Mina vs Esmeralda (2)

Esmeralda blinked, only to see that Mina's eyes had turned back to normal. "Was I seeing things...?" Esmeralda asked herself, rubbing her eyes. But for all she could see was Mina, heavily panting with exhaustion. Esmeralda pointed her blade at Mina. "Explain to me which race you are!" 

A thunderstorm roused up as the match reached its boiling point. Thunderstruck as Mina held onto Sorrow and Ruin in her hands. Mina was in appalling conditions, and Sorrow called out for her. "Mina, please just surrender already! Even I can tell you're at your breaking point! There's no point in wasting your life here!"

Esmeralda quickly shot down that option. "No, she isn't leaving, not until I know of her true identity. The identity of a demon!" Mina's glare sharpened upon the accusation. "I have no idea what you're talking about, but it seems clear you're not willing to let me get out of this fight. Fine by me." The air tensed up, and the sounds of sirens and people erupt outside the arena. 

They began running at each other, preparing for a clash. Thunder was crackling in the sky, and the crowd of chaos had quieted down. In that moment, it was just the two of them in that battle. Esmeralda shot out a hard thrust with her rapier, only for Mina to weave under the stab and go in with her thrust of her own daggers. It seemed unavoidable at first, but Esmeralda had intensified her rapier's inscription at that very moment, making a huge area of lightning around them.

Being struck by the intense lightning, Mina winced before her strike, only managing to graze Esmeralda with her initial dagger thrust. Having both exchanged blows, their crossing paths had continued past each other, coming to a stop moments later. Both of them turned around, continuing their assault. Mina parrying and dodging Esmeralda's constant attacks, slowly being pushed back to the wall of the arena. Sorrow watched as Mina struggled against the relentless attacks, nearly avoiding death with each parry. "Mina is using daggers against someone with a rapier; this is a tremendous disadvantage in range for her! The best she can do is stay on defense until a window of opportunity arises." Once Mina's back had collided with the wall, that was Esmeralda's queue to discharge one last blast with her lightning inscription. 

The inscription lights up, producing a massive area of lightning in front of her rapier that was directed right at Mina. The lightning struck Mina directly, causing her to cry out in pain. Unleashing all of its power, the inscription soon ran out, causing the inscription text on Esmeralda's rapier to fizzle out. Esmeralda stood there, waiting for the lightning to subside, to witness the fall of Mina. Yet the sight surprised her greatly. Mina was standing with heaving breaths. She looked like she could collapse at any moment, but she still held a fierce look in her eyes. "Persistent, aren't you?!" Esmeralda exclaimed, lunging toward Mina with her rapier, trying to finish the fight with this final blow. Mina couldn't move an inch. She was heavily injured and felt like passing out at any moment. Yet she wanted to win; she wanted to feel successful for once in her life, but yet again, she couldn't achieve anything herself. "D-Damn it..." she whimpered, closing her eyes as she descends to the floor. Even while she fell, the rapier continued onward. "This demon is done for." Esmeralda was sure Mina was a demon. Her feral instincts, her sudden change in demeanor, and those glowing red eyes. It was all familiar to the cursed day that she didn't want to remember. 

"Oh my, we can't have you doing that." Harlibue says, stopping Esmeralda's rapier with a mysterious force. Esmeralda tried to nudge her rapier, but it came to no avail. Then, her entire body felt restricted, as if she were moving in water. Her movements slowed, and no matter how much force she inputted, she moved at the same pace. "Now, now, I can't have you killing my precious test subject." Harlibue said with a grin. "And don't even bother trying to use your pathetic little Artifact. It'll serve no purpose against mine." Turning his back against Esmeralda, he snapped his fingers, making medical clockworks and policemen storm into the stadium. "This fight is over. Your purpose here is done." Slowly, Harlibue approached Esmeralda, growing increasingly nervous with each step. She wanted to scream; she wanted to push through with all her might; Mina was a demon in her eyes, and demons needed to be eliminated on sight. But that goal soon came to a close as Harlibue flicked her forehead. "Goodnight." Esmeralda couldn't resist the powerful force that weighed on her mind, causing her to fall asleep in an instant.

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Mina woke up in a state of panic. The sunlight from the window shined over her bed that she laid on. In the other bed beside her, Mina could see Esmeralda sleeping delightfully. Surveying her surroundings, her eyes immediately connected with Harold, watching over her. "Yo." He still wore his suit, but he also wore a cast over his arm. Mina glanced at herself and saw that she was dressed in a medical gown. "Harold, where are we?"

"We're in Kane Academy's medical office. After we were all badly wounded, they put us in here to treat us." 

Concern etched onto Mina's face, coming to grasp at his words. "What happened to you, Harold? How did you get wounded?"

"Oh, well, I fought some buff dude who was trying to do something in the stadium... I kind of was too late to stop him, as you can see." He pointed at his cast.

"You shouldn't endanger yourself like that!" Mina exclaimed, softly grasping onto his cast.

Harold chuckled, reassuring her. "Don't worry, my wounds weren't too bad!" Shoveling into his pocket, he hands her a healing potion. "I forgot to tell you; the doctors here told me to give you this when you woke up." Taking the potion set in front of her face, she uncaps it and drinks it, feeling her body becoming rejuvenated. "T-Thank you." she said, wiping her mouth. Harold, taking back the glass container of the potion, then asked an uncertain question. "So, Mina, did you win your battle? I was busy with something else, so I couldn't see it."

Upon the question, her glow instantly dimmed. With a harsh frown that couldn't be stopped, she forced out her words. "No... I lost." Tears were starting to break out of her eyes, no matter how hard she resisted. Her body shuddered under the shame—feeling like a true disappointment. "I know you wanted me to win, yet I still lost. I wasted all that time training for nothing." She sniffled as she wiped her tears with her arm. "I'm sorry, Harold!" 

Then, the touch of a warm hand reached her head. Slowly patting her head, she looked up to see Harold with a warm smile. "You did well enough. I'm proud of you, Mina." The words touched her, granting her a heated sensation in her chest. The feeling numbed out her sadness and caused her to stare at him in awe. Seeing her mood brighten just a little, he stood up from his seat. "Anyway, the principal personally wanted to talk with us once you woke up, so let's go."

"E-Eh, right now?!" 

Harold tossed a handkerchief to her face. "Also, blow the snot out of your nose while you're at it. I saw a ton of snot drip out of your nose while you were being a crybaby."

Mina's face lit up red. "You could've just told me to blow my nose; you didn't need to add that last part!"