Chapter 16 Battle Tournament [3]
The duel with Bovix ended with Anya's victory. She flicked her sword in the air, removing Bovix's blood that painted her sword in a shade of red; afterward, she put it back in its sheath.
Before moving she looked upward where the audience was sitting, instead of looking here and there she directed her gaze at a certain place.
She knew exactly where she had to look to find that person, soon her eyes caught the sight of him. It was Zero she was looking for, apparently, he was also watching her and this caused their gaze to interlock.
Zero smiled and showed her thumbs up, this was his way of saying that she performed well in this battle. Understanding this Anya nodded and replied with a smile before she moved in the other direction.
The other three 2 vs 2 battles have also ended and the four people who won—including Anya—now moved to the center of the arena and stood there.
"Looks like we have our first four winners," the announcer said, hyping up the audience.
"Well then, now we will be entering the semi-finals of this quarter. Let's pair them up and get the battle started," said the announcer, and right after that, he was followed by the shouting and cheering of the audience.
The pairs were again formed randomly, this time the one paired with Anya was a man who had long lady-like hair. He wore a loose white-colored dress and had a thin, long sword in his hands.
Both the pairs were moved away from each other, with Anya's pair being on the left side of the arena.
She stood straight with a sense of confidence in herself, the opponent this time looked weaker than Bovix but she wasn't the type to underestimate her foe. After all, even if this guy looked weaker body-wise he still had won the previous match.
If Anya was not wrong then his match was finished even before hers, meaning that the person who stood before him did have skills.
She held the handle of her sword tightly; ready to start any moment now. But unlike Anya, the guy in front of her, Zhong Liang was rather relaxed as his eyes were closed.
The sword he had didn't have tsuba, it was a long and thin sword that looked like a katana with the only difference being that it was as straight as a line.
"You aren't going to make fun of me because I'm a girl? Like those other guys," said Anya, she was trying to provoke him a little before the fight.
"Why should I? In my eyes anyone is worthy of fighting, as long as they have the skill, whether it be a man or woman, it doesn't matter," said Liang, his voice calm and giving a peaceful vibe.
With this Anya understood that provoking him won't do any good, hence she adjusted her posture and concentrated on her sword art.
The announcer started the match, as soon as the battle started Anya pulled out her sword at once while dashing toward Liang.
When he was in her attack range she swung her sword, performing a lower to uppercut. A burst of sparks lit up in front of her face as her sword scraped through Liang's sword.
At that exact moment, Liang had defended himself but his eyes were still closed. Anya leaped back in defense and held her sword in front of her. "It pains me to do this but I guess I have no choice if I have to end this battle," Liang sighed.
He opened his eyes, revealing his blue ocean-like eyeballs. He held onto his sword and moved, in a blink, he vanished from his spot reappearing right in front of Anya, he started launching multiple attacks.
Anya's eyes widened, she was expecting an attack but not this fast, even so, she also used a fighting style focused on speed, blocking his attacks wasn't difficult for her.
Both of them were canceling each other out, she had not seen such sword technique. If Anya's sword style represented wind then Liang's style represented water, his sword movements were smooth and swift.
Anya knew one thing, Liang was not someone from this city and that was clear just by looking at his face.
The sword fight continued for thirty minutes, they both kept blocking the other's attack and delivering their own.
But in the end, Anya was the one who won this battle. She was not called the 'Strongest in the city' for no reason. (A/N: Here strongest in the city means that she has the highest "status").
The semi-finals ended, leaving Anya and one other person for the finals of this quarter.
The announcer declared the start of the match, and it began only to be ended in a flash.
The one who faced Anya this time was not a sword user making it easy for Anya to win.
Just when the match began Anya vanished from her place and appeared at a distance before the man, he turned around to see what happened but soon he fell to the ground as multiple cut marks and slashes appeared on his body.
Even the audience went silent for a moment as they didn't understand what happened, "Ah, it looks like the final battle has ended. The winner of this quarter is Anya Blanks," the announcer said.
With that the crowd busted into cheers, some even started throwing flowers in Anya's direction. No one had seen such a battle that ended right after it had begun.
***
"So she won, well that I expected," I muttered, clapping along with the other people in the audience.
Anya has won this quarter and in a flashy way that is. Not that it matters much, since the thing I want to do will happen in the final match of this tournament.
Things went in a rather normal way after that as the other quarter matches took place. Whenever Anya's turn came she won, it took some time if the opponent was a sword user but except that, all the other battles ended in a flash.
After that, around noon a break occurred. All the people in the audience went out to buy snacks or something while I went outside so I can meet Anya.
I mean why won't I?
I had to re-explain the plan to her and made sure that all the things go my way. After all, after this was the long-awaited final match.