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37.6% Spirit Immortal / Chapter 260: Starlight As Bright As Day (3)

Chapter 260: Starlight As Bright As Day (3)

As the match between Shin and Natasha was still ongoing, two brooding figures furrowed their brows the moment the young girl displayed her true might. Suji, who was widely considered to be the best weapon-type Spirit User in the freshmen year, was highly disturbed by how much Natasha had grown, and he posed a question to his partner.

"Dan… Are you capable of blocking that slash?"

"T-That… I'm not sure..." Danroy's voice slightly quivered as his throat contracted out of fear. Even though the obese youth claimed that he was uncertain, both Suji and he knew that Natasha's strike was sufficient to break through both their defences as if it were made of butter.

"Yet another emergent talent… How many more are you hiding, Imperius Academy?!" Suji's grip on his pants tightened while spectating the odd phenomenon. Ever since he entered the school, talents that were rarely seen in decades seemed to have been popping out one after another. Initially, Kanari and Suji shared a duopoly to the claim of best in the generation. Yet, now there were more than five prodigies that could potentially threaten Kanari's throne. "Tsskkk, let's see how this plays out. The winner of this match would face us after all..."

"..." Hearing Suji's words, Danroy just kept silent. Although the sinewy youth didn't think too much before uttering that statement, as a long-time friend of his, Danroy could piece together his childhood friend's innermost thoughts.

'Suji… In your eyes, I'm probably not as worthy to fight you as compared to those two down there right?' Danroy pondered. Feeling a wave of despondency crash into his very soul, the obese youth dropped his head down wistfully. 'And you might be right… Against those two, I'm probably nothing...'

~~~

The atmosphere in the stadium started to get more and more heated after Shin and Natasha's first exchange. Even though their movements were too swift for the naked eye, just spectating the particle effects and the aftermath of the split second bout made the audience's eyes glitter with wonder.

Through his earlier probe, Shin had learnt how dangerous it was to charge headfirst into the attacking range of Natasha's Starlight Katana. Even though his overall speed was much faster than the young girl's, Shin still couldn't evade that one quickdraw ability.

'I can't carelessly attack her! That one move is capable of ending me immediately!' Shin cautioned himself.

With Natasha on the defensive and Shin trying to find a potential weakness from afar, the two stared at one another for almost ten seconds without moving. In the heat of a battle such as this one, just one mistake would prove to be fatal. Thus, even though it looked like Shin was merely standing still, in his head, he was calculating the hundreds of potential outcomes.

'It looks like she's going to wait until I make the first move… Hmph! Did you really think that I will play into your game?!' Shin scoffed at Natasha's ignorance and summoned out three spheres of water. One of the water globes turned itself into eight rings that enveloped the black-haired youth, acting as a buffer for any rogue sword slashes that might end up in his area, while the other two turned into thousands of water droplets that floated in the air.

'Let's see how you handle this!!!' Throwing his hand down, Shin threw the thousands upon thousands of tiny water balls at the swordmaiden, creating a horizontal rain that was unaffected by gravity.

"*Celestial Aura!!!*."

Instead of moving from her position, Natasha released the tremendous amounts of mana stored in her Starlight Katana and created a defensive field that easily evaporated the raindrops that entered her striking zone. With every disappearing water sphere, it seemed that Shin's long-ranged attempt had failed spectacularly, and just when the swordmaiden was feeling confident of her defence, a giant shadow darkened the sky above.

Sensing danger, Natasha immediately glanced upwards, ready to take on the oncoming threat. However, what greeted her was a torrential whirlpool, made out of a dense liquid that emulated the shape of the milky way, spinning rapidly above her head. Crashing down at an astonishing speed, there was no way that Natasha's Celestial Aura could evaporate that much water in time. Using her signature foot technique, Natasha left her Iaido stance and moved tens of metres away, evading the oncoming whirlpool.

Naturally, the onslaught was part of Shin's master plan to force the swordmaiden to leave her deadly quick draw stance, and now that her fastest attack was out of the picture, Shin jumped at a blinding speed. Her battle instincts tingling, Natasha pivoted her body in the direction of Shin's oncoming attack and the moment she saw a lean shadow speeding towards her, the swordmaiden swung her sword from her awkward position.

Caught off guard by her reflexes, Shin immediately coated himself with a glove of water and only barely managed to slap the blade away. Somersaulting once to regain her stance, Natasha swung horizontally through pure instinct, forcing her attacker to retreat once more using the Lightning Swallow Steps.

'Her movement speed is slow, but her sword is so damn quick!!!' Shin hollered out mentally. His speed was clearly superior to Natasha's, but he still couldn't find an opening to exploit.

On the other side of the arena, the Starlight Blade was evidently having some troubles composing herself as well. 'He broke my Iaido stance just like that?! Since when could he control water like that?!'

When Shin first came to the academy, he was cautious not to let any of his techniques leak. Thus, the student body only knew that he had promoted into the Spirit Core realm and had a knack for close-combat martial arts. Not many people knew that Shin could create and control water as he pleased, sending Natasha's plan of solely relying on her quick draw to disarray.

'I can't remain on the defensive! If he could continually generate gallons of water, I would just be a sitting duck!' Switching up her plans, Natasha changed into a different stance. Her Starlight Katana shone in a celestial light as she raised her sword up with both her hands firmly attached to the hilt.

"The First Waltz! Entering the Cosmos!" With a shout, Natasha sped forward, catching Shin off guard immediately. Moving in a beeline to confuse her enemy, the swordmaiden left afterimages of herself as she traversed the stage, showing off the full effect of her foot technique. Only after reaching five metres away from Shin, did the girl changed her stance to an offensive one.

Natasha's katana started to become illusory as the starlight it emitted obscured the boy's vision. Sending a slash at the boy's general direction, Natasha gritted her teeth as she felt her mana being drained from her body. A crescent energy blade shot out of the tip of her katana and sped forward at light speed, giving Shin no time to evade.

Forced into a corner, Shin sent his water sphere before him and defended against the energy blade. However, that wasn't enough. Immediately evaporating the water globe, Natasha's sword light flashed forward, thirsting for the sweet, succulent flesh that Shin possessed. As a last ditch effort to protect himself, Shin threw out three of his mana enhanced needles to mitigate the strike.

"*Bsssttt!!!*." Echoes of his needles being evaporated into dust sounded in Shin's ears as the energy blade dissipated right before his eyes. His heart beating a thousand kilometres per second, Shin rubbed the cold sweat off his forehead, feeling relieved that he had escaped the Grim Reaper once more.

'That must be her second spiritual ability, Astral Slash!' Shin reached deep into the recesses of his memory to recall Natasha's spiritual abilities.

'Although it seems to be capable of slicing anything it comes into contact with, it looks like it has a certain range before it disappears. Perhaps ten metres?' Immediately analysing the strengths and weaknesses of the swordmaiden's new attack, Shin made a mental note to run whenever the signature starlight flows out of Natasha's katana.

'Okay, let's try this then!' Keeping out of the Astral Slash's range, Shin jumped high into the air and found two obvious meridian points on Natasha's body. Picking out two more needles from his arsenal, Shin mana enhanced them and shot them both at the girl.

'Hmph! Such a telegraphed attack won't work on me!' Natasha sneered as she effortlessly sliced one of the flying needles and allowed the other to land straight on the ground beneath her. However, the moment she took down those two needles, a sense of dread towered over her, and the swordmaiden immediately took a defensive Iaido stance once more.

Up in the air, Shin had released his spiritual pressure, and at the same time, his right fist glowed with a cerulean light. Coating his right hand with a layer of water, Shin gathered a significant portion of his mana into that one point, intending on finishing the fight with that one move.

'Hmph! You underestimate me, Shin Iofiel!!!' Laughing off Shin's foolish attempt, Natasha congregated her mana into her Starlight Katana and waited for the boy to enter her reach. In her Iaido stance, the girl could reach a draw speed that Shin could never hope to match. Once he reached her zone, Natasha would simply slice off the boy's arm, making him wish that he had never belittled her in the first place.

Taking the plunge, Shin's body descended at an astonishing speed, as if he was unafraid of getting hit by Natasha's light speed sword. Still in her Iaido stance, a sinister grin crept up the young girl's face as she realised that she was about to defeat her opponent in the next move. Natasha's grip on her katana's hilt strengthened as her sword began to glimmer in a gorgeous light. The stars that lay hidden in her Celestial Aura twinkled in joy as the mana being supplied to the sword overwhelmingly increased.

'Five… Four…' Natasha predicted the trajectory of Shin's descent with an expectant gaze and counted down the time to impact in her head. Looking at the unchanging face of the black-haired boy, Natasha could practically taste victory.

'Three… Two...' As Shin descended faster and faster, Natasha had to alter her counting speed slightly. Nonetheless, the fact still remained that once Shin entered her range, the young swordmaiden would have free reigns to claim his arm as her own.

'ONE!!!' The moment Shin's extended fist entered into her zone, Natasha's right arm muscles flinched as she attempted to draw her blade from the Iaido stance. However, as she was midway through the attack, the young girl felt that something was amiss.

'W-What?' Natasha's entire world started to turn dizzy, and the mana that she had supplied to her Starlight Blade had been cut off. Her control over her body was sent into chaos as the backlash from her mana being thrown back into her spiritual body pumped her blood in the wrong direction.

Before she could attempt to diagnose the problem, Shin's fist was already in striking distance, and there was no way that the youth was going to pass up on this golden opportunity.

"Soul-Piercing Fist!!!" Shin's extended his arm and struck with all his might. Watching as the fist that she sought to cut off just seconds earlier etched ever closer to her body, Natasha could only use her Starlight Blade to defend herself meekly.

"BOOOOOMMM!!!" A thunderous echo reverberated through Lucha Amphitheatre, breaking the eardrums of those who sat on the front row.

Shin's fist had collided with Natasha's sword and had sent the poor swordmaiden flying dozens of metres away. Like a broken toy, Natasha rolled on the ground for a few seconds before finally collapsing on the stadium. A sweaty mist sizzled out from Shin's knuckles while he attempted to recover his bearings. Even though he had landed the overwhelmingly superior strike. Natasha still managed to somehow evaporate all of his water protection and defend her vital organs from any significant harm.

'Just how skilled can one get?!' Shin was in complete shock. Even in that disadvantaged position and given less than half a second to react, Natasha could still protect herself. Watching as the girl struggled to get to her feet, Shin dropped his jaw in wonder.

"Hah… Hah… W-What was that?" The swordmaiden's right hand quivered uncontrollably, and her legs barely kept her standing. Panting heavily to get rid of the excess heat in her body, the young girl tasted iron in her mouth as a red liquid dripped out from the corner of her lips. After facing the backlash from her mana spiralling out of control, it took a while for Natasha to regain her bearings and attempt to figure out what went wrong.

Now that she had some time to herself, Natasha could thoroughly inspect her shaking body. Sensing a sharp pain at the back of her calf, the swordmaiden glanced down to see a sharp silver needle poking into her body. Recognising it as the pin that she allowed to stick to the ground, suddenly, everything made sense to Natasha.

'So that's how he disrupted my mana flow! He must have the ability to remotely control those needles!!!' Natasha theorised.

"Natasha!" While the young girl was still in the midst of recovering, Shin's youthful voice echoed out from across the stadium. "Just give in… You're clearly in no shape to compete anymore. Your right arm is broken, you mana circulation is out of control, and my Divine Needle Binding doesn't come out that easily!"

Shin cautioned the swordmaiden from digging further down the rabbit hole. Although she managed to defend herself, a large portion of her right arm bones had been shattered, and her internal mana flow was still in disarray. No matter how tough Natasha was, there was no need to risk her life over a school competition. If she gave in now, Shin would undoubtedly give her the first aid that she so desperately needed.

'Divine Needle Binding? Is that why I get lightheaded every time I try to touch that silver needle?' Natasha speculated.

A typical needle strike would be simple to resolve, as simply plucking it out would be sufficient. However, with the Divine Needle Binding technique, each time Shin's victim tried to even go near the needle, their mind would turn muddied, rendering them incapable of removing the binding on their own. Furthermore, if someone other than Shin tried to use their mana to remove the needles, the victim being pinned would enter a threshold of pain rarely felt by the human body.

"Natasha! There's no need to risk your life! Just throw in the towel!" Unwilling to attack a handicapped opponent, Shin warned the swordmaiden once more. As much as he wanted to win, there was no way that Shin would finish off a weakened foe that was unable to fight back.

"Hahaha..." Natasha giggled slightly at the boy's words. Her face turning purple as her fingers placed a firm grip on the silver needle that blocked one of her meridians. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!"

Using laughter as a tool to mask the pain and faint sensation that pulsated through her body, Natasha hollered out: "Shin Iofiel!!! A warrior never backs down from a good fight! Throw in the towel?! Never say something that foolish again!!!"

Tidal waves of dizziness came crashing into the girl's consciousness as she yanked out the needle from her calf, stunning Shin and everyone in the audience.

"ARRRRRGGHHH!!!!" The moment she pulled out the needle an ungodly agony electrified Natasha's entire being causing her to yell out in pain. Beating the concrete floor until her hands bled, tears spewed out from Natasha's eye ducts as she rolled around, hoping that the pain would stop.

Many in the audience couldn't bear to see the sight of Natasha suffering and quickly moved their gaze away. Even Shin, the perpetrator of Natasha's suffering, started to tremble. Only after twenty seconds, did the young swordmaiden manage to stand up from the damage that she had sustained.

"Well then… Shall we continue?"


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Chapter 261: Starlight As Bright As Day (4)

"Well then, shall we continue?" Natasha's words echoed themselves in Shin's mind. Instead of getting into his combat stance, the black-haired boy quietly stood there with an opened mouth. Although he didn't have much experience with using the Divine Needle Binding technique, based on the books that he had read, no sane individual would be able to retain their wits after they pulled out the acupuncture needle that was disrupting their mana flow.

'And they called me a zombie that never gives up… If I'm undead, then what is she?!' Shin argued. The swordmaiden that stood in front of the boy, seemingly unaffected by the pain that the silver needle had inflicted onto her body, had the blood of a true warrior flowing through her veins. Natasha wasn't one to give up just because of one setback. In fact, she would come back stronger and more resilient than ever before.

Deeply sighing, Shin closed his eyes and shook his head. "Natasha… I fully understand your resolve now. Forgive me for insulting you earlier."

"HAHAHA!!! Come at me! Let's enjoy this fight!!!" Bellowing out in laughter, Natasha moved her Starlight Katana from her right hand to her left side. With her dominant hand broken, the swordmaiden was unable to perform the most reliable move in her arsenal, the quick draw, and had to rely on her footwork and overall martial arts.

"I won't hold back just because you're injured..." Taking out three new needles from his robes, Shin summoned out five water spheres, ready to hit the girl with everything that he had.

"Just what I wanted!!!" Natasha cried out, jumping forward at the same time. Space distorted as the Starlight Katana in her hands emitted out its signature Celestial Aura and the mana being released from her body made Shin question if she had already condensed her Spirit Core.

'How the hell did she get more aggressive?!' Evading the first slash, Shin used the Lightning Swallow Steps to slowly back away from the onslaught of sword light that blinded the average spectator. As much as he wished to exploit Natasha's now weakened right hand, each time Shin attempted to move to the side, a blinding light descended onto the area where he wished to go, forcing the boy to retreat further back.

"The Second Waltz! The Blanket of Shooting Stars!!!" Natasha hollered out.

After awakening her Starlight Katana, the young Natasha, who had held a sword even before she could walk, used her extensive knowledge to develop her own set of sword techniques that were catered to her heavenly weapon. Making full use of the innate Celestial Aura that the Starlight Katana possessed, the swordmaiden ensured that her enemies would be blinded each time she swung her sword, giving rise to a deadly technique that gave the illusion of millions of shooting stars descending from the heavens.

'I can't break through?!' Shin was appalled. Even though he had the superior speed, he still couldn't find an opening to exploit.

'Tsskkk, I can't stay here forever!!!' From his peripheral vision, the young boy could tell that he was about to be pushed out of the ring if he continued to back off. Sending a significant amount of mana into his thighs, Shin sprung out from his location and flew high up into the skies above. At the same time, he created another vortex of liquid destruction to cover his escape route. Once he was out of the impact distance, Shin waved his hands and sent the whirlpool crashing down on the young swordmaiden.

"HARGHHH!!!" Screaming out in passion, Natasha's Starlight Katana released a torrent of mana as an Astral Slash flowed out from its blade tip, instantly evaporating the descending attack. As the water created by Shin turned to mist, an ethereal atmosphere descended upon the arena. Falling to the other corner of the ring, Shin gathered his mana once more to create five larger water spheres that orbited around him like they were planets. Adding the fact that he had a full body of scales and three silver needles that could take down any foe in a matter of seconds, Shin looked like a descended immortal, here to inflict judgement on the mortals that crossed him.

Emerging from the mist, the opposite atmosphere was felt from Natasha. Bruised and bloodied from her earlier exchange with Shin, the tenacious swordmaiden was furiously panting while firmly grasping her Starlight Katana with her left hand. Even though she had been beaten down and outclassed, Natasha never gave up. The fire in her eyes still burnt zealously and the stars in circled around in her sword sparkled even brighter than it did before.

"Are the two of them really freshmen?" No one knew who asked that question. Be it average students, the elites, or those in the VIP stands, everyone was in awe at the spectacle that both Shin and Natasha were bringing.

"Round of sixteen?! This is a match in the round of sixteen?! I doubt that we can even beat one of them?!" The second-year valedictorian, Lyanna grabbed the wrist of her compatriot, Angie as she commentated on the match. "Angie… What the hell are we witnessing?!"

"I don't know… They are just one year below us… Yet how the hell did they grow so strong?!" The petite girl couldn't fathom how Shin and Natasha grew to be that powerful. Back when they were competing in their own freshmen year-end tournament, there wasn't even a single match that could compare to what was happening right now.

"..." On the other side of the stadium, both Suji and Danroy, who were eventually going to face the winner of this match, both wore solemn expressions.

"They… are... strong..." Suji bit his lip as he enunciated each word of his statement. "And you're going to face the winner of this match next..."

"Yeah..." Danroy clenched his fists while he replied. As much as he hated to admit it, Danroy knew that he was inferior to the both of them, making him extensively worried about his next match.

Of course, not all of the audience was shocked at the current turn of events. Lady Seph, who had been formulating strategies with Shin days before, was happily sipping on her tea while enjoying the stunned faces of those in the VIP lounge. Even the ordinarily unreadable face of the Duchess of Highgarden that smiled twenty-four hours of the day had changed into a stoic one. Evidently, she had been taken aback by Shin's performance.

"Venerate Seraphim… Your disciple is quite the piece of work huh?"

"Thank you. I have raised him well."

"But aren't you a little too relaxed?" The Duchess questioned the blonde beauty's nonchalance. "From what I see, the daughter from the Aldana family is a little too skilled at martial arts, and your disciple has yet to break through her movements?"

"Don't worry about that. Shin will find a way… He always does..."

"I see..." The Duchess marvelled at how much faith Lady Seph had in her precious disciple. 'Well, let's see how much more you can surprise me, little one...'

~~~

Now that he had reached the later stages of the battle, Shin's mind blocked out any thoughts of his surroundings as his vision only focused on the swordmaiden that stood at the other corner of the arena. Shin had even forgotten that he was fighting for a spot in the quarterfinals as his mind furiously calculated all of the variables for his next successful attack.

'A long-range attack like the whirlpool vortex would be evaporated by Natasha's Astral Slash while close-combat is completely neutralised by her superior sword arts. Hell, how is she able to move after sustaining those injuries?!' Wholly disturbed at how the young swordmaiden was able to resist defeat, Shin gritted his teeth. 'I should be the one driving her to the corner, but her movements are way too sharp! Tskkk, the only thing that I can do is go head to head with her, and hope she leaves an opening.'

Shin opted to use his superior speed to his advantage and evade the oncoming onslaught that was expected to occur.

'Let's open with this!' Opening up his palm, Shin turned two of the water orbs around him into twenty tendrils with a human fist for a tip. Slamming all of the tendrils concurrently at Natasha's location, Shin hoped to move the young swordmaiden from her original position.

Judging by how powerful Natasha's strikes were, even after being injured externally and internally, Shin had decided to tire the girl down using a combination of long-range and close-combat attacks. Once her mana had been thoroughly depleted, Shin would then swoop in for the finishing move. Unfortunately, there was no way that Natasha would play into the cunning boy's pace.

"*Zsssstttt!!!*." Sending an Astral Slash, the size of a tidal wave crashing at the twenty water tendrils, Natasha immediately evaporated the weak attacks. Leaping off her feet, the Celestial Aura surrounding the Starlight Katana shone brightly as her figure became illusory.

"The First Waltz! Entering the Cosmos!!!" Natasha closed in the distance between Shin and her as quickly as a falcon diving down for its prey, slicing and dicing any of the remnant tendrils that were in her path.

Although Shin was caught off guard by Natasha's aggression, the young boy kept his calm and sent a palm strike, coated with a glove of water, straight at the swordmaiden. Through pure instinct, Natasha parried the oncoming attack using her left arm, leaving her weakened right side unguarded for a brief moment.

'NOW!!!' Thinking that it was his chance, Shin turned half a round to allow the silver needles in his right hand to exploit the weakness that he had found. However, instead of landing his hits, Shin realised that something was amiss mid-turn. From the corner of his eyes, he could see a brilliant downpour of heavenly light akin to that of a meteor shower.

'Shit!!!' Panicking, Shin used his Lightning Swallow Steps to evade the onslaught of strikes and just barely managed to get out of range. However, as he stumbled, a celestial sword light came flashing in his direction.

'Astral Slash again?! How many of those can she shoot?' Jumping back until he was ten metres away, Shin watched while the salient light dissipated into nothingness. 'Thankfully, I calculated its range beforehand!'

Before he could even complete lauding his earlier self, Natasha took advantage of Shin's shock and sped forward once more with her first sword technique. Only when she was within striking distance did she swing her Starlight Katana once more.

"The Second Waltz! The Blanket of Shooting Stars!!!"

'Tskkk, it won't work on me again!!!' Experiencing the technique before, Shin immediately pounced up into the sky, to completely neutralise the swordplay that blinded its opponent. However, Shin's aerial evasion was precisely what Natasha had hoped for.

Abruptly stopping her charge, Natasha switched stances once more, this time, she one-handed the Starlight Katana in the opposite direction and crouched down like a ninja. Now that Shin was in the sky, he had no means of using his superior speed to evade Natasha's strikes. The swordmaiden congregated her mana once more and launched herself heavenward as if she were a rocket entering the stratosphere.

The Starlight Katana in her hands began glimmering as the mana being supplied to it doubled in quantity. Spinning three times, Natasha positioned herself right above the airborne Shin and hollered out her final move, hoping to end the match right there and then.

"The Third Waltz! STARFALL!!!!!!!!!!!"

Combining her Astral Slash with the strongest aerial strike that she had, Natasha created a patch of dark space and stars, even though the sun was still shining radiantly up high in the empyrean above. All of her prior moves, feints and techniques, had all boiled down to this final moment. If she landed her sword, Shin would undoubtedly be sent to the hospital, in search of emergency aid. However, if she missed, the swordmaiden would be utterly depleted of her mana, essentially becoming a sitting duck for Shin to toy with.

"..."

While watching the celestial phenomenon that Natasha had created, Shin's eyes glistened in awe as he felt a tremendous amount of respect and marvel for his opponent. Being someone who trained tirelessly to become strong, Shin knew that for Natasha to reach this level, a considerable amount of sacrifice was necessary.

'It's a pity… If you faced another foe, perhaps you would have gone all the way to the semifinals… Unfortunately, you've met me in this round.' Shin shook his head as he watched the descending swordlight edge closer and closer to his body. 'It's my win, Natasha!!!'

"BOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!" A thunderous blast broke through the grounds of the arena, instantly shredding the added enchantments that had been applied to it.

Thick black soot rose from the impact crater and remnants of the mana used flowed out into the air, distorting the vision of the square instantly. The referee who was supposed to adjudicate the match had long retreated into a safe location and was therefore unable to accurately determine what had happened, sending the audience into disarray.

"What the hell?! Did you see who won?!"

"I don't know! Everything went blurry for a moment there!"

"Tch, you're useless!!!"

Of course, it wasn't just the regular students who were confused, even elites like Kanari and Suji had no idea what transpired in that millisecond. Only the eagle-eyed spectators in the VIP stands knew who the winner of the match was.

As the smoke began to clear, the first person that came to view was a panting Natasha. Her forehead sweating and eyes dilated, the young swordmaiden could barely keep her wits as she used her Starlight Katana as a walking stick to prevent herself from falling. Only after a brief two seconds that she used to regain her breath, did Natasha click her tongue in annoyance.

'I… missed?' When she used her big finishing move, instead of hitting the soft flesh of Shin, Natasha's sword sliced through empty space, and her Astral Slash was sent flying into the ground. 'How did he dodge while in the air?! It doesn't make any sense!!!'

Raising her head, the swordmaiden saw a black-haired boy, whose entire skin had been turned into scales, sauntering towards her. In his hands, eight silver needles reflected the gleaming sunlight, briefly blinding the young girl for a moment.

"H-ho… H-how?" Barely able to speak, Natasha tried her best to question the youth.

"Let's just say, a magician never reveals his tricks." Shin's legs turned illusory as he performed his signature Lightning Swallow Steps for the final time. Instantly appearing behind the weakened swordmaiden, Shin inserted all of the eight silver acupuncture needles into Natasha's greater meridians, completing the Divine Needle Binding technique.

"Sorry, just stand still for a bit… I can't have you pulling any more tricks."

The Divine Needle Binding was potent enough to disrupt Natasha's mana when only one needle was inserted into her body. Now that the technique was fully executed, the swordmaiden was in a state of complete paralysis. Her mana flow fully sealed and her movements barred like an encased butterfly, there was nothing that Natasha could do to fight back.

"Senior… Please announce the winner of this match!" Shin screamed out to the teacher that had flown far away from the arena.

"A-ah… Yes! Winner, Shin Iofiel!!!"

~~~~~

From now on, Author's Thoughts will be placed at the end of the chapter, since in-built system only allows for 500 characters.

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