How much time has passed since the start of the match...?

"Haa... Haa..."

Despite Julien's best attempts at keeping his breath steady, he was unable to. His mind was buzzing and his vision was slightly blurry.

He was a lot more exhausted than he had originally anticipated.

While his mana reserves were still fine, it was his physical exhaustion that was rendering him helpless.

The 'Concepts' used a lot of stamina.

Not only that, but their strain on his body was not light at all. his calves and quads were twitching while the muscles on his arms were shaking.

This was the result of overexerting a body that belonged to a mage.

'I can only use the green orb once more.'

The situation was far from ideal.

He had no choice but to limit the usage of the 'Concepts'.

"You look exhausted."

Lifting his head, Caius shook his arms. He appeared relatively calm on the surface but the subtle trembling in his arms showed that he too had sustained some injuries.

He tried to play them off, but Julien could see them clearly.

Perhaps realizing this, Caius smiled and swiped his hand in his direction.

A powerful force gripped Julien by the arm, flinging it to the side. Before he had the chance to react, his other arm was flung to the side, exposing his chest once more.

"Ukh."

Julien tried to fight back, but before he even had the chance to do so, a hand reached out to grab his shoulder from behind.

'When...!?'

Julien's mind shook.

He had no time to dwell on the matter.

Taking a deep breath, he focused his attention on the spot where the arm was reaching out for him.

He then took a small step forward.

[Step of Supression]

The gravity surrounding the arm increased, halting it on the spot. Julien then twisted his torso and tensed his back, a red orb appearing in his mind.

As power surged right through him, he threw a straight punch.

Swoosh!

The air funneled around his fist.

A silent whistle streaked through the air as Caius appeared right in front of him.

He seemed oddly calm.

.... It was no wonder why. Just as Julien turned around, Caius's body shifted and disappeared, appearing right behind Julien.

The audience all exclaimed in shock and some stood up at the sudden change.

"Ah..!"

"!!"

Caius extended his hand, reaching out for Julien's exposed neck.

"...!"

A pity that from the start, Julien had never turned around.

The moment Caius's figure disappeared, so did Julien's as he reappeared a few spots away from where Caius was. It had all been an illusion. Julien was still not in the right state to carelessly use his 'Concepts'.

He had only done what he did in order to throw Caius off and distance himself from him.

At the same time, he bought himself some time to recover some of his stamina.

"Hoo."

Julien took a deep breath.

An image appeared in his mind.

It was the image of a lone girl, standing before a massive dragon while hundreds of people stood behind her in silence, unable to utter a single word.

As her clothes fluttered to reveal her pale face, his chest started to ache.

Funneling the emotions that were gathering in his chest, he took a deep breath and stared at Caius who appeared to show a similar look.

Though Caius much preferred using his Concept, in this situation, he had no choice but to do the same.

'I'll bring you to my world...'

At the same time, the two spoke, their voices layering.

"Sadness."

"Fear."

The Colosseum fell silent shortly after that.

As all eyes fell on Julien and Caius, the audience stood up one by one.

That was because...

Both sides were frozen in place, neither one moving an inch.

"What's going on?"

"What is happening?"

"Why are they not moving?"

Murmurs and whispers spread throughout the Colosseum as all eyes fell on the strange scene that greeted them at the platform beneath. Nobody could understand what was happening,

and neither could Karl who had similarly stood up.

"What is happening? Why did they both freeze in place? Could this be a draw...?"

"No."

Johanna shook her head, her expression grave as she alternated her gaze between Julien and

Caius.

"....They are fighting, alright."

"Uh?"

Karl turned his head and looked at Johanna with an astonished expression. Fighting..? How? They aren't moving at all...

"There's not that many Emotive Mages around so the information is not very widespread. However, according to many instances where two Emotive Mages fight, then the means of the

fight changes."

"As in...?"

"Hmm."

Johanna pursed her lips, her eyes lingering over Julien and Caius for a brief moment.

Then, letting out a small breath, she pointed toward her temple.

"Right here."

She said, her voice low.

"...They're fighting right here. From this moment forth, whoever breaks first will lose."

***

'Where is this...?'

Ripple~

The ground beneath me rippled, forming small waves that radiated outward in every

direction.

Looking down, I couldn't see my own reflection.

I was surrounded by white.

Ripple~

In the distance, I heard another ripple. When I looked up, Caius appeared, small waves radiating outward from his body in a mirrored response. Our waves met, canceling each other

out.

I looked around me in confusion.

On the opposite end, Caius appeared calm.

"You seem to be confused by what's going on."

His voice was gentle, and yet, it seemed to boom throughout.

"Ukh."

I raised my hand to hold my throbbing head.

Looking at Caius, who appeared to be well aware of what was going on, I tensed my legs and

shot in his direction.

Whatever was happening, I didn't want to waste time talking.

Ripple~ Ripple~

A ripple formed with each step that I took.

In a few breaths, I appeared right before Caius who looked at me with a calm smile. Seeing

how calm he was, alarm bells rang in my mind.

However, it was too late for me to make any adjustments. Tensing my back and clenching my

fist tightly, I imagined a red orb in my mind.

I...

"Uh?"

My mind blanked as the power I was used to receiving never came. No, rather... I wasn't able

to visualize the red orb at all.

'What in the worl—'

"....!"

The world behind me throbbed, a faint red hue coming out from behind me.

Stunned, my movements slowed down.

"Oh?

Caius looked behind me, his tilting a little as he looked interested.

"...That's rather interesting."

Swoosh!

My shock only heightened when my fist phased right through him. Staggering forward,

several ripples formed beneath me, and when I stabilized my body to look behind, my breath

left my body.

'This...'

A red orb appeared where I was. It floated in the middle of the white world.

I blinked my eyes a couple of times, unable to understand what was happening.

'How is this...?'

"Rage, huh?"

With his back turned against me, Caius's attention seemed to be focused on the floating red

orb that levitated in the world world.

I couldn't see his face, but I could feel the interest in his voice.

"Your concept, it's quite nice."

"...."

I opened my mouth but stopped the words from coming out. Observing the white world

around me, I cooled my emotions and took a small breath.

"Where is this...?"

It was only now that I had cooled my mind and observed my surroundings better that I

realized something.

'...I'm not in my physical body.'

I could move and speak, but I couldn't gather any strength in my body. At the same time, I

also couldn't conjure any spells.

This only left me with one conjecture...

"We're inside our minds."

"Correct."

Caius spoke, his head finally turning to face my direction.

Pressing his finger against his temple, Caius continued,

"I'd normally not speak during a fight, but now that we're in here, we can talk as much as we

want. After all..."

His lips pulled.

"...It's all mind games from now on."

Rumble! Rumble-!

The world trembled, and cracks began to form in the space surrounding us. The red orb on the

far side flickered away as more and more fractures splintered across the fabric of the white

world that enveloped us.

They stretched like spiderwebs, reaching all corners of the world before...

Cr Crack!

Shattering like a broken piece of glass.

What replaced the white world was a dark one.

"Roooooar-"

A terrifying roar burst forward shortly after, piercing my mind with pain as I staggered back.

A shadow loomed over me, and soon after, a long, lanky creature emerged.

It had a disproportionately large head, hollow sockets where eyes should have been, and a

gaping mouth filled with exposed, jagged teeth, glistening menacingly as it stood before me.

"Haa... Haa..."

My breath grew heavier at the sight that greeted me.

'What is...'

Ba... Thump! Ba... Thump!

Behind it, I could see several corpses.

The sight of them brought pain to my chest, engulfing my mind as I struggled to breathe. But

most importantly, I realized that my body had grown smaller.

In particular, my hands...

They seem to have shrunk to that of a child.

Drip! Drip...!

Saliva dripped from the creature's mouth as it stepped toward me.

I took a step back, my heart thumping loudly in my mind.

I struggled to push the emotions away, desperately trying to seal them off but found myself

unable to. Fear continued to seep into my mind, relentless and suffocating, as the world

around me was swallowed by an eerie silence.

The creature before me took another step forward, its hollow gaze fixed on me as though I

was its next meal.

A strange sense of powerlessness engulfed me and the pain in my chest grew as I looked at the

corpses behind.

Drip!

I heard another dropping sound.

But it didn't come from the creature.

Feeling something warm streak down my cheeks, I knew that it was from me. The pain that

accompanied the tear served as an indication of it.

"You don't want to do this..."

I covered my mouth, trying my best to keep the emotions away.

It was hard, and my mind was growing faint.

But amidst the situation, I understood what was happening. And the realization made me

tremble.

"I..."

This world... It was the world within our minds.

Caius had already confirmed this.

But what he didn't say was that...

In this world... the first one to break would be the first one to lose.

And I...

Drip!

Tears streamed down my face.

This time, they were a lot more than before.

I...

My chest throbbed as an intense pain suddenly engulfed my mind. It took my breath away and

sucked everything out of me.

I started to feel weak and my lips tremble.

As that happened...

Cr Crack!

The white world shattered, destroying everything that appeared before me.

Be... Beep! Be... Beep!

What came after were subtle, and rhythmical beeps.

Sounds that brought forth my deepest traumas.

"...Don't want to break you."