My Seven Wives in One Body and Me, her Manager-Chapter 83: Round Three : Three Versus Three

While Dennis, Gary, and Jason sat crowded together with Rachel, Sofia, and Margaret sitting close to them, the third round began, and the first team started entering the arena. Dennis could see Daisy, Olivia, and Kimberly walking in; all three were carrying weapons that appeared to be made of plastic—even Kimberly’s hunting rifle looked like a carbine-style airsoft gun.

They were wearing armor with the school logo and stood at the edge of the arena. Meanwhile, the second team began entering the arena as well; Harumi, Natasha, and Brigitte stood in front of them, wearing their school armor and carrying their respective weapons which looked like thick plastic.

Natasha appeared to be carrying a long-barreled rifle with a blade as long as the barrel itself, like a gun sword, while Brigitte carried a rapier, twirling it with a smile on her face. Only Harumi remained silent, her face covered by a mask. A woman’s voice over the mic—a staff member from the hunter guild—invited both teams to the center to stand facing the control room above. Both teams immediately stood ready, facing upward with their hands behind their backs, as the rules were read out.

The match began with a drawing of lots. Two staff members stepped up into the arena and presented tablets to both teams, asking them to press the buttons at the same time. Once both buttons were pressed, the draw displayed on the overhead screen, spinning through photos and names like a slot machine until it stopped on the faces of Brigitte from the Willow team and Olivia from the Emerald Military Academy.

After that, the staff explained the rules: following the first match, the winner would stay in the ring to be challenged by the next fighter from the opposing team, and whoever won that bout would remain in the arena. Once a team reached a score of two points, they would be declared the winner.

Each match was limited to ten minutes, and whoever was still standing in the arena when time ran out would be declared the victor. Furthermore, it was mentioned that everyone was permitted to unleash their maximum power because the entire arena was protected by glass designed to withstand hunter abilities, making it impossible for attacks to hit the crowd.

However, no real weapons capable of seriously harming an opponent were allowed. Lastly, the match was to be considered a pure competition with no outside grudges; everyone was expected to be a good sport regarding the results, leaving no room for hard feelings.

"Are the rules clear to all of you?" the guild staff asked.

"Loud and clear, ma’am," both teams answered in unison.

"Very well, round three begins," the staff member replied.

Then, Daisy and Kimberly exited the arena, leaving Olivia in the center, just as Harumi and Natasha did, leaving Brigitte in the middle. The ready-to-start alarm blared. Olivia and Brigitte stood face-to-face in the center of the floor.

"Wow, this is perfect. You’re a magic spearwoman and I’m a magic swordswoman. Let’s fight to our hearts’ content. Hopefully, Gary sees that I’m better than his wife so he’ll choose me," Brigitte said provocatively with a smile.

"Hah... feel free to try. I’m going to show my husband that I belong by his side and that you’re pathetic," Olivia shot back, spinning her spear with a furious expression.

A referee stepped into the center of the arena and asked both of them to bow. Then, the referee raised his hand and whipped it downward—the signal for the match to begin—before he scrambled off the floor. "Swoooosh," without a moment’s delay, Olivia unleashed a golden energy aura that swirled up from her feet, and gold lightning began to flicker from her eyes. Brigitte did the same, releasing an identical aura.

Both of them lunged forward instantly. Olivia thrust her spear and "clang," Brigitte parried it, then spun around to kick Olivia, who blocked the strike using the shaft of her spear. Olivia then opened her palm, firing a fireball toward Brigitte’s face, but Brigitte sliced through the fireball with a hand swipe coated in ice blades.

After that, both of them immediately jumped back to keep their distance. Olivia seemed to be smiling despite her angry expression, and Brigitte wore a mocking grin of her own. Without wasting another second, Olivia spun her spear in front of her, and instantly, a fiery tornado vortex erupted from the rotation, surging toward Brigitte.

Brigitte leaped backward and then to the side to dodge Olivia’s attack, while simultaneously lunging forward to close the gap between them. But Olivia spun and redirected her fire tornado toward Brigitte, forcing her to back off again and perform a backflip before she summoned an ice wall that crushed the fire tornado.

The two of them fell silent again, staring each other down. This time, their breathing was a bit heavy, but smiles still lingered on their faces.

"Not bad," Brigitte muttered, smiling.

"Yeah... you too," Olivia replied with a grin.

Without wasting another second, they lunged forward again to fight at close range. The sounds of spear and sword echoed throughout the entire arena as they clashed at high speeds, hurling all sorts of magic at each other—from fireballs and ice spears to stones that flew like bullets. The time remaining on the screen showed only seven minutes left. Olivia charged once more and thrust her spear, but as Brigitte parried it, Olivia immediately funneled her lightning magic into Brigitte’s sword. The electricity surged through the blade and struck Brigitte’s body, even though the sword was made of plastic.

"Gyaaaaah!"

Brigitte screamed, but she wasn’t weak. She retaliated by coating her body in ice and throwing her electrified sword, propelled by a blast of wind from her palm. Olivia naturally parried the sword, but it turned out Brigitte was controlling its path; it struck Olivia’s hand—the one holding the spear—causing her to get zapped and scream, hit by her own redirected power. Both of them leaped back to create distance again. Olivia backflipped and stood there panting, while Brigitte pulled her sword back using air magic and stood there breathless.

Both of their bodies were still visibly sparking with electricity, and they both looked injured, yet they continued to glare sharply at one another. Olivia and Brigitte glanced up at the clock, which now showed only three minutes remaining.

"Damn... if it stays like this, I could lose. I’m forced to end this fight using every bit of my power," Olivia and Brigitte both thought inside their heads.

Then Olivia stood tall, gripping her spear at her side. She raised her arm, which was surging with energy, and immediately a portal opened in the ceiling. A rain of meteors began plummeting from above toward Brigitte. Naturally, seeing such a devastating attack, Brigitte dropped her sword and slammed her palms onto the ground. A portal opened, and a massive glacier, shaped like an ice mountain, rose up to meet the meteors falling from the sky. The entire arena shook, so much so that the spectators—including Dennis, Gary, Jason, Rika, and Elisa—felt the vibration, as did Rachel, Sofia, and Margaret sitting next to them.

"Blaaam!"

A massive explosion erupted in the center of the arena as the meteor shower collided with the glacier unleashed by Olivia and Brigitte. Shrapnel from the impact flew in every direction, slamming into the glass, which didn’t budge and only vibrated. Thick smoke then filled the arena, so Olivia and Brigitte could no longer be seen, hidden by the smoke following the collision.

But when the smoke cleared, all the spectators, both teams, and the staff were shocked to see Olivia and Brigitte lying face down on the arena floor. A referee stepped up and checked on both of them one after the other; it turned out they had both passed out after unleashing their ultimate attacks.

The referee stood up and looked toward the control room above. "Beeep," the alarm sounded, and the announcer over the mic stated that the first match had ended in a draw and would proceed to the second bout.

Several medical personnel entered the arena, carrying Olivia and Brigitte out on stretchers. Meanwhile, Dennis and Jason turned to look at Gary, who stood there staring anxiously as his wife was carried away by the medics; his concern was written all over his face.

"You should head to the arena clinic, man," Dennis said, standing up and placing a hand on Gary’s shoulder.

"Yeah, definitely, bro," Jason added, also standing up.

"Alright... sorry, I’m heading out," Gary replied.

"Yeah, go on, get moving," Dennis said.

Without delaying any longer, Gary immediately sprinted away from the spectator seats and ran downstairs. Dennis and Jason sat back down, their faces still looking tense. Meanwhile, Rachel, Sofia, and Margaret turned to watch Gary leave with expressions that seemed to say, "He really loves his wife; Brigitte doesn’t stand a chance."

They also observed Dennis and Jason, who appeared tense, because this time the ones entering the arena were Harumi and Kimberly. Rika and Elisa, who were watching, turned to look at Jason beside them.

"Just stay calm, Kim will definitely win," Rika said.

"Yeah, there’s no need to worry," Elisa added.

"Yeah... I know, thanks... Rika, Elisa," Jason replied.

Dennis simply gripped Jason’s shoulder, silently encouraging him without making a sound, because he was more worried that if Kimberly lost and Daisy had to take her place, that was when the real trouble would begin.