My Seven Wives in One Body and Me, her Manager-Chapter 81: Round Two : Capture The Flag Fortress Part 2

"Clang,"

Ivan swung his sword horizontally, and Sofia parried it, though she was knocked back a step, her feet skidding across the cracked asphalt.

"Hmm... truly strong," Sofia muttered.

"You too—it’s impressive you could block my attack. Have you ever thought about switching your weapon to a sword? You’re a paladin, right?" Ivan asked.

"I don’t do the attacking; I leave the offense to my friends," Sofia replied.

"I see. Just consider it; using a sword like mine can be used for parrying too. Actually, my class is meant for defense, but I use it for attacking," Ivan replied, looking at his massive blade.

"That’s a good point... alright, I’ll consider it. Thanks for the advice. Let’s keep going," Sofia replied with a smile, raising her shield.

"Alright, let’s go again," Ivan replied.

Without a moment’s delay, the two charged forward again, attacking and parrying in a perfect balance. Meanwhile, in the air, Rachel kept searching for a way to reach the surrounding buildings to hide, but Akira refused to let her go, constantly pinning her down with gunfire.

"Huh... this is really annoying," Rachel said in her head.

She immediately raised both hands and several portals opened. Six banshees emerged from the portals and "skrieeeeek"—they shrieked, firing shrill, terrifying sound waves toward Akira. Naturally, Akira instantly opened ten portals of his own, deploying various weapon barrels that blasted the sound waves until they dissipated, then rained down a barrage of shots on Rachel. She was stuck, unable to move, only able to stand still and deflect the incoming fire with her barrier while her banshees blocked the bullets with their voices.

On the rooftop, "clang," Hyunjin parried a shuriken from Harumi, who was sprinting around him at incredible speeds. He used his energy flying knives without even moving from the flag. Seeing her attack fail, Harumi pressed her hands together, forming symbols with her fingers. She then leaped forward, drawing the sword at her waist to strike Hyunjin. Hyunjin was ready for it, but while she was mid-air, Harumi’s body suddenly split into five using her clone skill, and finally, five Harumis were attacking Hyunjin at once.

"Whoaaah,"

Hyunjin leaped backward, and the slashes from the six Harumis struck the ground right where he had been standing.

"Wow... you’re pretty good, sweetheart," Hyunjin said while multiplying his knives and smiling.

"Hehe... thanks, let’s keep going," the six Harumis replied in unison.

The battle raged on. Hyunjin fired his knives at the six Harumis with incredible speed; the blades chased after them relentlessly, following them wherever they moved like homing missiles. Harumi was no pushover; she dodged constantly, occasionally coordinating with her clones to deflect the knives pursuing them. Meanwhile, Hyunjin moved with lightning speed, firing a never-ending barrage of follow-up blades. A green aura lit up the rooftop as six purple auras darted back and forth across the space.

Brad watched the intense battle between Ivan and Sofia, which seemed perfectly matched. He then looked up at Akira, who had relocated to another building and was pinning Rachel down in mid-air with non-stop gunfire, leaving her unable to do anything but defend. Finally, he checked the timer above them, which showed only 15 minutes remaining.

"Man... at this rate, it might end in a draw... I’ve got to do something," Brad muttered.

He immediately leaped back up to the rooftop and saw the fight between Hyunjin and Harumi, then spotted Sasha guarding the weakened Minji in the corner.

"Sasha, hurry up and get to the enemy base to grab their flag. There are only 15 minutes left. If we stay like this, we’re going to end in another draw just like when we fought Gary’s team," Brad said.

"Wait, why me?" Sasha asked.

"You can fly! Get moving. I’ll be the one to guard Minji and keep an eye on Hyunjin," Brad replied.

"Brad is right, Sasha. Go, quickly. I’ll be fine," Minji added weakly.

Sasha thought for a moment, looking at Brad’s face and then at Minji, who was weak but still watching her. Finally, she looked back at Brad and stood up.

"Alright, I get it... I’m going," Sasha replied.

"Good. Move fast, we’re running out of time," Brad replied, giving her a thumbs-up.

Sasha immediately stepped to the edge of the roof. She surged her energy, threw her spear, and then leaped onto the energy-infused weapon. Standing atop it, she shot forward like a comet straight toward the enemy camp to seize the flag. She steered her spear upward to avoid Akira’s fire directed at Rachel and zoomed past the fight between Ivan and Sofia below. As Sasha streaked by like a comet, Rachel spotted her.

"Damn... she’s going for our flag... I won’t let her," Rachel muttered.

She directed three of her banshees to chase Sasha. The banshees flew at high speeds, tailing her. Of course, Sasha noticed and looked back; her eyes widened at the sight of three terrifying female spirits with long, wavy white hair and tattered dresses chasing her down.

"Great... now I’m being hunted by ghosts. I have to hurry," Sasha said.

She pushed her spear to go even faster, but the three banshees stayed right on her tail. When she reached the building acting as Rachel’s team base, she immediately dived her spear and then curved back up, with the three banshees following her every move. Reaching the rooftop, Sasha spotted the flag in the center. She instantly accelerated, skimming low toward the objective, then flipped her spear so her head was down and her hand could snatch the flag.

"Skrieeeek!"

As Sasha zoomed away, the banshees’ sonic screams slammed into the roof. She pulled into a turn and raced back toward her own base, with the spirits still hot on her heels. Sasha looked at the flag in her hand.

"I got it. The time... the time," she said.

She looked at the timer above, which showed about seven minutes remaining. She banked past the building where Akira was still pinning down Rachel, flying right by him. Naturally, Akira saw her and extended his hand toward her rear—more specifically, toward the three banshees chasing her. Three portals opened, and three Gatling gun barrels emerged, immediately shredding the banshees with energy beams.

"Skrieeeeeek!"

The three banshees, hit by the relentless barrage, vanished into thin air as if they had evaporated. Meanwhile, Sasha continued her dash toward her own rooftop, performing a somersault as she reached it. She landed right in front of Brad and Minji, her breath coming in ragged, heavy gasps.

"I... did it," Sasha said, appearing to hyperventilate as sweat poured down her face.

"Great job, Sasha!" Brad shouted.

"Beeeep!" A long alarm sounded, signaling the end of the match. The game was over with four minutes to spare, won by Ivan’s team for successfully capturing the enemy flag. The ongoing battle between Ivan and Sofia came to an immediate halt; Ivan extended his hand, and Sofia shook it. Akira stopped firing and called out to Rachel, who drifted toward him to shake hands. Meanwhile, Hyunjin and Harumi—who had merged back into one—stopped fighting and turned to see Sasha jumping for joy while clutching the enemy flag.

"Well... we lost, but that was intense. Thanks, senior," Harumi said, reaching out her hand.

"Yep, you’re welcome, sweetheart. It really was fun," Hyunjin replied, shaking Harumi’s hand.

After that, Hyunjin and Harumi walked over together to Sasha, who was jumping up and down with Brad and Minji—who was still leaning back weakly but wearing a smile. Meanwhile, outside the simulation in the spectator seats, Dennis, Daisy, Gary, Olivia, Jason, and Kimberly stood up, cheering and jumping around at their seats; they had been tense watching the match and felt a massive wave of relief once the results were in.

The arena lights flickered back on, and naturally, everyone immediately turned to look at the noisy group shouting and carrying on, including the Willow supporters who glared at them with faces full of hostility.

Meanwhile, the two teams that had been competing down below shook hands and lined up facing each other.

"Thank you. That was seriously intense, and it looks like we have a lot to learn from you guys," Rachel said with a smile as she reached out her hand, though a hint of frustration still lingered on her face.

"You’re welcome. We learned a lot from you too, and honestly, if we went one-on-one with you after this, we’d probably lose," Ivan replied with a smile, taking Rachel’s hand.

"I’ll consider your advice, senior," Sofia said.

"How about we spar again sometime, senior?" Harumi asked Hyunjin.

"Sure, anytime is fine, but next time you’ll have to face my wife," Hyunjin answered, putting his arm around Minji, who immediately elbowed him in the ribs.

"Alright," Harumi replied, smiling at Minji.

The second round ended peacefully, and the third round—the direct one-on-one battles—was about to begin. But suddenly, Rachel stepped forward to face Ivan.

"Sorry, but for the third round, could we ask for something?" Rachel asked Ivan.

Ivan raised an eyebrow, confused by Rachel’s request, and turned to look at Sasha beside him. She just shrugged her shoulders, clearly just as clueless as he was.