Child of Destiny

……

The two girls continued the duel while slowly increasing its intensity. Their exchange of Martial-Art Skills and Mentalism Techniques was also getting more intense the more they fought. 𝐛𝗲𝗱𝗻𝗼𝐯𝐞𝗹．𝐨𝐫𝗴

What surprised the others who were spectating from the sideline was the skills that Cloe was showcasing. Those Martial-Art Skills were quite odd, sometimes they looked like a skill that was focused on brute-forcing while there were also some times where they looked like an assassination technique. There were also some instances where she was using them like how military officers fought on the battlefield.

There were also some strange styles as well which surprised Arthur, Leonard, and Lorraine who were familiar with her. It was their first time seeing Cloe fight like this.

“Sheesh! She is reminding me of certain someone who also used to fight like that,” commented Arthur while clicking his tongue repeatedly.

Leonard gave him a sidelong glance before asking. “Are you talking about me?”

Arthur was silent for a moment before clarifying what he just said. “In a sense, yeah. It is more like your previous style that focuses on surviving and doing everything you can to win. But at the same time, she also has Shin’s slyness when fighting right now.”

“She is showing a whole different style during the entrance exam. Both during the practical test in that Prison Island and the duels during the day after,” said Lorraine as she joined the conversation.

Leonard quickly nodded his head in agreement. “During the test in the Prison Island, she is focusing on the supportive role and perfectly assisting us. On the other hand, the fighting style that she showed during the duels is somewhat a style that highly focuses on counterattacking.”

Arthur slightly knitted his eyebrows before also nodding his head. “Well, we haven’t met her for quite a long time, so we can’t be sure that we know how much she changes during the time that she is in their home.”

“We may as well say that this may be her real style of battle,” he added which made the other two nod their heads.

Then they focused their attention on Alice who was currently fighting Cloe with an equal footing. Her style was still the same from what they could remember since the time of the exam, though she was now showcasing some of the complicated techniques that she didn’t use during that time.

This sight made the three of them think how amazing Cloe currently was, despite not having a peak-class talent like what her current opponent had.

…

Bang!

The two were separated from each other after a powerful collision of their attacks and forced them to take multiple steps backward to stabilize their footing.

Cloe shook her right arm as she regained her balance due to the numbness that it was feeling. That previous collision put quite some heavy burden on her arm. Then she turned her gaze at her opponent who was also doing the same thing as her.

After that, Cloe quickly took a battle stance where she was facing her opponent sideways with both of her left foot and fist were currently pointing at her opponent. On the other hand, her other fist was currently positioned on the right side of her waist.

Bang!

Then the transparent Internal Qi surrounding her body suddenly ran wild as if they were a raging fire that was running amok at the center of the forest.

Seeing her actions, Alice immediately understood what her opponent wanted to do. It was pretty obvious that Cloe wanted to end this sparring match with this final strike.

Given that, she quickly increased the amount of Mental Energy that was surrounding her body before letting them revolve around her like a spinning tornado.

Then she waved her left hand towards the opposite direction of the rotation of her Mental Energy, making the tornado-like rotation to be divided into two parts that were rotating in two different directions.

She did the same movements until she divided the tornado-like Mental Energy surrounding her got divided into multiple layers.

A moment later, the Mental Energy surrounding transformed into a blooming lotus flower that was gently spinning elegantly.

‘Final Lotus Technique: Great Order of the Blooming Lotus’

In the meantime, Cloe finally made her move and kicked the ground beneath her feet, propelling herself forward with an insane speed.

Bang!

Swoosh!

She left a trail of light in the air behind her as she continued moving forward in a very aggressive manner.

At the same time, all of the Internal Qi that was running wild around her body gathered on her right-hand fist all of a sudden, forming a spherical energy force on it. The transparent Internal Qi on her fist released a brilliant glow that seemed to be mimicking the light that was coming from the sun.

In a mere instant, Cloe arrived in front of the spinning lotus made of Mental Energy that was protecting Alice, before throwing her fist forward without any hint of hesitation.

‘Unnamed Martial-Arts (Final Strike): Annihilation’

Boom!

A very loud explosion suddenly occurred the moment she threw her fist forward. There was also a powerful shockwave that was accompanying it which was sent in every direction.

Swoosh!

A cloud of smoke and dust was also created right after the collision. And when it settled down, Cloe, Alice, and the others who were spectating the match from the sideline saw Shiella standing right in front of the two girls.

One of her hands caught Cloe’s fist while being covered with frost flakes. At the same time, her other hand was pressing on the spinning lotus on her other side while it was being surrounded by a multicolored flame.

Shiella took a quick glance at Cloe and Alice before forcefully canceling their respective Martial-Art Skill and Mentalism Technique while saying. “We should stop here. That should be enough for now.”

After that, she gently pushed the two away, separating them from each other.

Everyone seemed to be pretty confused at her actions, but since she was the overseer of this sparring match, no one voiced their opinions.

Shiella didn’t care about what they were currently thinking and immediately said to the two girls. “Go back to respective rooms for a moment and evaluate your performances. If you have any questions, ask me directly.”

Both Cloe and Alice were currently standing on their spots with a deep frown on their faces, clearing indicating that they were not satisfied with the current result of the match. But since she told them to ask her if they had any questions, they immediately drop the matter and headed to their house, planning to do what she had instructed them.

Seeing that, Arthur, Leonard, and Lorraine also left the backyard, planning to go back doing their own thing.

With that, only Shiella, Jerimiah, and Vincent were left.

The silence was currently lingering in the air as none of them made a sound. Aside from the blowing of the gentle wind, nothing could be heard in the backyard.

A few moments later, Jerimiah finally opened his mouth. “Sigh~. That was a good call. We really don’t know what is going to happen if we let them continue.”

Shiella didn’t directly respond to his words but still give her comment. “Those girls are quite vicious.”

She then recalled what she had seen earlier.

She immediately noticed the strangeness of the Internal Qi that was surrounding Cloe’s fist and was sure that it would instantly shatter the spinning lotus made of Mental Energy protecting Alice.

But at the same time, she also saw that the other side was preparing another move with her hand. It was as if she was expecting that her defensive technique was not going to withstand the attack of her opponent.

But the problem was her technique was a pretty dangerous one.

Shiella didn’t know what was going to happen if she let the two of them continue and watch their respective attacks clash with each other.

Due to the uncertainty that was suddenly got involved, she didn’t dare to risk the safety of the two just to see the final result. It was just a sparring match after all.

Even if she was aware that there was something more in this match aside from a simple exchange of insights, she was still not willing to let them take the risk.

After that long string of thoughts, she suddenly turned her head to Vincent before asking. “What do you think about it?”

Vincent was silent for a couple of seconds before shaking his head. “I am also not sure. Since there is a lot of uncertainty involved, it was better to stop it right away than to let an accident happen.”

He then took a brief pause due to some hesitation before continuing. “But if you are asking me as an assassin who is more familiar with the feeling called ‘death’, then I must say that I can feel more danger on that girl with pink hair than the one with silver hair.”

“I don’t know what exactly it is, but I am pretty sure that her conviction is much stronger than her opponent. That reason alone is more than enough to give herself a slight edge in that fight,” he added after a brief moment of thought.

Hearing his assessment, Shiella silently nodded her head in agreement before telling them that she was going back too.

The other two quickly gave her a slight nod before also going back inside the house, leaving the now fully wrecked backyard.

……