As I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled to compose myself, Kelsey walked over towards her warhammer, keeping a wary eye on me as she picked it up with her left hand, her gaze briefly shifting towards her shield before turning her attention back to me.
I reached down to my left hip and drew out my gun, sprinting towards her as I took aim and fired out a Pulse Bullet aimed at her head.
She quickly raised her hammer up defensively, the projectile hitting the head of her weapon, before she assumed a defensive stance as I holstered my gun and began to close in.
She unleashed a fierce swing of her warhammer as I leapt straight at her as I closed in, the large weapon barreling towards the side of my head as I raised my blade and chanted...
"
She stiffened as the shadowy jaws manifested and expanded to my left, snapping shut as she swung the hammer straight into the jaws, her eyes widening in alarm as I chomped off the head of the hammer and about a quarter of the handle.
What was left of the handle whiffed across the air in front of me, right as I unfurled a vicious slash of my blade, striking the armor over her left shoulder and slicing through, a sharp grating sound echoing out as my blade cut diagonally across her armor, a stifled cry ringing out as the tip of the blade dragged along her skin.
I swiftly planted my right foot on the armor over her stomach as she gritted her teeth and began to reach out towards me, kicking off of her before she could grab me.
As my feet hit the floor of the arena with a soft thud and slid back slightly, I sprang back as she lunged at me and drove her left fist towards my chest, evading her attack and getting some distance, as trickles of blood seeped out across the long, diagonal slash I'd inflicted, running down her armor.
Alright, time to turn things up a notch...
"
I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists as my body began to heat up, pushing down the sense of arousal welling up inside me, before taking a deep breath to compose myself.
I've used Arouse a whole lot lately-...mostly outside of battle...-and this sensation is plenty familiar at this point, so I'm pretty well-prepared to resist its effect.
"Damn it...who are you? You're clearly at the level of an Ace, so why the hell are you registered as J-Rank?" Frowned Kelsey, as I let out a slow exhale.
"Yeah, sorry, guess this was a bit unfair on you. But don't worry...it'll be over soon," I replied, her eyes widening as I shot forward with a sharp burst of speed.
She grimaced before raising what was left of her warhammer, arching back her arm before launching it towards me like a javelin.
I swung Desecrator across as the handle closed in on me, a sharp clang ringing out as I struck the side of the metal pole and deflected it away, right as she charged towards me, swinging her fist at my head with immense force...
"[Earth Smash]!"
I swiftly ducked as her fist closed in, a fierce gust of wind erupting from the force of the swing of her arm, before she cried out in pain as I whipped my blade across, cutting through the spot on her armor just below her left armpit, before I spun around as I shot past her and slashed at the nape of her neck.
A shallow cut appeared across the back of her neck as she quickly stepped forward, before turning around and raising her left foot.
I lunged at her as I drew out my gun again and fired out a Pulse Bullet at her right thigh, her leg tensing up as my bullet struck the middle of her thigh, upsetting her balance.
I got low as I closed in and swept my foot across, striking her right ankle before she could lower her left foot and regain her balance, a yelp ringing out as I knocked her over, a clatter ringing out as she hit the floor, her armor thudding against the arena as I chanted...
"
She began to try and roll out of the way as the shadowy jaws expanded around her head, but she was too slow to react, vanishing from sight right as the jaws snapped shut, before reappearing outside the arena.
The barrier around the arena serves two purposes. The first, is to keep the crowd safe from any collateral damage.
And the second, is to prevent any of the participants from dying, by teleporting them out in the instant before they're about to sustain fatal damage.
If it wasn't for that, I'd have ended up tearing her head clean off. Oh, looks like she's storming off...can't say I blame her, this defeat had to sting.
Not only was she done dirty by the fact that I'm a lot stronger than my rank suggests, but it was also a bad match-up for her.
My speed-focused build is comparable to an Assassin, so a strength-focused Tank is an ideal match-up for me.
Even more so once the boost from Arouse came into play, all that was left to do was overwhelm her with my superior speed.
As the barrier faded, I looked around the stadium with a sense of satisfaction, the audience pin-drop silent.
Ohh, I'm absolutely loving this.
I'm sure cheers would have been nice too, but there's something about making a crowd of thousands go dead quiet that's just really...really, really pleasing.
"U-Uh...that's the first match done! The winner is...Freelance Hunter Kaivel Intrix!" The announcer finally broke the silence, sounding pretty stunned himself.
A few seconds passed, before a smattering of applause echoed out, but most of the crowd was still shocked, just staring at me quietly...