"If you don't use it now you'll lose" Audrey advised the bruised and battered Jade she just kicked away.

"Will it even be useful after you told me to use it?" Jade replied in a somewhat wronged tone.

While she expected a tough fight from Audrey, she never expected one so tough that she'd get completely overwhelmed.

She was practically being bullied. And that was with Audrey probably holding back so as not to embarrass her too much.

"...." Audrey didn't say anything, only smiling wryly.

She kinda felt bad for Jade. But she also couldn't let up lest she get beaten up instead. That's why she thought of giving Jade a suggestion.

It was only after giving it that she realised that it was a terrible one. In fact, it probably felt like mocking, to Jade.

And so, she decided not to say anything else until the battle was over.

{Well, she isn't wrong... I can at least throw everything I have at her before I lose... And it's not guaranteed that I'll lose either...} Jade thought to herself then...

BOOOOOM!

An invisible energy suddenly exploded out of Jade...

And without wasting even a millisecond she charges forward at Audrey and...

Bang!

Her first-ever clean hit with no consequences landed on Audrey.

It had happened so quickly and suddenly that Audrey was completely caught off guard... However....

BOOOOM!

A similar energy exploded out of Audrey as she dodged Jade's follow-up move...

"Now let's see you managed to retain more Force" Audrey said with a smile while floating in the air.

A little blood was flowing out of her mouth and she was obviously in pain from the serious hit she took... But that didn't stop her from trying.

Maybe it was because of her class or Muku's blood tainted her, but when the conditions were right, she also became a battle maniac like Muku and Jade.

The punch from Jade seemed to have done just that. She even forgot that she promised herself not to speak anymore.

"Sure..."Jade replied simply then...

BOOM

BOOM

The two exploded forward at once and clashed at the centre.

This time, force was doing all the talking. And since their mastery was about the same. They exchanged blows left and right.

At one time Audrey would land a hit and at the other Jade would.

This was because pure martial arts wasn't as effective when your opponent could release a force wave to disrupt you. So Audrey's advantage was mostly nullified.

This was why Muku said that it was still anyone's game before...

....

A whole later...

Audrey and Jade were now fighting in the air to see who would slip up first since they were both still not too proficient in aerial battles.

They could fight on the ground but that would make the fight even longer than it already was. Which was something neither wanted after fighting for so long.

After all, whoever won had to face the rest of the girls. So they couldn't afford to fight for too long.

It was already terrible enough that their fight lasted so long.

BANG! BANG! BOOOM!

The duo kept on exchanging blows until they were both bloodied all over.

The others looked on in awe. They were certain that if it were them facing either Audrey or Jade, they would have lost long ago.

And that made them respect the duo even more. They weren't ashamed to admit that no matter what the final result would be, the winner of the current battle would be the rightful number one and the loser would be the rightful number two...

"Okay, this is lasting too long... Why don't we end it in one attack?" Jade proposed an idea to Audrey while slightly huffing.

She was more than happy to continue as she was enjoying the battle a lot. Ot was after all, the first time she had such an evenly matched match.

But she knew that it wasn't smart to continue anymore...

"Sure. That sounds like a good idea to me" Audrey replied while huffing slightly as well.

"Great... Ref, can you toss that coin again please?" Jade called out to Raya after Audrey agreed.

Raya silently nodded then came in between the two who were more than twenty meters apart. She then threw the coin into the air and disappeared from the centre before reappearing back on her seat.

The duo gathered their remaining force as they focused on the coin.

With their current evolution stage. The coin was crystal clear and practically moving in slow motion in front of their eyes. Then...

Tink!

The coin came down and hit the metal ground.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A combined sound which showed how in sync Audrey and Jade were in that moment was heard. Then... Silence.

"Well, it seems I lost. But losing to you isn't all that bad I guess..." Jade spoke calmly then...

BO....

Her body started cracking about to explode into pieces when Muku appeared beside her calmly and touched her shoulder.

The explosion which was about to kill her on the spot was instantly erased from existence.

However, Jade still fainted from it leaving a continuous flow of blood from her mouth, nose, ears and eyes... It was clear that she was extremely injured even though everything was stopped in time...

"N..." Audrey was about to scream in horror and regret when Muku placed his finger on her mouth which stopped her.

"Don't embarrass her by crying about this. She'd want you to take the victory proudly. She said that she's happy that you won after all... Besides..." Muku spoke calmly as he removed his finger from Audrey's mouth.

As he finished speaking, a familiar green glow appeared around Jade's body...

It was Hope's healing glow. And in no time at all. Jade was completely healed without any hidden injuries.

And again, Hope showed her unparalleled importance in the group. They couldn't literally lose anyone else since they had offensive fighters left and right, but they couldn't lose her since she was the only healer. And she was probably the best healer on the planet too.

So even if she didn't have her poison element which again placed her among the elites of the planet, she would still be as important as she was then.

"See. She's completely fine..." Muku continued after Hope quietly healed Jade from the side...

"Why isn't she waking up?" Audrey who was still not completely appeased asked.

"Don't worry about that. She's just mentally exhausted and is asleep. You can look at her face..." Muku replied calmly and directed Audrey's attention to Jade's completely relaxed face.

"Oh okay..." Audrey could only let it go for now under Muku's reassuring gaze.

However, she still felt terrible for what she did. She wished she could go back in time and not do it...

"Good that you understand. Congratulations on the win. You'll get a five-minute break to gather yourself while your next opponent is also getting decided..." Muku addressed Audrey then walked away with Jade in his arms.

"...I'm proud of you" He spoke again without looking back.

"And I'm proud of you too..." He whispered while looking at the girl in his arms.

He knew more than anyone that the battle was anyone's game until the very last moment after all...

In fact, if things had gone how everyone thought they were going to go, Jade would be standing tall as the winner...

Audrey looked at Muku's receding back for a bit longer then closed her eyes. She opened them soon after, but this time there was only resolution in them.

She then sat down as she wanted to rest as much as possible before her next opponent. And mediation was the way to go...

....

"Is she really okay?" Emily asked Muku worriedly as she and the others came to check on Jade when Muku placed her on a newly created bed beside him.

"Yeah. She should wake up after resting for a bit..." Muku replied while he sat back down and looked at Audrey who was now mediating.

A small approving smile appeared on his face. He liked how Audrey had "matured" a lot compared to two years ago.

Back then she wouldn't have been able to recover so easily. Sure, she probably hasn't recovered from what happened, but she now knew how to keep her priorities straight and put her worries aside for later...

"Oh, okay. That's good... But, what was that? I thought Jade was dead!" Emily asked after checking on Jade.

"That... Well, that was genius. So genius that even I never thought of it... Then again, I've never been in such a situation. However, it was genius nonetheless. Truly unexpected..." Muku replied while in a state of awe as he replayed what happened in his head.

"Oh, it was genius, was it? That's great! But that still doesn't answer anything!" Emily snapped because of Muku's vague answer. He spoke like he was appreciating art instead of explaining clearly like she expected any normal person would do.

"Oh, right. You all are still too green and weak to see everything clearly huh? Well, let me tell you what happened then. Listen clearly for we just witnessed history today!" Muku replied again. The dreamy look in his eyes didn't disappear.

Everyone listened intently not wanting to miss what he was about to say...