World Awakening: The Legendary Player-Chapter 101: You Lose

Mela didn’t wait. She flicked her wrist.

The swarm of needles shot forward like a silver storm, all of them screaming through the air right at Lola. They were so fast it was hard to even see them. Lola’s body moved on pure instinct, a desperate dive to the side. She rolled across the dirt as the needles slammed into the massive tree she had been standing in front of.

The thick bark turned black and started to smoke where the needles hit. The poison was no joke.

Lola was on her feet in an instant. ’She’s a ranged fighter,’ she thought, her mind racing. ’She wants to keep me at a distance.’ she wasn’t going to play that game.

She threw one of her smoke pellets onto the ground. It exploded, and the clearing filled with thick, black smoke once again. She moved inside the smoke, her footsteps completely silent, a ghost in the manufactured night.

But Mela didn’t panic. She just stood in the center of the clearing and closed her eyes, spreading her hands out. The other needles that were still floating around her began to hum, sending out little pulses of invisible mana, like sonar.

Lola felt one of the pulses pass right through her.

Mela’s eyes snapped open. She pointed right into the heart of the smoke.

"Found you."

The rest of the needles, which had returned to float around her, shot into the smoke cloud. Lola cursed and threw herself backward, barely avoiding the deadly volley. The needles buried themselves in the dirt right where she had been.

Lola knew she couldn’t stay hidden. She had to close the distance. She burst out of the smoke, a low, fast shape running right at Mela.

Mela clapped her hands together once. The needles still floating in the air arranged themselves into a solid, spinning shield in front of her. Lola’s daggers slammed into the shield with a loud shriek. The force of the impact was so strong it made her arms go numb for a second.

’This girl is strong,’ she thought. ’And she’s smart.’

Mela pushed forward, her needle shield grinding against Lola’s daggers. It was a contest of pure strength, and Mela was surprisingly winning. Lola was forced to give ground, her boots digging into the dirt.

Mela broke the lock, sending Lola stumbling back. With a flick of her wrist, the shield of needles broke apart, turning back into a swarm.

"You are fast," she said, her voice still a cold whisper. "But you cannot win."

The needles shot forward again, but not in a straight line this time. They split into three groups, coming at Lola from the front and both sides. There was no way to dodge all of them.

’Alright,’ Lola thought, her mind going into overdrive. ’Time for the expensive stuff.’

She threw another pellet, but this one didn’t make smoke. It exploded with a flash of light so bright it was like a second sun had appeared in the clearing. It was followed by a sound so loud it shook the trees.

A flashbang.

Mela cried out, her hands flying to her eyes, her concentration completely shattered. The swarm of needles, now without a guide, fell to the ground with a series of quiet clinks.

That was the opening Lola needed.

She was on Mela in an instant, her speed a blur. She didn’t go for a killing blow. She swept Mela’s legs out from under her with a powerful kick. Mela hit the ground hard, the air knocked out of her lungs. Lola was on top of her a second later, the sharp point of her dagger pressed against Mela’s throat.

The purple aura around Mela faded. The fight was over.

"You’re good, kid," she said, breathing a little heavy. "Really good. But you’re still just a kid." She pressed the dagger a little harder. "Now, you’re going to tell me where I can find the human and the princess."

Mela just stared up at her, her eyes full of a defiant fire, even in defeat. She didn’t say anything.

Lola let out an annoyed sigh. "Fine. Have it your way."

She wasn’t going to kill her. That would just bring the whole village down on her head. But she couldn’t just let her go either. She looked around, her eyes landing on the thick, thorny vines that grew on the trees here.

’That’ll work.’

She pulled Mela to her feet and shoved her toward one of the massive trees. "Don’t move," she warned. Mela watched her, a look of pure hatred on her face. Lola just ignored her and used her dagger to start cutting some of the tough vines.

She was so focused on her task that she didn’t notice the faint shimmer in the air around Mela’s body. It was a barely visible heat haze, carrying the scent of sweet, rotting flowers. Lola’s mind registered the smell, but she dismissed it as just another weird part of this cursed forest.

That was a big mistake.

As she turned back, a cut length of vine in her hand, the world tilted just a little. A wave of dizziness washed over her, and her vision blurred at the edges for a second.

’What the hell?’ she thought, shaking her head to clear it. ’I must be more tired than I thought.’

She took a step toward Mela, and her legs felt strangely heavy, like she was wading through thick water. The feeling of control she had a moment ago was slipping away. Her professional instincts were screaming at her now, a loud alarm bell in her foggy mind.

’Poison,’ she realized, a spike of cold fear cutting through the haze. ’It was a trap.’

She looked at Mela. The defeated look on the girl’s face was gone. It was replaced by a small, cold, and incredibly triumphant smile.

"It is a special trait of my clan," she said, her voice quiet but carrying a chilling confidence. "When we use the Ashen Blood, our very skin emits a toxin. You only needed to get close."

Lola tried to raise her dagger, to put Mela back on the ground, but her arm wouldn’t obey. It felt like it was full of lead.

She stumbled, her world spinning.

"My turn," Mela whispered.

She didn’t need to clap her hands or flick her wrist this time. The silver needles that were scattered on the ground around them lifted into the air as if pulled by invisible strings. They hummed with that same nasty, quiet power, forming a silver cloud that swirled around Lola’s head.

The tables had completely, and brutally, turned.

The needles all stopped, their poison-tipped points aimed directly at Lola’s face, neck, and chest. They were less than an inch from her skin.

Lola froze, her body finally refusing to move. Her heart pounded in her chest. She was a master of her craft, a high-level mercenary who had survived dozens of impossible contracts. But she had been played, outsmarted by a kid who looked like she hadn’t even started high school.

"You lose, human," she said. The fight was over. "You hurt my family. You invaded my home." She took a step closer, her eyes as cold as stone. "Now you will answer my questions."

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