Kill The Old Ones!

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Aria Carmichael’s performance had been exceptional.

She has won all three of her matches so far, and she had fought against a seeded participant, Aurelia Valentine, and her victory was decisive.

Aria fights like she could see what her enemy will do before they even do it. It’s as if she knew everything about whom she’s facing and knew exactly what to do, how to respond, and how to optimize the result to bring her the most advantage.

To most people, her fight against Aurelia was a gorgeous dance of skill and talent. Both ladies were graceful, beautiful, and extremely dangerous on their own accord. And it has been a pleasure to watch them.

But for those with keen eyes and attention to detail, this fight, from start to finish, was in truth a manipulation.

Aurelia was dancing to Aria’s tune from start to finish. Their fight wasn’t close, not even a little bit. Aria had the overwhelming advantage from start to finish, and she knows it.

She read Aurelia like an open book. She knew everything about her. She knew exactly where to strike, where to attack, and where to inflict the most damage with a minimal amount of effort.

Aria made it look like struggle, but it really wasn’t.

That says a lot about her.

Her victory surprised many in a pleasant way. And of course, it attracted a lot of attention. But Aria didn’t care.

This also opened the public’s eye to her bias. She didn’t smile at anybody. She keeps her distance from everyone, all except one guy. Her ’supposed’ boyfriend—Sieg.

They saw how she only smiled, laughed, and talked to him. They saw how her whole world revolved around him. She ignored everybody else, and it’s obvious that she didn’t care about anything unless he was involved.

And that upset a lot of people. Especially considering how Sieg’s life story had been spreading around because of his achievements.

But before the audience could truly shift its attention to the relationship between Aria and Sieg, it had been taken by a rather surprising match.

It’s one between Lily and Ren.

The audience tuned into the match fully expecting Ren to defeat the lady soundly. This was a martial arts tournament, and the lady was a strong martial artist—nobody could deny that at this point, so regardless of gender, a fight must happen. And she just happened to be facing the strongest of this whole tournament. ’Supposedly.’

But contrary to their belief, something else happened.

For the first time, the indifference in Ren’s face was replaced by contemplation as he looked at Lily. It happened when she went into her opening stance.

He then asked her, "I feel like I should know you."

That was strange. Ren has never talked to anybody so far. This was probably the first time they heard him speak.

And Lily smiled brilliantly. Her eyes shone, not just pleased but also with fighting intent.

"I also feel like you should," she responded.

And then, they saw the flicker of recognition appearing on Ren’s face, especially his eyes.

"That voice...yeah, I think I know who you are," he said, smiling for the first time in a fight instead of his usual indifference.

He then looked at Lily from head to toe and remarked: "It’s just that I didn’t expect you to be this...colorful."

"I can’t help it. I was born like this. Pink," she jested, which actually elicited a laugh out of Ren.

"I can see that." Ren then dropped into a stance. "It’s nice to finally meet you in person."

Again, something that the audience never saw him do before.

"I could say the same," Lily whispered.

They then looked at each other as if they were sizing one another. A few seconds later, Lily disappeared from her position, causing the audience to gasp in surprise.

They’ve seen her fight before, but she never moved this fast. She was almost as fast as Darius Stormholt, and that was saying a lot.

Even those who knew her better than most people were surprised.

And the surprise didn’t end there.

Lily showed just how vicious she could be when she’s going all out.

Her first clash with Ren was explosive. Her rapier felt like it could pierce through several layers of high-grade steel effortlessly, and she aimed it at Ren’s neck without any remorse.

Ren guarded against the attack with his bare arms, and his arms must be made out of an even higher grade of metal because the clash between it and Lily’s rapier produced enough sparks to ignite a barn.

And as if she didn’t just make a lethal and committed attack, Lily vanished into a burst of cherry blossom petals, reappearing behind Ren with her steel aimed to pierce his heart from behind.

She moved so fast that she seemed to be at two places at once.

But Ren anticipated this and was already moving. His expression was placid as if he expected this to happen. His right elbow was already aimed at Lily’s face, which will definitely cave her skull in if it hits.

Lily saw this and dissipated into a burst of cherry blossoms again, reappearing at another spot while aiming her weapon at Ren’s most vulnerable spots.

But once again, Ren responded calmly as if everything were under his control and expectations. He moved with ease and fluidity that almost seemed like art itself. And although things were happening very quickly, it was as if time were specifically slowing down just for everybody to clearly see how Ren was moving so beautifully and artistically.

The strange part is that Ren wasn’t trying to perform. His movements were just the most optimal, or most perfect, response to the occasion. Wasted movement seemed to be non-existent in his vocabulary and skills.

This cycle of exchange continued, and it pleased the audience greatly.

Finally, they’ve seen Ren actually doing something. Lily’s surprising ferocity and speed were just an added bonus, one that they’re certainly not complaining about.

However, the ones that were shocked the most were Sieg and Aria.

Both of them are now watching the match intently and doing their best to follow the movement. In previous matches, they talked to each other as if what were happening around them didn’t matter at all.

But now? Regardless of whether they wanted to or not, Lily and Ren were at the center of attention. And even the two of them were pulled in.

Aria could follow fights just fine, but that’s not her main concern.

The first one was Lily. Aria never expected this pink lady to have this kind of side. Sure, she had displayed some serious skills in this tournament so far, but she had never shown this kind of viciousness and lethality.

She was fighting to kill but also not at the same time. She recognizes it as Lily going all out, using every means she has at her disposal and truly searching for ways to inflict maximum harm to her opponent, but also knowing that whatever she has right now just isn’t enough. Which relieves her of the burden of the possibility of killing her opponent.

Yes, Lily was definitely trying to kill Ren, but she can’t do it. She’s not strong enough, and she knows that. That’s why she’s confident that she won’t be disqualified or punished for what she’s doing.

Her audacity to go for it anyway is what truly astounded Aria. She never thought that Lily was capable of it.

But the real kicker was Ren. Of course, it’s him.

Even as she watched him fight, she could never guess his intentions. The part of her talent that allowed her to read the intentions of her targets came up empty and silent against this guy, and it was incredibly unnerving.

She could see how easily and masterfully he handles Lily’s assault. And he does not look bothered at all, even though he knows that Lily was definitely trying and doing her best to kill him.

And begrudgingly, she would admit that in terms of mastery, she couldn’t compare to what Ren was displaying. And that stings, especially when she remembered that this guy was supposed to be inferior to her, massively so, in terms of raw talent.

In her musings, she became blind to the storm and conflicted expression of her boyfriend, who’s watching this fight as if everything he believed in the world to be true turns out to be a lie.

For the first time in Sieg’s life, he saw Lily for more than she appeared on the surface, and he could just tell—and he’s probably not alone in this—that Lily was having the time of her life right now.

And then, he sees Ren.

Even though things are happening too quickly, Ren’s movements elicit an illusion that time slows down to allow him to do whatever he wants at his own pace.

Like the very laws that made up the world yield to him and also want to witness his skill.

And for the first time in Sieg’s life, he saw what real skill mastery looks like in motion.

And when he compared it to his own skills, he couldn’t help but feel extremely conflicted and hurt.

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