"No, I still have the strength to fight!" Lucy had a firm look in her eyes. "Your so-called mutual dependence is nothing but you desiring for me to hide behind you and be protected by you forever. I don't want that."

When Sofia saw the determined look in Lucy's eyes, her sword came to a halt. She had never seen such determination in Lucy before. At this moment, Lucy seized the opportunity to grab Sofia's hand that was holding the sword.

"Let go!" Sofia tried to break away from Lucy's grip. It was not difficult with her level of strength. However, this time she could feel that Lucy's strength was stronger than ever.

Lucy suddenly let out a little smile. Her knees then hit Sofia's abdomen, the powerful impact causing Sofia to feel like she was getting hit by a truck.

Pop...

Sofia then felt a sharp pain in her abdomen, as if her organs had s.h.i.+fted entirely.

"You hid your powers..." Sofia was surprised that Lucy was displaying so much more strength than before. It required at least a level of 65% cell activation to achieve her present actions!

"If I had not done that, I would not have had this opportunity." Lucy grabbed the chance to suddenly use a backhand joint lock to steal the sword from Sofia's hand.

Sofia was amazed that, in just seven days, Lucy's level of cell activation had grown faster than hers. Just then, Lucy s.n.a.t.c.hed away the little sword and swept it across Sofia's throat. The sudden change in events came as a surprise to everyone present.

"She's making a comeback!" one onlooker exclaimed.

Other comments of amazement rose from the crowd. No one had expected Lucy to be able to make a comeback, especially when she had just been on the edge of losing!

Sofia's facial expression changed greatly, as one of her hands was now locked down by Lucy's grip. She was not willing to let Lucy defeat her.

"You can't beat me!" cried Sofia.

Chuck!

The sound of Sofia's s.h.i.+fting of joints could be heard. To free herself, Sofia had twisted her own arm to dislocate the joint, causing herself severe pain.

Taking this opportunity, Sofia then managed to free her hand. Seeing the little sword in front of her eyes, she used her other uninjured hand to throw a dart towards Lucy's face.

Clang!

Lucy had no choice but to give up the attack, using the little sword to block the flying dart.

"You're still far from defeating me!" Sofia screamed, not yet trying to restore her dislocated arm. Instead, taking advantage of the moment when Lucy was distracted by the dart, she flit forward with a small dagger in her mouth.

"What!" Lucy was shocked, as she had not expected that Sofia would come up with this trick. However, it was already too late for her to dodge.

Swis.h.!.+

The dagger that Sofia had in her mouth stopped at Lucy's neck, only narrowly missing her throat.

"That's the end of the battle! Sofia wins!" The announcer's voice was heard, coming from the loudspeaker.

The scene was quiet for a while. No one had expected such a succession of twists and turns. leading to this final result. After a while, the crowd cheered.

"Sofia won…..."

"What a pity! Lucy almost made a comeback!"

"Lucy was hiding her true strength, until she got the chance to retaliate. Her endurance level was so high, she was able to endure many injuries."

"That was so exciting! If Sofia had not broken her own arm, she would have lost."

"Lucy was so powerful. Her level of cell activation must be at least 65%. Sofia had to break her own arm to win against her."

Everyone could not help but praise Lucy. All of them had thought that Sofia would win easily. No one ever thought that, nearing the end, Lucy would almost make a comeback and take the win instead! After all, Lucy's being able to force Sofia to break her own arm in order to win was truly a great feat.

Sofia gathered her weapons and looked at Lucy coldly, then said," You lost."

Lucy was unwilling to concede defeat. Instead, her eyes began to swell and tears kept flowing down her cheeks. She had never felt such a strong sense of eagerness to win. To her, this victory was not just simply about a single win or a loss.

"Lucy… ..." Steve jumped into the ring in an attempt to hug Lucy.

"Don't come over!" Lucy suddenly stopped Steve, not allowing him to come closer.

Sofia smiled when she saw that. Just then, Lucy looked up at Sofia, an air of indifference clouding her face. It was the kind of look that strangers give each other.

"Sofia, you are wrong. Even without Steve, we're still going to have this fight, because I want to prove that I can be on my own. I've grown up. I can even protect you..." As Lucy spoke, tears flowed down her cheeks.

This moment of losing was not just simply a single victory or defeat in a compet.i.tion. For Lucy, tt was also a display of the stubbornness in her inner-self. She ignored everyone else, turned around to jump out of the ring, then disappeared into the crowd.

"Lucy…..." Sofia suddenly felt a pain in her heart, as if she had lost something of great importance. This made her panicky and fearful.

At this moment, she wondered whether she had been right or wrong. She wanted to chase after Lucy, but Lucy was already out of her sight.

"She needs to be alone to calm down," Steve suddenly said.

Sofia looked at Steve angrily and said,"It's all because of you that our relations.h.i.+p has become like this."

"OK, whatever you think, but I'm not going to give up on Lucy," said Steve, with two hands lifted up in mock surrender.

In actual fact, he was just a trigger to the matter. The underlying reason was the problem between the sisters. However, with Sofia's prejudice against him, no matter what he said, Sofia would not believe him.

The battle on the other side ended earlier than the battle between Sofia and Lucy. Just as the crowd had expected, Sofia and Stuart won and successfully entered the top three.

"In the finals, the three of you will take turns fighting one opponent until a clear winner emerges. The first match will be Steve versus Sofia, the second match will be Steve versus Stuart, and the third match will be Sofia versus Stuart."

The unhappy episode was soon over, as the Finals once again lifted the eagerness and spirits of the audience.

"Who among the top three will become the champion? Will it be Stuart or Sofia?"

"Stuart has not exhausted his strength yet. He must be the champion."

"Steve's luck is finally coming to an end."

In the battle for the top spot, no one felt that Steve would become the champion, as his level of strength was far too inferior when compared to the other two. Stuart could easily defeat Andaru without using all of his strength, so he felt that defeating Steve would be even easier. Therefore, among the three compet.i.tors, Stuart seemed to have the highest probability of winning.