Frederick remembered the girl he loved. His eyes were empty like an endless black hole, tearing anything before it apart.
Rachel felt immense pressure, not from Ein but from Frederick's malice. Unknowingly, she took a step back.
"Frederick?" Emily stared blankly at her friend. She had never seen such a bone-chilling expression in the past year from him. Whether arguing with her, hanging around with Oscar, or sparring together, Frederick had this refreshing liveliness.
No matter what, he was very energetic and obnoxious in every action. But right now, it was different. It was like staring at someone with no sentiments, even more so than Austin, who was always expressionless.
A stranger. Unsettled by Frederick, Emily's shoulders shook. She began to wonder if she shouldn't have said anything. Did she make a mistake? 'Frederick. What is going on with you?'
The other two onlookers, George and Austin, were also taken aback by Frederick's sudden change.
"Rachel, snap out of it!" George was worried when he saw Rachel staring at Frederick as if in a trance. She was not focused on the fight.
George's words awoke Rachel from her stupor. Warily, she tightened her stance defensively with her polearm, ready to counter any attack but unaware that her hands were covered in a cold sweat.
Frederick's cold eyes locked onto her like a lion eyeing its prey. He lowered his stance with his hands hanging down by his sides like a beast.
'What is he planning?' Rachel was suspicious.
From her previous exchanges, she understood that Frederick was a typical fighter who played by the books and stuck to a conventional way of combat despite his free-willed behavior. The replay of the fight against Austin showed a more savage nature, but his moves and swords were still standard. However, his relaxed stance with his two swords nearly touching the ground was different, and Rachel grew nervous.
Frederick finally made his move, cracking the stage under his feet as he dashed toward Rachel. His arms were still lagging while holding his swords.
Rachel tightened her grip on her polearm with a relieved look. Although Frederick's sudden behavior shook her, his speed didn't change. She was confident in blocking him off.
A large arc of light slashed at Rachel, followed by another arc. Frederick released them in succession without any care. Endless slashes of light.
Rachel twirled her polearm to block all of them. However, she was being forced back with each 'Brilliant Slash'.
This constant barrage ended when Frederick was at close range. His twin swords swung from opposite ends to her head.
But again, Rachel effortlessly blocked with her wristguards. A repeat of what happened before.
Frederick's eyes narrowed as his Ein focused. Both of his swords began to shine a radiant light.
"Bastard!" Rachel tried to move back, but it was too late.
An explosion of light followed by a resounding boom swallowed Frederick and Rachel before being flung back.
Rachel managed to stabilize herself, but she was gasping for air. A large amount of smoke and dust, along with the stress of the battle, made it harder for her to breathe properly. Before she could recover, Frederick came in like a bullet through the cloud of dust.
Caught in a bad position, Rachel slammed her hands onto the stage and finally invoked a spell.
'Water Whip'
Water streamed up from below her hands and combined into a water whip. Guided by her hands, it went straight to Frederick.
He tried to avoid it, but Rachel's hands controlled the whip of water. It curved back and down to his foot, wrapping around it.
"I got you!" Rachel tugged her hands, straightening out the whip of water and forcing Frederick to lose his balance.
Grasping Water was a spell that utilized her Ein to transform into water that took the shape of a whip. The control depended entirely on her hands and how well she could maneuver the whip.
With the loss of balance, Frederick stumbled and lost momentum. But his eyes were still glaring at Rachel.
Rachel clenched her teeth and sought to end this battle. Her polearm tore through the air as she swung it with all her might. However, Rachel wasn't the only one capable of disrupting her enemy.
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Frederick's bird anima saw another opening and dived in. Its eyes were also chilling to the bone like Frederick's.
Rachel blocked its attack again, but it was enough as it forced her to use one of her hands, meaning she had only one other hand to swing the polearm at half its usual power.
Frederick brought his swords up to block the attack head-on.
'Has he lost his mind?' Rachel thought as she was still blocking the bird's attacks.
Her eyes widened, seeing Frederick's swords glow again. This maniac was planning to blow up her Anima!
"Bring it on!" Rachel shouted as her hand gripped tighter.
The polearm and the swords met each in a fierce clash that soon turned into another explosion by Frederick's reckless use of his spell.
Again, Rachel and Frederick were blown back. But Frederick was blown farther because Rachel's polearm still tossed him.
On her side, Rachel coughed out some blood. She glanced at her polearm anima and saw slight cracks on its surface. Normally, it shouldn't have been damaged against Frederick's two swords, but the explosion of Ein was too much to bear.
On the other side, Frederick had burns over his arms and some on his face, worse than before. He breathed out hot air and looked up; in his sight were the two, Emily and Austin, still staring blankly at him. He chuckled as he stood up, staring back with his cold, dark, vacant eyes.
'What's with that look? Do you not like what you see? I'm nothing more than an obsessed monster out for revenge. I can't be like you or Oscar, no matter what. I tried to want the same thing, but it's useless.' Frederick put his back toward them and strode forward.
"Frederick!" Emily shouted and was about to get on the stage. She didn't care about the rules at this point. She felt something terrible would happen if she didn't stop Frederick now.
"Stop!" The proctor stopped Emily in place. "The battle is still ongoing. Do not interfere."
Emily cursed and tried to summon her staff anima until Austin pulled her back.
"Calm down!"
"Don't tell me what to do! Frederick is acting weird." Emily struggled, but the proctor subdued Emily and halted her movements with Ein.
"We can only watch." Austin shook his head as Emily watched on helplessly.
On the stage, Frederick continued his barrage on Rachel. He hacked and slashed from all angles, using his 'Wind Steps' to keep moving to Rachel's exposed back and sides.
With blood on her lip, Rachel handled her polearm far more savagely than before. She had responded to Frederick's frenzied rage with her crazed swings.
The stage was chaotic as they continued their frenzied attacks and blocks. Cracks and cuts covered the stage from this exchange. Neither was giving in.
Rachel grew more irritated every second. She had to be swift and not as powerful with her attacks to move out if Frederick decided to blow up again. However, this allowed Frederick to continue badgering Rachel without much consequence.
'Damned brat!' Rachel decided to finish this battle. The tip of her polearm began to gather a furious amount of wind.
George looked shocked at Rachel's actions and couldn't help himself from warning Frederick. "Get out of there! That spell will tear you to shreds."
His warning was unheard. Frederick and Rachel were too engrossed in their battle that everything else faded away from their surroundings.
In Frederick's mind, there was only the desire for revenge, and he would not let this girl in front of him stop him from getting stronger for that goal.
'Gilbert!' Frederick leaped straight towards Rachel.
The torrent of wind had finally concentrated on Rachel's polearm, and she stabbed it in the air in Frederick's direction. From the polearm's blade, the wind spilled out like a tornado. The wind spun with the polearm as its center, the torrent was only a few inches in diameter, but it was fast.
'Tornado Spear'
Rachel's spell focused wind and Ein into a single spot and unleashed it into a sideways tornado. This tornado was thin and concentrated to a point like a spear.
Frederick tried to invoke his 'Wind Steps' to dodge, but no wind could gather on his feet. Although Rachel's 'Tornado Spear' was thin, it furiously spun and gathered all the wind, dispersing Frederick's.
In a furious shout, Frederick desperately tried to sidestep the tornado. It pierced right through his ribs, missing his vital organs by a hair, flowing out his back with blood mixed in. It turned into a harsh red swirl of Frederick's blood and wind.
The 'Tornado Spear' ended, splashing Frederick's blood on the stage.
Emily looked horrified and complained to the proctor that he wasn't doing his job properly. She instantly regretted telling Frederick off for not trying. This was not what she wanted to happen. 'Frederick? Why?'
The proctor pointed to Rachel. Emily and the others turned to her and saw her face contorted in pain.
In her thigh was one of Frederick's swords that somehow stabbed through. More shocking was Frederick's bird anima, stabbing through her hand.
In a furious motion, she cast the bird aside. Her hand was stinging in pain and bleeding fast.
Rachel groaned as she pulled out the sword, letting the blood flow freely from her thigh wound. She did not expect Frederick to concentrate all his Ein into his blade and throw it at her.
Since her spell slightly obscured her vision, she saw it when it was too late. Thankfully, her spell's effects on the wind made Frederick's sword and bird miss their mark.
Frederick's original aim was for the sword to stab her chest and the bird to stab her neck. But the winds had forced them off course.
The dust settled, and Frederick fell to the floor. The blood from his wound did not stop and colored the stage red.
The proctor immediately intervened and announced Rachel as the winner.
"Frederick!" Emily ran to Frederick's side and tried to keep him conscious.
The proctor hastily took him and carried him off to the healing stations. Losing a student at this Grand Gathering would reflect poorly on the Pavilion's good name.
Emily was about to follow when Rachel called for her.
"Hey. Tell that boy I'm sorry for looking down on him." She apologized for her earlier dismissive words. "However, his mind isn't in its right place. Be careful."
Emily stared a while before nodding her head. "If I get the chance, I'll get payback for Frederick."
Rachel said grimly through her wounds. "I'll be waiting."
Emily turned and sprinted off to the healing tent.
'I'm such an idiot! Why do I keep doing this?!' She repeated that to herself. Frederick would not have gone over the line if not for her encouragement. She should have kept her mouth shut.
Emily felt responsible for this and decided to take care of Frederick. In that match, she felt anxious and troubled that Frederick would die.
In the healing station, Emily watched as the healers focused on closing Frederick's grievous wound that you could see through. They patched up all his burns and wrapped him in bandages.
"It's one thing to fight, but he overdid it. He's stable now. He'll need some time to wake up." One of the healers told Emily.
"Thank you." Emily looked down at Frederick's unconscious face in worry. "What happened to you…."