Ava had grown tired of seeing people that had no business challenging Michael fight him! For once, she wanted to get a taste of his strength herself.
Michael didn't decline, like many of the onlookers expected. Instead, he chuckled before stepping forward.
"Is he really planning to fight Daredevil?!"
"If the rumors are true, he is the one that baited the Elites away, so it's only natural that she would want to challenge him."
Whispers began to spread around the area. The consensus was that even if Michael were a genius, he would lose against Ava.
Bryce, who had been watching the fights with excitement, glanced at Victoria before asking, "Who do you think will win?"
She remained silent for a few seconds before shaking her head. "I am not sure. I think they are about equal in power."
"A Middle Adept equal to an Early Expert? Now this is an interesting claim." The old man laughed, stroking his overgrown beard.
Meanwhile, back at the arena, the onlookers began to move backwards, effectively expanding the range of the arena to 50 meters in diameter.
"Summon your soul weapon!" Ava grinned, pointing with her giant hammer toward Michael.
'So she wants to use weapons. Why am I not surprised?' He mused before summoning his soul weapon.
'Hey, I have an idea. Why don't you add a condition? The winner would have the right to do whatever they want to the loser's body. If you fluster her before the fight even starts, you'll have a higher chance of winning!' Devil's Tongue suggested, causing Michael to chuckle once more.
'The name Devil's Tongue does indeed suit you.' He replied before taking a step forward.
[Berserker activated]
No longer willing to take it easy, he was going to go all out from the very start.
A large smile plastered over Ava's face, seeing his crimson eyes.
'So he is going to take me seriously!' Full of excitement, she shattered the ground beneath her feet before dashing forward.
[Dash activated]
But with the use of his technique, Michael proved much swifter. Reaching her faster than any common soldier could perceive, he swung.
"I have been next to you long enough to know your fighting style!" Ava declared, bringing her hammer down, meeting his attack.
BOOM!
The nearest onlookers felt a strong wind brush past their faces from the sheer power the two had exerted.
"With Dash over, you have to wait 30 seconds before you use it again, right?!" Ava said with a strange glint in her eyes before attacking again.
Michael didn't back down when faced with the giant hammer, meeting her attack once again.
Boom!
The two locked in a fierce battle, exchanging hundreds of blows every minute, leaving the onlookers stunned.
"We had such powerful captains all this time?"
"Honestly, I feel relieved that these monsters are on our side."
"These two are definitely fighting for the top spot on the leaderboard. The question is, who will take the first spot?!"
Approximately 20 minutes later, both of them found themselves out of breath, exhaustion slowing down their movements.
'If she can exhaust you so much in battle, imagine how you will feel if she joined you in your be—' Before Devil's Tongue could finish his sentence, Michael dashed forward, seeing an opportunity.
Ava raised her hammer, about to meet him, only for him to disappear out of sight.
[Blink activated]
This had been Michael's plan all along. After exhausting Ava in their battle, he waited for the perfect time to use Blink and teleported behind her.
But unlike any other foe he had faced until now, she had a good grasp of the way he thought. Anticipating that he would use his teleportation technique, she let go of her hammer with one arm and activated her cybernetic.
The end result was Michael standing behind her with his sword next to her throat, while her cybernetic right hand was pointing backward, extended into a blade an inch away from piercing his heart.
"It's a draw!" The onlookers exclaimed in collective shock. They hadn't expected a Middle Adept to rival an Early Expert in power.
"Did you see the last move that Michael used?! Wasn't that teleportation?"
While humanity had yet to grasp how teleportation worked, the same couldn't be said about individual-level techniques. Techniques that could allow one to teleport existed but were extremely rare.
"To think that you would push me so far." Ava said, retracting her blade.
"You are the first man to leave me breathless~" She teased, her body drenched in sweat.
"It was a pleasure." Michael flashed her a warm smile.
After their fight, several more duels were held, but all of them lacked in comparison.
"This was a valuable experience for all of us." Victoria stepped onto the stage once all of the captains had their fill of combat.
After his battle against Ava, Michael had fought against Amelia and unsurprisingly emerged victorious, as she was equal in strength to Enzo.
"I hope that this gives you inspiration for what to strive for." Victoria continued, looking at the common soldiers.
"Glory to mankind!" They shouted, eyes burning with hunger for strength. They too wanted to reach that level of power someday.
However, their excitement was quickly silenced by her next words.
"Watching so many duels back to back has made me itch for a battle. So how about it? Does anyone want to challenge me to a duel?"
Silence.
Not a single soul moved after her suggestion. If fighting Ava, who was an Early Expert, was a pipe dream, then fighting Victoria, who was a Middle Master, was akin to suicide.
It wouldn't be a lie to say that they wanted to see the extent of their general's power, but no one was daring enough to challenge her.
Victoria didn't push. She remained patient as she carefully observed the expressions of her soldiers.
'Why do I have a feeling that this is her way of saying she wants to test me while not calling me out directly?' Michael sighed. He knew there was no way he could beat her, but he didn't want to miss the chance to spar with her.
"I would like to challenge you."
Due to the eerie silence, his words traveled across the whole camp, causing all eyes to lock onto him.
Victoria met his gaze as he stepped forward.
And slowly smiled.