An PoV

I glanced at Ning as the ring got fixed after the last of the second-year semi-finals. Now, it was the turn for the third-year semis. I wasn't sure who Ning would be facing off, though. But both Yūta and Nobuyuki would be tough. While I did beat them both last year, I had to unleash my sealed power to do so.

Well, it's not that Ning was a slouch either. She had gone toe to toe with Aida, according to Hal. And she had only gotten stronger since the Mahoulympics.

"The first battle of the third-year semi-finals is about to start!" Ms. Key's voice roared over the arena. "First up is the little girl no one should mess with, or she'll make you into hole-covered cheese with her lasers, Ning! And her opponent, a wayward tanuki, Yūta!"

The crowd erupted into cheers, and I could feel the tension in the air as I watched Ning step into the ring. Her expression was focused, and I could see the determination in her eyes. She had trained hard for this moment, and I had no doubt she was ready to give it her all.

Yūta entered the ring with a playful grin, his tanuki ears twitching as he surveyed the audience. He sure was a cheerful one.

He gave Ning a toothy smile. "Ready to lose, short stuff?"

She scoffed and waited for Ms. Key to announce the start of their match. Her eyes were narrowed, and her hand twitched. Ning was reering to go.

“Begin!” Ms. Key declared, and the excitement in the arena reached a fever pitch.

Without a moment's hesitation, Ning sprang into action. She quickly formed a circular drone of shimmering energy above her head, the device humming with power and ready to unleash its lasers. I could hardly believe how fast she set it up; she was in her element.

But Yūta was equally quick. With a confident smirk, he raised his hands and summoned a wall of sand from the ground.

The beam hit the wall of sand, but it failed to get through as Yūta kept replacing the sand being blasted away.

Ning smiled and dashed to the tanuki boy's side.

People in the crowd who hadn't seen her fight before murmured about how fast she was for someone so short.

“Ready to lose, short stuff?” Yūta teased, but his playful grin faltered as Ning surged forward, determined to break through his defenses.

“Not a chance!” she shot back, her voice fierce. She commanded her drone to hover above her, the device humming with energy as it prepared to unleash its lasers.

With a swift motion, Ning fired a barrage of lasers at Yūta's sand wall. The beams sliced through the air, and I could see the sand shifting as it absorbed the strikes, but Yūta was quick to reinforce his defenses.

“Think you can get past me?” he said, a smirk playing on his lips as he expanded the range of his sand. It flowed like liquid, forming larger, thicker barriers to protect him.

Ning didn’t let up. She pressed forward, aiming to break through his defenses. “I’m not backing down!” she declared, pushing herself to go faster.

Just as she was about to reach him, Yūta spread his arms wide, summoning tendrils of sand that snaked out toward her. Before she could react, the sand snared her, wrapping around her arms and torso, holding her in place.

“Gotcha!” Yūta exclaimed, his grin wide as he tightened his grip. My heart raced a bit as I saw her struggle against the sandy binds.

Sarah sighed and typed into her tablet. Using the text to voice feature, she said, "Ning is smart and all, but Yūta isn't an idiot either. If anything, he's trying to trap her by playing defense."

"How so?" I asked, glancing at her.

Sarah crossed her arms and turned her blue eyes toward me. With one hand she typed. "Like right now, he used his sand to grab her. He keeps calling her short stuff, likely to get her to lose her cool and get close to him. It's very simple but effective."

Hal snickered. "Yeah, you would be easy prey to that strategy."

Sarah blushed a little and grumbled.

"See, see? You're getting mad right now!"

Sarah sighed and shook her head at him.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at their banter, though my eyes remained glued to the ring.

Ning blasted her sand binds, but wave after wave of sand kept coming. Her drone blasted a path open, but it quickly closed.

Hal hummed. "It's like fighting a hydra."

Xue, who sat silently beside me, nodded. "Indeed. But perhaps it's even worse."

I turned to Xue, intrigued by her comment. "What do you mean?"

She kept her gaze fixed on the match. "With a hydra, you can cut off one head and it grows back. But with Yūta's sand, he can reshape and reinforce his defenses almost endlessly. It’s not just about brute force; it's about strategy and adaptability."

“Exactly,” Sarah chimed in. “Ning needs to find a way to disrupt his control over the sand. If she can do that, she might just turn the tide.”

As if hearing our conversation, Ning formed more drones around her and readied her signature beam cannon, gripping the device firmly in her hands.

"Three, two, one, fire!" she shouted, and the air crackled with energy as a trio of concentrated beams shot forth, aiming directly at Yūta.

The beams collided with the wall of sand, creating explosive bursts of light and energy that lit up the arena. I could see the grains of sand scatter momentarily, and for a fleeting second, it looked like Ning might break through.

“Come on, Ning! You can do this!” I shouted, my voice drowned out by the roar of the crowd. The spectators were on their feet, captivated by the intensity of the match.

But Yūta was quick to react. With a wave of his hands, he redirected the sand, reforming it into a thicker barrier just in time to absorb the impact of her blasts. The crowd gasped as the sand shifted and swirled, the tanuki boy maintaining control with a confident grin.

“Not today!” he called out as he expanded the wall again, using the sand to create a swirling vortex that shielded him from Ning's onslaught.

Ning's expression hardened, frustration flickering across her face. But she quickly regained her composure. “You think you can outlast me?” she challenged, her voice steady. “I won’t give up!”

With renewed determination, she adjusted her grip on the beam cannon, directing it to create a rapid-fire volley of smaller lasers. The blasts erupted from the cannon, each one striking with precision, aiming to overwhelm Yūta’s defenses. Yet, Yūta continued to adapt, reshaping the sand to absorb and deflect her energy.

“This isn’t working,” I muttered, anxiety creeping in. “She needs to disrupt his control somehow.”

Xue nodded, her expression contemplative. “She must find a way to catch him off guard. If she can distract him, she might create an opening.”

"That's easier said than done," Nyima whispered as she joined us again after checking up on Adela and Lei. She eyed Yūta. "Yūta's defenses are basically perfect. The weakest point would be from above, but even Ning's drones have failed to break through from there. Actually, it's like he wants Ning to attack him from there."

I furrowed my brow as I kept watching the battle. Why would he want that?  It didn’t make sense for him to invite an attack when he had such a solid defense. Unless...

“Maybe he’s playing a psychological game,” I suggested, unable to tear my eyes away from the ring. “He might be trying to lure her into a false sense of security.”

Nyima nodded. “Exactly. If he can make her think she has an opening, he might be able to counterattack when she least expects it.”

“Or he could be saving his strength,” Xue added, her voice steady. “By letting her wear herself out against his defenses, he could be preparing for a stronger counter.”

As if on cue, Ning fired another volley from her beam cannon, the lasers striking the sand wall with explosive force. I couldn’t see Yūta’s face through the thick barrier, but his confident demeanor was evident as the sand flowed around him, absorbing the blasts.

“See? He looks relaxed,” Nyima said, crossing her arms. “It’s almost like he’s enjoying this.”

“Maybe he is,” I replied, my heart pounding as I watched Ning press on. She was giving it her all, but I could see her energy beginning to flag. “But she can’t let that get to her. She has to find a way to break his control.”

Ning launched another wave of lasers, but this time, she took a moment to observe Yūta’s movements closely. I could see the gears turning in her mind as she calculated her next move.

Then suddenly, she shifted her strategy. Instead of continuing her frontal assault, she directed her drones to scatter and create a wide arc around Yūta. “What’s she doing?” Hal asked, his eyes wide with intrigue.

“Maybe she’s trying to flank him,” I said, feeling a surge of hope. “If she can get him to split his focus, she might be able to catch him off guard.”

Yūta, sensing the shift in her tactics, tried to maintain control over the wall of sand. “You think you can fool me?” he called out, but I could sense a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

Ning seized the moment. “You can’t keep up with me!” she shouted, firing her beam cannon toward the ground, creating another explosion of energy that sent debris flying in all directions. The dust cloud obscured our vision, but I could see the wall of sand shifting as he struggled to maintain his defenses.

“Now’s your chance!” I urged, my voice rising above the chaos.

Ning’s drones maneuvered through the cloud, and I could see her preparing to strike from above. “Let’s see how you handle this!” she called out, and with a swift motion, she directed her cannon upward, aiming for the heart of Yūta’s defenses.

The crowd held its breath, and I felt my heart racing. This could be the opening Ning had been waiting for. If she could just maintain the pressure...

I gasped as the beam destroyed the barrier, revealing a hole covered in sand on the ground.

Ning gasped and quickly turned around as a fluffy tail jutted out from the ground and grasped her small body.

“What?!” she exclaimed, thrashing against the tail's grip.

“Gotcha!” Yūta's voice echoed from below, filled with playful confidence.

Ning gritted her teeth as she kept struggling. “You little—let me go!” she shouted, her voice fierce even as the sand began to envelop her.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t have a backup plan?” Yūta called out from beneath the surface, his tone taunting yet undeniably confident. The sand continued to wrap around Ning, forming restraints that held her against the ground.

My heart raced as the sand piled up around her rapidly. “No! Ning!” I yelled, “You have to get out of there!”