"Ace… he could have at least given me a heads-up," she thought, steadying her breath as her mind raced with heavy facts and determination. "No. He wouldn't have helped me even if I asked. And… if I really want to get stronger, I've got to solve this on my own. If I don't, then I might as well die by Ace's hands."
"Hey, hey~!" said Isaac, gesturing with his hands that Emilia come at him. "Come on, girlie. You won't accomplish anything if you stay still like that. Come!"
With a dash, Emilia headed not towards the opponent in front of her, but instead she headed towards Theodore, surprising Isaac who got pissed off.
"Hey! Where do you think you're going?!" yelled Isaac with rage.
With a sigh, "I planned to leave it to him since I'm not one to gang up on a girl," thought Theodore, his eyes reflecting a hint of irritation. "But she really thinks I'm an easier target than Isaac? I'll make her regret it."
Isaac, blowing up a fuse, went after Emilia while Theodore raised his arm towards her.
"Just a little more," Emilia continued to run straight towards Theodore even as an attack was incoming.
"Stop ignoring me!" Isaac leaped sky-high, clobber in hand and descending towards her.
"Now!" Emilia turned her back on the attack and faced Isaac, her eyes focused on him as if trying to grasp something.
And in that moment, in her eyes, Emilia could see the flow of liquids inside Isaac's body, and she took hold of them.
Isaac felt a strange feeling as though his body suddenly went rigid. And with a single arm swing, she propelled the surprised Isaac right between her and Theodore's attack in an instant.
"Isaac!" screamed Theodore as the attack hit Isaac head-on, blasting him away.
But Theodore had no respite either as with a gasp, Emilia had already positioned herself for an attack.
A mana-charged arrow flew straight at Theodore.
"Shit!" Theodore cursed internally as he raised a powerful shield of wind at the last second to protect himself.
Of course, no announcement came that a participant had been eliminated, and Emilia knew exactly what that meant.
"Damn~!" Isaac moaned, walking back but with a clearly annoyed expression on him. "Exactly what was that thing you did earlier?"
"Enough!" Theodore's voice also came out, his expression as irritated as Isaac's while Emilia stands several meters between them. "Clearly, we greatly underestimated that girl. So let's leave the small talk for later."
"Yeah, you're right," said Isaac, scratching his head before grinning widely with arms spread out in ecstasy. "Well, girlie! Congrats! No one has ever managed to piss off little Theo as you did! So time to feel the pain!"
With that single statement, the battle commenced while Emilia kept her wits about her. Not losing focus for even a moment even though she was unable to react to and follow Isaac's movements that suddenly got faster.
"Too slow girlie!" said Isaac as he attacked with a great sword made of rocks. "I will admit you are strong, but that's about it!"
With a gasp…
Fortunately for Emilia, she was able to block it at the last second using a shield of water.
"Don't think it's over yet!" yelled Theodore as he started attacking her with multiple wind strikes, not leaving her any time to breathe.
With the attack closing in on her…
"I'll probably take some damage, but this is the only way," she thought quickly, hands on the ground as a pulse of mana traveled through the ground.
Emilia unleashed a burst of water that exploded from the ground, using it to jump over them and escape.
"It hurt, but thankfully, Ace's training bore fruit. My body is more durable than before, and I'm able to keep up with their movements," thought Emilia as she landed on the ground several meters away from them, completely drenched with the rain only worsening that case. "Even though I'm alone against those two, I can still hold out fine. But it's not enough to win against them. At best, it may end with us tiring each other out, but I would be the only one at a disadvantage."
"Hey Isaac! I've had enough of playing with this girl! Let's stop dragging this on, and let's go all out!" claimed Theodore, slowly advancing and joining Isaac's side while his annoyance was completely evident from his expression that seemed to have a vein on the verge of bursting.
"I might be the reckless one among us two, but you're definitely way crueler than me when you lose your cool!" said Issac with an amused chuckle and grin. "But fine. Let's show her what happens when we get serious!"
And so, as if the two had found a new breath of life, the twins attacked more ferociously than before. Emilia, still struggling with a rugged breath, was surprised by Isaac's sudden increase in speed and strength.
"What?!" Emilia's eyes widened in shock as she blocked Isaac's kick which blasted her away.
But contrary to expectations, Isaac's assault wasn't over.
Overwhelmed by such a ferocious assault even with the defenses she had put up which enclosed her in a sphere of water, Emilia's last defense tactic ended up being breached, engulfing her in a cloud of dust.
With the dust settling, Emilia reappeared, completely out of breath and injured on her left arm.
During that opening, Isaac, with a sinister chuckle, went in for an attack while Emilia, no longer having any strength left to fight back, struggled to move her body.
"This is the end of the road, girlie!" Isaac said with a booming laugh and excited grin as she closed in on her.
"To think I'd be made to waste my time like this by a single girl," thought Theodore, looking at Emilia with contempt as he simply turned his back on the scene, muttering only one single statement. "Good riddance."
"This is bad. If I don't do something right now, I'm going to lose." she thought while her heartbeat continuously increased in distress, time seeming slow in her eyes. "Move! Come on, move! What options do I have left? What can I do?"
She closed her eyes, a familiar voice then coming to mind.
"How long do you plan to delude yourself?"
It was Ace's words that came to mind.
"If you prove to be useless, I won't hesitate to kill you on the spot."
As her eyes reopened, Isaac was just in front of her. He was only a few meters away with a sword made of stone held firmly in his hands.
Emilia, at that moment, came back to her senses, her own resolve echoing in her mind while her heart thumped stronger than ever, a blue glow glinting in her eyes.
"One mistake, one wrong move and I'll be killed. I really am pathetic. To think that at this point I'm having second thoughts. My skills may have improved, but I'm still weak."
"If I want to have my revenge, I can't stay like this. I need to change. I need to become stronger even if I have to break."
"Bye, bye, missy!" Isaac said, his blade nearing the edges of Emilia's neck.
When all seemed lost for her, Emilia's heart pounded so strongly that her mind crashed, unleashing something unexpected.
"Visualization, encoding, decoding, materialization, execution, activate." As those words crossed her mind, a sudden outburst of freezing mana was released explosion.
"What the?!" Isaac yelled as he was blasted away by the mana outburst while Theodore looked back at the scene only to be engulfed in the cold breath that came at him.
"Goddamn it!"