Blair's aura, which was notably weaker, charged up again, her aura forming around her body, the lava surrounding her body like armor.

  Blair charged at Kaitan with a burst of speed, her hands forming a powerful fist, ready to unleash a devastating blow.

  Kaitan laughed softly, knowing that Blair was pushing herself to the limit. "Oh, you're still going, are you? How stubborn of you. But do you really think that one attack will be enough to take me down?”

  Blair gritted her teeth, her determination undeterred. "Damn right it will! I'm gonna knock you down to the damn ground with this attack!"

  Her aura doubled in intensity, concentrating it all into her fist, leaving the rest of her body completely vulnerable.

  Kaitan watched as Blair's aura flared up, seeing how she was completely focused on the one final attack. "So, even with your body completely vulnerable, you're still determined to land this attack?”

  Blair's eyes stayed focused on Kaitan, her determination unwavering. "How d’ya even know I'm vulnerable? You shouldn't even be able to see my aura right now!”

  Kaitan chuckled, his smirk returning once more. "Oh, but I can sense it. Your aura is focused solely on your fist, leaving the rest of your body completely defenseless. One simple strike anywhere and you'd fall.”

  Blair cursed quietly under her breath, knowing he was right. With her aura completely concentrated on her fist, the rest of her body was completely undefended. But she remained determined to land this last attack, no matter the cost.

  "But I'm...I'm..."

  "...Using Conceal to hide your aura, yes? Well, unfortunately for you, while one can hide their aura's presence from non-Void Mages, one cannot hide it from another Void Mage. After all, that would be quite cheap, wouldn't you agree?"

  Blair grunted at this information, freezing in place as the realization set it.

  Dammit, why didn't Celeste tell me THAT part? Blair thought.

  Kaitan giggled at Blair's expression, seeing her realization. "Aha, it looks like you just realized something, yeah? Hiding one's aura presence is useless against Void Mages, isn't it?”

  Blair grunted in frustration, cursing her own ignorance. "Damn it all! I didn't know that…”

  “You didn't? How intriguing. So you've been practicing Conceal all this time without knowing it's useless in the face of another Void Mage?

  “I guess I have. Dammit...I must look pretty weak right now.”

  "Oho, you look quite vulnerable for someone who just had high levels of confidence.”

  Blair growled, angry at herself for being caught in such a vulnerable state. "Damn it all...this isn't going as planned…”

  Kaitan chuckled once again, taking pleasure in Blair's predicament. "Oh, I can see that clearly. You're completely exposed, and utterly helpless. All it would take is one simple strike to bring you down. Why don't you just forfeit this match, hmm? It's the smart move, and the crowd knows it too.”

  Blair gritted her teeth, refusing to give up just yet. "I...I'm not giving up, damn it…”

  "You really don't know when to quit, do you? Even in a vulnerable state, you refuse to give up. You are quite the stubborn one, aren't you? Just like your friend from earlier?”

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  Blair's face flared up, realizing that Kaitan was referring to Sharline. "You bastard...leave her out of this…”

  Kaitan chuckled, clearly amused by Blair's protective reaction. "Oh, what's this? You're getting quite defensive over your friend, aren't you? I must have struck a nerve, yes? But it's true. She knew she was gonna lose, she knew she was outmatched by Yuki, yet she kept pushing forward anyways. Then what happened? One single brutal knee to the gut, and she was knocked out immediately upon contact.”

  Blair gritted her teeth, anger building up inside her. "Don't...don't talk about her that way! She's a tough girl, she can handle herself fine!”

  Kaitan chuckled softly at Blair's response, clearly enjoying the effect his words were having on Blair. "Oh, I'm sure she is. But she's still young and inexperienced. She let her emotions control her, and it cost her the match. You're on the same road, but you can save yourself the embarrassment by forfeiting right this moment.”

  Blair grit her teeth even harder, refusing to back down. "No...no I can't. I'm not gonna back down. I won't forfeit, no matter what.”

  Kaitan chuckled, his smirk growing even wider. "How amusing. You must really want to suffer a humiliating defeat like your friend.”

  Blair's determination only grew stronger. "No...a defeat is a defeat. There's nothing humiliating about it. And besides, I'm not gonna lose just because I'm in a vulnerable position.”

  Kaitan chuckled once again, finding Blair's stubbornness amusing. "Oh, and why is that? You're quite literally defenseless. One strike and you'd crumble like a house of cards. Is that not something to worry about?”

  Blair gritted her teeth, her determination unwavering. "It is. But I'm not gonna let that stop me. If I'm gonna go down, I'm gonna go down swinging, dammit."

  The crowd began to murmur with disapproval at the inaction of the two fighters, with Kaitan picking up comments like "Stop talking and brawl already!!”

  Kaitan could hear the murmurs from the crowd, but he ignored them, his attention focused solely on Blair. "My, my, the crowd is getting rather…impatient. And they have a point. You're wasting time with all this talking. Why don't you just hit me with this supposed ultimate attack of yours already, eh?”

  Blair's determination only grew stronger. "Alright, fine. If you wanna see it so badly, I'll show it to ya.”

  Kaitan chuckled, his smirk widening. "Oh yes, I indeed do. I quite would like to see what this ultimate attack of yours is all about.”

  Blair grit her teeth, her determination at its peak. "Alright then. Watch this."

  Blair took the rest of her aura and shrouded herself with it once more, charging at Kaitan with a blinding speed with her fist out, looking like a ball of lava flying straight at him.

  Kaitan dodged to the left, evading the attack with ease. He chuckled at Blair's efforts, clearly enjoying the show. "Oh, that was quite an attack. But I'm still standing, aren't I?"

  Blair ignored the taunt and kept charging and charging. Her aura dwindled with each lunge, her aura capacity meter on the arena wall going from 27% to 24%...20%...17%...

  Kaitan continued to dodge Blair's relentless attacks with ease, his smirk never leaving his face. "Come on now, that's it, let it all out. Let your aura run dry.”

  Blair ignored Kaitan and kept going, her aura going to 14%, 11%, 9%...

  Kaitan continued to dodge Blair's attacks, his expression smug and confident. "That's it, keep going. Keep spending that aura, you're almost there.”

  Blair gritted her teeth, her aura going to 7%...5%...3%...

  Kaitan chuckled, seeing Blair's aura count reach dangerous levels. "Oh, you're pushing yourself too far now, aren't you? You're almost drained, and once you're out, you'll be easy picking.”

  Blair was tired, very tired, but she kept going. She was hellbent on landing at least one proper hit on him.

  Aura meter: 1%...

  Kaitan continued to dodge Blair's attacks, his smirk growing wider as he watched her aura meter drop to zero. "Oh, you're down to 1% now. You're seconds away from collapsing. Your aura meter should be out by now.”

  Blair's vision was getting blurry; her body was close to giving out, but she was determined to keep going with the puny amount of aura she had left. Until…

  Aura meter: 0%.

  Kaitan laughed as he watched Blair drop like a fly, face first, onto the arena floor, with the crowd roaring as Marco announced:

  "Blair's aura has been completely depleted! The winner is.......KAITAN!!!!!!!!”

  Kaitan beamed as he approached Blair, who was lying face first on the arena floor. "Well, I must say, you were quite determined. But in the end, you were no match for me. You should've just listened and given up when you had the chance.”

  Blair groaned in pain, still catching her breath. "Shut...up...I told you...I wouldn't...give up…”

  Blair couldn't think of a good response. "I...I just wanted...to take your a-ass down...once...dammit…”

  Kaitan chuckled, amused by her response. "Well, you certainly gave it your all. I'll give you that. But in the end, you simply couldn't keep up with me. You're no match for someone with my experience and skill."

  With those words leaving his lips, Kaitan stepped away from Blair and out of the arena, the crowd still cheering "KAITAN! KAITAN!", much to his enjoyment.