"So Amari is going against Rachel first? Did you talk to her about it?" I asked, looking at Mom standing next to me in the arena stands.
"Yes, we had a brief discussion about how she should not let her emotions control her actions." Mom said, taking her seat next to me.
"You think she is going to mop the floor with her." I said thoughtfully, knowing how powerful Amari really is.
"… I don't know; a lot can happen in half a year."
"Yes, that's true, but both of them changed a lot in the last half a year. She also had that raid the other day that bumped her level up quite a bit." I said, shrugging.
"Amari should win." Mom stated just as we saw the announcers get into their booth.
"Ah, it seems like it's going to start." I said, looking up at the booth.
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Isn't it a good day for some blood and fights?"
"This guy is getting annoying." I muttered, while Mom grunted in agreement.
"First up, we have the all-lovable saintess competing against the child killer, Amari Draig! Will justice win, or will the murderer keep on killing?!" The second announcer spoke, receiving a few glares from his partner who was standing next to him.
"Where is Kayda?" I asked, realizing the other announcer was not her but some angel lover.
"She will be on the arena floor to make sure what happened before doesn't happen again." Mom explained, making me sigh. In an op-ed, it wasn't Amaris's fault she killed 70 kids.
"And you don't think this will put a lot of pressure on her?" I said, glancing down at her.
"Nah, she will be fine." Mom waved me off, but her tone did not convey much confidence.
'Sometimes I just don't know what she is thinking.' I considered grabbing a drink from my storage.
"Hey, give me one as well." Mom said, holding out her hand.
"Sure?" I said, Give her a can.
"Kitsuna, can you please clarify what your backup plan is?"
"... It's to make them underestimate me." I said this simply while avoiding eye contact with her.
"Oh, alright, I guess you will use that."
"Hmm, that might be good too. Alright, I will have that in mind at the time." Mom said, making me raise an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I am also busy leveling up." I added with a smirk.
"Where?" Mom asked, not expecting an answer to it.
"That I am not going to say."
"Fine. Ah, there are Kayda and Amari."
"Hmm, why is Rachel dressed like that?" I said, looking weirdly at the fully armored angel walking out.
"Full magic resistance armor?" Mom said, recognizing it somehow.
"Yeah, like that will work." I scoffed, shaking my head.
Looking at the three in the arena, I saw them speak with each other, and surprisingly, I couldn't hear anything. Looking at Kayda, I raised an eyebrow, knowing she might have put a barrier for sound cancellation.
"Kayda didn't put up a barrier." Mom said she was giving me her scroll.
"What do you mean this is all part of evolution, Rachel!" I heard Amari yell from the scroll.
"Amari, you won't understand if I explain it like this. I must show you the way." I heard Rachel say this as she took out her broadsword.
"Seriously, I can't understand you anymore. We were such wonderful friends not even a year ago. Why?" Amari said, sounding quite hurt.
"Why? Amari, you showed me where I belonged. The Draigs took me away from my rightful place when I was younger. Rachel said,
"What? Is it now a revenge story?" Amari said, annoyed.
"A saintess will never harbor hate, even in revenge. I do not hate the Draigs." Rachel said, smiling all the way.
"Then what is all this? Why invade?" Amari said this in a way that made me perk up my ear.
"Invading? No, we are liberating this kingdom." Rachel said this, prompting a grunt from Mom.
"Liberating? Are you sure you understand what you're saying? Amari said, tilting her head at Rachel.
"Of course I do."
"No, no, you don't realize what you are doing. It's been like this for years with you. You always jump into things without fully considering the consequences, acting impulsively instead of thinking things through." Aamri said with a small smile, realizing that Rachel hasn't actually changed that much.
Not saying anything, Rachel ran at Amari, swinging her sword at Amari's waist.
Seeing this happen, Kayda moved off the arena floor while Amari casually caught the sword with her left hand.
"Thank you for proving my point. Rachel, did you forget who my mother is?" Amari asked, glaring down at Rachel, who was trying their best to get her sword back.
"Let go!"
"Sure." Coating her right hand in mana, Amari hit Rachel in the stomach, making her shoot back a few meters with her sword.
"Oh, they really are quite resistant to magic." Amari said she saw that there was no mark on Rachel's armor.
"So it cancels magic?" I asked, looking at Mom.
"Yeah, but it also means Rachel can't use her light magic." Mom said, making me facepalm.
"Hmm, so Amari should win this before Rachel removes her armor."
"Yes, but then Amari can't go all out with her magic. They are in a stalemate right now." Mom explained, making me shrug.
"Hahah, not really. This is your daughter." I scoffed.
"... right?"
"Alright, let's do this the hard way, Rachel." Amari said, taking out two daggers.
"Heh, as if you, a sage, can use those." Rachel yelled, attacking Amari again.
"Yeah, but then again, I am a Draig." Amari said this while easily deflecting Rachel's sword and stabbing her in the arm.
"Ugh," groaning in pain, Rachel slammed the ground, sending out a wave of light magic, making Amri jump back, dodging it.
While jumping back, Amari made multiple balls of mana, shooting them at Rachel, making sure she couldn't follow up with her attack.
"Why is she just using mana without any element?" I asked, actually intrigued, why.
"Elements won't work at all against resistance armor, but mana might get through at some point. Non-elemental magic also uses less mana." Mom explained making it; I hadn't really tried it before.
"Ah, I see. I didn't know that."
"Now shut up and let them go on."
Jumping to the side, Amari dodges another useless lunge from Rachel. This time, Amari took advantage of that stupidity of Rachel's and cut off her arm.
"Aaagh!!" Shouting in pain, Rachel dropped to her knees, holding her right arm.
"Give up."
"I would never!" Rachel yelled, jumping away as light magic came out of her arm, regrowing her right arm.
Holding out her regrown right arm, Rachel shot out dozens of light spears at Amari. Amari just looked at the casually making a small barrier to block all the attacks.
"You are still as weak as ever." Amari said, closing the distance with Rachel.
"And the winner is Amari Draig!!" The announcers yelled, surprising everyone.
But it seemed Kayda knew it would happen, seeing her standing between Rachel and Amari.
"What is the meaning of this?" Rachel asked, confused and frustrated.
"Rachel, it seems your parents have withdrawn you from the competition." Kayda said this while tapping Amri on the shoulder, which helped her relax.
"I see. Until next time, Amari." Rachel said, Way to calm, making me shudder.
"I am going. The next few fights don't mean much to me." I said, standing up.
"Isn't it Katie next?"
"No, she is just before Zagan's fight. Don't worry, we will be watching those two." I said, giving a nod.
"Have we even seen Zagan in the last few days?" I added.
"I found him, and he will be showing up; don't worry." Mom said, walking away.
A few minutes later we walked into Amari's changing room at the arena.
"Why did they back off like that?" Amari asked instantly when we walked in.
"I don't know." Mom said, looking her daughter up and down.
"They most likely realized that you were going to cut her armor up before ending the fight." I said, shrugging.
"Tsk, I thought I was masking that part."
"You weren't doing it enough." Mom said, shaking her head at Amari.
"Yeah, well, with them calling her a saintess and all. Breaking her equipment is probably all I could do to her to begin with." Aamri said, grumbling to herself.
"We understand."