Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

"This brings an end to Round 5! We will take a short break and allow everyone to recover then get to the Group Finals!" The announcer said as Celaine, Nisha, Audra, and her opponent recovered to peak condition. Celaine was the only one that really needed to rest so it didn't take that long before she was ready.

"Alright, Ladies and Gentlemen! These next 2 battles will determine who comes in first for their group! Even though we will still have 3 more battles after this, the winners of the next two battles to come will receive a reward for coming in first. We will then find out if they have what it takes to take on the two people that our Elders have deemed to be too powerful to put in the rest of the tournament. We will start with Group 1. Audra and Sia! Please come up!"

The audience cheered loudly as it was now the finals! These are bound to be good matches, so how could the audience not get excited?! Audra and her opponent approached the stage and drew their weapons. Audra drew her spear while Sia drew her sword and got into a battle-ready stance.

"Fight!"

Audra felt like her opponent might be rather aggressive so she decided to take a more passive stance and keep her distance. Audra just stood there and waited for Sia to charge at her, and charge is what Sia did. She knew that she had to get within the range of her sword to even think about beating Audra, but someone who is good with a spear is hard to deal with when using a sword. As long as Audra stays out of range then there is nothing Sia can do.

Audra would occasionally sweep her spear or stab it at Sia, but Sia was always able to dodge or parry her attacks. Mira was watching this battle with a bit of interest. Sia was actually better than she thought with a sword. But Sia didn't know how to deal with a spear user while using a sword. Sia kept trying to break through, but Audra didn't allow such actions and was able to keep her distance.

After a couple of minutes of back and forth, Audra seemed to decide that she's had enough. Her attack patterns changed and she got more aggressive. All of her stabs and sweeps were very tight and precise with each one aiming for a vital part of Sia's body. Since Sia wasn't able to gain momentum at the beginning of the fight then there was nothing she could do at this stage of the fight. Unless she could force an opening out of Audra, then she'd eventually lose.

This didn't happen as Audra smacked Sia's weapon hand then swept her spear to the side of her neck. Sia just raised both of her hands as a sign of surrender and the judge called the match.

"Winner, Audra!"

The audience cheered wildly as that was a great fight. Sia was able to show her skill with the sword, but it just barely fell short of Audra's spear.

They bowed towards each other and decided to say a few words.

"That was a great fight. You almost had me there, but it seems you are just a bit inexperienced in fighting someone with a spear. Maybe we can spar in the future." Audra complimented Sia.

"Thanks, though it's true that I'm not experienced at fighting someone with a spear, I don't think I would've been able to beat you even if I did. You deserve this win. And sure, we can spar with each other later." Sia said and the both of them walked off of the stage.

"Let's move onto the next battle of the finals! Group 2's Nisha and Celaine, please come up!" The announcer said as Celaine and Nisha walked up to the stage and readied their weapons.

"I'm a little surprised to see you here in the finals, Celaine. I didn't know you were so strong. No wonder you were able to be great bait during our group hunt." Nisha said to Celaine as she was truly surprised that Celaine made it this far.

"I-I'm also a bit surprised! Though I think part of it is Mira keeps watching me every time I fight and always has a look like she'll kill me if I don't win. L-L-Like right now. I can tell that she doesn't want me to disappoint her with this fight." Celaine said quietly and nervously. Both of them turned to look at Mira, who was just sitting down in a chair staring at them.

"I'm glad that she's in Group 1. Audra seems intent on wanting to spar with her, but I personally don't want to fight with her. I get the feeling that we will just look like fools if she were to spar with us. Enough with that. I'm not going to go easy on you just because we were in the same group for a week." Nisha said as she got into a battle stance with her daggers. Celaine nodded as she took a battle stance with her sabers.

"Fight!"

Nisha did what she always does and coated herself in Darkness and charged at Celaine. Celaine also immediately dashed towards Nisha to see if she could get the first attack in, but alas the difference in cultivation was a bit too much now as she couldn't attack before Nisha could get ready. Celaine isn't the only one that can battle higher stages as Nisha can as well. So instead of Celaine fighting a Stage 6 Qi Condensation Realm Expert, it's more like Stage 8. That's a 6 stage difference that can't be easily made up with just talent and skills.

Celaine could barely see and sense Nisha, much less keep up with her. Nisha popped up to the side behind Celaine in a blind spot, but Celaine was able to block the attack just out of reflex and intuition. Though she could also just be lucky. Celaine also felt her arm start to ache when she blocked that attack. She wouldn't be able to take many more hits before her arm broke.

Nisha dashed to the other side of Celaine and attacked again, but she was able to block the attack. This happened 2 more times before Celaine started to feel like her arm was about to snap. She put her saber in her other hand and started to try and block, but her reaction speed and coordination were a bit slower, and Nisha was too fast. She easily got past Celaine's block to press a dagger against her neck causing Celaine to lose.

"Winner, Nisha!"

*WOOOO*

The audience went crazy. Even though that fight was quick and went the way everyone expected, Celaine still lasted much longer than most people originally thought. The only 30-second battle had the audience sitting on the edge of their seats as they waited to see if Celaine had any cards up her sleeve to win, but in the end, Nisha took a swift victory for first place.

"I guess I will be the one to fight Maria." Nisha said as she bowed and shook Celaine's hand.

"Y-Yeah. G-Good luck! I-I'll be watching. I'm just glad I got 2nd place." Celaine said shyly as she bowed and shook Nisha's hand. The both of them then walked off the stage. Celaine went to find a seat to watch the rest of the battles and Nisha went back to her original spot to wait for her fight with Maria.

"The Top 3 of the two Groups have now been determined! But the tournament is still not over! There are still 2 people who have yet to fight. These 2 were able to take out a Rank 4 beast and have breezed by every test like it was nothing. Even though they are only in the Qi Condensation Realm, their real power is somewhere in the Early Foundation Realm!" The announcer paused as there was a momentary silence in the audience before a loud cheer erupted. They couldn't wait to see who these 2 people were.

"We will start off with the fight between the winner of Group 1 and Mira, the person that is comparable to a Foundation Realm Expert! Will Mira and Audra please come up to the stage!" The announcer yelled and got the crowd all excited. Aura immediately went up onto the stage and took out her spear, but Mira didn't move for a few seconds and stayed seated. She then got up from her seat and started walking at a very rhythmic pace towards the other side of the stage.

*CLACK**CLACK**CLACK*

Her shoes resounded throughout the Arena as she made her way to the other side of the stage. Wherever Mira went, a chilling aura seemed to follow as the area around her turned cold and the audience turned silent until all the people heard were Mira's footsteps. It's extremely eerie to be in a place filled with thousands of people and there wasn't a sound. The main reason for the silence is not only the domineering and chilling aura that Mira subconsciously released, but there was also a murderous aura that was constantly released from Mira. She's killed so many people that controlling this to be unnoticeable is incredibly difficult and Mira didn't feel like controlling it right now since this place got too noisy for her.

Audra just watched Mira approach and she had a slight smile on her face. It didn't take long for Mira to reach the stage as she faced Audra, a few dozen meters away.

"I don't know how strong you really are, but I can't wait to find out. You really surprised me back in the group hunt with that power along with your unyielding personality. I'm glad we get to fight in a setting like this." Audra interrupted the silence and said to Mira.

"I'd like to see if you have anything else instead of just keeping your distance. I'd be highly disappointed if this match didn't last very long." Mira said nonchalantly as Audra's eye twitched a bit.

"I guess you will just have to wait and see. I've been wanting to see the scythe that you told us about. I think if you used that then we'll both have a similar range." Audra taunted a little, but Mira wasn't having any of it.

"There's no need for that. I don't even need my scythe to beat the shit out of Maria much less you. I guess this could also be a good time to show Maria how cultivators can fight without a weapon. Enough of this. Let's get on with it, shall we?" Mira said. When Maria heard her name called, she stiffened and immediately started to pay attention. Audra just nodded her head and readied her spear. Mira just stood there.

"F-Fight!"

Mira just walked towards Audra which shocked not only her but everyone else. When Mira got within range of the spear, Audra quickly thrust the spear towards Mira's torso. Most people would either, dodge, block, or parry this attack but Mira didn't do any of those. She just grabbed the end of the spear right before the spearhead and quickly pushed it out of the way. She kept one hand holding the spear and dashed towards Audra. Audra didn't expect this response and so wasn't able to react quick enough to stop Mira from grabbing her spear or dashing towards her.

Once Mira got close enough to Audra, she pulled the spear towards her and roundhouse kicked Audra's stomach. Audra immediately spit up a mouthful of blood, let go of her spear, and fell to her knees.

"That's it? After wanting to fight with me so bad, this is all you can muster up? The audience wants to see something interesting, but you give them this pathetic display? You should at least be capable of getting another swing in." Mira said in a domineering tone. Audra just looked up with blazing eyes.

"Dammit!!" Audra yelled as she fully dropped her sword and tried to punch Mira.

"Oh? Now, this is truly foolish." Mira said as she dodged the punch and immediately put Audra in a chokehold along with locking her right arm.

"You don't even know how to fight without a weapon and you think it's a good idea to charge at me?" Mira said as she twisted Audra's shoulder.

*POP*

"Nngh!" Audra gritted her teeth in pain.

A loud pop came from Audra's body that resounded throughout the quiet arena. Mira looked at the judge and decided to say something.

"This isn't against the rules mentioned earlier. I only dislocated her shoulder so this shouldn't be considered severe damage. Watch." Mira said as she punches the dislocated shoulder back into place.

"Argghh!!" Audra felt more pain with her shoulder coming back into place than when it popped out of the socket. Mira then threw Audra to the other side of the stage along with her spear.

"See. Good as new. Now, Audra. I'll give you a chance to redeem that pathetic display from earlier. If you can get a clean hit on me one time, then I'll surrender." Mira said as she walked back to the starting position. Audra coughed a couple of times and rubbed her neck. She grasped her spear and slowly stood up.

"Ahhhhh!!!" She then charged at Mira with her spear with a loud battle cry. Mira shook her head and did the same thing she did last time, but when Mira grabbed her spear Audra let go of it. Mira noticed that Audra had pulled out a knife and started to run at her. Mira could tell that Audra has almost never wielded a knife in battle before as everything was wrong.

Mira just grabbed the knife hand with her right hand and in one clean motion, elbowed Audra in the side of the head knocking her out. Mira just let Audra drop to the ground and looked at the judge.

"W-W-Winner, Mira!" The Judge stuttered as she never expected the battle to play out like this.

The audience didn't cheer either as they only watched with their mouths agape. Everyone except for a little girl who watched this scene with shining eyes.

Mira walked off stage and the judge went down to wake up Audra. After around 30 seconds, Audra woke up with a splitting headache. She looked around the stage and noticed Mira wasn't on it.

"I lost, huh?" She muttered.

"Yes, you lost. But you put up a good fight. She is just abnormal. I also didn't expect it to play out like this. I'm sorry." The Judge said as she truly felt bad for Audra. Audra just shook her head, stored her spear and knife, and slowly stood up.

"It's not your fault. I figured she'd be like that, but I just wanted to see. She truly is a little monster. I just wonder how strong, Maria is." Audra said as she slowly walked off the stage to recover a bit.

The judge then stood up and looked out towards the audience.

"We will now move onto Group 2. Will the winner of Group 2, Nisha and Maria come up to the stage?!"