He chuckled softly as she struggled to get away from his deadly white sword and his wandering left hand.
This singular act by Zavier infuriated the hell out of Shiranui. Earlier on, she had been turned on by the mere thought of compelling this annoying boy to lick her toes in front of everyone. This thought had flooded the region between her thighs with luscious moisture.
Although the burning desire had long died down, she had creamed a little when Zavier touched her down south. Shiranui was ashamed. She was angry. So she began to fight back desperately.
At this point in the battle, both Zavier and Shiranui had already showed their hands. It was almost impossible for both of them to hold back any longer.
As the two of them went hard at it, Zavier's Cold Blaze dominated the scene. Shiranui's Black Flame which seemed indestructible a few moments ago suddenly appeared to be so inconsequential.
Zavier went into an attack frenzy with Cold Blaze.
As he slashed and slashed with his glowing white sword, bits and pieces of frost enveloped his form and the atmosphere around him. Even he was well aware of just how impressive he appeared in that moment.
"That's right…"
He thought to himself;
"If I keep up the pressure on her, she may end up getting hurt, or worse…."
"I may need to slow down and ease up on her a bit. There's no way she can keep up."
Zavier's analysis of his enemy's current situation was apt. Shiranui was clearly getting overwhelmed. Her steps were starting to lag.
She speed had significantly reduced in the last couple of minutes, and since Zavier had completely suppressed her katana, she virtually had nothing to counter with.
As Shirnaui tried her best to fend off Zavier's heavy attacks, Zavier noticed something in her eyes, even though she tried to mask it with an aggressive front, the unmistakable look of terror was there.
A sweet opportunity presented itself in the form of a decent opening, that was when he made an executive decision that changed the trajectory of the match.
Just as his lightning sword was about to decimate Shirnaui's collarbone, Zavier decided to hold back and divert the attack somewhere else.
This proved to be a serious mistake for Zavier. Although his intentions were noble, the frustrated Shiranui read it as a default on her enemy's end. Quick as lightning, she took advantage of his brief moment of lapse and went in for the kill.
Shiranui balled her fist and struck Zavier squarely in his lower ribcage with a blast of Black Flame. It was a neat attack that had been delivered deftly.
Shiranui escaped getting split in half by Zavier's Cold Blaze sword because of his decision to spare her while, ironically, Zavier got smitten in the process by the opportunistic enemy he had been trying to save. It was the ideal example of an ironic twist.
The painful cry that came from Zavier cut through the air like an acoustic anomaly. It broke every heart that heard it. In that moment, everyone felt his pain.
Zavier slumped down on his knees with his left hand clutching his new injury. His was was contorted on agony.
Zavier was dumbfounded. He hadn't expected this degree of pain. It felt like liquid fire had been passed through his ribs and was swelling within that region like a growing flame. The attack had ripped him open and ruptured his blood vessels.
Even as the blood came gushing out, it doubled his pain and tripled the burning sensation which was already threatening to knock him out.
But even deeper than the physical pain was an unquantifiable degree of mental pain that Zavier struggled in vain to contain.
Zavier felt the pain in two dimensions; in his physical body and in his soul. The agony was unbearable so, he immediately summoned Cold Blaze, it was the one thing that could consume the Black Fire ravaging through his body and soul.
Valarie had seen enough to know that this was all over. But for the sake of Zavier's dignity, she didn't act out her presumptuousness. Instead of calling off the match, she called for a timeout. Having paused the match, she looked at Zavier and asked the burning question on her mind;
"Are you okay Zavier Adam?"
The defiant look in his eyes gave her the answer even before he answered.
"I am fine."
Zavier rasped.
Valarie took a long look at his injury and instantly knew that the damage that the Black Flame had inflicted on her nephew wouldn't go away. Like a mother bear defending her young, she turned to Shiranui and glared at her with hateful resentment.
Although Valarie didn't say it aloud with words, the murderous glare she shot Shiranui spoke volumes.
Shiranui had backed away from Zavier but she was very much still in the ring. She was a mess. Her internal conflict raged as she struggled to contain herself.
Overwhelmed, she stared at Zavier with a mixture of shock and confusion. Shiranui hadn't expected him to take her into consideration like that.
She knew that he had intentionally diverted his wrath away from her because he wanted to protect.
But her fear and hatred of losing dominated all her conscious and subconscious decisions. Shiranui hated the idea of even losing.
She hadn't lost a single fight since she was a child. This had formed the foundation of her character and her confidence. And on top of that foundation, she had established an irrational hatred for losing.
Zavier on the other hand was battling with the severe pain. Despite the excruciating agony, he struggled to get up on his feet. As he rose to his full height, he fixed his eyes on Shiranui. She watched his next move curiously.
Without taking his eyes off her, Zavier walked purposefully in her direction and stopped a couple of feet away from her.
"I Zavier Adam hereby concede."
Zavier's concession meant that she was the winner by default. This was the victory she had so desperately wanted.
But in this very moment, it felt meaningless to her. She knew what she did. Shiranui was so ashamed that she couldn't even utter the customary reply of 'I accept your concession.' She just stood there.
Staring like a goldfish.
The opportunistic Calista wasted no time. Despite the special circumstances surrounding the battle, she hurriedly made the announcement;
"By virtue of concession, I hereby announce Shiranui of Class A the sole winner of this match!"
The silence that met her was loud. No one celebrated. Not even the members of her own class.
There was no sugar-coating the truth, they had all seen it for themselves- Shiranui had lost that match. Zavier was the real victor here.