Magic Trick

[Trick's PoV]

"COMMENCE!"

� � � � � � It is the third cluster match between Brazil and the Netherlands and I still can't move on to what Fei and I discovered. We haven't told anyone yet as we don't wanna make a commotion. We would like to gather our own evidence first before making a move. We would like to observe first what will happen with this match.�

� � � � � � We've known the Oliveiras and they're not as heartless as the Saint-Pierres. We've talked with them in the Xing mansion and they were amiable. But… I don't know. This battleground changed everyone. Even Fei, which I have seen firsthand.�

� � � � � � Right now, it's Pieter Groenhart versus Raimundo Oliveira. Beketi then explained the special instructions for the match. They got spikes for the dome slot, which means that there will be spikes that will randomly emerge from the ring itself. Then, for the power slot, there's a 'no' sign and inside it is a drop of water, which means they're not allowed to use any water attacks. For the time slot, it says 20, so they have only 17 minutes, so they only have 17 minutes for the battle. It's odd that it's not rounded off to the nearest ten.�

� � � � � � "Seventeen minutes on the clock. Get ready, teams. This will be an intense battle," Shamil commented.

� � � � � � "Both men looked so serious. I wonder what are their attacks would be," Furkan added.�

� � � � � � Raimundo raised his hand and a bolt of lightning from the sky jolted in his entire body. Then, he stretched the lightning with his own hands and formed a whip. He slowly walked towards Pieter, but Pieter didn't move. Pieter just uttered, "Je jaagt jezelf de dood in."

� � � � � � Raimundo asked. "What are you saying?"�

� � � � � � "If I say it in your language, you will regret it," Pieter said.�

� � � � � � "Then, I'll make things more interesting," Raimundo said and whipped the lightning towards Pieter, but Pieter shouted, "Terug."

� � � � � � The lightning curved back to Raimundo and it almost hit Raimundo, but he jumped right away.�

� � � � � � "You can't command my power," Raimundo said.

� � � � � � Pieter winced. "I just did, and let me tell you this. I can kill you in less than a minute if I want to."

� � � � � � "How about I do that first?" Raimundo raised both of his hands and the entire sky darkened, as gray clouds form above the dome. Then, a massive storm of lightning jolted towards Raimundo's body. His aura was stronger than before. His entire self was zapping, and what's even scarier is his eyes… They're just glaring white.�

� � � � � � "Okay, but I have one thing to say," Pieter said.�

� � � � � � "What is it?" Raimundo asked.

� � � � � � "Vais matar-te," Pieter commented.�

� � � � � � Suddenly, Raimundo groaned… Then he growled as he formed a very large lightning ball and pushed it in his body… Afterwards, he exploded. The pieces of his body catapulted everywhere. The intimidating lightning aura was diminished immediately after that.�

� � � � � � "Wait a second…" Shamil was in awe. "Did he just…"

� � � � � � Furkan turned to Jang-mi to ask how that would be decided, "Council?"

� � � � � � Jang-mi approached the microphone after she got the decision from the council and announced, "Since Raimundo Oliveira's presence is missing as of the moment, the winner of today's first match is Pieter Groenhart of the Amsterdam team."

� � � � � � I looked at the timer. It just ticked to 14:59, which means everything happened in the last two minutes. Pieter didn't even do anything. He just talked!

� � � � � � I turned to Haru and asked him, "Haru, do you know anything about Pieter?"

� � � � � � "He is Fenna's cousin. He's usually quiet. He doesn't talk much. Makes sense here now, right?" Haru said.�

� � � � � � "So… He uses the words to attack?"

� � � � � � "I do have a little knowledge about Dutch and Portuguese, but I think he said something like 'kill yourself'," Haru explained.�

� � � � � � That explained Raimundo's movement. He used the lightning to pierce his own body.� That's one scary move, to be honest.�

� � � � � � "Now, I would like to ask both teams, since the fight was finished in under five minutes, we can proceed to the next match. Do you concur, Amsterdam?" Jang-mi asked.

� � � � � � "Yes, that's okay," Fenna uttered.

� � � � � � Reginaldo stepped forward and breathed deeply. I can see in his eyes that he was lamenting his brother's death, as tears form in there, but they weren't falling. "Agreed."

� � � � � � "Therefore, the second match between Amsterdam and Rio de Janeiro teams will commence after Beketi announces the special instructions for this round!" Jang-mi pointed to the screen.

"It's me, Beketi, your friendly cat!" Beketi said as he jumped out of the luggage. "Let's find out what you got, guys!"

� � � � � � The slots ran very fast and it stopped one by one. "Yay! For the dome slot, you got the inverted glacier! This means that there will be shards of ice ready to attack you."

� � � � � � When Beketi mentioned that, a panel from the dome roof moved to form bazooka-like cannons that would shoot them with ice shards.

"For the power slot, there's a 'no' sign and inside it is a picture of splashing water, which means, you'll have to fight without using a liquid attack against your opponent."�

"I got a question, Beketi," Fenna raised her hand. "Is it just water or any kind of liquid?"

"Any kind of liquid," Beketi answered.�

Fenna's facial expression changed. I looked at Haru and his face turned ghastly. We all know that Fenna's strength is potions, but she won't be able to use it to attack Reginaldo. What is she going to do to win this fight?

"And next, since the first match ended so fast, for the time slot, it says 5, which means, this round must take place in five minutes. Are you ready?"

� � � � � � Fenna remained quiet. Reginaldo just nodded.

� � � � � � Jang-mi shouted to the microphone, "Commence!"

� � � � � � The ice cannons started to blast ice shards everywhere. Even the audience area was not safe, that's why Fei and Haru created a� force field shield for the entire group.�

� � � � � � "I'm sorry about your brother. My cousin is really like that," Fenna said with a worried face.

� � � � � � "I'm not taking your apology. I will avenge my brother. If I have to kill you, I must," Reginaldo raised his arm and he got a zap of lightning from the sky. It was just a quick bolt, but Reginaldo's body was covered in this massive lightning aura just like Raimundo earlier.�

� � � � � � "I cannot fight you. I only use potions to fight, but I am not allowed to throw my bottles at you, so… let me end my life right now," Fenna spoke.

� � � � � � "Fenna, no!" Haru shouted.�

� � � � � � I looked at Ellis and he snarled.

� � � � � � Fenna brought out a small bottle. "Therefore, I'm not going to attack you with this potion, but I'll be the one using it for myself. It's a bottle containing the world's most lethal poison from different venomous animals such as the Australian box jellyfish, the blue-ringed octopus, and the inland taipan snake. There is no antidote for this. I will die in just seconds. If you want, while the poison reacts on my body the moment I drink this, you can attack me with your lightning. In this way, you can avenge your brother. I really am sorry…"

� � � � � � "Stop!" Haru shouted.

� � � � � � When Haru said that, Ellis scoffed and left the dome. He walked out right away. Well, maybe it's childish for Ellis, but for me, I can understand Haru. It's a life that is about to be lost, so it must be stopped immediately.�

� � � � � � "If you say so," Reginaldo uttered and stretched his lightning like a whip. Just like Raimundo did earlier.�

� � � � � � "Goodbye," Fenna said and she drank the small vial and in just a moment, she was like having a seizure on the ring.�

Reginaldo, on the other hand, jumped really high to avoid the ice shards, then he slapped his whip on Fenna's body to make sure she won't be able to stand anymore, but…

� � � � � � Fenna stopped moving and raised her hand. She then did this evil smirk and held Raimundo's lightning whip. It didn't take five seconds, but… the lightning turned into ice as the ice shards touched it. The ice ran towards Raimundo's body and turned his entirety into ice while in mid-air.�

� � � � � � "What a fast turn of events!" Furkan shouted to the microphone.

� � � � � � "So, all that Fenna van der Linden did was for show?" Shamil said. "She didn't use her potions literally to attack Reginaldo Oliveira, but it gave her power to have control with his power by using the dome slot special instruction which is the ice shards. Now, Reginaldo Oliveira was immovable on air."�

� � � � � � Fenna stood up and just avoided the incoming ice shards, as the ice shards hit Reginaldo's body which was in full ice. One by one, the parts of Reginaldo's body that were hit fell from above. First, the hands, then the arms, then the legs, then his thighs, his shoulders, his stomach, and lastly, his head which was hit on the forehead, randomly.�

� � � � � � I looked at the time and it was just 4:09, which means, the entire fight took place in roughly 50 seconds.�

� � � � � � The ice shards stopped ejecting, as Jang-mi raised her hand. "As we all can see, Reginaldo Oliveira was unable to fight anymore as he turned into ice and with broken parts. Therefore, this match is won by none other than Fenna van der Linden of the Amsterdam team. With that being said, with two wins, the Amsterdam team will move on to the next part of the competition. This ends our cluster battle for this day. Thank you, everyone, for joining us. Come Monday next week, we will have our next cluster battle between…"

� � � � � � The Team Selector roulette appeared on the big screen and it showed…�

� � � � � � "The Edinburgh team of Scotland versus the Mumbai team of India!"

� � � � � � Due to the suspense, I didn't realize that Fei was holding my hand… and it got tighter and tighter as Madame Corvina emerged to the ring, together with two women, which I presume, her sisters. Janardan and Sanjivani also arrived at the ring and nodded to the Scottish ladies.�

� � � � � � "Madame Corvina…" Fei snarled this time. I looked at Jia and she was also pretty mad. Haru seemed calm but he closed his book and paid attention to the Edinburgh team.�

� � � � � � Now I'm terribly curious. I wanna find out why they're like this towards their former head servant.�