Now things are about to get interesting. Hand of the Lightning God is definitely going to be a challenge for her. One thing I realised when using these gauntlets is when I summoned a lightning bolt for Lightning Charge but ended up not using it on any of my weapons, it actually charged the gauntlets instead. Perhaps this was its original function. This makes it an extremely effective weapon at punching and shocking people simultaneously, rendering them immobile and exposed. This was something I recently discovered when I was training and accidentally destroyed a tree from a casual swing with my gauntlets when it was charged up. No doubt Lily wouldn’t know about this, but I can see that she’s being cautious. I will force her to show me her true powers as to why they gave her the nickname Elemental Ice Queen. What ice powers does she even have, or is it because she kept turning down guys after guys?

  She is probably puzzled as to why I summoned my gauntlets instead of Inazuma. I called forth lightning with my left hand, and it slammed directly into my gauntlet with force. The crowds went wild and started cheering upon seeing such a spectacle. To be able to call forth lightning from the sky even in broad daylight is just unimaginable if you had not seen it before. I gripped my hands together, and upon releasing them, lightning streaked between the both of them.

  I readied my stance as a boxer. What I need to do is deliver fast punches to Lily as quickly as possible to electrocute her to the ground. She will have to exclusively dodge my attacks completely instead of blocking if she doesn’t wish to get electrocuted. She took a deep breath and readied her stance. That is… oh ho, she definitely knows something is up now that she’s using water style now. Let’s see how well you can dodge my punches.

  It was my turn to be on the offensive. I rushed in and delivered a few jabs at her, which she dodged skilfully. I got low and performed a leg sweep, which she jumped in response. I continued spinning myself and delivered a backhand to her, which she leaped back immediately upon touching the ground. But she was unlucky. My gauntlets graced her left forearm, and it definitely had an effect on her when she gripped her trembling hand.

  After checking her left hand, she pouted and squinted at me. I responded with an awkward smile but kept my guard up. What is she going to retaliate with, I wonder? Her guild spells? Will that really help her against my Lightning Charge?

  She took a deep breath and changed her stance as she realised it was hard to avoid my gauntlets. What stance… is that? I had never seen such a style before. It looked a bit like a mantis style, but she only protruded her index and middle fingers. If I’m right, she is going to aim for my acupoints. But I had never seen such a style before, so I need to be extremely cautious. One tap on the wrong point and I’ll be dead, like literally dead if she happened to hit my death point. Not that she would be aiming for it, right? I just didn’t choose her as my wife; she won’t be ‘that’ vengeful as to kill me when she literally resurrected me from the beyond, I hope?

  She rushed at me with speed. I thought she would be more cautious because of my gauntlets, but she seems to be fearless. She began her assault without hesitation. As I suspected, her stance is primarily used for aiming at acupoints. I’ll admit, I could not master this technique well enough to use it for offensive purposes. This technique is only effective against humans or elves, as our acupoints are relatively similar. Completely ineffective against armoured beings, monsters, or unknown beings that you’ve never met before. Not unless you’re Peter, who had mastered it well enough to predict what each acupoint does or where it’s located depending on what he’s facing.

  She was quick with her hands in trying to hit my points. I thought that my gauntlets would have made her hesitate in attacking, but I literally could not move fast enough to even touch her. I didn’t even realise she had activated Concentration, which is probably why she’s moving this fast. Such is her focus in aiming for my pressure points. Her eyes were literally wide open with a single purpose in mind.

  She poked below my left clavicle, which rendered my left arm useless. Damn it, only my right hand works now, but Lily is not letting up her assault to give me a free arm to undo the acupoint that she had just hit. I tried my very best to release my point, but she did everything she could to prevent me from doing so, even swatting my gauntlet aside with her bare hands, despite shocking her.

  Alas, I failed to stop her from pushing my other shoulder’s acupoint, and my right arm slumped. She let out a “Phew” and wiped the sweat from her forehead. That must have taken a lot of focus on her part to pull this off. She checked both of her hands, and they were trembling a little. If she touched my gauntlets a few more times, then it would have rendered her hands numb for a couple of minutes.

  “Fuh… damn it, Zen. Peter really downplayed your unarmed combat abilities. He said that it was just your secondary fighting technique. It’s been a while since I had such a workout,” she panted.

  “Well, you’re still better at it than I am. It’s literally your fighting style,” I said as my two arms dangled downwards.

  “It’s my only fighting technique, Zen. Not everyone is as lucky as you,” she smiled.

  “Surrender, or I’ll hit the acupoints on your legs as well. You don’t want to be embarrassed by me in front of all these audiences, do you?” she continued with a smirk and a ‘fu fu’ remark.

  “What’s gonna happen if I don’t?” I asked and returned a smirk of my own.

  “I will make you kneel for what you did. I deserve that much at the very least,” she frowned.

  “Ahh… I meant no disrespect, Lily. You’re one of my best friends, after all. But I’ll like to see you try,” I moved my right hand and undid the acupoint that she had hit on my left shoulder.

  Lily’s eyes went wide open when I suddenly moved my right hand. Little did she know that before she hit the pressure point on my right shoulder, I had moved it just at the right time so she missed the point that actually immobilises my entire right arm.

  Making full use of the element of surprise, I closed the short gap between us and sent Lily flying with a palm strike empowered by the last few seconds of my Lightning Charge duration. I hope she’s fine after receiving a direct strike while being electrocuted by my spell. Who asked her not to protect her stomach area with armour?

  She landed on her knees while clutching her stomach. I was worried that she might have been hurt badly, which was not what I wanted. She started vomiting, and I started sweating buckets at the very sight.

  “Are… you alright?” I asked while moving closer to check on her.

  “You…… arse! I just had a good meal today. I’m gonna kill ya, ya bloody wanker,” shouted Lily as she channeled her inner British.

  I instinctively began moving backwards from her as she was really serious now. Her aura had completely changed, and I can tell that she’s genuinely angry at me with those glowing red eyes. My first instinct was to summon Inazuma at my side, but I stopped myself. I should not be responding to her anger with retaliation. No matter what, she is still my friend.

  She stood up and cast her guild spells. Fire spell on her left hand while lighting on her right. Since when had she learned how to dual-cast? I thought only selected people knew the secret to casting it. Did Rose teach her, or was it Peter? Either way, she is planning to fight me seriously now. Although I’m not sure why she decided to use her usual spells. Perhaps there are more tricks up her sleeves that she’s refusing to show me.

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  She took a quick glance at Peter’s direction as though she were looking for some sort of approval or something. It was then that she reactivated Concentration. I shouldn’t be lax now that she had activated Focused State of Mind.

  “Zen, you should take things seriously if you don’t wish to get hurt badly,” she warned.

  “Oh, don’t you worry about me. I’ve always been serious when it comes to sparring with you. I don’t wish to get my head smashed in by you,” I chuckled.

  She maintained her posture and demeanour despite my attempt to make her laugh with my lame-ass joke. I decided to activate Concentration to make things even and to make sure that she doesn’t accidentally kill me.

  We glared at each other. I could see sweat dripping down her forehead. Is this due to her being focused, or is it from the heat of her fire spell? Instinctively, my eyes moved lower to her… ahem, the curse of being a male. She had certainly maintained her body figure for sure. I could have made it all mine, but I decided not to. But what Rose told me yesterday was starting to sound really appealing now. Zen, stop it. You have a wife now, and you're in the middle of a fight. Keep your hormones in check!

  Perhaps she noticed that I was ogling at her in weird places, and that she decided to strike first. I raised my arms to protect myself or to counterattack whenever possible. She got in but crouched extremely low. I thought she wanted to attack my legs, but to my surprise, she did an uppercut with her right hand, which made me expose myself due to such an unexpected attack. She then performed a kick to my chest immediately, which caused me to fall backwards. What a fast and unexpected reaction. I was supposed to be faster in speed, but her attacks are quicker. She must have trained this move many times to pull it off so smoothly.

  I quickly got back up, but she was right in front of me. I quickly delivered a punch, but she dodged it skilfully. It was then my body went cold. What I saw in front of me was a knife-shaped stance on my chest with her right hand extended. Shit! I need to dodge this now!

  I leaped backwards as far as I could, but Lily did not miss her chance. She immediately extended her left hand, coated with her fire spell, and a loud, massive explosion erupted from her fist. Despite my efforts to dodge it, the shockwave sent me flying out of the arena until I made contact with the Colosseum wall. That is to say, I am out of the arena zone, which means I had lost.

  I fell to the ground with my eyes wide open. Everything happened so quickly over the span of just a few seconds. So this is Lily when she’s serious. Lily, who had always been the weakest in our group, had beaten me fair and square. Well, I wasn't exactly going all out, but still, I wasn't exactly slacking off either. She had me with her sudden burst of speed and unpredictable techniques. And her Fa Jin Zhòu is absolutely crazy! Holy crap, that was like a TNT explosive. Did the fire spell boost her Fa Jin Zhòu’s power? No wonder she gave me that warning earlier. If I had not avoided that, I would have been dead.

  I raised my head to look at her as she crouched at the arena's edge, grinning at me. She told me that is what I get for not taking her seriously. And she had not even shown me her true powers, the reason as to why she’s called the Elemental Ice Queen. I should have taken things more seriously after she gave me that warning. I resigned my defeat to her with a sigh. I guess I really am kneeling to her at the very end.

  The cheering stopped immediately after I was sent flying out of the arena zone. The crowd was stunned that Lily had defeated one of the members of the Four Great Powers. It definitely happened way too quickly for people to understand what had just happened. Even the announcer had to slap his cheeks to snap himself out of it.

  “W... what… what the hell is going on?! Our Elemental Ice Queen had just defeated the Fourth! Holy shit, is that a monumental achievement! Does this mean that Peter’s newest pupil is going to replace Zen Hawthorn as the Fourth? I think not. But what I can tell you is that the winner is Lily Moonshine!” shouted Oliver.

  “But stay tuned for more exciting announcements as we take a short break. Seriously, do not, I repeat, do not leave the premises as you’ll regret it for missing out on what’s about to come,” continued Oliver.

  Lily leapt down from the arena and walked over to me with a smile while placing both of her hands behind her back.

  “That’s what you get for ogling at me and making me puke in front of all these people. Geez, I feel bad for the people who have to clean it up,” she sighed.

  “Ehem... caught red-handed, huh? Guess it’s my loss for not taking things more seriously,” I chuckled.

  She extended her hand to pull me up. I won’t lie, my heart is definitely beating fast now, and it was not due to the fight. Even after all this time, even after marrying Rose, I knew full well I still have a thing for her, even now. But spending so much time apart had made me put aside those feelings and focus on Rose and Daisy. But meeting her once again, I can’t help remembering all the things we did together. And that one forbidden night that we shared.

  I headed towards the exit, fully expecting Rose to be waiting there to poke fun at my defeat, but she was nowhere in sight. I think she doesn’t want to reveal herself just yet and wished to maintain the surprise. Lily tagged along with me, which puzzled me. Did she not realise that Oliver had not announced her as the champion of the tournament yet?

  “How have you been? Is everything going well with Rose and Daisy?" she asked awkwardly.

  This is probably the first time we have talked alone since 15 years ago. When she visited previously, the three of us spoke together, and there was never a moment where I could speak to her alone. Now that I finally have it, I’m not about to miss my chance to let her know how worried we are about her.

  "I miss you, Lily. I thought we’d be able to see you often, but we haven't seen you in five years or so. I… hate that not seeing you makes me worry," I told her.

  "You don't have to worry about me, Zen. I'm way older than you and can take care of myself. There's nothing you need to worry about. Don’t miss me and focus on Rose,” she shrugged.

  "Oh, I know you can take care of yourself. It is more like... you left so abruptly after my battle with Tom with the elves. I can't help but worry that you had broken some sort of rule by resurrecting me. You were gone for ten years before you visited us. Then again, you disappeared for five. Even Rose is worried about you," I explained to her.

  "It's been such a long time, Zen. As you can see, I’m fine over here. Training under Peter is something I’ve been dreaming of. There's nothing you have to worry about, really. Then again, how are you feeling lately? You… looked like you never changed or barely even aged," she asked with concern.

  "Well, I would like to ask what you did to resurrect me, but I doubt I'll get an answer from you. But yeah, I've never felt better," I said as I headed towards a side store that was selling food and beverages.

  "Here, this is yours," I handed her a drink and some food.

  "Huh? You didn't have to. I can buy my own," she retorted while waving her hands.

  "C'mon, we haven't met in ages. Just take it. It's your favourite strawberry milkshake and nuggets. Don't push it back to me, as you know I don't like that drink. Consider this an apology for making you puke earlier,” I chuckled.

  “Y... you still remember, huh? Um, thanks. You really didn't have to," she took the drink and started sipping while turning away.

  "Think nothing of it," I smiled.

  She uttered something beneath her breath that I couldn't hear, but I decided not to ask her about it. I hope I did not tick her off. She seems to hate kindness ever since I met her from day one.

  She continued to follow me as I strolled around the Colosseum. Does she not know that she will be sparring against Rose later? We stopped at the main entrance of the Colosseum, and she told me this was where we part ways. I stared at her with a confused look. Why is she exiting the Colosseum? I instinctively grabbed her forearm without thinking, preventing her from leaving.

  “W… What’s wrong? There’s something I need to be doing,” she said.

  "Um, are you sure you should be leaving? Didn't you hear what the announcer said earlier?" I asked her.

  "Oliver? Nah, it's just something that they are promoting to persuade people to purchase. It's got nothing to do with me anyway," she replied.

  "A… are you sure? Can't we spend a bit more time together? We haven’t met in ages,” I asked as I was running out of ideas to prevent her from leaving.

  "Zen… you have Rose, who’s your wife. I already have someone now. We shouldn't be spending so much time together when we have our own loved ones," she said with a sorrowful look.

  I was taken aback. She has a partner now? Guess Rose was wrong after all. But why does it bother me? It felt as though pins and needles were piercing my heart when I heard her say that.

  "Um… I'm sorry. I didn't know. I just thought we could spend some time together as friends. I was not asking for a date if that’s what you thought,” I replied.

  "Well, we can. But I'm not sure if we have much chance to meet when you have a family of your own, and I have my own training," she answered.

  "W… why does it feel as though you’re pushing me away?" I asked her sternly when her facial expression did not match the words that she was uttering.

  "No, I'm not," she pulled her forearm back.

  "Yes you are. Did I do something wrong? What’s going on? Is this because you saved me back then and it caused you trouble?" I followed after her.

  "Zen—stop! Stop... following me. Don't—don't give me…" she trailed off as she had her back against me.

  I stood there stumped by what she said. It doesn’t sound as though she was crying, but she was certainly sad. I thought of giving her a hug, but decided not to as that might had made things worse.

  "I'm sorry," was all I could reply as I walked away.

  As I headed back into the Colosseum, I took a glance at her. She was still standing where she was, looking downwards. What did I do wrong? All I did was buy her a drink, some food, and make conversation with her. Did I say something wrong perhaps? I scratched my head as I thought of what I had done in this short amount of time.

  A few people ran towards Lily and started talking to her. Based on her reaction, she was genuinely surprised and confused about what they were telling her. She followed after them while still holding the drink that I had bought for her. If she hated me, she would have thrown it aside long time ago. I’m just so confused as to what had just happened and proceeded to where Peter and Daisy were seated at.

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