Trials of Hera 2

[Arnold POV]

I declared "I choose Wonder Woman as my opponent."

As soon as I said this, a noticeable wave of silence swept through the audience. I could see some of them making stunned faces, in disbelief of what I had just started. I mean, I guess I get where they're coming from. I just challenged their strongest warrior, bar none, in a tone so casual one would think I'm joking.

Assuming I actually was, Wonder Woman warned me "Are you sure about this Nostradamus. Know that I will not hold back once we begin."

To this, I answered "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that this'll be okay. I mean, what fun is it if I can't even use my abilities to their fullest."

Wonder Woman paused for a moment and then "Sigh, very well. I shall be your opponent. But remember this, under no circumstances shall I show you any mercy. If you cannot back up your pride with strength, you WILL die a fool's death."

"Please don't worry about that, Milady. You will find me annoyingly difficult to kill. So please, let's get started." I said as I drew the dragon bone out of my inventory and took a typical kendo stance. Wonder Woman also got ready, drawing a sword from a weapons rack kept nearby before entering the ring.

I decided that I wouldn't use «limitless»,Rika or Sukuna's CT for this fight. Instead, I would rely solely on «Private Pure Love Train» and my other cursed tools. Just so I could get some practice in, making me prepared to use them if the need ever arises. I knew that in a world as dangerous as this one, where people could travel through dimensions, even infinity would not be enough to guarantee a win. Plus, if I just slacked off, my asshole of a little brother would let me hear the end of it.

"Ready when you are." she said, clearly intending to give me the first move. And if she just gives me an advantage, who am I to refuse? And so I rushed forth, cursed energy coursing through my body at maximum output. I knew that I had to pull out all the stops if I wanted to defeat her without my main cursed techniques.

In an instant, I got close to Wonder Woman, with my sword in hand, and activated the boosters, maximising the force behind the blow. Even with all that,Wonder Woman used her own sword to easily block the blow before pushing my blade back. She then initiated an attack of her own, thrusting her sword straight at my chest. I quickly jumped back, barely protecting myself from the blow. I mean, I could just take the hit and heal later, but I really didn't want to deal with the pain. I am still human after all.

Anyways Wonder Woman stepped forth, swinging her sword at my right, and I expertly parried it, and raised my sword l, aiming to slash down. But this left me open as well as a little disbalanced and before I could recover, she pivoted into a low-kick, intending to make me fall onto the ground. Luckily for me, in the nick of time, I regained my balance in the nick of time, and jumped, barely avoiding the kick before launching one of my own, aiming straight for her face. But before the kick could connect, her hand got in the way as she grabbed my foot, killing all my momentum with just one hand. She then proceeds to turn her body clockwise, throwing me into the air.

Although I landed on my feet, before I could think of what to do next, she appeared next to me, with her sword coming straight for one of my eyeballs. I quickly ducked, barely moving out of the way, with her sword cutting a tiny hole into my mask and giving me a rather unflattering haircut. Unfortunately for Wonder Woman, this left her wide open, as I dropped my sword and tackled her aiming to ram her into the ground. This pushed her back a bit, and made her drop her sword.

But it was at that point, that the plague doctor realised that a Demi-god Amazon princess is really friggin strong as she dug her feet into the ground and just stood still like a wall, tanking my attack.

'Ah shit.' I thought as an elbow smashed against my back, causing me immense pain as I was almost brought to my knees. And then came another, and another and like this, she unleashed a flurry of blows on my back. I eventually managed to break out of this situation, by lifting her up and tossing her away.

She immediately recovered and landed on her feet as both of us rushed to our swords. I immediately picked up the «Dragon bone» but my opponent got her sword before me, as a blade came straight for my neck again… Man, I'm starting to regret this now.

Anyways, in a flash of quick thinking, I summoned a couple of train doors to act as shields. The sword ripped through the doors like paper, but it gave me enough time to dodge and regain my balance.

I immediately rushed at Wonder Woman, once again using the thrusters behind the dragon bone, this time I attacked with a downward slash, which she blocked using her sword, the impact making the ground beneath us crack. She then made use of some excellent footwork to get through my guard, and attacked a blind spot I hadn't covered. I once again used my sword to barely block the blow before delivering a kick to her sternum, which she blocked with her bracers by holding up both of her hands in front of her torso. I used her hands as leverage, using them to launch myself backwards, creating some distance between us.

By now, I had realised that in terms of strength, whether or not cursed energy was involved, I wouldn't be able to beat her. So I had to beat her in terms of strategy. Here I actually stood a chance. Also, it wasn't like I needed to defeat her. All I needed to do was to show off, enough for most of the Amazons to acknowledge me. And as I noticed the crowd, about 10% of them had stood up, making my situation easier.

'I think it's time to get serious' I thought to myself. And as I landed back on the ground, I formed a hand-sign as I chanted "Domain Expansion: Idle Death Gamble."

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