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　　"Anyone who needs to be healed, don't be shy! Mama's gonna take good care of all of you!" Grinned Belia, as she entered the waiting area for the participants. 

  　　There were sixteen of us here, those that had won their matches in the first round. There was only a fifteen minute break before the second round was to begin, so Belia was using her Restoration Magic to get each of us back to our best. 

  　　"Please never call yourself 'mama' again, I don't think I've ever cringed so hard," Groaned Minise in response. 

  　　"Hey! Hmph, fine then, MILF it is," Belia huffed in response. 

  　　"Hm, that doesn't work, since you're not a mom," Pointed out Rion. 

  　　"Well, it's not my fault that my body isn't built for reproduction!" She defended herself indignantly. 

  　　"I'm just guessing here, but if you wanted to, couldn't you change that using Divine Magic?" I inquired curiously. 

  　　"I mean, I guess so……but I don't want to. Anyway, who needs healing?" She grinned, looking around. 

  　　"Um, excuse me, are you really able to change your body's structure so drastically like that?" Chimed in one of the participants from Liberty, a female Elf……I think her name's Esta, if I remember right.

  　　"Probably, yeah. Why do you ask?" Replied Belia curiously. 

  　　"If that is possible, then maybe you could cure the Fairies and give them the ability to think for themselves?" She suggested in response. 

  　　"I doubt that……I might be able to brainwash them into snapping out of their trances, but that won't actually give them free will, you know. And besides, even after so many were killed, there's still a lot of them left, I don't have nearly enough Divine Magic for all of them," Explained Belia, before adding, "Well, anyway! It doesn't look like any of you need to be healed, so I'm heading out. The next round starts in just over ten minutes!" 

  　　There were a bunch of snacks and drinks in here, plus it was super comfortable, ideal to rest up in before the next round. Not that I was particularly worn out or anything, but it's easier to relax in this kind of environment. 

  　　I walked over to the table and picked up a mini-burger and poured myself a glass of cola……oh, yeah, soda was invented in this world a few months ago, and I'm all for it. I used to guzzle this stuff down more than water back in my old world……I'll, uh, exercise a bit more moderation in this one. 

  　　I'll wait out the remaining time before the next round by stuffing my face a bit, because why not…… 

  　　…… 

  　　A short while later, I was back in the ring, feeling satisfied and ready to go. This is going to be a tough fight though, so I can't hold back with any of my serums. If I don't go all out, I'll almost definitely lose this match…… 

  　　"It's finally time, peeps! Round two of this competition is about to start!" 

  　　Is it just me, or is she starting to use more and more slang terms from the worlds that we Reincarnators came from? 

  　　"Weirdly enough, it suits her personality," I sighed to myself wryly. 

  　　"The first match of round two will be……Cusnai of the Rustlands versus Azeria of Abyss!" 

  　　I'm definitely the underdog in this fight, she's got a much higher power level than I do. However, with my most potent power boosting serum, my power level will surpass hers by a small amount. 

  　　And combined with Lightning Boost, my speed might potentially surpass hers……but the downside is that this serum makes me more aggressive and harder to control my impulses……so, I call it Berserker Serum. 

  　　It does multiply my power level twentyfold though, so the payoff is worth it. I can't let myself get too aggressive though, or I'll lose. 

  　　But I also can't let this fight drag out too long……the effects of the serum only last for two minutes, and afterwards, I'll be unable to move for a good two hours or so. Yeah, I've got a lot of restrictions, but still……I can definitely win this…… 

  　　"Let's kick off round two, BEGIN!" 

  　　Upon her signal, I swiftly took out a small syringe of Berserker Serum and injected it into my shoulder, as I raced across to the side, keeping my distance from Azeria. 

  　　I felt a pain erupt through my body, before fading and rapidly boosting my power, as I felt my sense of aggression start to spike. 

  　　As my opponent noticed my increasing speed, she swiftly raised chunks of the arena floor and fired them at me using Earth Magic, rapidly shooting towards me. 

  　　The effects of the serum then finally peaked, boosting my abilities just enough to barely evade her projectiles, before I fired out a lightning bolt at her, which she dodged and zipped towards me at top speed, while unleashing her True Anima. 

  　　Orange fur sprouted on the left half of her body while black fur sprouted on the right half, her face extending forward into a snout as her limbs grew more flexible and stronger. 

  　　I halted and slashed at her with my right spear as she closed in on me, which she deflected with her claws, before I drove my left spear at her throat, which she caught between her teeth. 

  　　Suddenly, an earth spike rapidly extended out towards my midsection, grazing my left side as I quickly leapt off to my right, avoiding a significant blow. 

  　　"Why, you……!" I growled aggressively, as I then hurriedly sprang back as a wave of flames burst forth around her, wincing as I sustained some burns on my arms, before gritting my teeth as I got some distance and flinging one of my spears straight at her like a javelin, which she dodged and raced towards me again. 

  　　She then abruptly halted and jumped back as I flung a vial at her, which hit the ground and shattered, a sticky mass erupting up as the liquid got exposed to the air. 

  　　"Now, take this!" I snarled viciously, as right before she could land, I swiftly fired out another lightning bolt at her, but she responded by raising a chunk of the floor to block it, which absorbed my attack and broke apart. 

  　　She then raised a large part of the floor and melted it, creating a mass of lava and firing several narrow, sharp projectiles at me. I quickly reached for my belt and ran my Mana through a Spell Card, swapping places with the spear I'd flung at her earlier, slipping a few meters behind her.

  　　She swiftly spun around and fired more lava projectiles at me, as I activated another Spell Card and formed a defensive barrier in front of myself, before firing a lightning blast up into the air and controlling it so that it would drop down towards her at a sharp angle. 

  　　She shot forward to avoid it as it dipped, racing towards me as I simultaneously shot forward as well. She drove her claws towards my head as she closed in on me, grazing the tip of my left ear as I tilted my head out of the way, before driving my spear towards her legs. 

  　　Before I could pierce her, she raised her right foot and brought it down onto the flat side of the spear's blade, pinning it down to the ground before firing out a blast of flames from her mouth. 

  　　I quickly let go of the spear and dropped down, feeling some of my hairs getting singed as I did, before attempting to sweep kick her feet, which she evaded by springing back. 

  　　I then flung an explosive vial at her, and as she tried to deflect it away with a piece of rubble, the vial immediately exploded upon contact, the force sending her flying back and slamming onto the wall of the barrier, before I flung my second spear straight at her. 

  　　I shot forward as she got out of the way, the spear grazing her right shoulder, a glare on her face as I raced towards her and picked up my first spear again, charging it with an immense amount of lightning. 

  　　She took some damage from that explosion, this is my only chance to finish this……I'm close to my time limit with this serum too, I won't be able to fight once it's up and the side effects kick in. It's now or never! 

  　　She didn't move, instead manifesting intense flames around herself, the air around her violently shimmering as she braced herself for my charge……she's definitely sure that she can evade and counter this, and she definitely could if this was nothing but a direct, frontal assault. 

  　　But it's not. 

  　　As I closed in on her and arched back my left arm while clutching my spear, which was violently crackling with lighting, I reached for my belt with my right hand and activated another Spell Card……and forming a square barrier around her, trapping her in. 

  　　She probably wouldn't even need five seconds to break out of there……but that's more than enough time. It wasn't a fully sealed barrier, it had a narrow slit on the wall that I was facing……just wide enough for the blade of my spear to pass through. 

  　　I let out a roar as I drove the blade into the slit……and unleashed all the lightning I'd charged into it, a violent spark and crackle bursting out and instantly shattering the barrier, as the safety barrier simultaneously activated and teleported Azeria out. 

  　　Just in time too, as an immense pain erupted through my body and I slumped to the ground in agony, unable to move a muscle……ow……just a couple more seconds and I'd have lost for sure. 

  　　"And the winner is……Cusnai of the Rustlands!" 

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  　　Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

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