Orrin and Nyra disappeared into blue particles, reappearing in the exam room. Nyra was transported along with the purple material, still trapped inside.
"You won." Zero walked toward Orrin.
"Of course I did." Orrin tried to adjust his glasses, forgetting they were broken and dropped. "Hey… I did not see you during the third phase, where were you?"
The second match had started, but Zero and Orrin weren't paying much attention to the image.
"Oh, me? I wa-"
"THAT CONCLUDES THE SECOND MATCH!" Auctor's voice interrupted Zero.
"Huh? Already?" Zero looked confused.
"THE THIRD MATCH WILL NOW BEGIN! HOLLOW VS ARIA STARSOUND!" Auctor announced as Hollow and a girl were transported to the same field from the previous matches.
The girl had short, black hair. And she had a black '♪' symbol across her eye.
Okay… I should think up a strategy… Hollow thought.
But he didn't have the time to strategize, as Aria clapped her hands.
It just seemed like a normal clap, but Hollow lost his hearing for a moment. The sound was ridiculously loud.
"Agh!" Hollow clutched his ears.
Then Aria started to run toward Hollow.
Shit! Hollow immediately blocked, thinking she's gonna punch or kick him.
But that wasn't the case.
Instead she closed the distance and positioned her hands by Hollow's left ear.
Then she clapped.
"K—kh!" Hollow couldn't hear anything from his left ear, and he just stood there, dazed from the incredibly loud noise.
Then she positioned her hands by his right ear. "This is easier than I expected!"
"COME FORTH!" Hollow shouted.
Then Aria clapped.
But this time, something came between her hands, preventing her from clapping.
It was a transparent, white thing with two black circles as eyes.
A ghost.
"Attack, ghost!"
The ghost then obtained an arm, not attached to its body, but floating next to it.
Then, it delivered a blow to Aria, a crunch sound coming from her nose.
"Again!" Hollow said.
The ghost then got ready to strike again.
"Oh no you don't!" Aria clapped, her hands pointing toward the ghost.
The sound waves eliminated it, damaging Hollow a bit too.
"So it was just an energy construct, huh? Good!" Aria got ready to clap again
"You fell for it!" Hollow was regaining his left ear's hearing.
Aria felt a sharp pain in her back, falling to the ground.
It was another ghost, punching her.
She then twisted her body, turning around. Then she clapped, eliminating the ghost.
But when she turned back around to attack Hollow, he was no where to be seen. "Huh? Where'd that bastard go?"
"Right here!" He appeared in front of her, driving his knee into her face.
As Aria was about to fall down, she clapped.
"Agh!" Hollow stumbled back, holding his ears.
"Damn noctryne!" She got up and punched him in the nose, amplifying the sound of the crunch to damage his ears as well.
"Ghosts!" Hollow extended his arm forward while falling backwards. He then disappeared.
Then two ghosts appeared, one aiming a punch at Aria's right cheek, and one aiming a punch at her left cheek.
"Damn ghosts!" Aria stomped hard on the ground, sending tons of sound waves in every direction.
"—kh!" Hollow clutched his ears. He then became visible again due to the pain. The ghosts distorted and disappeared.
Shit! I'm almost out of fragment energy..! Aria was breathing heavily. I'll have to end this soon!
Hollow regained his hearing as he approached Aria. "You seem to be running low on fragment energy…"
"You're not doing much better yourself, noctryne scum!"
"Huh?" Hollow was a bit shaken. "Are you racist towards every race? Believe in human supremacy? Well, it's not exactly uncommon."
"Enough talking!"
Alright… since my fragment energy is low, I should use it to summon one, really strong ghost! I can then keep it going for thirty seconds I think... Hollow took a deep breath.
Alright… I'll blast him with one big soundwave using my remaining fragment energy and win! Aria thought.
"Come forth, ghost!" Hollow summoned another ghost, this one was way bigger than the previous ones, and it already had two big arms.
Thirty seconds was all that Hollow had.
Alright! Here it comes! Aria stepped to the side as the ghost's fist slammed down on the place she stood, leaving an imprint.
29.
It then swung its fist sideways.
Aria dodged again.
28.
Alright! This thing is pretty easy to dodge! I just need to keep it u- Aria thought, just before getting her ribs broken due to a blow from the ghost.
She coughed blood as she hit the ground.
25.
24.
She got up, immediately running toward Hollow.
Then another punch hit her square in the jaw, knocking her down. It took a few seconds, but she forced herself back up.
18.
The ghost barraged her with blows, not letting up as she stepped closer and closer. Her vision blurred and her ears rang.
13.
12.
11.
I'm close enough! Aria took a deep breath before screaming at the top of her lungs in the direction Hollow is in.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" The scream eliminated the ghost, and Hollow just stood there.
It seemed like he wasn't affected.
But his eyes went white.
He was knocked out cold, standing, and his ears were bleeding.
"THE WINNER OF THE MATCH IS ARIA STARSOUND!" Auctor announced.
Aira and Hollow were then transported back, and the fourth match began.