Chapter 118: Final [4]

The wind screamed as she lunged—fast, vicious, sharper than ever.

This time, she wasn’t testing the waters. She was aiming to end it.

Her blade came in low, curving upward toward my ribs. A deceptive angle—one that promised a feint but carried deadly intent.

I shifted my stance, sliding to the side just enough to redirect the slash along my shoulder rather than my core. The steel grazed my jacket, slicing cloth, not skin.

I felt the burn.

I ignored it.

Clang!

Our weapons clashed again. My arm shook from the impact—Alice had doubled her grip strength, compensating for her numbed limbs with raw willpower.

She wasn’t holding back anymore.

Good.

I didn’t want her to.

I ducked under her next swing, pivoted on my heel, and struck at her flank. She twisted mid-motion, taking the hit on her gauntlet—but it still staggered her.

Her footing cracked.

Her breath came faster.

I pressed the momentum. Two steps in, I slashed—not to harm, but to force her guard up. Her sword rose reflexively. Perfect.

I feinted once more, spun on my heel, and drove my elbow into her abdomen.

“Guh—!”

She reeled, coughing from the impact.

“Shadow pin!”

I activated shadow pin again as my shadow began to shift from it’s natural shape.

Swish—! Swish—! Swish—!

Dozens of needle-thin shadows darted forward like fangs in the dark, each aimed at vital points—ankles, wrists, shoulders, the back of her knees.

But Alice—

—was fast.

She twisted her body mid-air, sweeping her blade in a tight arc. Sparks flew as she intercepted three of the incoming projectiles with raw instinct alone. Her boots barely kissed the ground before she launched into another spin, ducking low and weaving between the rest of the shadows.

But not all of them missed.

Two struck true.

One embedded itself in the side of her thigh, the other nicked her shoulder just beneath the collarbone. The effect was immediate—her momentum stuttered, muscles locking ever so slightly as the dark magic sank in.

She grimaced. Grit her teeth. Her movements slowed—not enough to fall, but enough for me to see it. Her right leg dragged for half a second. Her sword hand trembled.

I moved.

No hesitation.

I closed the distance with three quick steps. My blade came in sharp, aiming for the opening at her side while she tried to recover.

The 4 seconds were over by the time I was upon her, but her movement was slowed down considerably for short while but despite that fact she still managed to doged my attack on time.

“Tch…”

No matter how much I tried to hold her, she was still faster then me….Way fast and that was fact.

….And then there was armour, If I don’t do anything about her armour then soon or later my mana was going to run out which is already so small.

If I want to win, I’ll have to use [Echo Rod] but to use that I have to go very close to her but that was also problem she won’t let me close the distance.

She knows that I will use the [Echo Rod] dismantle her armour.

So, what should I do?

Well there was one thing I could do.

Next moment, I dashed towards Alice with short sword in my hands she ready herself for another duel exchange but I am not here to fight sword battel with her.

She raised her sword and swing fast and with lots of force and that swing towards my head in blink of an eye.

But like I said, I was ready.

“[Ghoststep]”

> [Skill Activated: Ghoststep (S-Rank)]

I activated Ghoststeps.

My body flickered.

Not vanished—flickered.

The world around me blurred for a split second as my form seemed to dissolve into afterimages, slipping through the narrowest cracks between frames of motion.

Alice’s blade sliced through empty air, carving straight through the illusion I’d left behind.

Her eyes widened. Just slightly. Just enough.

I was already behind her.

My feet touched the ground without a sound.

My hand reached for the [Echo Rod] in my pocket.

In one smooth motion, I unsheathed the rod.

Before Alice could fully turn around—

Crack!

The rod struck the back of her shoulder plate with a resounding chime—like a bell struck underwater. A ripple of mana spread across the metal, crawling through her armor like veins of light.

> [Echo Rod: Dismantling effect 27%… 48%… 71%…]

Alice spun, desperate to counter, but she was too late.

I slipped under her arm again, driving the rod into her side this time—just beneath her ribs, where the overlapping plates were thinnest.

Clank.

The sound of metal loosening and falling echoed across the Colosseum.

“…What?!”

The red eyes locked onto me widened in disbelief.

Alice stood there, frozen for a split second, stunned as her full plate mail came undone and dropped to the ground with a heavy thud. The dismantling spell had worked perfectly.

I should’ve been proud of that—maybe even smug—but a sudden wave of dizziness hit me. My vision blurred at the edges, and I instinctively took a few steps back to steady myself.

[Deactivating Ghoststeps.]

[Mana low.]

Tch. That explains it.

I clenched my jaw. This was exactly why I had been avoiding using Ghoststeps in this match. It drained far too much mana—and I had already used it a few times earlier in the tournament. Even now, facing Alice in the finals, I knew I was running on fumes.

Everything was going so well…

But of course, the world had other plans.

I took a shaky breath and shook my head to clear the fog. My gaze drifted back to Alice—and for just a moment, I found myself… admiring the scene in a way that was completely inappropriate.

With her heavy armor discarded at her feet, she now wore only her light combat gear—closer to her skin, more flexible, and dangerous in its own way. Her refined face, marked with sweat and grit, glowed under the Colosseum lights. The wild gleam in her eyes was unmistakable.

She wasn’t afraid. No—she was thrilled.

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