, I taught each one of my students as much as I could because I didn't want an imbecile watching my back or an idiot dying because they couldn't manage to think of a way out of a situation.

That is all.

Anyway, I was questioning my magnanimity at the moment.

Of course, Laulos was aware of the fact that I refused to show the limits of my magical ability. I never shared the exact details of Conscienta Strenuissium with anyone nor did I plan to. However, there was something to be said for inductive reasoning. Laulos, of all my students, was probably the one who suspected the most that I had such a broken skill at my disposal. I would've probably suspected the same thing if I'd never seen a Mage have a Mind Down despite all the magic they threw about. Under normal circumstances, I doubted that she'd pull off her invisibility trick, but with the audience we had I couldn't exactly start blasting the area with lightning after I'd already done so once before. A talented Mage with a specialized build could theoretically do what I just did, but only once. Therefore, Laulos was free to use invisibility unless I wanted a few dogs to start nipping at my heels.

Of course, that didn't mean that I was at her mercy.

Sheathing my rapier, I reached for the dozens of knives I had at my disposal and began embedding them into the packed dirt all around me. Throwing them with as much strength as I had made it so that the iron shattered against the ground. However, like the bullets that I wanted to replicate, they threw up clouds of brown dust all around me. Five knives and I had a fence which she had to pass through if she wanted to reach me.

Unless, of course, she came from above by leaping above it.

Incoming knives. Weapons become visible after leaving her hands. Three are decoys. Four are meant to hit. Four will hit simultaneously. Laulos seeks to take advantage of weakness. Should've attended recent training camp. Intercept incoming knives with own. Explosion. Decoy knives are monster crystals disguised as iron. Two-pronged attack. Can't ignore any attacks she sends. Cheeky.

This wasn't a matter of skill or brawn. Though I risked sounding chuuni, this was a test between minds. I had to fight against her plans, play by the rules she and I had set, and see who wins in a contest of cleverness.

Well, if I let it get that far that is.

I wasn't the kind of person to rely on my intelligence. I've fucked myself over more than anyone else in my entire life. Playing by rules just made you predictable. There was a whole slew of reasons why I never played by rules that didn't suit me… even if I made those rules myself.

If the whole world was against you, or even if it was just "fair," if your life is on the line then what you have to do is change it so it's in your favor.

The explosions she made? The ones that riddled my legs and left me reeling? They turned up plenty of dust.

Enough dust for me to see her sinking into a certain region of the immediate area.

Enough dust to hide my next move.

Shove Mage Glove into the ground. Mythrill not conductive and heavily resists physical damage. Begin chanting. Laulos has noticed. Dust moving. Ranged projectiles incoming. Weather attacks. Level 3. Can heal. Explosives. Heat and pressure. Continue chant. Cannot respond. Kick received to abdomen. Laulos trying to stop chant. Hands on neck. Chant finished.

Fire Ceaseless Thunderbolt Battery straight into battleground's foundation.

Stone gave way and ruptured to my attack. Spells gained power when one Levelled Up. Ceaseless Thunderbolt Battery was my main method of dealing with boss mobs. While it had plenty of firepower before, while I was a Level 1, it's a spell typically used by Level 4s and above. While I could use the spell far longer than them, their brief period of using the spell held more destructive ability. Basically, Continuous Chain Lightning is now as effective as Ceaseless Thunderbolt Battery was when I was Level 1. Now that I was Level 3 and had Mage, that meant that Ceaseless Thunderbolt Battery was nearly at the army-wiping strength it was meant to be used at.

I had it active for three seconds and in those three seconds I vaporized the immediate area around myself and Laulos and sent the two of us into the Coliseum's underbelly.

Laulos disentangled herself from me before we landed in the dark forest of stone and shadow below the Coliseum.

The only source of light was the hole covered with dust above us. Taking a single step back into the pitch black effectively made me invisible without the use of an Artifact. She couldn't see me and I couldn't see her.

However, what mattered the most was that the rest of the audience couldn't see the two of us.

Chant. Cast Mend. Pain in abdomen and neck fades. Chant. Cast Continuous Haste. Chant. Cast Continuous Chain Lightning. Create decoys. Source of light for Laulos pursue and attack. Prepare to cast net of lightning strands. Chant. Prepare to cast Empower when needed. Preparations complete. Ready Rapier. Imbue Rapier with electricity. No visual signs. Good.

Time to put being a Level 3 to work. I could only hope that I got the hang of finding people in the dark before Laulos did. Eh, who am I kidding, with the amount of things I pay attention to all the time, I probably already did.

Wind. Primary source is entrance. Secondary sources at back and north. Noise. Mainly cheering and yells from above. Focus. Strain. Breath. Own. Heartbeat. Own. Step. Not mobile. Laulos. Scent. Leather and dust. Blood. Not own. From healing. Laulos healed herself via direct potion application. Blood is hers. Focus. Track. Noise and scent in different places. One is decoy. Bloody shirt has already been discarded. One source smells lighter and accompanies noise. Laulos. Disregard primary scent. Laulos has reached northern source of wind. Scent has picked up. Laulos intends to attack decoy. Plan of approach?

Blitz of course.

Laulos strikes lightning decoy. Cry of surprise. Magic not effective due to nature of cloak. Aim for pommel strike to back of head. Miss. Cry of alarm. Scent and noise tracking not as effective as sight. Rapid movement. Kick reaches abdomen. Fist hits right side of face. Knife pommel strikes temple. Knee hits stomach. Continuous assault. Engaging due to own lack of ability to pursue. Not throwing knives due to inaccuracy. Fighting with Melee due to knowledge of inability to do otherwise. Opponent pressing advantage.

Laulos was a Level 3 and so was I. That meant that we could hurt each other as well as two regular people could at a faster pace. If I was able to see her I would be able to predict her movements, intercept her attacks, and whittle down her chances of winning to zero. That was the first advantage she took away from me. The second advantage she tried to take away was my ability to cast magic. Finally, she decided to engage at range with explosives to tire me out before coming in for the kill. The tactics were dirty, underhanded, and held nothing back in the slightest. She was coming at me with the intention of defeating me soundly by exploiting every weakness I had.

Predictive methods ineffective. Rapier ineffective. Can only attack or defend effectively when enemy presence is known. Must keep engaged. Must be in close contact with enemy. Discard rapier. Reroute magic effect to Gauntlet. Grab leg extended from knee attack. Cry of shock. Mage Gauntlet electrification success. Extrapolate form. Cannot use left arm for physical attack. Pull opponent forward. Apply forehead to opponent's forehead. Opponent concussed. Self has been concussed. Skill allows self to fight well even while concussed. Opponent does not have same advantage. Opponent now concussed and being shocked. Press advantage. Sweep remaining leg off floor. Flip opponent to back.

Though I didn't want to admit it, despite the fact I wanted to say I was better than Laulos, I couldn't deny that she surpassed all my expectations by adopting the way I fought completely and utterly… and I hated what I was looking at.

Opponent flails. Refuses to give up. Refuses to surrender. Must apply more force. Level 3. Requires more force. Can't. Laulos on back. Leg held aloft. Break. Can't. Opponent leg hits arm. Break or let go. Let go. Laulos launches attack on leg. Too fast. Destabilized. Fall. Tackled and pinned down. Hammer blows to face. Cries of exertion. Punch to abdomen. Electrified. Opponent resists. Again. Taste of blood. Escape from pin. Woozy. Concussions piling up. Laulos suspects more than expected.

Something clatters against the floor.

"Look at you! You can't even beat me!" Laulos yells in full view. My lightning surges and the dark cavern is set alight. Blood ran down from her forehead. Her form smoked due to the repeated charges of electricity which coursed through her. The scent of burnt hair hung in the air. The necklace she wore was gone and I could see bruises forming below her binding as her coat wasn't designed to close. She goes through the insides of her coat and broken knives clatter to the floor. I had hit her hard enough to break them against her skin. Her hands rise. "Do you expect me to believe that you won't die trying to save everyone, Hikigaya?!"

I don't have a reply. All I do is raise up my hands. I couldn't spare any thoughts I had.

Chant.

"As if I'd let you!"

The few paces between us filled with broken knives are crossed in an instant. I halt her incoming fist with my own. My Mage Gauntlet was composed of Mythrill and coursed with electricity, but she was the better fighter. I had a reinforced limb and she had the stronger one. We equaled one another in that regard. Shocks ran up my shoulder and down my spine and we withdrew in unison. She aimed a kick toward my abdomen. I intercepted with my own. Another meeting of equal strength. The moment her foot reached the ground, her other leg flashed forward. Again I intercepted the blow with my mirror limb. How could I not when I was the one who taught her all the moves? When all these techniques to stop a Mage from casting came from my own mind?

I managed to block the first of the three blows, but the fourth and last of the quick assault I couldn't manage to defend myself against.

Why?

Because I didn't have my left arm.

Ignis Fatuus surged within me as my Chant was disrupted. The magic building up within my system had nowhere to go. Pain surged within my body and though the blow was light, I fell as I felt my body break. Bones that I wanted to heal cracked. Flesh that I wanted to repair tore. My many wounds intensified rather than healed. I grit my teeth as even my tolerance for pain was briefly overcome. I hacked up blood onto the ground.

Before Laulos's next blow could land, I slammed whatever lightning I could spare at her. Sent flying by the lightning, I slammed her into the stone wall just before me. She gave a cry of pain, however I could see that she was withstanding it. It wasn't just her cloak resisting my magic. She had taken Magic Resistance as a Skill. I was basically hitting her with as much force as a Level 1 Mage would hit a Level 3. She had absconded entirely with an irreplaceable asset just so she could have an answer for my magic. My lightning had its uses but it wasn't going to allow me to win the fight.

"Is… is that all you have?" Laulos stood up with a grunt after she landed on the floor smoking. She clambered onto all fours sluggishly, but soon enough she was standing. She pulled something from her pocket. I knew what it was. We'd talked about it. It was a mythrill syringe with a needle enchanted for piercing. No need to cut into ourselves to send potions directly into our bodies. A last source of healing which could survive just about any damage. We both considered it obscenely expensive, yet there it was in her hand. She stabbed it into her neck and sent the healing elixir straight into her bloodstream. "Because if it is, Hikigaya, you've got no chance."

Unless I was willing to hurt her and treat her like a real enemy, I realized she was right.