"Go, Lily!""You"ve got this!"
"You"re doing great!"
Cheers erupted from the male portion of the crowd, as well as the significant Jing Tian Academy contingent who had traveled all this way to support us. They were all on their feet, throwing up their hands and screaming their hearts out.
As if inspired by their encouragemnt, Lily appeared to accelerate, weaving through the stage to avoid more of Gunther"s shots.
"Oho!" the commentator sounded thoroughly impressed. "This armored warrior is using a skill similar to Flash Steps!"
Seriously? Flash Steps? Might as well just rip off the name and call it Shunpo. It wouldn"t be the first time we were ripping off Bleach. Lily was actually disappearing from spot to spot, and reappearing in a totally different place a millisecond later.
Across from the arena, at the Adorno Academy team"s technical area, their captain, Cain, was studying her movements with a grave expression. Even though he didn"t show it, it was clear that he was impressed with Lily"s movements. Using my privilege as a fourth-wall breaking protagonist, I read his mind.
Compared to the previous recordings and her performance from last year, she has improved tremendously. Not bad at all.
However, I could detect a smirk in his thoughts. Well, smirk was perhaps too much when describing his emotions or lack of them. He wasn"t mocking her or anything, but just making a matter-of-fact observation.
Unfortunately, it"s all the same to Gunther.
"Oh!" the commentator gushed when he saw the Adorno Academy vice-captain cease firing and raise his heavy cannon. "Gunther is aiming his gun toward the ceiling!"
"This is…!"
A bead of perspiration dripped down Lily"s face when she realized her opponent"s intentions. She tried to move, but it was too late.
"!!"
Boom!
A pillar of violet light descended upon her from above, slamming into her back and causing her to double over.
"How did that shot hit Lily in the back?!" one of the spectators cried out in disbelief and outrage. "That has to be cheating!"
The guy next to him gave him a smack. "What cheating? He"s just casting a spell to fire an arced shot and alter the angle and trajectory of his shot! We have people throwing fireb.a.l.l.s and icicles around, and you complain about a relatively simple spell used to arc a mana beam is "cheating"? Have you not been keeping yourself up to date on the latest magic developments?! Even so, such basic combat spells have been around for a long time! Where have you been? In hibernation somewhere?!"
"It"s over!" Gunther sneered. Well, sneer was too strong a word. I swear, all of the Adorno Academy students completely lacked emotions. They were fighting like…I don"t know, robots or something. In any event, Gunther unleashed a barrage of shots like a Terminator, his volley arcing in various angles and cras.h.i.+ng upon Lily from different directions.
Obviously Lily wasn"t going to take this lying down, unlike a certain character in Battle Frenzy so that the first year students could show off how much better they were than the second year students. She managed to raise her s.h.i.+eld to deflect several of the shots, while using her sword to scythe down those that she couldn"t block with her sword.
What, you thought her s.h.i.+eld was for show or something? This wasn"t Battle Frenzy. I didn"t know why the artist bothered drawing the characters with s.h.i.+elds when they never used them…even once.
"It"s over!"
I had no idea why Gunther thought so, but he relentlessly bombarded poor Lily with a barrage of shots that continued to pummel her from all the different directions. Lily crouched down grimly and raised her s.h.i.+eld, casting a defensive spell. A s.h.i.+mmering purple barrier enveloped her, protecting her on all sides as the mana projectiles crashed against the glowing screens.
"?!"
Gunther raised his gun, needing to stop firing and recharge his gun and spells for a moment. Lily couldn"t help but giggle from underneath her forcefield.
"What? Did you think I would be taken out immediately just because you fired a couple of arced shots? I don"t exist just to be cannon fodder just so the protagonist can show off with his brilliant tactics by employing the more talented first year students to steal the spotlight from us old guard. Well…I say that, but we don"t have any first year students in our team…"
"…huh? What the h.e.l.l are you talking about?!" Gunther spluttered, perplexed. Lily shrugged playfully.
"Who knows?"
That girl…she really knows how to wage psychological warfare. Having thrown her opponent into confusion, she could force out an opening.
Taking a deep breath, she drew a circle with her sword and muttered an incantation. Gunther aimed his cannon at her, and she waited for him to attempt to bombard her again. Throwing her s.h.i.+eld, she somehow reinforced her defenses, while still continuing the casting of her spell.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Despite Gunther"s relentless bombardment, Lily"s barriers held strong. Even so, Yue Chu fidgeted restlessly beside me, his fingers growing white as he clasped his hand anxiously. I smiled at him rea.s.suringly.
"Don"t worry. Lily knows what she"s doing. Trust her."
"I believe her, but that still doesn"t make it any easier." Yue Chu glanced down and chewed on his lip. "That Gunther Schalke guy is quite the fella…you"ve watched his previous matches, haven"t you? He"s really powerful."
As Yue Chu pointed out, Gunther"s strength was formidable. His relentless bombardment was slowly but surely wearing down Lily"s crumbling barriers. She was breathing heavily, sweat pouring down her pretty face, as she struggled to cast her spell and maintain her defenses simultaneously, but it was clear that the violently trembling screens wouldn"t last long against Gunther"s tireless onslaught.
However, given how powerful his spells are, Gunther couldn"t cast them forever. Even he needed a breather, and some time to cast the next bombardment spell. His cannon, still glowing hot from the earlier firing volley, spluttered to a stop. Inhaling, Gunther began his "recharge" by beginning to cast another spell.
That was all the opening that Lily needed.
She dismissed her barrier and dropped her hovering s.h.i.+eld in a split second, and then pointed her sword at Gunther.
"You"re not the only one who can cast ranged spells. Bloom, Crimson Lily!"
The entire area around her exploded into flames, taking the shape of a gigantic, crimson flower. The inferno raged across the stage, seeking to swallow up the stunned Gunther. The heavy gunner was forced to lower his cannon and evade before the flames could engulf him.
While he ran, slightly weighed down by his bulky weapon, Lily pointed her sword at him.
"Crimson Burst."
A red beam of superheated fire lanced out of the tip of her sword and seared through the air toward the sprinting Gunther.
"Gah!"
The heavy gunner dove to the ground in an effort to avoid getting speared by the lethal crimson streak, then rolled on the ground to snap off a shot.
"!!"
Lily kicked her s.h.i.+eld up, s.n.a.t.c.hed it in midair, and used it to deflect the fierce shot. She scowled irritably.
"Hey! That"s not fair! Snap-shots only hit on 6+!"
"This is 8th edition! Snap-shots no longer exist!"
"Yes, it does! In Horus Heresy!"
"That"s quite the exclusive game! Very few people play Horus Heresy when compared to the sheer numbers of those who play 8th edition! And besides, all the Forge World models are super expensive! Not everyone can afford to play Horus Heresy!"
"…what the h.e.l.l are they arguing about?" Pearl asked with a perplexed frown. Harrison scratched his head and shrugged.
"I don"t know."
"Warhammer 40,000," I explained. Everyone stared at me.
"What?"
"A tabletop miniature game. Never mind." The more I explained, the more mystified they looked. I directed their attention back to the match. "Lily just needs to close in on Gunther and she should have a good chance of winning, right?"
"Not necessarily."
"Eh?" I stared at Harrison, who was the last person I expected to cast doubt on Lily"s abilities. He was watching the match with a grave expression, his lips pursed. He didn"t look troubled, his façade still calm as if everything was going according to plan. I suppressed a flicker of irritation. For some reason, I was reminded of w.a.n.g Zhong, who wore the same smug expression in the webcomic adaptation of Battle Frenzy. "Then what should she do?"
"Her best."
No s.h.i.+t. Really? I wondered if Harrison was trolling me. But I shook my head and returned to watching the match.
Lily was almost dancing around the stage, weaving through the volley of shots that Gunther was hurling at her. She retaliated with an eruption of fire, forcing Gunther to counter it with a concentrated blast of mana. The huge beam collided with the ravenous flames and culminated in an explosion that sent shockwaves throughout the stage.
Both combatants skidded back, and Gunther suffered the worse of it because he didn"t have a s.h.i.+eld like Lily. In contrast, Lily weathered the shockwaves without any problems, and immediately sprang toward the staggering Adorno Academy vice-captain before he could recover.
Gritting his teeth, Gunther swung his cannon around and let loose another shot, which forced Lily to dodge. She then swung her sword and unleashed a torrent of flames that Gunther blocked with his bulky cannon. Even as his weapon smoldered, Gunther dropped the barrel without pause and snapped off another blast that compelled Lily to alter her trajectory once again.
"Blossom, Flaming Rafflesia!"
Lily swung her sword, and the arena exploded once more as roaring flames expanded outward, almost engulfing the cursing Gunther. Using his huge gun, he batted the flames away, to little effect. Staggering back, half-burned from the ferocious flames, he almost didn"t see Lily coming.
"It"s over!"
Appearing above Gunther, she swung her sword down almost triumphantly. With the boundary field on, it didn"t matter if she cleaved the poor guy in half. Gunther wouldn"t die because of the boundary field, and the medics would heal him immediately. Well, I say immediately, but it was going to take him some time to fully recover from such a grievous injury. He would be out for several hours at least, and no longer eligible to partic.i.p.ate in the team battle. Then again, you were disqualified from the team battle if you lost, so the injury was a moot point anyway.
Gunther parried the sword with his cannon, stopping the blade inches away from his face. Lily smiled and ignited her blade, flames roaring forward and consuming the poor vice-captain. Gunther held the sword at bay for a few moments, grimacing as the fire reached him and licked his arms. Despite the agonizing pain he felt, he withstood the flames and tried to force Lily back. It helped that his uniform had defensive enchantments, just like Jing Tian Academy"s uniforms, to reduce damage taken from spells and increase magic resistance of the wearer. Even so, the protection was limited, and the Adorno Academy vice-captain wouldn"t be able to endure for much longer.
However, Gunther let go of his cannon and kicked it away. Lily ducked and blocked his leg with her s.h.i.+eld, and freed her sword from his huge gun…only for Gunther to draw a magic revolver from a holster by his hip and fired pointblank into her face before she could adjust her s.h.i.+eld to defend herself.
"Gah?!"
Lily staggered, but Gunther did not relent. He emptied his sidearm into her…well, that was a misleading word, considering that the ammunition was his ammo. In any case, the blasts actually punctured Lily and sent her cras.h.i.+ng onto the ground. Gunther c.o.c.ked his revolver, cast a stronger spell while Lily lay on the ground, breathing heavily, and then finished her with a single, powerful charged shot to her head.
There was a long silence as Lily lay motionlessly on the ground, her limbs twitching. Huffing, Gunther lowered his gun and glanced up. The commentator, who was stunned by the unbelievable sight, finally found his voice.
"Lily is unable to continue battling! Team Adorno wins the first match!"
Gulping, I closed my eyes. This did not seem like an auspicious start.