"Lindvolus Festa, Day One, Match One—begin!"
With the announcer's voice echoing through the arena, the round of 32 officially began.
"Hahaha!"
The moment the match started, Feardorcha O'Neill charged toward Elise, brandishing his weapon. With each swing, his serpent blade extended like a whip, growing longer and longer, vastly expanding his range. From a distance, he launched deadly attacks aimed straight at Elise.
Facing the incoming light blades, Elise merely opened her mouth slightly and spoke a few words.
Sacred Speech!
"Ultra Instinct: Prelude."
As the five words left her lips, a soft white glow began to radiate from Elise. Though faint, it was clear as day to Feardorcha's eyes.
The serpent-like light blades twisted and spun through the air like whips, striking from multiple angles toward Elise. Feardorcha truly had no intention of holding back.
Every strike was aimed at vital points—her head, her heart.
As one of the blades was about to slice across Elise's forehead, some spectators instinctively covered their eyes. They couldn't believe Elise made no effort to dodge.
Was she going to take it head-on?
With a slight tilt of her head, Elise narrowly evaded the strike—by the slimmest of margins.
That actually worked?
Was that just luck?
Even Feardorcha was stunned. He hadn't expected his opponent to dodge in such a subtle, elegant way.
But...
He grinned wickedly. This made things even more fun.
With a sudden shift in form, his serpent blade twisted in unpredictable directions, making it impossible to read the next attack.
"Heh! You'd better be ready now, little girl!"
That first strike was just a probe.
This time, he wasn't going to hold back!
Another barrage—this time five simultaneous attacks!
Head, heart, right knee joint, left palm, neck!
In a real battle, losing just one of those could mean defeat. But Feardorcha was going for all five at once?
Could Elise dodge them?
In the eyes of the spectators, Elise moved with fluid grace—shifting her stance, tilting her head, turning her body, lifting a leg, lowering a hand, stepping back—each motion flowing into the next.
Every single attack missed her by a thread.
"How is this possible?! How?!"
Feardorcha was nearly hysterical. He had never imagined encountering a fighter who could dodge to this extent. And even more infuriating…
Elise was blindfolded!
"AAAAHHHH—!"
Slash. Slash. Slash!
He attacked again and again, striking from all directions with his endlessly extending Orga Lux.
Yet what happened next was exactly the same as before—utterly unbelievable.
But it wasn't magic.
The ability Elise had activated came from the Dragon Ball universe—Ultra Instinct.
In this state, Elise completely silenced her thoughts and let her body move on instinct alone. Every part of her reacted reflexively to danger, massively boosting her agility and reaction speed.
To enhance the beauty of her movements, Elise had also studied martial arts and dance, weaving them seamlessly together.
And so, in the eyes of the audience, the scene unfolded like a performance.
Feardorcha roared, furiously lashing out with his freely extending Orga Lux.
And Elise… moved like she was dancing.
Dodging every single strike with graceful ease.
Her every step was elegant, her posture exquisite—an unexpectedly dazzling sight.
But don't mistake this for some overpowered transformation.
Even in this mode, if she faced someone from Dragon Ball, she'd be wiped out instantly.
Because no matter how strong your form is, it all depends on your physical foundation. And Elise definitely didn't have the freakish physique of a Dragon Ball character.
For example, no matter how skilled an ordinary person may be, there's no way they could dodge a beam of light, right? That's the crushing reality of raw speed.
But not to worry—while Elise didn't have the overwhelming physique of a superhuman, she definitely wasn't weak. At the very least, in this world, there were few who could surpass her by much.
The state she was using now was "Ultra Instinct: Prelude", an incomplete form of Ultra Instinct. Its strengths were focused almost entirely on evasion and defense. Once she switched to offense, this evasion ability might very well diminish.
That said, against her current opponent, she didn't even need the perfect version.
Because Elise had a little experiment she wanted to try.
She had looked into her opponent—Feardorcha O'Neill.
His Orga Lux was a particularly unique one, known as the Snake Sword Ororomunt.
Its form was a serpent sword, made of light blades shaped like fangs. The weapon could stretch and contract as the wielder desired, and even separate into segments to launch attacks.
Feardorcha had already demonstrated these abilities in his earlier attacks—perhaps he believed that landing a single hit would be enough. But the truth was, he hadn't even touched Elise.
The serpent blade's unique trait was this: the moment it touched an opponent, it would inject a toxic energy that plunged them into unpredictable hallucinations.
That explained Feardorcha's growing hysteria. If he couldn't even land a hit, he couldn't activate his ability.
But the Snake Sword Ororomunt came with a terrible price.
The moment it was activated, it flooded the user with a euphoric high—almost like an addiction. At the same time, it steadily drained Prana and could easily lead to dependency.
Past users of the serpent blade had all ended up like addicts, their minds and bodies ruined, eventually reduced to shells of themselves.
In addition to euphoria, the weapon also sometimes induced disorientation—though the user couldn't know in advance which effect would occur.
Elise believed that Feardorcha had succumbed to the euphoric side of the weapon. Earlier, he had seemed fairly rational, but now he looked like an absolute madman.
Ah—but the Saintess mustn't use such rude words!
Still, this situation reminded Elise of a certain skill she had acquired.
Purification (Non-lethal. Removes all abnormal statuses and negative conditions, calming the target's mind.)
She had tested it before, but never on someone truly overcome by madness.
Given Feardorcha's repeated failed attacks and deteriorating mental state, he had likely descended deeper into that euphoric delirium.
At this point, his attacks were mostly just instinct.
He was the perfect test subject for Elise's next experiment.
After all, if she could "rescue" someone under such public scrutiny, it would be a splendid outcome.
Just you wait, Cuélebre.
Your Saintess is coming to save you… and when she does, make sure to properly worship the holy light of the Saintess, alright?