The Mysterious Black Magician

A rare explosion like a flashbang followed when the Photon Blast of Chloe exploded, masking the whole stage with blinding lights.

All of the onlookers had to cover their eyes and shut them. Along with the explosion was the deafening high-pitched hum.

"What!"

"Cover your eyes!

"So strong!"

"My eyes!"

"What kind of attack was that?"

Every confused onlooker spat the words.

When everything went back to normal, they noticed a ripple in the space, but it only happened for a second before everything went back to normal as though nothing had happened.

"What was that?"

An audience member who got a glance at it asked with a confused face.

"What are you asking?" Asked the person beside him. 

"No, nothing…" there's no need to chase after his question as the ripple is already gone.

Then, they heard some utterances coming from the other audience around them. "Is it already over?"

"LovelyGirlScout was down!" The announcer, Instructor Beth, shouted in front of the microphone. 

Jami was using the nickname LovelyGirlScout. 

"Chloe, good job!" Shouted a friend from their party.

Yman glanced at Bob, who was standing beside him. Feeling his friend's eye on him, Bob smiled soundlessly.

"It's the first time I saw her using that kind of spell, " he said to his friend. Well, even when they were exploring in the dungeon, Chloe would only fire her pistol without using some flashy spell, except her purple shockwave.

Though, there were occasions when out of a sudden, she increased the firepower of her attack. But that's when she found herself in a bind. So, Bob only thought that it must be her secret weapon to escape from danger. He never thought that Chloe was more capable than he imagined.

Beside him, Yman smiled. "Looks like the fight is about to get interesting."

Bob wondered what his bro meant by it. Jami had already knocked to the floor. It would be over soon after Chloe ended it with another attack. Though, he didn't question his bro regarding it.

Jami was yet to move. As Bob said, Chloe did not waste the opportunity. She pointed her hand to the lying Jami.

The hand of Chloe shone brightly as she gathered her mana on it. She has purplish mana.

But she stopped her plan and everyone was stunned.

The figure of Jami suddenly burst into countless petals.

"Flora Dance!"

From the back of Chloe, she heard a whisper. She felt a bad feeling about it.

Without looking behind her, Chloe docked and rolled away.

Shing!

Just right after she did it, a gleam from a curvaceous blade drew a long slash image in the air.

"Hehe, not bad, Chloe," laughed Jami while throwing the blade slightly in the air and catching it in a second, seemingly playing with it.

Oooohhhh!

Wetwew!

Some audiences whistled from the thrill of the match.

"You two, do your best!" Another audience shouted.

Bob had widened his eyes. "I, Illusion?"

Yman smiled. "No, it's a distraction type ability," had said.

Bob wanted to ask him further regarding it, but he heard another gunfire on the stage. 

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Chloe narrowed her eyes to Jami's words. She kicked the floor and leaped backward, then fired multiple shots at Jami. Jami's figure turned to countless petals and vanished from sight.

It was her [Flora Dance] technique. It was another type of distraction type spell. Although it could also be considered as an illusion, it wasn't like the genuine illusion spell. It uses countless petals to distract her opponent and at the same time hide from her opponent's focus.

In Chloe's perspective, Jami vanished in her sight after her body turned to countless petals. But in the onlooker's perspective, Jami casually leaped away from her position.

That's why it's more of a distraction than an illusion.

Chloe was able to evade Jami's attack at hairsbreadth. She distanced herself right away while sending multiple shots to Jami. However, the same thing happened. Jami's figure turned to petals and disappeared from her sight. The next second she appeared was already at her blind spot.

Chloe knew that if this keeps on going, it only a matter of time that Jami would succeed in hitting her.

Chloe gathered mana on her right hand while at the same time using her left to fire a volley of shots to Jami. Her feet didn't stop kicking the ground. She knew that if she stopped moving the match would be over for her.

Jami was strong and had the advantage in speed and power. No, she had the advantage in all aspects. Chloe clenched her teeth. She wanted to win. She wanted to fight in the world competition.

If she failed today, her wish to join the competition would be just a wish.

Jami grinned.

This Chloe was a tenacious opponent. She wondered if it was luck or what-- that on Chloe's side, but her attack kept on missing at an extremely short distance.

"Dancing Blade!"

After whispering, about four blades appeared around Jami. They were spinning in the air like drones.

After waving her hand, they shot towards Chloe.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Chloe grimaced at the sight of it. She hastily summoned mana on her feet and ran around the stage.

But, she further grimaced when the spinning blades didn't stop, instead, they chased after her like they had the will of their own.

'A homing type!' Chloe cried out inwardly.

The onlookers had uniformed faces. All of them were wearing a face that formed like '0'.

Not only that, they move faster than her. In just a matter of seconds, they would be going to shred her to pieces.

She tried to shoot them down.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! 

"What?!" Chloe exclaimed she noticed the blades spiraled. It seemed like they were evading her attacks.

Never in her life has she witnessed such a technique. 

While skidding backward, she focused her right hand on them. However, in the corner of her eyes, to her right side, she saw Jami rushing towards her.

Her right hand was pointing in front while her left, she pointed the muzzle to her right, focused on the approaching Jami.

Apparently, at the tip of the muzzle, there was a gathering of mana.

Yman narrowed his eyes. 'A purple shockwave to knock the flying blades, and a Photon Blast to the approaching opponent. Not bad,' He thought.

It was only a guess, but if Chloe did it there was a high likelihood she could escape from Jami's entanglement.

If his guesses were right, then it would give her a big chance to turn around the tide of battle. 

But Yman and the others did not expect what happened next.

In front of the flying blades, a mass of magical energy took the form of a mirror.

It materialized right in front of the chasing blades.

On the contrary, behind Jami, the same thing happened. It materialized right behind her.

However, the next second, the blades were gone inside the mirror and went out from the other mirror behind Jami.

Jami's grin froze on her mouth and was replaced by wide eyes.

Then she staggered for a couple of steps forward.

Confused, she looked behind. On her back, the four blades were stuck.

"H-how did it happen?"

Chloe gasped for breath as she was staring at Jami who fell on her knee. Her blades stabbed her in the back.

Though Chloe also felt her knee wanted to give up. That technique drained out her mana. It was an advanced spell that was able to create a semi portal.

The [En and Ex Purple Dimension] spell. The only downside of this spell was, it has a limited range. And also, it needed lots of mana. Chloe was yet to master it. But for now, it was the craftiest spell she had.

Fortunately, the Water Goddess Light Armor she was wearing at the moment enabled her to regenerate a portion of mana every second. So she just needed to wait at least 5 seconds to fire a decisive shot.

Right, her magic-based pistol won't shoot without feeding it with mana. She didn't want to come near Miss Jam. After all, even if she was injured, her level was higher than her.

One single mistake could put Chloe in danger. Chloe was only cautious. She wanted to secure her victory. Thanks to Yman. Because of him, her resolve to defeat a higher-level opponent didn't waver. Before she knew it, he became the figure she wanted to follow as an example. 

She wanted to fight like him. She wanted to defeat a much stronger opponent.

Yman and Bob smiled warmly at the figure of Chloe who struggled to maintain her stance. But both of them knew that she was barely able to stand. That spell must exhaust her for good. It was easy to guess just looking at how deep she was breathing.

She pointed the muzzle of her pistol to the kneeling Jami. 

Whoosh!

Unexpectedly, before Chloe could pull the trigger, she felt a stab from behind her.

"Eh!" Chloe uttered.

"Sorry, Chloe, it's my win," she heard Jami's voice behind her ears.

"But… How come…?"

Ahead of her, the kneeling Jami gradually turned to smoke.

"A ninja ability. A cloning technique," Jami replied.

Chloe fell on the ground and was followed by a loud siren, signaling the end of the match.

"End of the second match! The victor, LovelyGirlScout!"

Instructor Beth announced.