An Understated Dominance by Marina Vittori

“Not again!” Veronica’s face paled.

At that moment, the effects of her parálysis started to wear off. She didn’t have time to hesitate when she saw the frost arrows descending again.

She gripped her spear and spun it wildly, creating a blur of afterimages. Her spear spun like a helicopter rotor, whipping up strong winds that formed a protective barrier about ten feet in front of her.

The incoming frost arrows struck the wind barrier with a series of crackling sounds. The impact forced Veronica to stagger backward, and her arms were numb from the force.

The Blood Ward she had used earlier had drained her energy significantly. So, now she struggled to keep up when facing Azalea’s relentless assault.

“Void Mire!”

While Veronica was still defending against the frost arrows, Azalea performed another hand seal. She crouched and slammed her hand onto the battle ring’s surface.

Suddenly, a bizarre scene unfolded. The ground beneath Veronica’s feet turned soft and swampy, like quicksand. As she tried to retreat, she found her feet sinking deeper into the mire.

The most unsettling part was the powerful suction of the mire. It relentlessly pulled Veronica’s legs, and she had a hard time freeing herself.

With frost arrows bombarding her from above and the mire threatening to swallow her from below, Veronica was in a dire struggle and couldn’t fend off attacks from both sides.

“Despicable wench, all you can do is use underhanded tricks! If you’ve got the guts, face me head-on!” Veronica’s frustration boiled over. 1

She was a master of spear techniques with extensive combat experience. She was confident she could quickly take down her opponent in close quarters.

chance to get close. She continued

infuriated Veronica the most was Azalea’s endless array of tactics. One moment, she was ensnared by vines, and

a storm of frost arrows. Now, Azalea had conjured a swamp

they were rendered useless in the face of such relentless and varied assaults. It was

Azalea’s Elysian amulet, Veronica would have won by now. It was maddening

victory, any means are

she had a priceless bottle of Gerandium on hand. With this, she could attack

taking the pill,

hand again, and thousands of frost arrows filled the sky. It formed a dense, overwhelming barrage that blocked out

Veronica spat out in

Gerandium to boost her energy, she wasn’t worried about running

just

now, precious Gerandium! When

spectators couldn’t resist murmuring among themselves as they watched Azalea using

filled with frustration, jealousy, and envy, but mostly a

supposed to be a test of skill, but Azalea’s use of divine artifacts and pills

“Fall!”

the murmurs around her, Azalea directed a

unable to move. She could only swing her spear while channeling her internal energy to block

body to shiver and her arms to numb.

which left bloody wounds on her. Plus, the freezing power of the arrows made her movements