"Alright, everyone, it's time for the second round! Participants, make your way down to the arena!"

"Not gonna lie, the odds are against you, but give it your best," Smiled Raven wryly, as Nero began heading to the arena.

"On the bright side, it doesn't seem like she's the type to kill an opponent if she doesn't have to," Mused Jules thoughtfully, as Aurora hopped over the railing and landed by the arena, before stepping onto it.

"Let's hope so," Responded Wistari, a concerned look on her face.

The barrier formed around the arena as Nero took his place, the countdown starting.

Nero steeled his nerves, composing himself before racing forward as the countdown ended, firing out a barrage of dark projectiles towards Aurora.

Dark energy swirled around her right arm, before she took a swift step forward and whipped her arm across, an intense burst of force erupting and blowing away the incoming projectiles, before a dark cloud erupted around Nero.

Aurora cracked her neck as she got down on all fours and stretched, before racing forward with immense speed, zipping straight into the smokescreen.

She leapt out the other end of the cloud, Nero in her grasp, her left hand wrapped around his throat, before she swiftly flung him away with a snap of her wrist as he began to draw out a dagger.

He skidded across the arena before coming to a sliding halt by the barrier. He scrambled back onto his feet and sprinted across as Aurora unleashed a fierce volley of dark blasts towards him, narrowly evading a few before one crashed onto the floor behind him and erupted, the force blowing him off his feet.

"That energy, it feels similar to Dark Magic, but the signature, it's more intense. I think it's effectively a stronger version of Dark Magic," Remarked Raven, as Nero just barely managed to keep evading Aurora's attacks.

"Like he wasn't already at a disadvantage. That girl is a serious force to be reckoned with," Responded Aster, as Nero fired out dark slashes towards Aurora.

She blasted the slashes away with a sharp burst of her dark, shadowy energy, before racing towards Nero on all fours with immense speed, leaping forward as she closed in.

He turned across and raised his dagger up defensively, the blade shattering as Aurora's claws collided against it, inflicting a shallow gash across his right side.

As she slipped behind him, she spun around and let out a sharp, deafening roar, blowing him away and dazing him as he got sent hurtling through the air, crashing onto the arena and skidding across.

He shakily got back onto his feet, before tensing and quickly spinning around as she sprang up behind him, forming a blade of Dark Magic along his right palm and driving it towards her face.

She tilted her head across as she slammed her right palm against the middle of his torso, a pressurized burst of darkness erupting and blasting him away as his dark blade grazed her right cheek, drawing out a trickle of blood.

Nero's back slammed against the wall of the barrier with a jarring impact, his vision blurring as the attack knocked the wind out of him.

He collapsed onto his knees, before shakily raising his right hand, cloaking his body in a shimmering shroud of darkness, firing out a piercing beam of dark energy towards Aurora.

She swiftly shuffled across to evade it, before she shot towards him rapidly, closing in right as he got back onto his feet.

As she drove her claws towards his stomach, her eyes widened in surprise as she grazed his left side, before springing back as he formed another dark blade and swung it down at her head, severing a couple of strands of her hair.

"Oh, interesting, that shimmer makes it hard to tell the exact position of your body," She mused in fascination, before she zipped forward again.

She chased after Nero as he raced away, weaving across the arena as he fired out a rapid flurry of dark arrows, none of them coming close to hitting his target.

Aurora was rapidly gaining on him, the distance between them shrinking with every step, before she lunged forward and whipped her claws across at his back, grazing his left side, just above the spot she'd struck before, blood streaming down before Nero whipped his dark blade across at her.

She reached out to grab his wrist, but missed, the back of her fingers grazing the side of his wrist, before she zipped back in a rapid blur to evade the blade, which just barely nicked the top of her left shoulder.

"That speed and reaction time...no doubt about it, she's been holding back this whole time," Nero realized grimly.

"Alright, let's end this," She sighed, cracking her neck as dark, shadowy energy erupted around her, cloaking her body and taking the shape of a cat.

Nero tensed and backed away as she crouched, before a rapid, shadowy blur shot towards him, too fast to react to, before he found himself pinned on the floor.

In the blink of an eye, Aurora grabbed his throat, slammed him onto the floor of the arena. Her knee was on his solar plexus, preventing him from mustering up any strength.

Shadowy tendrils had extended out of her cat-shaped dark cloak, pinning his limbs down.

'I give up', he wrote across the air, as he slumped against the floor.

"That's the first match of round two done, the winner is Aurora Pretorius!"

"So, uh...did anyone manage to follow her at the end there?" Inquired Celia in bemusement.

"Yeah, though just barely. I wouldn't have been able to react to it in my current form, though," Replied Raven with a frown.

"Man, I wish that was me down there," Colt sighed wistfully.

"On the bright side, it looks like she won't kill unless she has to," Chimed in Ravella.

"Honestly, the only time I've sensed any bloodlust from her is when she's around her own team," Added Lexia, a curious look on her face.

"I noticed that too, think it's clear they aren't friends of hers, that much was made obvious in the previous round," Recalled Raven, right as Nero and Aurora got teleported back to their teams.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.