Whispers of Worlds Beyond: A Series-Chapter 126: Sevan vs Shiloh [2]

The Mirage Field shimmered with illusionary mist, the air thick with the energy of magic as Sevan and Shiloh stood at opposite ends. The announcer's voice rang through the arena, sharp and clear.

Aiden tightened his grip on the railing from the stands, watching as Sevan rolled his shoulders. Jarek and Rupert stood beside him, both focused on the fight.

"He has to be careful," Rupert muttered. "Shiloh's card magic isn't just for show."

With a flick of his wrist, a deck of cards appeared in Shiloh's hand, glowing with an eerie red light. He fanned them out, eyes gleaming with mischief, and threw three toward Sevan. They cut through the air like blades, too fast for the eye to track.

Sevan barely managed to raise a wall of water, but the moment the cards touched it, they didn't just stop.They exploded.

The force sent Sevan skidding back, his boots scraping against the illusory ground.

Aiden clenched his jaw. "He's fast."

"Not just fast," Jarek said grimly. "Shiloh's cards all have different effects. You never know what they'll do until they hit. Damn that Spadille family."

Shiloh was already throwing more. Some whistled through the air like darts, while others shimmered, vanishing before impact. Sevan dodged, weaving through the attacks, but he was on the defensive, struggling to get close enough to retaliate.

Then, the battlefield shifted.

The Mirage Field rippled, and the solid ground beneath Sevan's feet wavered, turning into shifting sands. His footing faltered, and in that moment of imbalance, Shiloh sent a card straight at him.

It struck Sevan's shoulder with a sharp crack, sending him stumbling. A glow spread from the impact point, a binding magic keeping his movements sluggish.

"You're slowing down, nerd!" Shiloh taunted, flipping another card between his fingers. "Hope you don't mind, but this one's going to hurt."

From the stands, Aiden could see Sevan gritting his teeth. He wasn't just going to take it.

Forcing himself to move, he gathered water around his arm, shaping it into a spear. He waited, his breathing steady, eyes locked on Shiloh's hand.

Shiloh smirked and threw the card.

Sevan reacted instantly.

Instead of dodging, he thrust his spear forward, splitting the card mid-air before it could activate. In that split-second opening, he surged forward, the sand beneath him turning solid again as the battlefield shifted.

Water coiled around him, rising up in waves as he pushed forward with speed.

Shiloh tried to throw another card, but Sevan was already there. With a swift movement, he drove his water spear straight at Shiloh.

But it was a fake Shiloh.

Damn, Aiden thought. He could have killed Shiloh right then and there if it was the real one.

As Sevan spun to locate him among the illusions, Shiloh flicked his wrist, and in an instant, a flurry of glowing cards materialized in the air. They hovered around him, shifting and spinning in a mesmerizing dance before he sent them flying toward Sevan with a flick of his fingers.

Sevan barely had time to react.

He thrust out his hands, summoning a wall of water, but as soon as the cards touched it, they shimmered, and then phased straight through.

A trick.

Sevan twisted his body to avoid the first barrage, but one of the cards sliced across his arm, leaving a shallow but burning cut. He winced as more cards rained down, forcing him to retreat, his feet skidding across the smooth surface of the Mirage Field.

Aiden and Adrian watched from the stands, both tense.

"He's playing right into Shiloh's hands," Aiden muttered, jaw clenched.

"Yeah," Adrian agreed, fidgeting with his leather jacket. "Shiloh's forcing him to move, making him react to every attack instead of letting him control the match. Gotta hand it to the fucker to actually back up that fragile ego of his."

But wait. Isn't this agains the rules?

Didn't the announcer say to only hit in the torso area or did I hear it wrong, Aiden thought.

Aiden waited for the announcer to say something but there came none, so he dismissed the thought and went back to the duel.

It was obvious that Shiloh had experience toying with his opponents.

His illusions blended into the mist, shifting constantly, making it nearly impossible to tell which figure was real. Meanwhile, his enchanted cards came from every direction, cutting through Sevan's defenses like they weren't even there.

Sevan was losing.

Shiloh smirked, flipping another card between his fingers. "You're getting slow, Sevan. This is kind of disappointing. Maybe rank five was too generous?"

Sevan didn't respond, breathing heavily as he skidded backward, dodging another set of attacks.

Aiden narrowed his eyes.

He's watching.

Unlike earlier, when Sevan had been striking at random, his movements were now more calculated, and Aiden could even hear the faint clanking of Sevan's gears in his head. His water defenses were still failing, but he was no longer wildly reacting. His gaze flickered between the illusions, observing them.

And then...

The next set of cards flew toward him, aimed for his chest.

Instead of dodging, Sevan did something unexpected.

He let the water around him collapse.

Shiloh's eyes glinted in satisfaction as his cards cut through the air.

Then, at the last second, Sevan twisted his body, letting only one card graze his side as he shot forward like an arrow.

Straight toward the real Shiloh.

The moment their eyes met, Shiloh's smirk wavered.

Sevan's palm shot up, a torrent of water surging from his fingertips, not as a blade, not as a barrier, but as an impact.

The force of it struck Shiloh in the chest, knocking him off balance for the first time in the match. His illusions flickered.

And Sevan saw the opening.

His water twisted in the air, spiraling into a whip that wrapped around Shiloh's wrist, yanking him forward.

Shiloh gasped, but Sevan was already moving, bringing his other hand up.

A second whip of water coiled around Shiloh's ankle, dragging him down into a kneeling position.

A complete reversal.

The crowd erupted in shock, murmurs spreading across the stands.

Aiden's lips curled upward. "He figured it out."

Adrian was gripping his knees so tightly in anticipation. "Yeah. He forced Shiloh to react instead of the other way around."

Sevan tightened his grip, breathing heavily, water swirling at his fingertips.

"You talk too much," he said, voice steady despite the exhaustion creeping in.

Shiloh blinked up at him, stunned for only a moment, then his lips curled into a wild grin.

And he laughed.

"Not bad," Shiloh admitted, even as he struggled against the binds. "But can you finish it?"

Sevan's grip tightened.

Shiloh threw a card at his feet and he disappeared, reappearing five meters away from Sevan again.

As the fight raged on, the tension in the Mirage Field was palpable.

Updat𝓮d from freewēbnoveℓ.com.

Sevan had managed to turn the tables, but Shiloh wasn't the type to give up easily. The shifting illusions made every move unpredictable, and even though Sevan had landed a solid hit, the duel was far from over.

Aiden's focus was locked on the battle, until a voice behind him cut through the noise.

"Is Shiloh losing?"

The question was casual, but something about it sent a chill down Aiden's spine.

He turned his head sharply, expecting to see one of Shiloh's usual lackeys- Lochan, maybe- but instead, he found himself staring at Emmeranne.

She stood alone, watching the fight with the same dull expression she always wore.

Aiden stiffened.

His mind immediately replayed the conversation the night before between her and Lopt. How she told Lopt that she held loyalty to the academy. And Lopt…

Lopt had disregarded her completely.

Now, she was standing here, watching the duel, her dark brown eyes unreadable.

Aiden narrowed his eyes. "Why are you here?"

"Am I not allowed to be?"

Aiden clenched his jaw.

Not when you're a murderer, Aiden thought.

What pisses Aiden off was that he wasn't able to read her like the others. She was suspicious sure, but for some reason, he can't place a finger on it. Was she really or was he just reaching?

But then Lopt was provoking her about being a spy or what. Anybody could see what Lopt was implying last night.

But yet, she's still here. For some reason, she's still roaming free even when she killed Savion.

Was there someone helping her from the inside? Was she really related to Karro? The one who had tried killing him during his duel with Ivara?

He wanted to say to the world the truth, of her being the killer, but a stampede really is not desirable especially with almost half the academy population is crowded in one place.

Plus, it wasn't his position to do that. He's not a professor. And who knew what she would do?

She wasn't like Shiloh, who taunted and provoked openly. Nor was she like Adrian, who wore his emotions on his sleeve.

Emmeranne simply existed- calm, unwavering, like an immovable force.

Before Aiden could push further, the crowd gasped as another explosion of water and cards clashed on the battlefield, momentarily pulling his attention back to the fight.

Sevan had managed to counter another of Shiloh's tricks, the water around him swirling like a storm.

Shiloh, however, was grinning.