"Way too weak!" Exclaimed Celia, as she crossed her arms in front of herself and blocked an incoming fireball with her gauntlets.

"Damn it...," Frowned her opponent, a bead of sweat running down the side of his face.

The third contest had begun, and Celia had entered the first round. Each representative of the five teams were made to stand in a circle, within a force field in which they couldn't move their feet.

They were all rooted in place, and the force field also blocked the use of their Magic or other powers, except when it was their turn to attack, or if they were being targeted by whoever's turn it was to attack.

Whoever was targeted would be able to use their powers right after the person targeting them launched their attack.

Celia had managed to block all the attacks aimed at her without a problem, and never failed to eliminate whoever she targeted when it was her turn to attack.

Three of the other participants had been eliminated, leaving her facing just one last opponent, whose attack she'd just blocked...and now, it was her turn to attack.

"Good luck blocking this," She smiled, as she charged up an intense, swirling explosion and fired it at her opponent.

His eyes widened in alarm before he began to put up a wall of flames in front of himself, the attack colliding against it before exploding fiercely, the man getting teleported out before the force of the blast could kill him.

The force field around Celia then faded, as she stretched her arms up with a triumphant smile and strolled off the playing area, heading back to the others.

"Nicely done, a rather flawless victory," Rione greeted her with a smile.

"Yes, that was quite impressive," Nodded Antel in agreement.

"We're off to a great start thanks to you," Smiled Zesta in response.

"Yeah, way to go," Added Tacitus with a thumbs up.

"Thanks, guys...not gonna lie, that was pretty fun. So, which of you guys is stepping up for round two?" Celia asked them.

"I'll take a crack at it," Volunteered Rione, as he approached the playing field.

"Good luck out there."

"Yes, give it your all."

"I fully intend to," Smiled Rione, the force field forming around him as he took his place, the representatives from the other teams approaching as well.

"Alright, round two begins in...three, two, one!" Kilzachs's voice echoed out, a light appearing above one of the participants, indicating that they'd be the first attacker.

They formed a swirling mass of water before whipping their arm out and unleashing it in a rapid slashing wave at one of the others, who failed to block in and got teleported out, the attacker pumping her fist triumphantly.

The second attacker then took aim at their target, firing out a rapid, piercing beam from their index finger. Their target had a shield, raising it up defensively, but the beam pierced right through it, the target getting teleported off the playing field.

The third attacker targeted Rione, unleashing a concentrated, rapid ray of heat towards him. He quickly raised the head of his hammer out in front of himself, the ray colliding against it with immense force, before petering out.

It was Rione's turn next, and he turned his attention to the second attacker, choosing to target him, wary of that rapid, piercing beam he'd fired.

He let out a slow exhale before charging lightning into the head of his hammer, the air around it crackling violently, before he thrust it forward and fired out a devastating blast of lightning.

A bright, electric flash erupted across the playing field, before his target got teleported out, failing to block the attack in time.

With that, only Rione and the one who'd targeted him were left in play. Rione managed to block the next attack, before promptly eliminating his last opponent with another powerful lightning blast.

With the second round wrapped up, the contest proceeded into the third round, Zesta going next. He managed to win as well, before Antel took his place in the following round.

However, he was up against a strong group of opponents, and ended up being the third one eliminated in the fourth round.

That brought the contest to its fifth round, Tacitus stepping up to compete reluctantly, letting out a sigh as the force field formed around him.

He was the first one targeted, but it didn't matter, as he promptly nullified his opponent's attack with his Magic.

A couple of the other participants were then eliminated, before it was his turn to attack.

"So, uh...what am I supposed to do here? My Magic has zero offensive capability," He remarked with a sigh.

"Hm...in that case, I'll make an exception and let you use a physical attack," Decided Kilzachs, the force field around Tacitus disappearing.

"Alright, fine...," He muttered, bringing out his large blade before glancing between his two remaining opponents.

As he picked his target, he rushed forward, his opponent grimacing before forming a shield of energy in front of himself. His eyes widened in alarm as Tacitus nullified the energy with his Magic, before lunging forward and unleashing a fierce thrust of his blade, teleporting his target out, an intense gust of wind erupting through the air.

"Wow, nice, you've got some serious brute strength," Remarked his last remaining opponent, Aurora.

"Hm," He responded, as he dragged his feet back to his spot.

"Any attack I throw at you will probably get nullified, and I'll end up losing in the next round, so...," She mused, before calling out to Kilzachs, "Hey, can I use a physical attack too?!"

"Well...you know, what, sure. Why not? Might as well keep it interesting. But you only get one strike, if it fails to connect, you can't attack again," He responded after a brief pause.

"Fine by me," She smirked, an intense eruption of dark energy bursting out around her before enveloping her entire body, a shadowy cloak in the shape of the silhouette of a cat.

Tacitus's eyes widened in alarm as she shot towards him with blinding speed, the dark energy around her fading as he put up his Nullification Zone, before she'd generated a lot of momentum already.

Tacitus swung his blade across, but she easily ducked under it, staying low and lunging forward before driving her claws up to his neck, getting him teleported him off the playing field before he could react.

"Nice," She smiled to herself.

"You sure tried hard to win that despite not wanting your team to win, huh?" Remarked Kilzachs in bemusement, Aurora's eyes widening in realization.

"Oh...ohh, shit, I messed up."

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