The next morning.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Someone knocked on the door as a female's voice echoed. "Alea, have you woken up yet?"
Alea, who was still sleeping, immediately opened her eyes and let out a moan as she rose from her bed with messy hair. She shouted with a hoarse voice, the unique voice that only those who just woke up had. "Y-yes!"
"The match is going to start, you know. Theo, Sihan, Phyrill, and Mr. Radvils are already there. Since you have woken up, I need to wake up the drunk man… He was too happy yesterday since he got a blessing and got drunk like that." Ellen's voice then soon disappeared.
Alea quickly took a look at the clock and hurriedly washed her face and fixed her hair before changing her clothes.
However, no one would know her pillow was wet as it was also the reason she woke up late.
Alea soon came out of her room and saw Ellen walking toward her.
"Laust will go alone, so we need to get going… Hopefully, we can still watch the second battle."
"I'm sorry."
"It's fine. It's also my fault for waking up a bit later today." Ellen waved her hand as she turned around. "Anyway, it's time for us to go."
"Y-yes." She followed Ellen and walked a bit faster than usual.
It took them ten minutes to reach the stadium and enter their waiting room to witness the battle, but when they arrived, Ellen knew the second battle was already over.
After all, the one who stood in the arena was Nella Griffith.
"Theo?"
Theo glanced at her and nodded before pointing at Phyrill. "Ask him anything. I need to focus on this match."
Phyrill agreed with Theo, so he explained, "There's not much about it. All I can say, the United Kingdom first overwhelmed China. Then, the latter fought back and won the second battle, so the situation was similar to ours. Well, two big countries are fighting each other, I should say as expected of them…"
Meanwhile, in the arena, Nella stood with a poker face as she waited for her opponent to arrive.
"Woah! Here it comes! The person who showed up from China Team is none other than their leader, Cheng Sui. Unlike the previous day, this time, the two leaders are going to fight!" Sheira became excited even though she was still sad with yesterday's defeat.
"O-oh!"
The cheers erupted as this might be the peak battle between the two teams.
Cheng Sui said with a calm expression. "You are very calm…"
"Nothing is different from my day-to-day life, it's just the one that I need to challenge is a bit more powerful than the rest."
"A bit, huh… I should probably feel offended with that word." Cheng Sui jokingly sneered before taking a deep breath. His expression turned serious as he released his fighting intent.
Nella's right foot stepped backward as she lowered her center of gravity while raising both hands.
Since the two were ready, Diego announced, "Match Starts!"
Cheng Sui quickly disappeared from his position. From above, they barely saw Cheng Sui leaping to Nella.
However, Nella wasn't someone who could be shaken from speed alone. She pulled back her right hand and sent a fist. "Magic Saint Fist Style. Induction Fist."
When Cheng Sui's foot almost hit her head, Nella's small fist appeared before it and stopped the kick.
"You're str—" Cheng Sui didn't manage to complete his sentence as he was blown away. A shock wave followed that force and created a powerful gale that went to all corners, brushing every audience.
"…" Cheng Sui landed on the ground safely, but his expression turned grave as he felt the power behind that fist. "This is the famous Magic Saint Fist Style. Impossible. You're not supposed to know about this yet."
"Who said I need to go to my family to learn about this?" Nella sneered as it was her turn to launch an attack. The ground cracked before she disappeared like Cheng Sui, accelerating as fast as possible to gain enough momentum to create a powerful strike.
"Magic Saint Fist Style. Twister." Nella released her punch while spinning her hand to create a torrential Magic Power to hit Cheng Sui.
Cheng Sui frowned and raised his right hand, catching Nella's fist. The torrential Magic Power grazed his lower arm, but Cheng Sui didn't even have a change of expression.
He simply stood there and grabbed her hand before punching her with his other hand.
Nella saw it coming and opened her fist, blowing Cheng Sui's hand from below with her palm. After that, she spun her body upward and kicked Cheng Sui on the head.
Bam.
The powerful might was released from that kick as it launched Cheng Sui several feet away. However, Nella was dragged by him due to his grip that had yet to release her.
"Tch." Nella clicked her tongue and took a deep breath as she gathered enough Magic Power in that area. "Release."
The Magic Power burst at once and threw the hand away as Nella leaped back, looking at Cheng Sui, who gradually rose from the ground.
"That was a great kick." Cheng Sui smiled as he stretched his hands while showing that his body had already begun to recover. The wounds on his hand were almost closed at this point.
"Endurance…" Nella furrowed her eyebrows.
"So you know it… However, I am not learning half-ass Endurance. I have both mental and physical endurance." Cheng Sui smirked as he pointed his finger at Nella. "Your Control or my Endurance. Let's see who comes at the top, shall we?"
"…" Nella recalled the thing she knew from Endurance. If Cheng Sui had gained the next stage of Endurance, it would mean he had some sort of natural regeneration for such a thing.
If Magic Control emphasized in attack and Awareness focused on "vision", then Endurance was leaned to defensive ability and natural regeneration. It would make a person hard to be defeated and become a dream power for Guardians.
Cheng Sui laughed as a pair of sharp horns grew on his head, red serpentine scales covered his arms, and large claws replaced his nails.
"I can't do a full transformation yet, but I think this is enough against you."
"I don't know if you have fought before, but you usually don't talk this much in a fight." Nella sneered and leaped forward.