"I don’t talk to ugly people," Verlin chuckled. "Sonia, you’re just a first-year student and you were promoted to Two-winged just a few days ago. In their eyes, you are the weakest. Suppose, I mean just suppose, if they really did eliminate me, then to prevent you from gaining an advantage, they would definitely turn around and target you right away."
"Even before I get eliminated, they might go after you. Because in the Meteor Disaster’s rules, only those losers who have defeated other contestants can enter in the resurrection match. Even just to secure their position, they have no reason to let you, the freshest newcomer, off the hook."
"Look at you, not even using a real sword, just holding a wooden one," Verlin said. "I don’t know if you’re pretending to be weak or if the wooden sword is important, but showing weakness in the arena will make you a trampled victim."
Sonia raised her eyebrows, "Thanks for the heads-up."
"Sevi, don’t be fooled!" Lydia exclaimed. "She just wants us to hold each other back with internal strife, so she can take the opportunity to defeat and annihilate us one by one! Verlin is the strongest now; if we don’t kick her out from the start, we will undoubtedly lose!"
"Don’t worry," Sonia gripped her wooden sword handle firmly, "I will defeat the strongest first."
Despite saying so, the distance between the mages had clearly increased. Verbal assurances meant nothing here; one of the selling points of Meteor Disaster was the deceit among players. In a zero-sum game, it was impossible for six contestants to form an alliance.
Therefore, Verlin was not worried about being attacked, just a bit of guidance, and this so-called alliance would dissolve like sand. She was confident that whether in terms of combat power, techniques, eloquence, or situation assessment, she was the strongest among the six. The victory in this Meteor Disaster would be easily hers.
"The contestants are eager after a bout of verbal sparring. So, who will turn into Meteor, and who will turn into ash?" Arsen said spiritedly. "Countdown begins—five seconds to the start of the match! Five, four..."
"Three," Verlin clenched her staff as nine water dragons condensed behind her.
"Two," Lydia subtly stepped back, gun muzzle aiming at everyone.
"One," Sonia’s sword handle gleamed with the glow of ages.
A round of Blood Moon Rapid Stream!
As a blood-red crescent moon swept across the water, everyone was so shocked that they didn’t react until a thud sounded from outside the arena.
Verlin had been knocked off the stage and slammed into the external wall, holding the broken staff, a ferocious wound seemed to split her diagonally from upper left to lower right. Thankfully, all critical organs were protected by the Miracle "Forbidden Death" applied before the match, but from Verlin’s tear-filled, terrified eyes, it was clear how traumatic the attack had been for her.
"...What Miracle?" Correnzo asked.
"Blood Moon Shattered Lake." Sonia flicked water off her wooden sword. "This Miracle requires a lot of water; I actually thought this shallow terrain was catering to me being a first-year."
"Not listed in ’Dazzling Star Miracle Catalog,’ did you create it?" Lydia inquired.
"Yes, inspired by someone else’s experiences," the red-haired Sword Maiden stated. "Now that I have defeated the strongest..."
"Next, I’ll take on you four weaker ones."