Chapter 86: Ritta and Uriel Sparring (2)

Chapter 86: Ritta and Uriel Sparring (2) Henrietta had been hit for the second time, but this time, she quickly bounced back up and stood, gritting her teeth hard. With a guttural growl, she lunged forward once more. "Bitch...! That hurts!" "Watch your mouth! I never taught you to speak like that!" Uriel snapped, not staying still, continuing to press the offensive. Off to the side, two figures watched the pair fight. "Who do you think will win?" asked the smaller one—Yifa—who moved from the corner to beside Xu Tao without notice. "Brute force with no technique, or the Taiji Spiral Guard technique I taught?" "Hmm..." Xu Tao hummed, his gaze affixed to the two fighters, watching their rapid exchange—or more accurately, Henrietta’s one-sided beating. Just from their current state, it was obvious Uriel held the upper hand, but... "It’s hard to tell," Xu Tao murmured. "Uriel’s running low on Qi from her aggressive style, completely deviating from her norm. While Henrietta is minimizing the damage she receives by covering her body with Qi." "True..." Yifa nodded, smiling. "But can the Young Miss last long enough for Uriel to run out of steam~?" Her words were a mix of teasing and condescension, as though she looked down on Henrietta’s potential. However, Xu Tao only smiled, as if he’d just heard a funny joke. "She doesn’t need to wait that long," he replied, voice filled with confidence. "After all, everything up to this point was part of her game plan." "Huh...?" Yifa let out a confused sound—only to be met with another surprise. BOOM! Finally, Henrietta’s punch connected! ???????????? "Fuck..." Henrietta cursed as she cleared the blood clot from her nose. The spar had only lasted a minute, and she was already battered like an old rag. Cuts across her arms, bruises on her face, some internal bleeding, and ruptured organs. She had already taken over a dozen of Uriel’s attacks head-on, unable to even guard against one of them. Uriel’s flowing movements were hard to counter, and worse, they dealt internal damage. Despite Henrietta’s attempts to shield herself with Qi, her insides were still severely rattled. Even breathing had become difficult. ’But with this, she’s running on fumes!’ Henrietta wasn’t an idiot. She knew she had no chance in a straight-up fight against Uriel, who was far more technically skilled. That’s why she forced Uriel to dance to her rhythm—a battle of endurance, a test of Qi reserves! As a Gold Rank, compared to Uriel’s Silver Rank, she had the absolute advantage in both quantity and quality of Qi. Thus, as long as she could hold out until Uriel was fully depleted, she’d win! Of course, Uriel was aware of this too—but she still had no choice but to attack. If she gave Henrietta room to breathe and freedom to counterattack, the match might be decided in a single hit. Worse, she knew better than anyone how little Qi she had left. Prolonging the battle wasn’t an option. ’I have to render her unable to fight with my next strike!’ Henrietta lacked the finesse to block Uriel’s attacks, but her thick Qi shielding reduced the damage to less than half of what it should have been. To win, Uriel had to strike a vital point—either the heart or the head—and end the spar. "Here I come!" With a short battle cry, Uriel resumed her mysterious footwork. It was filled with arc-like movements, making it difficult to predict where she’d be the next second. Henrietta was completely helpless against this technique—it had already led to a dozen hits landing on her. Uriel’s plan was simple: ’I’ll slip under her defense and strike the back of her head with one decisive blow!’ Each step closed the distance. Henrietta’s expression twisted in panic, barely able to keep Uriel’s figure in her field of vision. And then, when Uriel was finally within arm’s reach— "Heh!" —Henrietta’s lips curled into a grin. "...!" Uriel noticed the anomaly a moment too late. Henrietta’s fist was already coming forward, breaking the sound barrier. It wasn’t a punch packed with power—but with pure speed. Still, getting hit by it would spell game over for Uriel. In an instant, she halted her step and changed direction, dodging the incoming blow—only to realize her mistake a split second later. "WHAT A DIRTY—!" BOOM! Henrietta’s fist hadn’t been aimed at Uriel. It had been aimed at the sandy ground beneath their feet! The entire training ground trembled from the impact—no, even the mansion itself shook, as if a magnitude 6 earthquake had passed through. Some of the maids upstairs fell on their butts from the shock. Now imagine Henrietta, standing within the blast radius. "Ptew!" Uriel’s figure leapt back, escaping the exploding wall of sand. The moment she saw Henrietta’s fist target the ground, she’d instinctively begun retreating. It was a little late, and the sand buffeted around her, inflicting some abrasive damage. But the worst part wasn’t the scratches. ’Shit, I lost sight of Ritta!’ The explosion acted as a smokescreen, hiding Henrietta’s figure completely. With their current specs, launching one or two attacks before the dust settled was child’s play. Uriel kept her eyes wide open, scanning for signs of movement. Despite sand irritating her eyes, she refused to blink—but saw nothing. No motion. No Qi fluctuations. Just as she landed, her Qi reserves hit rock bottom, causing her legs to buckle slightly. "Finally!" came a voice. A figure burst out of the sand, fist raised high and burning with fire. "This is my win, Uriel...!" "Ritta...!" Uriel gasped, eyes widening. "So you were hiding under the sand!" "It’s over...!" Henrietta’s fist came down fast, like a flaming meteor—burning with Qi that reinforced her body. Uriel watched the incoming blow, then... smiled. "Sorry, Ritta. But as expected, you’re still lacking in experience." "...!" At the last possible moment, Uriel moved. Her Qi, supposedly depleted—suddenly flickered back. It was minuscule, just enough for one last move, but more than enough for this situation. She concentrated all her Qi into her palms, gently wrapping Henrietta’s fist with them. Carefully, she guided all of the force away from her body and toward the side—while simultaneously launching a counter-palm strike to Henrietta’s face. "Taiji Spiral Guard: Flowing Mirror Stance!" Using Henrietta’s aerial momentum against her, and adding a pull to her fist at the last second, Uriel’s palm strike landed with devastating precision—flattening Henrietta’s nose and rattling her brain. "Ugh...!" Henrietta groaned, her body going limp—her punch completely nullified by a perfectly-timed palm strike. But of course, Uriel suffered too. The power behind the punch was too much for one arm alone to bear. Her entire arm dislocated, her bones fracturing. Both the ulna and radius in her right arm snapped clean through and protruded through her skin, covered in blood. "Haa... Haa... I... win..." Yet despite the injury, her smile remained. Henrietta collapsed, unconscious before she even hit the ground. The battle was over—Uriel had won!