Sofia swung her sword straight down, which caused the whole stage platform to be sliced in 2 halves before the force behind the swing caused tons of chunks of the stage platform to be blown away. Luckily, the entire area was closed in a special barrier, so nobody outside of it got hurt. But the barrier itself got a massive crack, just from the mere pressure of the swing.

Her opponent jumped to the side with a click on their tounge, as it all happened.

"If I didn't have this OP Gear on me, I would've been killed for sure. But not today, Ice Cube."

"...How annoying. Just stay still and die. Brat."

Sofia then poured a lot of magic into her sword, and swung it again. This time, the entire area where she swung was then covered in ice. Everything froze in an instant.

Her opponent however, was fine. He was holding a sword covered in blue flames. When Sofia saw this she narrowed her eyes.

That's no ordinary [Flame Sword]. If it's this stupid brat, then he will probably boast about it.

"Hehehe... How do you like that? With this sword that I received, I can finally beat your ugly face. Because this is no ordinary [Flame Sword]. This is the [Corrupted Flame Emperor Sword]."

And there he goes... But he said he received it, didn't he? That means It are using this brat, as It is the only one that can procure such a thing without a problem. That must mean It are unto Tauro. I need to end this fast.

Sofia then began switching her tactics.

* *

"Hahaha! The whole area is now covered in ice! And the entire stage is now all but gone! This is getting exciting!"

"Oh dear, there he goes again."

The king was getting all excited from Sofia's fight against her opponent, while the queen was shaking her head while heaving a sigh.

"I'm sorry about my father, Tau."

"It's okay, Tia. It is surprising that Onee-chan was able to fill the entire area with ice though."

As I watched with eagerness, people wearing black looking robes entered the arena spectator seats.

They first carefully surveyed the area, and after that they started to spread out. Not before looking in this direction.

As they where spreading out, Lillian and Annette noticed them.

"Miss Lillian, make sure to be prepared for anything, you hear?"

"Back to you, Annette."

Lillian then made eye contact with the queen and the king, they both nodded and started preparing some spells.

* *

While the black robed people where getting ready, Sofia and her opponent was in midst of an one sided battle.

"Argh! Why won't you go down!! I have better equipment than you! BUT. YOU. STILL. DON'T. DIE!! WHY?!!"

"...Such arrogance. You where stupid from the start. Even if you have someone backing you for the moment. You are just a stupid fool."

"Shut your trap, you witch!"

"...Annoying."

Just a bit more. Then his equipment status will break, in that moment, I can finally finish him off.

As Sofia was thinking such, she noticed her opponent looking at the spectator seats, which caused him to smirk.

"Looks like they are all in place now. Hehehe~ I know it's against the rules, but who cares~"

He then grabbed something from his left pocket, a black magical orb. No, to be more precise, it was a [Devil's Summoning Core].

This is bad... I can't let him throw it outside of the arena barrier. Looks like I got no choice but to end this match here. But that's going to be tricky with the stats boost still enabled from his equipment.

Sofia then charged at her opponent. Her opponent predicted she would attack, so he activated his trump card [Infinite Barrier].

But what he didn't know, was that the barrier [Infinite Barrier] was not so infinite. Basically, if you don't have enough mana, it's only as strong as [Heavenly Barrier], which Sofia could destroy in a single strike.

That caught him of guard, and the summoning core was thrown off from his very hands, and crashed straight on the ground. Which caused the devil to be summoned.

"Mngh... To think Plan A was a flop. But that's not going to stop us! Devil summon, destroy this pesky barrier!"

"GRAAAH!!"

The devil that looked like a minotaur with a bat like wings, sounded a huge roar, and threw a punch at the barrier. The barrier broke apart, which caused the spectators to scream. The reason why he ordered the devil to break the barrier, was so that he could speak to the black robed people on the spectator seats, as all sounds where blocked.

"Commence the attack! Kill the girl!"

"...Tauro!"

"Oh no you don't! Devil, get rid of this person! Turn her into mush!"

"GRAAH!"

"...Once I kill that devil, I will make sure to break all of your bones, and then I will tear off all your limbs until I slice your throat."

The air around Sofia froze, her rage and killing intent was overflowing.

"Ooo~ how scary."

* *

People clad in black robes where casting magic while holding very ominous items. Their target, was this very booth.

"They are commencing their attack!"

"Get those bastards!"

"Ghuh! They aren't just mages, they are good with close combat too!"

Among the spectators where players with decked out equipment, but that didn't stop the black robed people. As they finished their quick chant, they fired their volley of large balls of flames.

Some of the flaming balls hit some of the players, sending them to their grave in an instant. The rest was heading in our direction.

2 of the 4 barriers where torn to shreds, while the third one was barely holding on, with plenty of visible cracks being shown.

"Impossible! 2 of the barriers were blown in an instant!"

"Knight Lillian, take my daughter and Princess Tauro to safety!"

"Y-Yes!"

But before she could take us to safety, another huge volley was fired, this time, it was more than before.

The last 2 barriers where blown to pieces, and a large sounding explosion was heard.

Screams could be heard, but that's all I could remember before blacking out.

* *

The devil was struck down by Sofia, slicing it into two halves.

It was a fierce battle, since It had not only given her opponent a devil, but another set of orbs. What people didn't know, was that they where stealing life force from the user, making them stronger.

But that's not all they did. The orbs also produced corrupted diluted divine energy. It was this energy that made Sofia a tad weaker than normal, in short, it was poison for her.

Sofia however, didn't back down. She may been a bit weaker than normal, but she was still far more powerful than everyone else present combined.

Now that the devil was gone, she focused all of her energy on her enemy in front of her, her opponent.

But right before she was about to attack, a large explosion was heard. The royal booth, was being attacked.

Her opponent, smiled.

"That's it! Kill that weakling!"

"...I won't let you."

Sofia unleashed her own energy, closed the distance with her opponent in a flash. And held him by the throat, making him choke.

"...I didn't want to use my energy, since It would have found us. And I really wanted to break all your bones and slice that ugly throat of yours. But it looks like I was too naïve. Now, perish from this world. For all eternity."

As Sofia sliced her opponent, for a split second, it looked like she was cutting trough space and time, past and present. At the same time.

No, it didn't look like it. She just did.

Her opponent, that should have fallen on the ground, was nowhere to be seen. It's as if he never existed in this world from the start.

The next moment, another explosion was heard, this time, it was far larger.

"...Tauro!!"

She then jumped up to the now empty spectator seats, and sliced trough every black robed people she came across.

As she was getting closer, she saw the last robed person, throwing a cube with a purple crystal inside of it into the booth.

..! A [Teleportation Crystal]! I won't make it in time!

As she sliced the robed person, the crystal shattered on the ground, right between Tauro and Tiatania, teleporting them both.