Rising Against Fate

The crowd calmed down after the announcement that Hiroshi suffered no critical injuries. All his wounds were curable within a week with enough rest and some minor treatment.

The stage had suffered some minor damage during the match earlier. However, it was fixed during the long break. Now that the stage was ready for the next battle, everyone was waiting for the announcement to continue.

"Welcome back to the quarter-finals of this tournament! Now, without further delay, let's call out the participants of our next match — Razak Grace and Ren Ongaku."

Both of them slowly walked towards the stage from the opposite sides. There was no distinct emotion visible on Razak's face, while in comparison, there was a small smile on Ren's face that was showing her excitement.

"So, we are finally here. I have been waiting for this since our last meeting."

Razak smiled in response. "Believe it or not, I, too, have been looking forward to this."

Ren's smile became a little wider. The reason for that was mysterious to most, but Razak could guess the cause.

She mentioned that she could figure out one's feelings just by hearing their voice. So, it could be because she realized what Razak said was genuine.

They both knew that a long conversation here was pointless, so the two of them walked back to the opposite side of the stage and took their position.

"Now that the participants are ready. Let the countdown begin!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Let the battle begin!"

Even though the signal had already been given, no one was making the first move. Both were keenly observing their opponents in the hopes that one of them would make the first move. A small factor could give a significant advantage to one's opponent at this stage, so any thoughtless action was utter foolishness.

Till now, Ren had displayed no significant weakness except, of course, the lack of hand-to-hand combat skills. But she was vigilant, and her control over magic was of the utmost caliber. This all made her weakness, not a flaw in her compatibilities but a bait to lure in her opponent.

Fortunately, Razak was already aware of this. He knew how risky it would be to fight a mage with her abilities while still holding back. And due to that, he had come prepared. Although, there too, he was not careless. He knew that she was more aware of her own weaknesses and could easily turn things around to her advantage.

He had already taken precautions against the hypnosis she could use with her voice. He had blocked both of his ears using magic even before the match started. The earlier conversation was possible because of his lip-reading abilities. And this was the likely cause for Ren's smile.

Even though it might look cowardly, tactics have always helped one prevail in situations that seem impossible to ordinary eyes. Being cautious and thinking that the enemy is stronger always ended up being advantageous.

"Aren't you gonna come at me as you did in the last battle?"

"No. There is a difference between those who use brute force and those who use tricks. I am wary of the second type more."

"Even after covering your ears?"

"As I said, I am wary of the second type more. This is just a precaution I took, but I am sure that's not the only trick up your sleeves."

"Now that you mention it..."

Ren brought her left hand close to the sleeve of her right hand and pulled a flute out of it. It was a small traditional flute made up of silver pipe, something that was rarely seen in this day and age.

"If the venue were different, I would have loved to sing and dance with you. But here, I guess we have no choice."

'Here it comes,' Razak thought as he braced himself for what was about to come.

"Tansen's melody!"

As she started playing, a thick layer of high-speed wind appeared around her. And while the audience was keenly observing the phenomenon while listening to the soft melody from the flute, she attacked Razak with some high-frequency sound waves.

"Dark cocoon!"

The waves were invisible, but Razak could already sense them coming. He quickly activated the cocoon to counter the attack.

Naturally, the cocoon blocked the sound waves, but right as he deactivated it, he noticed that there was a circle of flames around him.

The diameter of the circle was around 3 meters, and the flames in themselves were approximately 50 cm thick. Since the area inside was small, it was impossible to stay there for long because of the heat.

This was all part of the earlier spell 'Tansen's melody,' which was regarded as one of the most potent advanced class spells out there. It was believed that it could bring rain in the desert and light fire in the water, a spell that could tame the monsters of any sort and control one's d.e.s.i.r.e—a tribute to the greatest musician and vocalist of ancient times, Tansen.

As the tone became faster, the fire started being more violent. And not before long, a spark Separated itself from the flame and came towards Razak.

Razak used a shadow shield to block it, but following that attack, several other orbs of flames came charging towards Razak.

Razak could use the Dark cocoon again, but that would limit his moment, which was already limited enough by Ren's spell. So, his options here were clear.

He partially activated the Dark cocoon and blocked the immediate incoming attack. He then jumped into the air, but the flames all around came together and tried preventing his escape.

"Glass walk!"

Right when his path was completely about to be blocked, Razak created a glass step under his feet and jumped even higher with greater speed using physical enhancement. He was able to escape in the nick of time, but that was not enough because above him, in the sky, dense clouds were waiting for him.

Weather had been somewhat unpleasant since the morning, but there were no signs of rain. However, for some reason, it had gotten completely dark now, as if it was about to rain.

Although here, what rained was different. Instead of water, what rained was thunder.