The Soul Keeper

Chapter 96: The Semi-finals

Erik dashed forward, straight towards the man with the greatsword. I motioned to follow him – he stood no chance against that man.

"Kai!" Vincent's shout warned me of an incoming attack. I rolled on the ground as a scimitar cut through the air where my neck was a moment ago. I quickly got back on my feet and shot an angry glance at the tall man. When had he moved so close to me?

Tightly grasping the hilt of my sword, I lowered my body and dashed towards him. I had to finish this quickly, before Erik got hurt. Our blades met with a loud, clear clang. My opponent grinned as I noticed a movement below. I motioned to retreat, but he kicked me before I could move.

I fell down with the force of his kick. I quickly rolled to the side, only to see that it saved my life as his scimitar cut through the sand where my throat was just now. Was he trying to actually kill me or what?

I leapt back up on my feet, now much more wary of my opponent. Both his attacks were made to vital areas, if I hadn't dodged them, I'd be dead.

"Where did that spirit go?" He asked with a disgustingly sly, mocking voice. "Scared?" I gritted my teeth. He was trying to rile me up, make me prone to mistakes.

"Not really," I replied with a half smile as I slowly circled him. I didn't dare take my eyes off him to glance at the others. "I'm just surprised to see you going for the kill."

A loud clang threatened to distract me, but I kept my eyes on my opponent. All of a sudden, this had become a fight for my life. I couldn't take any chances. I spun my sword, waiting for him to make the first move.

We stared at each other for a while as the other three battles continued around us. Eventually, it was him who grew impatient and dashed towards me. I felt as if time had slowed down as my heartbeat quickened. I could see his actions clearly; I knew exactly what he was going to do.

As he swung his blade, aiming for my neck, I stepped back and let the blade pass by perhaps a hair's length away. Confused, annoyed and clearly irritated, he swung his scimitar again. I backstepped his attacks, waiting for him to lose his balance while swinging wildly like this.

Eventually, he overextended. Leaving himself wide open to a counterattack, he swung for my throat and narrowly missed. A wicked smile appeared on my lips as I used this chance to go on the offensive.

He jumped back as soon as I attacked him, though he wasn't fast enough to evade my attack completely. My blade touched his arm and left a shallow, clean cut behind. With a low-pitched scream, he backed off. I didn't give him a chance to regain his composure. My flurry of attacks left him with more bleeding cuts.

"Stop!" He shrieked as I continued. I didn't stop – this man had aimed for my life; he wouldn't have hesitated to kill me, and I doubted he'd have felt any remorse had he succeeded. Unlike with Astrid and her allies, I felt no sympathy for him. In my eyes, he deserved nothing but utter defeat. And that was why I didn't hesitate to wound him.

I continued, with my purple eyes glowing with wrath, I attacked him relentlessly. How dare he got in my way now, while I was already busy with dealing with Erik and worrying about Asher! With each strike, I could see his face twist with fear.

"I give up!" He shouted as my sword cut his left brow. "Stop!" He threw his weapon to the ground, his hands shivering in fear. I looked down at him for a moment before turning my back on him. The so far silent crowd roared as my gaze fell on Erik and his opponent.

As I watched, Erik swung his sword wildly. His opponent didn't even bother to block, instead he stepped back and prepared to swing his sword. His sword raised over his right shoulder, he waited for Erik's wild swing to leave him open to a counter and swung with all his might.

I drew a sharp breath as the man's swing struck Erik's shield with a loud clang. As I watched in disbelief, the young paladin flew backwards, all the way to the edge of the arena. He hit the wall with a thud, then slid down to the sand filled floor.

"Erik!" Vincent shouted in a panic. Joshua was focused on his own battle; I didn't think he was even aware of his surroundings.

I dashed forward, towards the man with the greatsword. As I went past Vincent, I shouted. "Eyes on your enemy." He flinched and turned his gaze on his opponent.

As I approached the man with the greatsword, he grinned. I could see it in his eyes, he was enjoying this. He loved the thrill of the fight.

I stopped in my tracks, just out of his massive greatsword's reach. Considering the strength he just demonstrated, I couldn't risk taking a single direct hit from that sword. I lowered my body and readied my sword.

It was him who struck first. He swung his massive sword, clearly aiming for my chest. Drawing a sharp breath, I rolled under the massive blade and dashed towards him. I wasn't going to give him any time to attack me. Naturally, he didn't want to let me get much closer. He swung his sword again, this time trying to cut me in half.

I narrowly sidestepped his attack and swung my sword, aiming for his left shoulder. He quickly raised his blade to defend. I supressed my grin as I let go of my sword and caught it with my left hand. In that same motion, I stepped around him and cut the back of his knee.

He shouted in pain as he fell on one knee. Almost immediately, I hit him in the head with the hilt of my sword.

"Give up!" I hissed, finally placing the sharp edge of my blade against his throat. "Don't try anything stupid."

He hesitated, then dropped his blade. "I surrender." He loudly exclaimed.

Only after the crowd started cheering did I pull my blade away from his throat. I turned my back on him and stepped away. Now, all that remained was Vincent and Joshua's battles. They were on even ground; both had sustained mild injuries – I could see cuts and bruises on their arms – but so had their opponents.

The crowd shrieked suddenly, causing me to flinch. My heart skipped a beat as I noticed a shadow on the ground behind me. A much larger shadow rose behind me, with a massive blade in hand. It was aiming for my neck.

I didn't have time to evade that!

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