Astrid was glad that Brynhild wasn't depressed over her loss, as she thought she would be.
Brynhild may not look like it, but she is a very prideful person, and so was Astrid.
Why wouldn't they be?
They hold one of the highest statuses on the planet, and their talents are also at the pinnacle.
They clearly had a lot to be proud of.
Especially someone like Brynhild, who prides herself on her intelligence.
Having an ability she had put a lot of effort into creating, being countered when not even an entire day had passed, had dealt a blow to her ego.
She knew Jarek was extremely talented and was quite cunning.
But when she uncovered his secrets and realized she would be able to fight the man on an almost equal footing, she considered that Jarek might indeed have a way to defeat her.
But the thought that he would have already analyzed her ability and prepared the perfect counter without revealing more of his secret abilities never crossed her mind.
So, Astrid was relieved and slightly surprised to see her friend not down after her loss.
It was when she looked into the arena that she thought, 'It seems like I would need to meet him later. I wonder what he would want.'
Though she wouldn't get much time to contemplate her next course of action.
"...number 46—Astrid Longsora and Number 20—Asvald Karakith!"
The audience was quite excited for this match, more so than for the previous ones.
"Finally, I thought this match would happen tomorrow; who knew it would happen today?"
"I know, right? Too bad, I thought Asvald would last until the final day. Luck wasn't on his side."
It was quite clear who had more of the crowd's favor.
Aside from his fellow dwarves, who cheered for him, almost everyone else thought this was destined to be Asvald's final match.
As for the person who was most likely to win, she calmly made her way to the arena.
Her right hand held a familiar-looking spear.
Asvald, on the other hand, wielded his hammer and his shield, his image resembling a Viking, albeit a slightly shorter one.
Both fighters were radiating the spirit of a warrior.
Both fighters felt as if they were pumped with adrenaline as they launched themselves towards each other.
Astrid thrust her spear forward with her full strength while Asvald responded in kind with a full-powered swing of his hammer.
The spear moved to pierce Asvald's right while his hammer was aimed at Astrid's left side.
For a moment, it seemed as if both attacks were to land.
That was until a fortress made of earth emerged from the ground on Astrid's left, blocking Asvald's hammer.
Asvald also defended against Astrid's spear with his shield.
Astrid's spear, which was covered with spear qi, collided with Asvald's shield, which radiated shield qi.
Asvald was able to resist the attack, but not without being pushed back as his feet slid on the arena floor for about two metres.
Asvald's face was grim as he looked at Astrid.
Indeed, just as he had expected, Astrid came out on top in the first confrontation.
It wasn't surprising considering she had the combat prowess of a Grandmaster, while Asvald was comparable to a peak Master.
In a battle of strength, she would edge out against Asvald in every possible way.
Asvald could only rely on his area of expertise, defense.
And even then, Astrid wasn't falling behind Asvald in that regard.
In fact, because of her higher prowess, her defense was slightly better than Asvald's in some aspects.
Shield laws were by far the most powerful defensive laws, but earth laws were a close second.
If there were a way to rate their defensive capabilities, shield laws would be a 10/10 and earth laws a 9/10.
Of course, this is if both cultivators were at the same level of strength.
Just like Brynhild had said, if Astrid were at the same level as Asvald, he would have indeed given her quite a bit of trouble.
But with her current cultivation, she held the advantage, something everyone was quick to notice.
So how could both fighters in the arena fail to do so?
Astrid charged at full speed with another thrust, with the same attack.
Asvald stood firm, his feet strongly planted in the ground as he received the blow.
This time, he was only pushed back by two steps.
With his efforts solely focused on defense, he was able to withstand this attack better than the first.
But that didn't mean things were over.
Astrid followed this up with other thrusts, some imbued by her spear qi, intent on penetrating Asvald's defenses.
With each attack he took, he was pushed back, and before he could swing his hammer to attack, another attack swiftly came.
Astrid's attack was fast and aggressive intent of not giving him any room to breathe.
"Man, I knew it. This is going to be Asvald's last match."
"I think so too. But who knows, maybe he has something up his sleeve."
"At this point, I doubt it will work. Astrid is just superior to him in both offense and defense."
Asvald gritted his teeth as he endured the powerful spear attacks, and with his keen eyes spotted an opening as he swung his hammer fiercely, only for Astrid to block with another wall of earth.
She took this opportunity to deliver a full-power blow with her spear.
Asvald, whose stance wasn't as firm as before, received the blow with his shield.
The shield qi bolstering his defense was shattered, and the impact spread across his arm as he was also pushed back by five metres.
His left hand felt numb after the collision, a testament to Astrid's great physical strength.
'My arm would have been broken if we had traded fists.' Asvald solemnly thought, wary of Astrid's brute strength.
Astrid then once again charged at Asvald, who in his current state would have no chance to block this strike with his left arm in its current state.
Indeed, once Asvald blocked this attack, his arm was broken from the impact, forcing him to retreat backwards.
Looking at his left hand's current state, he could only shake his head.
His right hand let go of his hammer, and the shield took its place.
It was clear this was his last stand.
Seeing this, Astrid knew victory was within reach, but she couldn't help but respect his adversary.
It was too bad he wasn't as strong as she; otherwise, even she would have had to treat him seriously.
But now...
'Let's finish this.'
Once again, she thrust her spear with all her might.
Her attacks were continuous without any pause.
Asvald, who was on the receiving end, endured these attacks with gritted teeth, his defense not as impenetrable as it was before.
This battle continued until Asvald's energy core ran out of energy, and his defenses became even weaker after that.
Faced with Astrid's relentless attacks, it wasn't long before his right arm suffered the same fate as his left.
With a sigh, he could only admit defeat. 'I yield.'
And just like that, Astrid had secured her victory for today.