Death Frost | Deathsworn #2

Chapter 26 ❆ Rival

There were many things about Eren, in my six years of being her friend, that I knew I had to look out for. Some of those things were her spontaneity and unpredictability. She was the type that I had to feel very worried about constantly—and with good reason.

I was hoping, hoping. That this character of hers could possibly be a reason for her victory...and although it was unlikely, I didn't rule out the chance.

Arondite Gayden...or Black Flame, handled the match with an almost lazy calmness. After trading blows with Eren a few times, he should have had a clear picture of the extent of his opponent's current skills. Judging by that reaction, he was not impressed.

He sent a roundhouse kick, struck Eren at the ribs, and sent her mopping the stage. Erenol stumbled several times on the ground, but kept her eyes straight on her opponent—never letting him out of her sight. Even with shaky knees, she stood up, fighting back the urge to give in to the pain.

She mumbled things under her breath, probably curses or complains.

I wanted to smile for her strength, but the concern over her well-being stopped me short.

Eren knew very well she wouldn't last the way things were happening now. And she knew she had no chance against Black Flame in terms of techniques. Just that impressive footwork and skillful execution was enough to make it clear to her that victory would not be hers this time.

So, she did the unthinkable.

She tapped on the ground below her. A wall of earth appeared not only to block the next of Black Flame's attack. It even sent her opponent back, launching him a good few meters away.

My brows jumped to my forehead. "This early?"

It hadn't even been very long...probably two to five minutes into the fight. They've barely begun, and she'd already taken out her trump card.

How very decisive.

I was not the only one taken aback by the situation. The audiences were quite surprised, but they admired a girl with guts. Eren was just that.

Despite having probably bruised a rib, knowing she managed to get an attack to land on her opponent was enough for her to get excited. "Whoa! That worked!"

I was speechless.

"Ooh!" the announcer exclaimed. "Weeping Siren got an att—Black Flame is already back on his feet!"

"Idiot! Focus!" I hollered. "Don't get too excited! Either knock him out or make him surrender!"

Black Flame recovered from being pushed back like it was nothing. His balance was monstrous. If I'd been struck unexpectedly by that thing, I would have to spend a couple of seconds to pull myself back up—but he'd done so in a time much less.

"She's lost her chance because she celebrated such small victory," I muttered, frustrated.

I pulled out the rule book and went over the conditions to win. Unlike most duels, this one didn't have a platform to knock off people from defeating them. It would be easy that way, yes, but the competition encouraged participants to showcase their abilities as much as possible. I was worried that her summoning her ability early would be detrimental in the pace of the fight.

But still, it made sense.

What she couldn't do with technique, she could try to make up for with brute force. I was just deeply concerned whether she would be able to properly control her power. After all, her awakening had been very recent, and she still struggled with "wetting the bed" as the mistresses preferred to call it. To have called it forth now with such control was very fortunate, but it might be disadvantageous if she wasn't careful—and that girl tended to get carried away when excited.