Unmotivated Deity

Unfortunately for Jien and his group the trend of the match didn't improve in the slightest. In fact their strategy fell apart after Alys was removed and even with Andrew casting healing from a distance the girl would only be able to rejoin once she actually woke back up. Healing couldn't just wake someone up, they would need outside stimulus to jolt them awake, and Julie had every one of them busy.

Every time that Barret tried to sneak over to the unconscious girl to try and collect her Julie would reappear as if defending her appointment, striking out at him with the ferocity of a lioness barreling down on prey. This constantly forced Barret to back off, more than once almost being caught by the spear, whether a thrust of it or a swipe with the pole.

Everyone was learning about the ferocity of their fellow member. She would not hold back from attacking any of them regardless of their position. There were even times that she would use her elusive movement pattern and bursts of speed to reach the rearguard and stricken at them. She would zigzag between sword strikes, deflect arrows with her shield and strike out with her spear in one movement, often looking unbalanced.

Despite the awkward look of her movements their effectiveness was proven repeatedly. Her awareness of the battlefield shocked Jien at first and made him feel solemn as things continued. They couldn't pin her down at all to get a proper blow in. It was almost overwhelming the might and strategic mindset she displayed.

The second to be removed from the fight was Robyn, with a shield blow to the solar plexus that brought the large girl to her knees followed by a quick swipe with the butt of her spear to the temple. The blow was light enough to not do too much harm but hard enough to knock the Rearguard out. The attack was a quick combo followed by backing out rather than pressing into the formation.

Jien was forced to reformat their formation repeatedly while giving instructions. However all of this seemed for not as each member was picked off one at a time. It was almost like the spear wielding girl was trying to prove a point, that strategy meant nothing in front of her. Or perhaps the message was simply that she understood the strategy so well that she could dance around it.

The last to be removed aside from Jien was Andrew. The healer was exhausted from constantly healing everyone. Though he healed them to the best of his ability none of them stood back up. Julie had made sure to put them under in such quick order that none had fully recovered.

Andrew could hardly even defend himself when Julie came for him. Though Jien put in an effort to pin her down while protecting him she slipped through his guard with movements that he should only relate to that of a winding snake. Before either could react she grabbed the boys' collar while still holding her spear, lifted him like he was as light as feather swung him onto his back with such force that the blonde boy was disoriented and knocked out before he even knew what had happened.

The final two standing were Jien and Julie. Her short brown hair was drenched in sweat, her uniform beginning to stick to her form and her breath wheezing for air. It was only now that Jien got a good view of her during the fight. Her way of fighting was truly ferocious and she had the battle sense to use it but he could see it clearly now. She was always burning herself out, using her maximum potential from the start and if she didn't wrap things up in time she would end up like this.

She was currently barely standing, one hand holding tightly to her spear that was dug into the ground for support. Her shield arm was hanging loose, lacking the strength to lift it once more and her breath, though beginning to stabilize was still coming out as a deep pant. Shee looked like she was truly on her last legs and Jien didn't know what to feel about it.

Finally he let out a deep sigh. "I don't know what you were trying to prove with all this but other than showing that you are reckless and have a good battle sense I can only call you dumb." His words were blunt and his tone calm, if not a touch cold. "He was a logical person, why burn yourself out like this just to prove your strength, he couldn't wrap his head around it. There were better, more constructive ways to reach the same goal.

"Are you going to give up so that we can wake the others up and actually talk?" he asked with a slight annoyance in his tone looking at the others. Why go so far as to knock them all out, and so brutally at that.

Her response, though expected, only left him with another deep sigh. "Never." This was the answer to his question, as if this was a death match rather than a sparring session. He really hated stubborn people like this.

He moved forward with steady steps, not bothering to hide his movement or cast spells. He approached the girl that was on her last legs and stuck her neck just hard enough that she collapsed before facing the referee. The man simply nodded as if confirming who won.

Jien looked down at Julie and a scowl graced his lips for a moment before he want to the side of the arena, grabbed some water from a nearby barrel into a bucket and used it to splash on everyone's faces to wake them up. Being a leader was exhausting.