'It's harder than I thought… standing in front of so many eyes…'
As the misery of his own existence spread through his mind, Manto's laughter forced Nova to focus on him.
"So Nova is your name, huh. How arrogant must the person who came up with such a pretentious name have been," the Lycan said, approaching the center of the Arena while dragging the claws of his powerful hands across the concrete pillars. "I want to see if you're worthy of that name."
Nova frowned. This was about to begin, so he prepared himself. With a sigh, he said:
"Is it just me, or did you just insult my mother?"
"Can you guess?" Manto replied with a mocking grin.
Facing Nova, the Lycan sharpened his claws against each other. The two of them stood there, staring into each other's eyes in silence. This caught the presenter's attention, who—thrilled—flew above them.
"Well, well! What do we have here? Looks like you're already getting along! How splendid!"
Those creatures with more than two hands applauded.
"Let's not waste any more time with useless speeches. We all want to see blood! And that's exactly what you'll get!"
The presenter raised his hand. Manto laughed, and Nova gripped the sword's hilt with both hands. Somehow, he was imitating Elara's style.
"Nova Asmodai versus Manto!"
The fight had begun.
"Fight!"
The moment the presenter gave the signal, in a fraction of a second, Manto was already in front of Nova, raising the claws of his right hand with the clear intent of tearing his face apart.
Nova's eye widened in shock. The golden aura of his Serenity transformed into Anticipation. His eye glowed faintly orange, and a vision of a fatal, imminent future appeared before him.
His Danger Omen was quick this time—but brutal. Manto struck him in the face, leaving deep claw marks and a massive spray of blood. His only healthy eye was pierced, blinding him instantly.
The vision ended as Nova instinctively raised his sword to defend himself.
Clang!
Claws and metal collided. Manto smiled after his powerful swipe was stopped. He struggled against Nova, trying to force him down to the ground.
'Shit! Shit! Shit! He's strong! He's way too strong!' Nova screamed internally.
His legs trembled as he tried to withstand the force pressing down on him. The sword screeched as Manto's claws scraped against the metal, and the beast's foul breath brushed against Nova's neck.
"Hahaha… You're not as weak as I thought, but it doesn't look like you know how to fight with a sword either," the Lycan said, showing Nova his free hand. "I'm disappointed."
He brought his hand closer to Nova's face. With his claws, he gently caressed his skin, leaving small, shallow cuts. Drops of blood emerged from the wounds and stained his claws. He then brought his hand to his mouth, tasting the crimson liquid.
"Oh… It has a slight metallic flavor. I'll settle for that."
At the comment, Nova clenched his teeth hard. He couldn't believe this bastard was playing with him like he was a piece of meat on the ground.
'Damn it. My emotions again.'
His heart pounded violently in his chest, the cold sweat warmed from exertion, and the muscles in his arms swelled from the strain. Even though it was brief, that simple struggle made it clear who would dominate this fight—but it also stirred other intense emotions within Nova.
Exasperated, he grabbed the sword's hilt with all his strength and pressed one of the buttons. If those things were there, they had to serve a purpose. To his luck, the sword's luminescent edge flickered, and a thin, cold trail of light wrapped around the blade.
Manto growled as he leaped backward. When he looked at his hand, part of his claws emitted a faint burnt smell and black smoke.
The presenter, on the other hand, was euphoric as he soared above the Arena. With his eloquent voice, he narrated the events of the last few seconds.
"Manto was an elite warrior on his planet!" he said, glancing at himself on one of the floating screens. "Despite not possessing the ability to use Sephiroth like other species, he is extremely skilled in close combat! A simple plasma sword won't deal him any damage!"
'Plasma sword? This thing?'
Though misfortune followed him like a cruel joke of fate, amidst all that bad luck, Nova had made one good choice.
Then he heard Manto whisper:
"That idiot doesn't know anything."
That gave Nova plenty of ideas.
'I see… If all of this is just a show, provoking Manto into fighting me even with this weapon could be a way to raise the tension.'
Using that advantage would decide everything.
He raised the sword once more. With determination, he fused his two Spectrums, causing his aura to intensify as if he were engulfed in flames. This impressed the spectators, as he was displaying an unusual level of control over his species' power. Immediately after, he launched himself at Manto.
The Lycan growled and dodged Nova's first downward slash. As the sword fell, Manto raised his hand to slice his opponent's neck with a swift motion. However, Nova had other plans.
His Serenity and Anticipation, merged into one, had grown stronger than before—thanks to his constant battles against other dangerous species. The difference in power wasn't massive compared to what had happened just over a month ago, but it was enough to avoid dying on the spot.
Inexperienced with the sword, Nova swung the weapon from side to side, trying to cut the Lycan. But as the creature dodged, Nova noticed Manto growing more confident.
Manto's evasive movements were fast and agile. The sword would never touch him again, and that was bad news for Nova.
'I can't cut him! He's still too fast and too strong! What do I do?!'
At this point, Manto was simply playing at dodging. Naturally, seeing that his opponent couldn't land a single hit, he quickly regained his confidence. That's when, ducking under the blade before it could take his head off, he attacked with his hind legs, sweeping Nova off his feet.
Nova fell and dropped the sword. Manto laughed as he lunged at him—but at the precise moment, just before his Spectrum of Anticipation showed him his death, Nova drew the pistol from its holster and fired point-blank.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The bullets tore through the air.
Manto rolled across the ground, taking cover behind one of the pillars as Nova struggled back to his feet.
Meanwhile, among the thousands of aliens watching the fight, Mina—the girl with monochromatic eyes—observed in silence from beneath the darkness of her hood.