Rising Against Fate

Normally, there would have just been a fifteen-minute break after the second match, but since there was a lot of damage during the last match, the break ended up being extended.

Breaking things with magic was easy, but fixing them required at least twice as much effort. It was a good thing that they had someone from the Tsuchi clan on the event management committee. Because of that, their job became a lot easier.

Asa, who was watching the stage being fixed on the screen, was feeling uncomfortable since the morning. She was trying to avoid looking at a guy, but since he was sitting right in front, it was unavoidable.

When it looked like no one was watching her, she released a deep sigh in exhaustion. 'Why does he have to be here?'

It wasn't like she had a feeling for him, but she regretted breaking his heart. Even though she knew that she had no control over the situation, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

She looked down at her hands and consoled herself by thinking, 'whatever happened, happened for good. There was no other way.'

That was the right course of thought, in the situation she was in. Her match was coming up next, so she couldn't afford to waste any time thinking about something as trivial as that.

She took a long breath and mentally prepared herself for the next match.

Her opponent —Hiroshi Yoshino— was a genius when it came to magic control. And even though she herself was quite good at it, there was a massive difference in the offensive capabilities of her and her opponent.

As she was thinking along those lines, the bald instructor walked in.

"Asa Hira, your match is up next. Please follow me."

"Yes."

Asa stood up from her chair. She was somewhat glad that she was finally able to leave the waiting room, but now she would need to deal with a noisy crowd while facing her opponent.

"Good luck."

While she was about to leave, she heard Razak's voice, so she turned around.

Her mind was so clouded in thoughts that she almost forgot about Razak, who was sitting right next to her the whole time. It was then that she realized she was overthinking things.

"Thank you. See you in the evening."

She took another long breath and started following the bald instructor. Even though her match was yet to start, she was already feeling tired.

She was taken to another waiting room. It was a small empty room with two rows of chairs opposite to each other. The screen there was also displaying the same thing as the screen in the previous waiting room.

She sat on one of the chairs and leaned back. Unlike before, she could finally relax without worrying about composing herself in front of others.

Instead of thinking too much, she just cleared her mind and prepared herself to face her opponent.

After around five minutes, the bald instructor came back again. He was looking at the Trans-pad in his hand to coordinate the timing with the announcement.

"It's time."

After the instructor said that, she slowly walked towards the door leading to the stage. And the moment she stepped out, her concentration was completely focused on the match.

A loud cheer echoed throughout the stadium when she stepped on the stage. Almost at the same time, her opponent walked up to the stage from the other side.

Hiroshi started waving his hand at the crowd while she just stood there and looked around at the audience. It looked like most of the female audience was cheering for Hiroshi while the male audience was cheering for her.

After greeting the crowd, the two took their position at the opposite side of the stage.

"It will hurt me more to hurt a flower like you."

"Please, I am not as delicate as you think."

Hiroshi was holding a rose in his hand from the start this time. It was apparent that he was wary of Asa's needle manipulation abilities. As someone who excelled at attack spells while lacking in defense, his best option was to make the first move and follow up with a barrage of attacks.

On the other hand, the fact that Asa was able to reach this far in the tournament was a surprise in itself. She barely had any attack spells except her needle manipulation ability. If she was able to get through Hiroshi, it would be no less than a miracle.

"If the participants are ready, let the countdown begin!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Start!"

"Dance of the steel petal."

As soon as the match started, Hiroshi activated his spell without even wasting a second. Like last time, several small silver rose petals appeared and started spinning around Hiroshi.

He then pointed the rose that he was holding towards Asa. As he did that, the petals that were spinning around him charged towards her at an incredible speed.

"Holy ground!"

When Asa activated the spell, a cylindrical barrier was formed around her. The barrier could prevent any kind of outside interference, so it could stop Hiroshi's petals from getting through.

"Now, now, going defensive this early isn't what I expected from a dignified lady like yourself."

Asa just ignored the comment as she braced herself for what was about to come. She knew that if she were able to survive this, her chance of winning would rise significantly.

"I guess it would be rude to hold back, won't it? Bloom!"

The petals started bursting around the barrier, and a chain of explosions was observed. The sound it produced sounded like fireworks, just a bit louder. But it was definitely something that could be called beautiful.

Asa was barely maintaining the barrier amid all those explosions. It would have been easier if the attack was just frontal, but since it was from every direction, maintaining it required a lot of concentration.

The attack lasted for several minutes, but Asa was able to stay unharmed despite all that. At the end of the attack, a loud cheer was heard as the audience praised Asa's defensive skills.