NOVEL NEXT Chapter 35: Because It's Not Over
Pixel's gaze swept the battle station, ensuring the coast is clear. Just barely, she escaped Logan's pocket, giving herself enough space to breathe.
"Logan, come on, get up!" she yelled, beating her fist against his back.
She was met only with violent convulsions, Logan's spine eating the force from an incoming pulse of energy.
Randomly, Logan's body would spin on the floor, gliding across its material—like someone had punched him. Then, again, except, in the opposite direction.
"Gragggghhhh!" he roared, taking a blow to the chest. "Gyyaaaahhhh!" he bellowed again, this time, reacting to an impulse from the back.
It was like a bunch of transparent men were kicking him, refusing to let him get up. With each attack, the jagged edges of what used to be Logan's bones would stab through skin even further—blood spraying from exposed arteries.
Pixel saw his growing weakness but shook in her own helplessness. She didn't care if she was heard by someone else, as long as Logan survived. "You're going to die! Please, find a way to use your mana!"
Unheard. Logan couldn't make out her words behind the incessant ringing in his ears.
"Oh my god..." Sabrina gasped, hands over her mouth. "He's going to kill him..."
She jumped from her seat, pouring as much power as she could into her mouth. "Solomon, you must stop this duel! Not even the domain will be able to save Logan if this continues!"
Students all around her eyed her scrutinizingly.
[Wasn't her mana-less yell a little too loud?]
[Right!? She does know that you're not supposed to use mana in the stands, right?]
[I was just beginning to dig the F-rank's beatdown. That really just ruined the whole mood.]
Her eyes were piercingly sharp, defiant to any of the comments making waves throughout the stands.
Solomon peered into her blankly. There was no shift in his facial expression, but his hands were moving for his pocket. There, he grabbed his microphone, pulling it up to his mouth. "I understand where your concerns lie, Sabrina, but that's not something I can do.
You do recall the initial terms of this bout, correct? This is a fight to the death, ended only through forfeiture or death. Seeing as neither of those conditions have occurred, I am not within my rights to end this as an arbiter."
Sabrina pierced space with her fist. "Solomon, just look at what's happening! Do you really have the heart to keep this going?"
Just as she'd spoken, Logan cried out once more with all his chest:
"AGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Logan was rolling across the floor—arms flopping uncontrolled by his sides. They were too shattered to move.
His legs lagged as well, twisting like pool noodles. And that wasn't to mention his head, dented inward along the most prominent edge of his brow.
Even Solomon, in all his nonchalance, had to twist his attention to the floor, his hands' trembles causing some static to resound through the mic. "I'm sorry, Sabrina, but rules are rules."
Fed up with Solomon's attitude, Sabrina raised her leg over the next row of seats, using her hand as leverage to leap over it.
Both Amelia and Jasmine dragged her shirt back. "What do you think you're doing?" Amelia asked. "Yeah, you're not thinking of intervening yourself, are you? Unsolicited interference with an official duel is grounds for expulsion." Jasmine followed up.
With a single motion, Sabrina jolted her back free of their grips. Then, she lowered her legs like springs. "I'm sorry, but I can't just watch as Logan dies. I don't care what happens to me—"
Shocking her system to its very core, Selene grabbed her hand—weak, yet convincing.
"Selene, why...?"
"Because it's not over."
Sabrina's eyes jumped to the bloodied Logan, then back to Selene. "What do you mean?"
Recognizing her slipping hold on Sabrina's hand, Selene gripped tighter. "I thought you of all people would know not to do that."
"What are you talking about?"
"You don't believe in Logan, do you?" Once she'd spoken, Selene employed her second hand to hold onto Sabrina's. "Otherwise, you wouldn't stop this duel."
Sabrina stepped opposite to Selene, but it didn't work. Selene wouldn't let go. "Come on, Selene, don't you see? Logan's going to die! Don't you feel something as his sister?"
"No, I don't," Selene said, her tone hard and her eyes cold. Sabrina scowled at her, then tried to pull her hand back just once, but Selene was unrelenting. "Because, no matter what, Logan will come out on top. It's not a matter of what'll happen to him, but, instead, what he'll do to keep that from happening. If he lets himself lose here, then he'd be breaking our promise."
Selene stepped into Selene's space, her free hand raised in front of her like a fist. "Those are pretty words, Selene, but that's all! In the end, Logan tried his best, and I love him for it! But this cannot continue!"
"Love...?"
Sabrina's cheeks went red, trying best to hide it behind her one hand. "I-I, I meant, I love that about him!"
Selene giggled just once, then let go of Sabrina's hand. By this point, Sabrina wasn't hovering by the edge of her row anymore.
"It's fine, Sabrina. I know you mean well. Plus, it's good to know that my brother has such a pretty girl gravitating towards him." Sabrina dove into an even worse fit of embarrassment, but Selene smiled all the same. "But look, you can see him right now, right? Can you really mean what you say when you see the way he fights?"
Confused, Sabrina turned her head left to the battle below. Even with the endless round of attacks, a mangled body, and an uninjured Zack, Logan was doing one thing:
Standing strong.
"What are you doing? Just forfeit this match if you won't fight back!" Zack howled, waving his two hands for another surge of strength. "I don't get why you're not using your Gift... do something!"
It seized the space between the two and stretched up to strike Logan's stomach, yet, he didn't fly back from the force.
"I'm sorry, but I don't go down easy," Logan called back, spitting out a glob of blood and a couple teeth. "You'll have to do better, if you want to keep me from Sabrina."