Such an obvious dance put Satoshi Tanaka on high alert. He knew that something was going on, just as everybody else who watched the fight. The only question was what exactly Tihana was trying to pull off.

I knew because I'd seen a form of this attack, back in Petrograd. It was good to deal with the bosses, especially for her, since she had the speed and dexterity to pull it off.

For my taste, it was too complicated and needed a long time to be prepared, so it, to be frank, was completely useless in the fights on my level. With the speed and scale of attacks usually pulled off by the opponents I faced, there was simply no room for it.

The Japanese guy continued with his chant, so he also was preparing something, but except for that, the just observed, as my daughter was making circles around him, tightening them with each second.historical

She was spreading her web, swinging and spinning the cane. Probably sweating a lot under her suit, because of the outflow of mana, and yet her speed didn't decrease.

"What the fuck?", I asked myself as I noticed Satoshi Tanaka walking to the side, passing nearby Tihana, who didn't seem to notice him.

He went all the way to the wall of the arena, while she completed her attack. A swirling lake of fire erupted, boiling inside the arena, before attempting to reach the sky, which was prevented by the barrier.

Tihana escaped at the last moment, sliding on the sand, away from her own attack. The flames disappeared, making her twist he head slightly, as she expected the second trigger to be activated when her opponent would try to dodge her attack, but nothing like that happened.

Then he made a dumb mistake. With his lips still moving, he took a step forward. A more directed, focused, pillar of fire erupted under his feet, forcing him to dodge. He chose the right direction by going again right beside the wall, but that was enough for Tihana to notice that something was off.

- What is she doing? - asked John.

- Can't she see him? He is right there - Leonel pointed out.

- It's some kind of mind-influencing skill, or illusion, maybe - I informed them. - It doesn't work through the TV screen clearly, but it definitely does for her.

I couldn't help but linked it with the fact that his lips were moving throughout this whole time. e already showed a skill based on sound, so I was confident that this one was of the same pack.

Tihana didn't hesitate, she ran across the arena, taking a swing in the middle, seemingly for no reason, before going towards the direction where the fire just erupted. Then she finally noticed something, changing her direction at the last second, and attacking the spot Satoshi Tanaka was standing in.

She swung widely, which was easily dodged, but he, but followed with a fireball. It exploded shaking the arena, and pushing her back, which she utilized as a dodge, losing the kinetic energy through a shadow walk, and continuing her assault.

- She sees hi mnow - Caremalita said.

- No - I disagreed. - Look at her head. She is looking down, at the sand. She can't see him, but she can see the sand moving.

Tihana once again pulled out the scimitars from her armory, resigning from using the cane, and started the blade dance. Satoshi Tanaka had to stop using his skill because he needed to keep his breath stable at such a high speed, which clearly allowed my daughter to finally see through his mind-bending technique.

They clashed violently, moving alongside the wall, exchanging strikes, and spraying the orange sparks around, to the rhythm of clanging steel. The blades were plowing the air, as the two warriors didn't even care if they hit the barrier as they really tried to kill each other.

The discharges of mana were sending electricity all around, which only added to the violent exchange.

- Desperate - left my mouth while I was observing the duel.

It made the rest of the people in the room look at me, but they clearly didn't expect me to evaluate. Besides, I was too focused on the TV screen to talk more.

She was at her limit and it was more and more displayed through the attacks she tried to perform. They were bold, risky even. Each created a giant hole in her defense, and yet Satoshi Tanaka didn't decide to strike at all.

"Why?" I kept asking myself. "Why not end when you can?"

And then it struck me. He wanted to humiliate her. To show that he was in control from the beginning to the end. To tell everybody that it was like a walk through the park for him. The easiest fight of his life.

It only got confirmed through his next move. He lured her in, so in the end, he could knock one of the blades from her hand. It forced her to retreat. She shadow walked to pick the scimitar up, but he matched her speed. Only because it was a short distance, but still. He put his foot on her sword, preventing her from grabbing it again, and forcing her to retreat further.

Everything was so well calculated, that he didn't even step into the still-active trap in the middle of the arena. That became my daughter's answer. She wanted to lure him there in a desperate attempt to win this, but he refused. Instead, put one of his katanas back in the saya, to grab the scimitar instead. He was so confident that she wouldn't attack him, that he took his time.

The smirk on his face was the cherry on top of that bitter cake. The cake she had to wallow if she wanted to still have a chance in this duel. Unfortunately, she decided otherwise, abandoning her first plan to lure him into the trap, to instead pull the shield out of the armory, and went on the offense once again.