[It seems the Argentine player in Group B has the skills. Yes, I’ll pick Giselle Fischer as a dark horse.]
Boom-!
As the sun disappears and night falls under the quiet moonlight, a young girl is still hitting the sandbag.
[I think Giselle Fischer could at least win against Italy. I’m just thinking.]
Thud-
Red nosebleeds scatter everywhere.
With a rough wipe of her arm, her face quickly turns crimson.
[Since I don’t place much significance on predictions, let’s go quickly. Starting from the left, the top eight are Argentina, the United States, Korea, the United States again, Kazakhstan, Korea again, Japan, and Germany.]
“Hmph… Hooah!”
The girl dips her face into the mana pool to replenish the overflowing mana.
The pool already had a murky hue mixed with thick blood.
With tears of blood dripping down her face, the girl awkwardly repositions in front of the sandbag.
“Giselle Fischer.”
Instinctively, she turns her head towards the voice calling her name.
A gigantic man stands before her, arms crossed, staring down at the petite girl.
His bulging muscles and scars all over his body seem to tell the tale of a tumultuous life.
A veteran of the Argentine police special forces ‘Alcon’ with 20 years of experience, her dedicated coach for the last seven years…
Snap-!
An unforgiving slap sends Giselle’s head snapping back.
Her frail body, without an aura protecting it, floats off and crashes onto the mat.
Gag…!
“If you’re going to fight like that, just quit.”
“I can still do it… I can…”
The girl struggles to form coherent words and her eyes flutter closed.
Huff huff-
A rhythmic sound resembling wheezing echoes through the blood-stained training arena.
*
First match of the National Exchange Tournament Top 16.
[Top 16 Match 113]
[Giselle Fischer (Argentina)] [100% | 100%]
[Monica Ricci (Italy)] [100% | 100%]
It poured all day that morning, drizzling, ceasing, then drizzling again.
However, even the dreary weather couldn’t dampen the fervor of the Argentine fans.
Thousands of spectators painted their faces sky blue and white.
For Argentina, reaching the Top 16 after 18 long years made each match feel even more significant.
This nation had suffered eight national bankruptcies in the 21st century, plummeting to a full developing country status.
But the older gentlemen remembering past glories cheered for Giselle Fischer more passionately than anyone else.
“My victory odds aren’t 1.1 or 1.2, but 1.25? Do they think that makes any sense? Even a snail could barely win and somehow, they’re overvalued.”
Meanwhile, Monica Ricci wasn’t too thrilled about Giselle’s surprising rise.
In reality, you might find it hard to find common ground between the two, aside from their gender.
An aristocratic lady from a duke’s family versus someone from the slums of Rosario, a real estate mogul and a street child, refined magical combat versus raw brawling.
“What on earth is attractive about that dull and rough look…”
That comment came in light of Giselle’s male fanbase rapidly increasing lately.
[Ready?]>
Everyone holds their breath and takes their seats in the stadium.
Giselle trembles as she catches the eye of the golden lion.
“Do I scare you?”
“…”
“Hmph, this won’t be fun. I’ll finish it quickly.”
It was indeed a bizarre behavior considering aura users typically spout self-indulgent remarks just before matches.
[Go!]>
As expected, Monica keeps her distance from her.
During the group stage, Switzerland’s Lukas Schmid had already laid out the perfect counter against Giselle.
A lack of experience in responding to long-range bombardment magic.
Her cramming of spells in a short time surely showed its weaknesses.
[Casting: Plasma Drive]
[Casting: Ignis Liechtenberg]
In the blink of an eye, a double casting is completed.
Particles of power collect above Monica’s head,
Fizz-!
And without mercy, she unleashes a bombardment.
Brilliant mana spreads like a wooden fractal centered on Monica, incinerating everything in sight.
The black aura strands sprouting from Giselle’s back are brutally sliced away.
Monica expertly controls the myriad of currents branching out from her magic circle with both hands.
Not a moment of retreat allowed.
An output of aura heart that seems to transcend the very essence of humanity.
“Whew whew…”
Giselle struggles desperately to fend off the encroaching attack on her barrier.
Surely, the party most aware of the despairing skill gap must be the one facing it.
In a dreamlike state, she meticulously cuts the mana that seems to bind her.
Slice, sever, absorb.
As the audience roars with their cheers, Giselle checks the time.
5 minutes, 10 minutes, 14 minutes.
It’s unfavorable yet bearable.
However, now she’s starting to hit her physical limits.
“Hah…!”
[Casting: Glacies Astar]
The moment Giselle’s focus wavers, her side barrier shatters completely.
[Top 16 Match 113]
[Time: 15:00]
[Giselle Fischer (Argentina)] [95% | 39%]
[Monica Ricci (Italy)] [81% | 100%]
*
Already, halftime has arrived.
Giselle exits the training arena, half dazed, gathering what the coach is shouting.
“■■Gold@#■■ Don’t get lazy■■#$■ Your condition is■■@$ good! ■#$■ Let’s go@!”
The break time has completely erased from memory.
Before she knew it, Giselle looked towards herself thrown into the training arena.
Only a frightened young girl remained there.
Monica was already activating a powerful 4-circle magic circle that would decide the victory.
“No matter how I look at it, I can’t interpret this. I can’t understand.”
Gooohh-
“Then let’s just erase it.”
Tendrils of black aura begin to sprout from Giselle’s back.
Using the black tendrils as shields, she charged recklessly towards Monica.
“Ha-ha! Have you finally gone mad?”
“Yaaaahhh!”
Giselle Fischer takes all the blasts, both big and small.
Ka-boom-!
Amidst the rising flames, she reaches out.
The aura, transformed into sharp thorns, follows right after.
Crash- Bang- Clang-!
Monica’s carefully designed magic circles shatter with a single blow.
“How could it be that you’re not using any dispelling technique…!”
Monica gasps in disbelief at her bizarre actions.
Giselle finds the thin mana supply and interrupts it with external manifestation.
Her eyes gleam with madness.
“Die.”
“You crazy…!”
A black shadow envelops Monica.
The field of vision closes in, and her limbs are completely shackled.
As Giselle swings her fist wrapped in aura, the tendrils hovering in the air pierce down towards Monica.
Crackle crackle-!
Giselle begins to lash out like a raging beast.
The aura manifesting in this world enforces her will.
A heart ready to burst, lungs that feel like they’re ripping apart don’t concern Giselle at all.
“When, when, when will you please…!”
[Casting: Momentum Control]
As she pours out an unending assault blended with magic, it reaches a critical point.
At that moment, Monica steals a glance at the scoreboard in utter disbelief.
“No way, when did it reach that point!”
Desperately trying to cast a barrier spell,
[Conjuring: Dirichlet-]
“Please! Just end it already! Why isn’t it over yet!”
With Giselle’s shriek, alarms rang from Monica’s head.
The merged strands of aura formed into a massive column.
No matter how much a barrier holds, the sight of impending death is unmistakable.
[Giselle Fischer! Giselle Fischer will never stop this time! Can she really pull off this ridiculous comeback…!]
Bboooom-!
Everyone thought it was a dream at that moment.
[Giselle Fischer pulls it off with her own hands! Woah! Argentina! Argentina advances to the quarterfinals for the first time in history! Defeating the European champions Italy! Monica Ricci kneels and successfully advances to the quarterfinals of the National Exchange Tournament!]
The ecstatic French commentators go wild.
Thud-
Both girls collapse at the same time.
[Top 16 Match 113]
[Time: 26:19]
[Giselle Fischer (Argentina)] [74% | ⚠12% (irrecoverable)]
[Monica Ricci (Italy)] [☠6% (total destruction) | 87%]
*
Living life often makes one feel the convergence of the universe’s energy.
Giselle must have viewed Monica Ricci as an opponent she could maybe defeat once out of ten, or perhaps even one out of a hundred.
And yet, she cut off the mana supply purely with her aura against staggering odds.
Curse her luck, the mana from the 4-circle magic circle momentarily flowed back, granting Giselle a break.
Multiplying probabilities upon probabilities, seemingly infinitesimal ones.
Does that result ever change through multiplication?
“Don’t let them fool you into thinking that’s a mental victory.”
Regardless of the odds, at that moment, Giselle Fischer succeeded in pulling off a 42% comeback.
And against the European champions, no less.
The cheers were so loud that the entire stadium shook with thump-thump-thump.
I pressed my little finger into my ear.
Seeing the girl who was experiencing such joy while all her tears and snot flowed made me smile without realizing.
“What a friend who has struggled so hard. I’m glad I came to watch the match.”
When you watch live at the stadium, you learn information that cameras cannot capture.
*
[Release: Demon King’s Horn]
For example, how did she awaken external manifestation?
Clearly, Giselle Fischer must have committed murder at least once in her past.
