NOVEL NEXT Chapter 34: Hopeless Evasion
"Ahhhhh! Stop!"
So guttural that it stabbed the air and caused some to clasp their ears shut, Logan continued screaming at the top of his lungs. The screams were incredibly resounding, making their way to everyone present for the duel.
"Hot, hot, hot!" he yelled. This time, reacting to a rising stream of smoke. It came from his shoes, newly ravaged by the onslaught of invisible beams of energy.
Logan was running with all the speed he could muster, making rounds across the perimeter of the battle station as Zack stood at the very center, amused.
"Yes, run for me! Keep showing me just how much you'll fight for your life!" he said, clapping his hands just three times. "Oops, didn't mean to remove my hand."
Logan took the lapse of judgement as an opportunity to rush towards him, reeling his fist behind him. Zack threw his hand in front of him, index finger indicating his next focus of attack.
"Gragh!" With one single movement, Logan dove to the ground, laying flat on his stomach.
He felt as the air next to him turned red with heat, crashing into the barrier with a loud bang.
Then, making it seem like a task made for a child, Zack hummed a quiet tune, affixing his finger to Logan's position.
Again, Logan moved—this time, rolling opposite to Zack's direction.
The floor in front of him—where he'd just been—erupted into a sea of noise as something impacted its surface, formulating a mini-explosion.
Quickly, Logan jackknifed to his feet. Just as he'd found himself gasping for air, his eyes widened at the sight of Zack's finger—trained right at him.
Exhausted, he spun to his left, weaving another beam that crashed into the wall.
"Wait, stop!" he yelled, jumping over another attack that rushed past where his shin was. "Stop, stop!" Then another, this time, cleaving through the space that his neck just left.
Zack erupted into a fit of laughter, increasing the pace of his magic. "Logan, you can do better than this, can't you?" The attacks seemed to appear simultaneous as Logan hopped through the air, dodging two, even three at a time. "Or do you want me to use my second hand?"
Tap, Tap.
Reacting to the sound in his pocket, Logan jumped once more, circumventing a beam honed on his chest.
Logan's breathing grew more ragged, his lungs crying out for air. He turned red with the rapid pattering of his heart, followed by the terrible velocity of the blood rushing in his veins. He could feel all of it growing stronger, forcing his mind to race for an answer—
"Logan, this is bad," Pixel said, seated in his pocket. "At the rate you're going, I'm not going to be able to keep up. You need to use your mana to fight back!"
As much as Logan wanted to speak, he couldn't sneak in words between the frantic rise and fall of his chest.
'She's right... I've only been able to last as long as I have because she's been tapping my thigh each time a beam came my way. The truth is that I can't see them, and even if I could, I'm not certain I could even react.'
"You know, mana conjuration is considered one of the more advanced applications of mana control. I always thought it was useless, but I suppose that it's great for making a twat like you dance like a fool!" Zack raised his other arm towards the stands, drawing his wrists in towards himself repeatedly. "Are you watching, Elias? This is something I learned in just a few days!"
Elias raised an eyebrow. "Why is he addressing me, and with such mediocre mana control?"
Watching Elias' face, Zack dropped his hand. "But, you know, Logan... I've been holding back terribly. You must've noticed it by now."
Stopping to take a breath, Logan tipped his torso down, hands on his knees. 'It only makes sense. He rushed at me just once with that crazy strength, and then went back to shooting me with all these beams. If not for Pixel, I would've died right then, so I don't see why he would take all this time to...'
"Why?" Logan asked, fixing his posture straight.
"Why, indeed."
Logan stepped back at the cryptic answer, looking at how Zack raised not one, but two hands.
Expecting a tap in his pants, instead, his pocket rustled wildly, making way for Pixel's head to peek out from its interior. "Logan, jump now!"
Instantly, Logan leaped as high as he could, but to no avail.
Energy erupted from the ground below him, clawing at the air in pursuit of his torso. By the time he noticed, it was too late.
KWHAM!
His arms folded uncontrollably in the air, following the impossibly fast spin of his body. He'd been impacted by something, sending him flying into the air far past the stands.
He saw the floor, the ceiling, then the floor again as his mind stopped trying to make sense of his vision. He couldn't do anything but sit helplessly, waiting for gravity to end it.
Then, a great slam into the ground.
"AAGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The paining throbs that flared in just his chest and arm now encapsulated his entire body in squeezing agony. And it was for a reason.
One arm—the one where Zack's attacks burnt a hole—had his forearm sticking halfway against where it was supposed to be, the broken end of bone sticking out right where his elbow crease was.
The other was twisted, spats of blood shooting out through splintered fractions of skin that couldn't handle the torsion.
That wasn't to mention his fractured shins, shattered nose, and shuddering chest that struggled to aid his punctured lungs.
In the stands, Selene screamed, reaching her hand out: "BROOOOTTTHHHHHHEEEERRRRRRRRR!"
Luckily, her words were lost in the scattered cries of the students—all of them helping themselves to the excitement of an utter beatdown.
"W-was that... mana conduction? Through an anti-mana material, no less?" Elias pondered, shifting his head back from the surprise.
His fists coiled, the tips of his lips curling up. "This guy might not be half bad."