A Warrior's Pride

A few minutes drifted by before Klaus and Riley finally returned to the Arena of Valor. The other demigods welcomed the previous fighters and complimented them on their performance in the match. They also congratulated Klaus for being the first demigod to make it to the semi-finals.

A few more minutes of conversation then occurred before XVII finally moved forward to announce the next fighters.

"The next battle is... Arthur Knight vs Iris Haze."

Iris knew that this was not going to be an easy fight for her. After watching a lot of Arthur's previous battles, as well as being on the same team with him during the Cosmic League, she was aware that she would need a miracle to defeat such a formidable opponent.

Both fighters got up from their locations as they headed into the arena's battlefield. Iris walked in and stood ahead of Arthur as she smiled at the idea of the upcoming battle, trying to appear less intimidated than she was.

"Good luck, mijo," Iris said to Arthur as she stared at him.

But Arthur's eyes were not looking directly at Iris and seemed to be spaced out as his focus was clearly on the alarm that was to sound, indicating the match's commencement. And after a few seconds of silence, the alarm finally rang and the match had commenced.

Iris took a cautious stance as Arthur proceeded to walk towards her. Her focus was off the charts as she stared at her opponent, awaiting his next move. And immediately, Arthur changed from walking as he darted at Iris before swinging a punch at her.

Iris managed to dodge the attack, but the other incoming attacks that followed seemed to be more difficult. Arthur continued to swing attacks at Iris, and all Iris could do was evade. She attempted to find an opening that she would utilize, but ultimately, she did not find any success. Arthur was in a completely different league from her.

Arthur continued to attack without a single hesitation, and Iris was finding it difficult to do any other thing but dodge. She knew she couldn't take any of his attacks head-on, so even blocking his punches would be very risky. But as the swings continued, Iris managed to finally find a sliver of an opening as she evaded an incoming punch before landing her own on Arthur's chest.

But as she rose her head to notice her opponent, Arthur was not phased at all.

Arthur stood in the same spot as he stared at her. Iris continued to swing attacks at him, but after a certain period, she knew she was just wasting her time. Out of fear, Iris then jumped back after it dawned upon her that Arthur was at melee range.

Arthur proceeded to walk closer to Iris after her move backward, and Iris was entirely baffled by the fact that she could not damage her opponent even slightly.

"What the heck do I do now?" Iris thought to herself as Arthur continued to walk closer.

She knew that her attacks had no effect on Arthur, and running away was too embarrassing to be an option, so she had to stand her ground and fight. Arthur continued to walk closer before finally almost reaching where Iris was. But as he came closer, Iris turned her worrisome expression into a smile as she rose her hand up, revealing a slim dagger with which she swung directly at Arthur's chest.

Unfortunately, before the dagger could even reach Arthur's chest, it completely vanished and all Iris did was slam her clenched fist softly on Arthur's chest.

The shock on Iris' face was evident as all the demigods witnessed what was happening from the spectator's area.

"Woah," Rose started. "It vanished."

"It was an illusion," Klaus then clarified.

"Even though," Shade continued. "The fact he was able to calmly identify this without moving an inch is beyond impressive."

Iris finally processed that Arthur could counter her ability, and that she was now in a very difficult spot. She gradually turned her head upwards and stared at Arthur in fear after realizing his cutthroat glance. She was finished.

Arthur immediately rose his right hand before Iris could do anything and swung it directly at his opponent. At the last moment, Iris managed to place both her forearms ahead of the attack which seemed to be a windbreaker attack at close range, but the force used was too great that it caused tremendous damage to her, causing her to move back significantly.

The pain Iris felt after Arthur's attack was so great that she fell to her knees, with her head facing the ground and her breathing audible.

"Well," Mia stated at the spectator's area. "She's finished."

"I guess," Klaus slightly responded.

All the demigods watched as Arthur gradually walked closer to Iris, without any intention to stop his attacking agenda. Iris did not seem to have any possible way of winning the battle, but the demigods knew that her crafty personality was not one to completely disregard. If Iris was truly out of the game, they knew that she would forfeit, so the fact that she hadn't meant there was something left. Or at least this was what everyone spectating believed.

Arthur got to Iris who appeared to be unable to move in her state.

"Do you forfeit?" Arthur asked before clenching his right fist and awaiting her response.

Iris smirked before replying to Arthur after a few seconds.

"What do you think," she responded with her head still facing the ground.

"Then you leave me no choice," Arthur then continued before raising his fist and swinging it directly at Iris' head.

But before the attack could collide, something happened that surprised everyone present.

"What?" Arthur asked as his fist came to a stop after Iris instantly rose her hand to catch the attack.

Iris held on to Arthur's hand as she gradually rose her head, revealing a smile on her face. The shock on Arthur's face was clear as he stared in confusion at how Iris was able to stop his attack without taking tremendous damage. But for some reason, he believed it. Arthur could not explain the feeling, but he felt like Iris stopping his attack was normal.

Upon holding her opponent's hand, Iris got up from her fallen state before using her other fist to punch Arthur a few meters away. Arthur managed to get his balance before he clenched his fist and sent out a windbreaker attack at Iris. But as his attacks continued ahead, Iris simply swung her palm at it, slapping the attack away from her.

Arthur knew that the battle was going to be tough so he rushed at Iris to switch to a melee combat style. He continued to swing attacks at his opponent, but Iris easily evaded them before switching to the offensive. And as she did so, it was clear that she had the upper hand in the battle.

Arthur was able to dodge a few of the attacks, but the ones that hit him were able to cause noticeable damage, almost knocking him out despite having his hardening ability active. With this, Arthur knew the truth about the battle as he said something to himself.

"Impossible. She's... too strong."

"She did it again, didn't she?" Rose asked back at the spectator's area.

"It seems so," Quinn responded as the demigods witnessed Arthur standing in a single spot, with his eyes glowing purple.

"But how?" Trent asked. "Didn't he just counter her illusion a few seconds ago?"

"Yeah," Quinn replied. "But this one is different. It's almost like he couldn't counter it at all once he was caught in it."

"So similar to what she did in her fight against me?" Rose asked.

"Exactly," Quinn confirmed.

It seemed like Iris could place someone under her false reality regardless of their ability to be aware of its presence or not, meaning as long as Iris creates that visual contact required, it was always a guarantee that her target would be placed into her false reality. This was the general idea that was understood by all the demigods.

But the one thing that rose questions between the spectators was the idea of a counter. The only confirmed information that everyone had was that Iris could deactivate the illusion by will, but was this the only way out?

Despite the advantage Iris had, she was only able to activate her ability at the moment Arthur was about to land the concluding blow, which meant that all the battle damage she had received earlier was all real.

Iris remained on the floor for a few more seconds before managing to get the strength to get up. She found it difficult to stay conscious after receiving so much damage from Arthur earlier. But she knew that she had to eliminate him quickly before she would lose the strength to keep the false reality active.

Arthur was also seemingly losing energy in the real world even though he was not moving at all. This gave the spectators the idea that while under Iris' illusion, your entire body would be fooled by your cerebrum into thinking the actions occurring in the false reality are true, causing your body to exert the same energy in the real world despite its immobilized state. This was also shown with Rose who was beyond exhausted when Iris released the ability during their battle.

Arthur continued to evade the attacks from Iris, unbeknownst to the fact that he was under her illusion. Iris sent multiple punches at Arthur and he felt like it was impossible to counter her at all.

Naturally, it was common knowledge that Iris could deal no harm to Arthur, and although this was an illusion, the fact that she was overpowering him felt like enough evidence to realize that this was not reality. But for some reason, Arthur was somehow convinced that Iris' strength was nothing out of the ordinary.

When Iris utilizes this specific illusion on her opponent, she manipulates the person's cerebrum and optical lobes by transmitting false signals. Consequently, the individual perceives and processes a fabricated world, perceiving it as if it were real.

However, what the demigods were not aware of is that Iris also possesses the ability to transmit disruptive signals to the person's frontal lobe and the hippocampus, situated in the temporal lobe. This enables Iris to make her target believe anything that is projected within the false reality she has created. And regardless of any action she takes within that illusion, her opponent will always accept it as truth and not as an illusion.

After a few more swings, Iris managed to land a hit on Arthur, which caused him to fall to the ground. Arthur had a pure shock in his eyes as he stared at Iris, who did not seem the least bit tired at all.

"How are we so different in power?" Arthur asked himself. "Why am I not strong enough?"

Iris stretched her hand outwards before a small dagger proceeded to spawn in her hands. Despite this action being completely outlandish, Arthur still ignored it and saw it as normal, with his focus on other things that were occurring.

Arthur stared in silence as Iris moved closer to him, attempting to eliminate her opponent. He knew he was bested and that there was nothing else he could do but accept defeat. That was when a sudden thought pulsed through his head.

"What are you doing?"

Arthur's eyes widened as he stared at the situation in more shock after thinking those words.

"Does a warrior such as yourself lose such a battle?" the thought continued before he suddenly realized something.

These were his genuine thoughts.

Iris gradually walked to Arthur who remained in the same spot back in reality. She knew that she had to eliminate him while he was immobile and knew she had better odds in doing so as opposed to letting Arthur forfeit due to fatigue similar to Rose in her previous battle.

Iris continued to Arthur before searching her body and finding a small dagger in one of her hidden pockets. She then sighed in frustration at the damage she was enduring before rushing the dagger directly at Arthur's neck.

"I guess it's over," Quinn stated, knowing there was nothing Arthur could do about the attack.

But before the dagger could impale Arthur, something surprising occurred that shocked the entire arena.

As Iris swung the dagger to her opponent's neck, suddenly, Arthur's eyes instantly flashed a deep purple color before reverting to their original sky blue. And immediately this occurred, Arthur turned his attention to the dagger that was swung at him and evaded the attack by moving his head under the dagger's trajectory.

This action shocked every single person as Arthur had seemingly regained control of his mind and was moving in the real world. However, his actions did not stop there.

Before Iris could even react to Arthur's unexpected presence, Arthur immediately clenched his right fist while evading Iris' attack with the dagger. With this, Arthur then took a brief stance, moving his fist backward, before driving a devastating punch directly onto Iris' jaw.

Arthur's attack was so lethal that it sent Iris flying backward, with her body slamming into the wall a good distance from her initial location. The force was so strong that the sound that queued after Iris collided with the wall sounded very painful to the other demigods spectating.

"How?" Tyler asked after witnessing what had happened.

"I'm just as confused as you are," Quinn stated with shock on her face as well as they witnessed what happened.

Arthur was somehow able to break out of Iris' false reality and in doing so, he managed to get the drop on her, landing a very strong blow afterward. Arthur then fell to the floor as the sounds of panting continued from him. All the demigods stared in confusion and disbelief if this was an illusion to them or not.

But a few seconds after this, XVII got up from his location before announcing sudden information.

"And with that... the winner is Arthur Knight."

"What?" Mia asked in confusion as she stared at XVII.

"Does that mean..." Ace continued after her before all the demigods returned their attention to Iris on the battlefield.

"Yup," Link said after analyzing the situation. "She's dead."

"How?" Rose asked. "What the heck is going on?"

The demigods continued to stare before the fighters finally got transported to the medical facility. A few seconds continued in silence before the demigods managed to speak up.

"I don't even know if this is an illusion or not," Link stated.

"I feel ya," Ace replied. "But that was one heck of a plot twist."

"Yeah," Quinn started. "I'm sure we all assumed that it was almost impossible for him to do so after our experience during her fight with Rose."

"I mean, I really thought everything was real, even the transporting to the medical facility and returning," Rose explained, buttressing her experience during the first round.

"I'm still in disbelief that he could break out," Quinn continued. "But maybe he just managed to figure out he was under the illusion at the last second."

Considering that the demigods were unaware of what happened inside the false reality this time, they could not confirm what Arthur saw while he was under the illusion, as well as the information on Iris' control on the person's mind, so they only had assumptions to believe.

"It's a possibility that Arthur's pride just couldn't let him lose to Iris," A voice suddenly muttered, attracting the others' attention.

The demigods turned to notice Klaus as the owner of the statement. Klaus remembered that during the first round when Iris had placed them all under the illusion, he was able to break out of it before the rest of the demigods. This made him wonder if it was Iris' doing, or if his subconscious managed to assist him in regaining himself before Iris deactivated the ability.

"True..." Quinn then replied to his statement. "But there's also the possibility that Iris was just too weak to keep the false reality active anymore due to the damage she received."

"I guess," Klaus responded after a sigh.

The demigods continued to analyze the battle for a few more minutes, but ultimately couldn't come up with a sole conclusion so they decided to wait for the return of the fighters. After a brief moment of waiting, Arthur and Iris returned to the arena.

The demigods welcomed the fighters and complimented their efforts in the battle. Quinn asked Iris if she was okay after receiving such an attack, but as expected, the medical facility had already rejuvenated any damage she had received.

Arthur was not too fond of the other demigods, so it made sense why they didn't see the possibility of getting any information from him. But after asking Iris what happened during the fight, it seemed like she was also slightly unaware, but had assumed the same possibilities mentioned by Klaus and Quinn earlier.

A brief moment then went by before XVII walked ahead to announce the next fighters. The demigods focused on this information since the announcement would confirm the next, as well as final, battle members. And after a few seconds, XVII finally announced.

"The next battle is... X vs Tyler Justice."