The first half, 6 minutes in, Giselle Fischer had perfectly captured Na-me’s limbs.
[Stay calm and get out of there! NoName player! Don’t rush!]
[Aaaah…!]
The commentators lamented softly.
With all her might, Giselle lifted Na-me upside down.
The black tentacles tightly wrapped around her ankles lashed out at Na-me, smashing her into the ground like a whip.
Bang bang bang bang!
Grass flew in all directions and clumps of dirt split apart with a thud.
As she threw Na-me to the edge of the arena, the small body thudded against the outer wall.
Giselle, having drawn in all her aura, charged forward like the wind, bearing a gigantic spear 3 meters long at her side.
Na-me, leaning against the wall, slowly lifted her head.
She eventually met Giselle’s piercing gaze.
Giselle felt a shiver run down her spine.
Immediately, she launched the spear from her hands and leaped upward.
[Mind Technique: Le Kaizen Familia – Mikasuela’s Verask]
Kuwaaah!
101 giant snakes made of mana surged forward, displaying their deadly fangs.
The spear, extracted from the ground by monotone magic, crumbled to pieces as if it was nothing.
If she had kept running, it would have been a tremendous loss.
Swallowing hard, Giselle retrieved her tentacles and faced Na-me again.
[It’s Giselle Fischer cornering NoName! Is Na-me cleverly thinking of a way out… what was that? Did she just dodge that?!]
Kwa-chik!
A sharp thorn pierced the wall.
Na-me merely bobbed her head slightly.
“Mirage.”
“…!”
“Your tentacles, right? Isn’t that so?”
“Uwaaaah!”
Kwa-qua-qua-qua-qua-qua!
Dozens of thorns chased after Na-me.
The concrete wall, solidified, began to crumble.
Wooom—
Countless waves in concentric circles hit the barricade installed in the audience seating.
Nevertheless, Na-me ran across the wall without allowing even a single hit.
Paah!
Using the outer wall as a springboard, Na-me was thrust towards Giselle.
The horrifying tips of the tentacles lunged towards Na-me as if they were sharp.
“No…!”
“Twice is too predictable, friend.”
The tentacles pierced through Na-me’s head like a ghost without causing her any damage.
[Imperial Palace Swordsmanship 315th Style – Wildflower Stab]
The white-hot Skiabona nestled in Giselle’s arms.
Kagagagagakan!
A brilliant golden flash erupted from Giselle’s abdomen.
The 6-circle barrier granted by the crystal sphere minimized the damage taken by the user.
Yet it couldn’t violate the laws of energy conservation.
Giselle’s waist bent in half as she flew a dozen meters.
Even with the barrier, the impact was considerable.
“How…”
Giselle staggered to her feet on one leg.
“Aura teleportation doesn’t make sense. Unless you’ve been mixing perception with reality from the start.”
Na-me raised her index finger.
Just one.
As Giselle came to realize that there was only one ‘anomalous’ tentacle she could manipulate, the match quickly simplified.
The momentum of the match had now shifted entirely to Na-me.
Paah!
The lightning-fast Skiabona descended towards Giselle’s neck.
Swish—
The crossed tentacles shattered.
Cut off, deflected, and the black pieces maintained their original positions.
If two couldn’t do it, then four, then ten, then dozens.
Giselle split her tentacles thinly, creating a chaotic cluster that even she couldn’t control.
Na-me forced her way in, shoving her face through all the obstacles.
Giselle crossed her arms, calling back all the lost aura.
The ominous blades had already grazed her sides, lower abdomen, and thighs.
[Casting: Black Aurora]
Black lightning struck with a kwa-rrung.
“Kuheuk!”
Giselle couldn’t contain her shock.
Did she just figure that out instantly?
A technique she hadn’t even used on Monica Ricci.
She had only used it once during the chaotic battle with Nathan Chen.
Na-me’s relentless black aura didn’t give Giselle a moment to think.
The fluctuations in height she maneuvered as a young girl were more intense than any opponent’s.
Keep your mind… just hold onto your sanity…
Giselle’s eyes reddened.
Every so often, blows pierced through her tentacles, making her mind spin.
Watching the barrier dwindle at a considerable speed only heightened her anxiety.
She was too busy chasing the speed of her sword, and those occasional spells were even deadlier to deal with.
[Casting: Arc Discharge]
Szzzt—
Long hair fluttered in front of Giselle’s eyes.
Na-me had arrived at the arena with her hair in a ponytail today, not twin tails.
That was Na-me’s way of letting Giselle have a safe duel.
It seemed like one rope thrown down from the heavens.
I’m sorry I…
Her body had already reached its limit.
After a long internal struggle,
Giselle, with a breaking heart, grasped Na-me’s head tightly.
“Gyaah!”
Screech—!
Immediately, the referee intervened in the match.
Depending on the referee’s discretion, it could become a red card or a forfeiture.
“Hah hah hah…”
Giselle placed her hands on her knees, panting.
Her heart felt like it would burst.
Would Argentina’s myth to reach the semifinals end in such an ugly manner?
Fear began to wash over Giselle.
“And damn it, why do I even care about this nonsense?”
Na-me and the referee were chattering about something, but there was no time to listen.
The referee pulled a card from the pocket of his T-shirt.
‘Yellow?’
She had been given another chance.
With an expression that revealed nothing, Na-me fell back three steps.
Match ongoing.
“Are you not focused?”
Wham—!
Na-me’s high kick landed perfectly on Giselle’s chin.
Giselle crumpled to the ground, twitching in embarrassment.
Screech—!
[Semifinal Match 125]
[Time: 15:00]
[Giselle Fischer (Argentina)] [37% / 63%]
[NoName (Republic of Korea)] [70% / 75%]
The whistle signaling the end of the first half echoed throughout the stadium.
“Tsk, what a waste of time.”
Na-me sheathed her blade back into her wand and headed for the locker room.
“Hah… hah…”
In the oval-shaped sky Giselle was staring at, the sunset was casting a fiery red hue.
The battlefield surrounding the sky held 130,000 people.
The red waves thoroughly overwhelmed the blue ones.
“Na-me! Na-me! Na-me!”
Giselle clearly saw it.
The spectators disappointed with her performance were leaving their seats, a child whose face paint was washed away with tears, and a coach from the police special forces.
“Let’s go. You’re not in great shape today. You need to take every second of rest you can get.”
“Uncle… I didn’t…”
“…”
“I didn’t kill…”
“Well done.”
“?”
“Instead of living a life consumed by revenge, it’s better to handle things neatly now. Never bring up what happened today, just bury it in your memories forever.”
The coach repeated the words he had once spoken, carrying Giselle on his back.
Unfortunately, that wish didn’t come true, and the poor girl desperately continued to recall the memories of murder for seven years.
*
Giselle Fischer’s mother left her daughter abandoned in a capsule.
More than half, or even more.
Neglect, bordering on abuse.
The girl, who had been remarkably resilient, managed to survive until the age of three.
The mother, fed up with the unwanted child growing too quickly, eventually left home.
In Argentina, there are over 200,000 orphans.
Giselle Fischer would have spent her childhood no different from any of them.
She would sometimes pickpocket tourists in the slums, run errands for gangsters, or beg for survival.
Then suddenly, her life would take a turn.
“You can exhibit outer manifestation at such a young age? This little brat?”
A small mana field was discovered in Rosario.
The gang that won local turf wars invited a wealthy benefactor to build a magic power plant.
Curiously, the benefactor was looking for a child of around 8 years old who could exhibit outer manifestation.
The odds of finding such a child were extremely slim.
As luck would have it, Giselle Fischer was under the gang’s protection, and the boss, humming a tune, sent her to the benefactor.
“As promised, the construction cost is 10% off.”
“I never thought it would actually exist…”
Giselle Fischer sprouted a tiny sprout from her hand.
Seeing the black four-leaf clover caused the benefactor’s eyebrows to twitch.
“But it’s a bit underwhelming. This isn’t what I was expecting.”
“Ha ha, it could be because she’s physically weak. She’s a sickly child. If you feed and raise her well, she’ll undoubtedly be a help for your daughter.”
From that day forward, Giselle Fischer began to associate with the benefactor’s daughter, Jimena.
“Until age 12, if you can’t teach her outer manifestation, I’ll kill you!”
“It’s okay; my dad always makes sure to kill people without pain as promised!”
“Whew!”
In Giselle Fischer’s memories, Jimena was a girl full of free spirit.
A child with enough money to never run out felt a vague longing for the slums.
With bodyguards in tow, she played “Chairman’s Football” with the slum kids and enjoyed hide-and-seek while pretending not to see them.
“Giselle, when we turn 12, let’s go to America together. We can go to school together, have yacht parties like my dad, and raise a big dog at home! But you have to clean up its poop!”
Giselle, who was gloomy and timid, quickly became enchanted by her innocent nature.
“I don’t need to learn that nonsense. My family has plenty of money, right? So you handle all the studying and training!”
But that happiness didn’t even last a year.
The most powerful mafia organization in Argentina, ‘Los Monos,’ harbored resentment towards the benefactor who had supported another gang and annihilated Jimena’s family.
That day, Jimena was at the slums playing with Giselle, which is how she managed to survive until the end.
However, it was nearly impossible for two young girls to fend off an adult male.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaah! Please save me, hickkk… I don’t understand… Uncle, please, just once… hick… I can give you as much money as you want… Kyaaaaak!”
“Shut up, you annoying brat!”
“Ghhh… Ji… Ji…”
Jimena, struck hard in the head.
Warm blood spilled onto the chilly, filthy ground filled with trash.
The mafia, heavily armed and clad in bulletproof gear, began to remove their military helmets and haphazardly took off their pants.
“Do you know why I followed you all the way to this damn place without any profit or results? Here I am giving up my prospects for this lousy experience; I’m such a loser. Damn it…!”
“It’s cold… Dad… Giselle… where are you… I’m so cold… I’m so scared…”
Witnessing this, Giselle felt her mind turn icy.
It was as if white cloth covered her feelings of terror.
Her field of view expanded infinitely, capturing the scene of herself, Jimena, and the assailant in a dumpster in one frame.
She knew exactly what she had to do next.
Not fear, nor affection, but a categorical imperative.
“What is this?”
The black four-leaf clover sprouted between the stones on the ground.
Boom!
An immature sprout quickly grew into a thorn that pierced through the male’s vital organs within a second.
The mafia, skewered by Giselle’s aura like a skewer, gushed blood and died instantly.
Only Jimena remained, breathing heavily, looking at the dazed Giselle.
“Wow, you’re strong… I’m glad you came to save me… Giselle…”
Jimena would soon pass away.
In the city of Rosario, Argentina’s elite special forces, “Alcon,” were deployed.
[No survivors in Sector A.]
[No survivors in Sector B either.]
“In Sector E, no survivors; however, one dog raised by the owner remains alive.”
*
Giselle was forever trapped in the time that was seven years ago.
The method to bloom the immense power obtained through sudden enlightenment without a gradual process was only by recalling the memories of murder.
In 2053, Giselle Fischer had become a national hero, yet her time lingered in 2046.
Each day, she shed tears in the training room, finally falling asleep only after exhausting herself.
“No way, he couldn’t be dead. I’ve never confirmed his death.”
She was enduring all this pain solely out of a sense of duty towards her dead friend.
The soldier who saved Giselle quit his job to become her teacher, mentor, and father figure.
He took on the role of coach solely to fulfill her desires.
