Chapter 125: swifty

Chapter 125: Chapter 125: swifty

Amy straightened slowly.

There wasn’t a single drop of blood on her leg. No wound. No sign that she had injured herself at all.

She looked at Amelia with complete confidence.

"This is my gifted ability."

Dean and Reid moved immediately, both ready to step into the fight.

Enzo’s arm shot out, stopping them.

Reid’s jaw tightened.

"How can you just stand there and watch this happen?"

"Amelia won’t like it if we interfere," Enzo replied. "If she wants our help, she’ll ask for it."

The two younger brothers hesitated.

They clearly hated the idea of standing by, but neither of them moved again.

Around the combat area, the other recruits were already talking.

"Serves her right."

"Amy isn’t even holding back the way she used to."

Amy charged again.

Her kick slammed into Amelia’s side with brutal force, sending her skidding across the dirt.

Amelia caught herself with one hand and pushed back to her feet, breathing hard. The wound on her thigh throbbed with every movement.

My body isn’t strong enough yet. I need to turn this around.

A memory suddenly surfaced.

A small smile touched her lips.

Why didn’t I think of this earlier? I’ve been so caught up in everything else that I completely forgot.

Amy stopped a short distance away.

"Give up. There’s nothing that can counter my ability."

Amelia wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.

"You may be right."

She tore a strip from her already damaged trousers and tied it firmly around her eyes.

The crowd immediately started murmuring.

Amelia released her aura in a steady wave and whispered beneath her breath,

"Come and find me. I’ve missed you."

The recruits erupted.

"She’s crazy!"

"How is she supposed to fight if she can’t even see?"

Amy wasn’t concerned.

She had already figured out that her ability would be useless against someone who couldn’t see her. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t win the old-fashioned way.

She charged.

Amelia flipped backward in a clean somersault, Amy’s kick passing inches from her body.

The crowd fell silent for a moment.

Then the murmuring started again.

Reid let out a low whistle.

"She’s doing pretty well. That’s something we’d do if we wanted a fight to last longer. Pain only makes us push harder."

Amelia kept moving.

She dodged, twisted, and slipped out of the way before Amy could land a clean hit. She never stayed in one place for more than a second, forcing Amy to constantly adjust her attacks.

Amy’s frustration finally became obvious.

"Is this all you’re going to do? Keep running?"

"No," Amelia answered calmly. "I’m just waiting for someone."

"Who?"

Amy’s instincts suddenly screamed.

She twisted to the side just as something shot past her at impossible speed.

A violent burst of dust exploded where it struck the ground beside Amelia.

When the air cleared, a silver bird stood beside her.

Amelia’s expression softened.

Her voice was quiet, almost fond.

"He’s faster than he used to be."

Swifty.

The recruits stared.

"Where did that bird come from?"

"How can something that small move that fast?"

"It has to be a fluke."

Dean’s eyes narrowed.

"Isn’t that...?"

Reid finished the thought.

"Yeah. That’s Amelia’s pet. How did it get all the way from our territory to Moonfist this quickly?"

Even Enzo looked quietly unsettled by the same question.

Amy’s expression hardened.

"What exactly is the meaning of this? What use is a bird in a spar?"

Amelia adjusted the blindfold slightly.

"There’s no rule saying assistance from a divine beast isn’t allowed."

Mocking laughter immediately spread through the recruits.

"That little thing is a divine beast? She’s bluffing."

"Someone like her couldn’t possibly have something like that."

"One hit and that tiny bird will be dead."

Caleb’s voice cut through the noise.

"There is no rule against it."

Amelia rolled her shoulders once.

"Then let’s continue."

Swifty gave a sharp, clear cry.

Amelia moved first.

Amy barely managed to raise her arms before Amelia’s fist slammed toward her chest.

The impact drove Amy back a step.

Her eyes widened.

The strength behind the attack was far greater than she’d expected from someone who had been on the defensive moments earlier.

Amy recovered quickly and countered.

She stepped in and drove her knee toward Amelia’s stomach, immediately following with a spinning elbow aimed at the side of her head.

Amelia slipped left.

Amy twisted with her movement and swept low, trying to take Amelia’s legs out from under her.

Amelia jumped.

Amy used the opening to surge upward, driving a rising fist toward Amelia’s ribs while she was still in the air.

But none of the attacks landed cleanly.

Amelia seemed to know what was coming before it happened.

She twisted away from the knee, ducked beneath the elbow, jumped over the sweep, and landed lightly on her feet.

Before Amy could recover, Amelia drove her palm into Amy’s shoulder, knocking her off balance.

Then she attacked again.

Every strike forced Amy to react instead of giving her an opportunity to attack.

Amy’s eyes flicked upward toward the silver bird circling above them.

It’s the bird.

It’s guiding her.

She had never been told that Amelia possessed anything like this.

From the sidelines, Reid’s voice rang out.

"Yeah, Amelia! Kick her butt!"

Amy gritted her teeth.

The only way to turn this fight around was to get rid of the bird.

She pushed off the ground and launched herself upward, dagger flashing as she aimed directly for Swifty.

Amelia moved instantly.

Her hand shot out and caught Amy by the ankle in midair.

"I was waiting for you to try that."

She swung.

Amy’s body whipped downward and slammed into the ground with bone-jarring force.

Dust exploded around the impact.

The entire combat area went silent.

No one spoke.

No one moved.

Every recruit stared at Amy lying on the ground, clearly unable to process what they had just witnessed.

Amy’s body felt strangely weak.

Her ability already consumed a tremendous amount of energy even when she used it only once. But she had never expected to lose so much of her strength so quickly.

How...?

Amelia reached up and pulled the blindfold from her eyes.

Her gaze met Amy’s.

There was no mockery in it.

Something cold settled in Amy’s chest.

The Amelia she’d been told about wasn’t the woman standing in front of her.

If this continued, Amy knew she wouldn’t recover for weeks.

For the first time in her life, she said a word she had never offered to anyone she considered beneath her.

"I surrender."