chapter 11: Love love beam

"It is much bigger in the inside than I expected," Mina mumbled as she scanned the building, ignoring the curious glances at her.

The interior is an enormous dome; inside, a few people are locked in combat with each other and their enemies. The sounds of battle echo from every direction, interspersed with intermittent screams of pain or joy as one warrior defeats another. Swords clash against shields, spears pierce flesh, and arrows fly through the air to strike soft spots on armor. Each of these battles ends abruptly when one side is overwhelmed by sheer strength; as soon as one side has been defeated, the next fight begins.

Most of the combatants are men and women. The audience applauds wildly at the conclusion of each match, regardless of who wins or loses. A pair of armored young youths are dueling with each other, both trying to force the other to retreat, so they can attack him from behind.

Mina looked at the side of the battle stage to see other participants staring at the fight with bored eyes. No one else seems concerned about this duel; it looks like they've been waiting their turn for hours.

As Mina watched the fight, the youth holding a large axe suddenly swings his weapon at great speed and attacks the youth with a sword. Before anyone can stop him, he gave the sword youth several scars, then the sword youth cries in defeat. The onlookers cheer wildly.

Mina looked at the fights without fear and stared at the audience who sat in a circular motion around the arena, and the seats were on an upper floor. She then spotted Kai and waved at him enthusiastically, and he waved back.

"Hey!" A man called out to Mina, trying to get her attention. "What's your name? Are you a new participant?"

Mina turned to see that he is speaking to her. He smiles broadly and gives her a little bow of greeting.

Mina too bowed slightly and straighten her veil.

"My name is Mina," she says. "And yours?"

He smiles back at her. "I'm called Hyun."

"Wait customer Hyun?"

"Lady Mina?"

"It's really you..." Mina blushes as she realizes what happened.

"You've changed a lot in a few months," Mina chuckled and Hyun grinned.

"Well...um...that explains why you didn't recognize me then." Hyun scratched his head, a bit embarrassed.

"Yes, exactly. So, you're really, Hyun?"

"More or less," he replies with another sheepish grin.

"Though not quite as handsome as I remember."

"That's because I haven't had any good sleep, can you blame me?" Hyun asked as he got close to Mina.

"Your sleep problems are still bothering you?" Mina asked concerned.

"Unfortunately yes," Hyun sighed.

"And also.." Hyun walked around Mina and scammed her, "I could hardly remember you, your scar is gone, and you became more beautiful, your hair and eyes too became brighter. Plus, did your bust become bigger?" Hyun asked a barrage of questions and Mina giggled.

"Of course it did, glad you noticed!" Mina declared proudly and patted her chest.

"You got taller too and…." Hyun gasped as he used his hand to measure Mina from the top of her head to his shoulder. He grinned and Mina pouted. He then turned to look at her back, and Mina grabbed him by his robes.

"Stop staring at my butt or else I'll kill you!" Mina threatened with a scary face and Hyun stared away from her nervously.

"My bad, I was just checking (⁠´⁠ε⁠｀⁠ ⁠). How did it happen? I mean, all this change."

"Some good Doa master took a liking to me and gave me a healing pill. Don't tell anyone it's a secret," Mina stood on the tip of her toes and whispered into his ears.

"I won't," Hyun replied with a flushed face.

"Hah," Mina sighed as she placed her hands on her waist, "I don't want to run into any more of my former customers like you."

"Why are you engaged?" Hyun asked curiously.

"Nope, I just don't want to be hated by all women, since most of my top customers were rich and handsome. To be honest, having sex with them was quite enjoyable," Mina grinned and Hyun laughed.

"Oh, so the gentleman you're walking around with isn't your fiancé?" Hyun asked, pointing at Kai who was glaring at him.

"Well if he were I would be quite happy, I love good guys like him. But unfortunately, he isn't. I don't deserve a good guy like him," Mina said dryly.

"Then he's bang buddy?" Hyun asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well I guess so," she replied, "But he's also a very good friend."

Seeing Kai's glare, Hyun stuck his tongue out at Kai and held a portion of Mina's hair gently.

"So we're they all better in bed than me?" Hyun asked.

"Of course!" Mina replied proudly.

"Oh, I guess I'm not so good, huh," Hyun sulked as he drew circles on the nearby pillar.

"You're not so bad. Having sex with you was fun too," Mina stated in hopes to cheer him up.

"Really!" Hyun asked with starry eyes.

"Yes, so don't worry, I'm sure your lover will enjoy herself in bed with you," Mina grabbed his hands and said brightly.

"I hope so," Hyun smiled at her.

"The group battle is about to begin. Everyone should come on stage!" A middle-aged woman announced in the middle of the stage and everyone walked towards her.

"This is an all-out battle, so everyone is your opponent till the last ten people left standing, but if they can still fight, you can fight until the last one standing," the woman yelled through a small microphone made of jade in her hands and the audience cheered loudly.

"Now please spread yourselves out!!" She ordered and they did as she said. Once they were done, the woman slowly exited the stage.

"Stay behind me, okay, I'll protect you," Hyun winked at Mina, and she gave him a blank stare.

"I don't need your help though (⁠ ⁠╹⁠▽⁠╹⁠ ⁠)," Mina said as she looked at her nails glowing and smirked. She stood by Hyun's side and gave a light chuckle, "With my awesome power, I shall win this!"

"I wonder what a delicate young mistress is doing here," a man from afar sneered at Mina.

"Why can't I be here, can't you see other women participating?" Mina retorted and flipped her hair.

"Start!!" The middle-aged woman's voice resounded through the arena and the audience cheered loudly, but Mina frowned. She could slowly see that everyone was dashing toward her, but their speed seemed to have slowed down.

A shadow of a woman with a pointed tail came behind her and held her hands gently making Mina's palms make a love sign and whispered into her ears, "Say love love beam."

Mina's eyes seemed like she was dazed and did as the woman instructed, "Love love beam!"

As Mina said, those words, the surroundings returned to their normal speed and a bright beam of purple light enveloped the stage and subsided a few seconds later to reveal all the participants apart from her had turned into stone.