The Wheel Of Samsara

John grunted in pain as he held his broken left arm on the other side of the platform. He hurriedly used his right hand to rip off a strip of his blue clothes and used it to tie his broken arm to his chest, making sure it wouldn"t get in the way. He took as deep breath as he watched Amon and Cecilia face-off.

He had lost the use of one of his arms and Cecilia had thrown his spear out of the platform. The only chance he had now would be if he found a chance to take both Amon and Cecilia out at the same time. As such, he decided to stand back and calmly await for his opportunity. He knew of Cecilia"s cunning from long ago, but that Amon kid surprised him.

He somehow managed to keep up with their rhythm, so John would have to be extremely careful when moving. He needed a plan.

Cecilia looked at Amon with smiling eyes as she slowly approached him, still maintaining that strange stance. Just by looking at it, Amon knew that the thin sword was made for swift and precise stabs. Cecilia"s stance only confirmed his suspicions further.

He did not have the confidence to be able to block her stabs faster than she could unleash them, so his best choice was to avoid getting in her range of attack. That in itself was a problem, as Amon and Cecilia were of approximate height, so their natural attacking range was more or less the same.

The only option left for him was to strike and retreat before she could strike back, or force her into a pa.s.sive situation where all she could do was defend. The problem was that Amon had no confidence in being faster than she was. He needed a plan.

He sneaked a glance at the other side of the platform, where John was looking at them with cold eyes. He was sure that the moment John decided to jump back in the fight would be the key to victory, to all three of them.

Even if Cecilia held the advantage in a one on one confrontation, she was hurt. Adding to that, she was sure John would try to eliminate her first, as she was the greatest threat right now. She would have to go all out against Amon to eliminate him in the shortest time possible if she wanted to truly deal with John alone.

Nevertheless, she was somewhat careful when looking at Amon. He had managed to keep up with them for two exchanges and had the lightest injuries, even if he was also the weakest. She wasn"t completely sure if she would be able to eliminate him as fast as she would need for John not to meddle in the fight.

This meant that she should prepare. She should use the fact that John would choose the best moment to attack and eliminate her and Amon together. She needed a plan.

In the end, a three-way fight was that. Three people trying to outwit the other two at the same time. When all compet.i.tors were at an approximate level, it would be their capabilities to make the best choices in a split-second and to plan ahead that would decide the victor.

The three of them seemed to take a deep breath at the same time as they prepared for the next exchange. It would certainly decide the victor.

"Crack!"

The tiles on the floor cracked as Cecilia stomped on it and shot towards Amon at breakneck speed. Amon narrowed his eyes as he focused on her movements. Her upper body was leaning forward, and her grip on the sword was tight. She would unleash a flurry of stabs on him the moment he entered her range, and she would make use of her momentum to make sure that even if he retreated, he wouldn"t escape her.

The best path of retreat would be dodging to the right, towards the edge of the platform, as Amon would be able to face both Cecilia and John without turning his back to any of them. However, Amon wasn"t going to retreat.

The moment before Cecilia got close enough to unleash a stab, Amon also shot in her direction. The had to be perfect, so as he would reach her a split-second before she could attack him.

With the glowing stick in hand, Amon swung at Cecilia"s head, aiming for her left temple. Cecilia gave a sneer, but interrupted her attack to block Amon"s strike. The sword and the stick collided, making Amon shudder in pain as he felt the bones in his hand starting to creak.

Cecilia still had a sneer in her face as she slid her sword through Amon"s stick, slashing at his neck. Amon hurriedly lowered his head to avoid it, but a knee was already coming at his face as he dodged the sword.

He jumped to the right, not the least bit concerned about his appearance as he dived. He slid one or two meter through the floor before getting up again, close to the edge of the platform.

Cecilia squinted her eyes, but still raised her sword and charged at him again. With his back to the edge of the platform, Amon did his best to hold on against Cecilia as she attacked. Her stabs were like raindrop sin a storm, mercilessly raining over Amon as he did his best to defend.

Her strikes were odd. They seemed to follow some kind of flow as the sword in her hands twisted and turned mid-strike, giving unpredictable strikes that Amon just barely managed to dodge or block.

Her sword was like a snake as it entangled Amon in a flurry of unorthodox moves, little by little breaking through his guard. Her sword seemed to slide through his blocks even if he successfully defended, making him have to twist his waist or move his head to avoid her strikes.

He started being forced back, getting closer and closer to the edge of the platform. Seeing this, John couldn"t help but curse. He looked at Amon with a cold look as he was forced to jump in the fight.

If he didn"t stop Cecilia, she would eliminate Amon in the next few seconds and go for him next. He crossed the platform in the blink of an eye, throwing a punch at Cecilia"s back.

Cecilia interrupted her flurry of attacks as she twisted her body to avoid John. Amon showed no satisfaction on his scheme having worked as he took a step to his left, raising his right foot and kicking John"s exposed ribs.

John grunted in pain as he was thrown to his left, almost smashing on Cecilia and nearly falling from the platform. Cecilia raised her sword to slash at his neck, but Amon was already upon her, aiming at her head with the stick, not giving her the chance to eliminate John.

"You are one troublesome brat!" She said as her eyes lost all playfulness. Amon didn"t mind her as he looked at john with the corner of his eyes. John was still on the ground, but he was slowly extending his right hand to something outside of the platform. He could feel a slight movement of Qi as John focused.

"Good, it was close enough for him." Amon thought as he retreated before Cecilia could corner him again.

She looked at him with a cold face that would give one chills as she raised her sword in that strange stance again. That brat had purposefully put himself in a tough spot to force John to make a move before expected, making her sc.r.a.p all of her plans.

Amon blinked, and the world seemed to stop for a moment. When his eyes opened again, Cecilia was upon him, her sword about to pierce his heart. She moved too fast. She started taking this fight seriously and had decided she would give it her all to eliminate Amon before John recovered.

Amon gritted his teeth as he forcefully twisted his body and swung his stick at her head. To his surprise, she showed no reaction at all, doubling down on her own strike. Amon could only do his best as he twisted his body even more, watching that sword getting closer and closer to his skin.

"Puchi!"

The sword pierced his left shoulder, making him scream as a burning sensation and a sharp pain took over his senses. His own strike was still coming at her head, but she simply raised her left hand and held his arm.

"No more playing around." She said, as she knocked the stick away from his hands, sending it spinning to the edge of the platform.

Cecilia looked at him with a murderous expression as she twisted her sword, making Amon scream again and nearly pa.s.s out. If it was not a lethal strike, the shield would not activate. As long as one didn"t suffer the risk of dying, they would still be injured and feel pain.

As Cecilia tried to take her sword away from Amon"s shoulder, he grabbed her wrist with an iron grip. She looked at him with surprise, as there was a dumb smile on his face. She was far stronger than he was, he would at most manage to hold her for the fraction of a second.

Nevertheless, it was enough. Cecilia"s face paled as she realized something. She kicked Amon"s chest and sent him flying away, but it was already too late.

The air howled as a spear stabbed at her back with unstoppable momentum. Cecilia tried to turn and block it, but there was no time all. Like a black dragon, the spear crashed again her back.

"Crack!"

The spear"s tip stopped millimeters away from Cecilia"s back as a layer of light covered her. She could only look regretfully at the blond man on the other end of it, grasping the shaft with a single hand.

"You shouldn"t play so much, Cecilia." John said, looking at her with his icy eyes. Cecilia smiled wryly as she heard his words. It was true. If she had gone all out from the beginning them victory would most likely have been hers.

She looked at Amon, almost as if asking with her bright eyes if it had been on purpose. Amon lightly nodded, his golden eyes shining as Cecilia was pulled away from the platform while laughing. She had truly been careless. She looked intently at the golden eyes of the brat that outsmarted her, feeling that she was looking at a cunning wolf.

A number shattered in the curtain of light, leaving only two floating in it. Amon and John faced it other in silence, as the blue light fell on their faces, making their expression seems abnormally cold.

"I didn"t take you for a smart person. At least not to this degree." John said as he pointed his spear at Amon. "To kick me like that just to let me recover my spear and catch Cecilia off guard… the Middle and Inner Rings really have some interesting people."

The members of the younger generation from the Inner Ring knew each other. Even if Amon were a discrete person, his appearance would never go unnoticed in a place like that. He was clear a common member of the Outer Sect and nothing more.

John struck the floor with the shaft of the spear as he looked at Amon.

"John Lucan." He presented himself, still with the same cold expression. For someone of the Inner Sect to present himself like so was a sign of respect. Amon was surprised, but answered his gesture.

"Amon Skoller." He said, never taking his eyes out of John. He could feel his warm blood slowly flowing from the wound on his shoulder. He discretely tried to move his fingers, to see if they would respond as he presented himself.

John gave a light nod as he heard the name, retrieving his spear again.

Amon raised his right hand, tying a wisp of Qi around his stick that was fallen on the floor. It whistled through the air as it made its way back to Amon"s hand. The same trick John had used to retrieve his spear from outside the curtain of light.

They both did their best to a.s.sume the best stance possible with nothing but one functional hand. The stick in his right hand started glowing as Amon"s left arm hung useless on his shoulder. They were both injured and tired. Neither of them could afford a drawn out fight. They would go all out.

Almost at the same time they rushed forward. John raised his spear stabbing at Amon. Amon narrowed his eyes as his parried with his stick, feeling his hand numbing. He run across the spear, going straight in John"s direction.

Amon raised his stick, aiming for John"s head. John was expecting this. For the third time in the fight, he dropped his spear and raised his right hand to hold Amon"s arm. His left leg was already moving in a kick that would certainly eliminated Amon.

Amon narrowed his eyes as he watched that arm coming for him. Now was the moment. He gritted his teeth to endure the pain as he struck John"s arm with his left hand.

He felt the pain in his shoulder exploding as his hand hit John"s arm. It was a weak and desperate strike, but it was enough. John"s arm was forcefully moved ever so slightly as Amon"s right arm descended with the glowing stick.

"Crack!"

The stick was stopped by a layer of light as it was about to touch John"s forehead. John looked surprised for a moment, but the coldness in his eyes grew even stronger as he looked at Amon"s left arm.

"Truly a cunning brat." He said resentfully as the light pulled him away.