Chapter 132 - 131 - Gamble(Part 4)

"Tch, your cheap tricks may have helped you win, but next time, I'll crush you," Growled Zarina irritably, as the barrier deactivated and I walked out. 

"You really think so, huh?" I responded condescendingly, walking past her with my head held high.

Still, she came very close to teleporting me out...and had this been a real fight and if her aim had been more accurate, that probably would've ended up with both of us dead. 

I mean, yeah, in a real life-or-death battle, I won't hesitate to freeze time or do whatever else I need to in order to avoid dying, but still, I'd have liked to have won that fight more convincingly and comprehensively that I did. 

"That was a pretty lit showing, you're not half-bad, Glasses," Remarked Altan with a look of intrigue, "I certainly wouldn't mind taking you on sometime."

"Sure, so long as you don't call me Glasses again, I'm all for that," I responded dryly. 

"Hey, do you need a dip in a Healing Pod? You're bleeding a fair bit," Pointed out Director Silva. 

Yeah, I guess I'm bleeding, but it's three very shallow cuts, the wounds should dry up pretty quickly. 

"Nah, maybe afterwards...I don't want to miss anything, and that aside, these barely even qualify as injuries," I replied with a shrug. 

I then noticed Hebi standing and stretching, a pumped up look on his face. After stretching his limbs and back, he began stretching his wings in and out, like he was flexing them.

"Are you finished resting?" Called out Director Silva. 

"Yup, all good! In fact, that last fight got my blood all pumping, I'm ready to do this!" He exclaimed enthusiastically. 

"So, uh...whatcha doing with you wings?" I asked curiously. 

"Just warming up, don't want to get cramps or pull any muscles, you know?" He replied, as he continued flexing them. 

"Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen you fly," I realized, watching him with fascination. 

"Well, yeah, there was never any reason to fly at home...and besides, flying is way more tiring than walking or running, my shoulders ache like crazy if I fly non-stop for extended periods," He sighed with a frown. 

"If that's the case, then you really should fly more often...because suddenly using them after months without using them at all isn't a good idea," I pointed out. 

"I'll be fine, I know all that, and I don't rely on flying that much during a fight anyway," He replied with a thumbs up, as he finished warming up and began heading for the middle, "Alright, let's do this!" 

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Point-of-View: Hebi Fujimoto

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Okay, so it's been a pretty long time since I last fought at all, the last time was...when I got captured and brought here. I thought for sure I was going to die back then, and now, I'm living my best life. 

At this point, there's no way I can go back to the way I used to live, I didn't like it even before I experienced all this comfort and luxury, and now that I have experienced it, I think I'd actually rather die than go back to the way things were for me before. 

I mean, seriously, the last time I interacted with my 'own kind', they sent me on a freaking suicide mission. And sure, it's probably going to be unavoidable that some of the people here will be suspicious of me and discriminate against me and stuff, but hey, so long as I can enjoy digital entertainment and good food, I couldn't care less about any of that. 

When that lady, Ziva Silva, approached me about undergoing the Awakening Procedure and working for them, I agreed so long as she fulfilled two conditions; the first being that I wouldn't be sent on any suicide missions, and the second being that I'd be at home more than I'd be on missions. 

And she agreed to my requests...which is something that would never have happened with the Wights, they probably would have sent me on a suicide mission out of spite if I'd ever made such requests. 

Now, then, guess I should focus on this fight, because I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious to see how I measure up against an Ace, someone who's suppose to be among the best of the best. The barrier activated around my opponent and I, as a ten second countdown began ticking. 

"Alright, let's have a good fight!" Exclaimed my mohawk-having opponent, before chanting in a very loud voice, "<Primary Manifestation: Air Guitar>!" 

Say, what now? 

A purple energy guitar formed in his hands, a confident smirk on his face as he swung it around a couple of times. I am so confused...how is he going to use that as a weapon? 

Guess I'll find out soon enough, so there's no point speculating, since I have no clues...and in the meantime, how should I approach this? Hm, no need to take any risks right away, best if I ease into it...I formed a bow and drew back the string, holding it horizontally as I took aim. 

The instant the countdown ended, I let go of the bowstring, firing out a rapid green arrow, which he deflected with a flick of his guitar, before sprinting towards me rapidly, nimbly evading as I continuously fired out a barrage of arrows at him.

Alright, time to switch it up...I dissipated the bow and formed a sword, as he began to close in on me...now, then, let's see how he fights-...suddenly, he halted, sprang back and strummed his fingers across the energy guitar strings with a smirk. 

As he did, a blast of distorted wind burst out of it, causing me to stumble back, before a slight dizziness and nausea hit me. Holy crap, that's seriously unpleasant...the wind itself didn't have all that much force, but the sound waves caused by the flick of the guitar strings feel like they're messing with my head...and also my stomach, I feel like puking. 

I gritted my teeth as I shook my head and regained my bearings, before I shot towards him rapidly, slashing at him as I closed in. He parried and deflected my energy blade with his guitar, before swiftly getting some distance away from me with a rapid series of agile backflips. 

"Come on, that all you got?" He taunted with a grin, as he strummed his guitar again and sent a fluctuating blast of wind at me. 

I quickly sprang off to the left to narrowly evade it, before wincing slightly as some of the sound waves deflected onto me, invading my ears and nauseating me some more. 

So, that's how he uses that guitar manifestation...not only can he use it to defend, he can probably use it to bash his opponents too, but he clearly doesn't need to. Those wind blasts aren't very strong at all, but the sound waves in them are dangerous. 

Take a couple of those head on and you'll probably be dazed with dizziness, vertigo and nausea, making it easy for him to finish you off. What's more, he hasn't yet revealed his Secondary Manifestation, not to mention Manifestation Overdrive, if he has one. Regardless, it's time for me to start taking this a lot more seriously, or I'll lose. 

"Here goes...<Primary Manifestation: Double Python>," I chanted, as the energy-manifested snakes formed around my arms, taking shape. 

I then shot towards him, before flying up as fast as I could the instant he flicked his fingers across his guitar, just barely evading the blast before swooping down towards him as I extended my snake arms, attempting to wrap them around him and restrain him. 

But before I could wrap them around him, he evaded the right one and bashed away the left one with his guitar, before rapidly firing a disorienting wind blast at me with a flick of his fingers, strumming the strings and dazing me as I failed to get out of the way in time. 

I managed to stay airborne and quickly flew away, getting some distance. My head is spinning like crazy, and I feel like I'm about to puke my guts out...seriously, I'd rather take good old physical damage over this, I totally feel like shit. 

If he hits me with another one of those, I don't think I'll be able to keep fighting...but his range isn't that long, so if I stay around the ceiling of the barrier, I should be safe...I'll then use Manifestation Overdrive to defeat him. Yeah, that should work-...wait, what's going on? 

I can't channel my XFE as easily as I usually can...and now that I really focus, even these snake arms manifestation doesn't feel a hundred percent stable right now...what is this? 

"What's the matter? Having some trouble with your XFE flow?" Inquired my opponent with a smug look on his face. 

"Oh...now I get it...those annoying sound waves don't only affect my physical senses, but also my XFE flow, huh?" I realized, though it was too late now. 

"Take this, <Secondary Manifestation: Earsplitting Amp>!" He exclaimed, as a large box manifested next to him, which was connected to the guitar with a cable-like strand of energy, before he began rapidly running his hand up and down across the guitar, devastating waves of sound bursting out of the box next to him as he loudly yelled, "Boom, rock and roll!" 

Before I could even react, all my senses were violently bombarded, my vision spinning dizzyingly, my ears ringing and my stomach turning...is this what morning sickness feels like? And why's that the first thing that came to mind right now? 

Suddenly, I found myself outside the barrier, everything around me spinning like crazy, as I took in a sharp breath and burned my head between my knees, trying to regain my bearings, but it wasn't working.

I...I think I'm...I think I'm gonna be sick...!

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