"..."

  Right when Zoe pulled the trigger, the sound of the gun jamming echoed in the air.

  "W-what...?" Zoe looked confused at her rifle, confused at its malfunction.

  "Hah...is that the result of your confidence?" Zalgo chuckled, despite her pain.

  "Damn it...I hate plot conveniences!" Zoe cursed, trying to figure out how to fix her beloved rifle.

  "I guess it's not meant to be..."

  Despite her wounds, Zalgo couldn't help but take slight joy in the sniper's technical issues.

  "Yeah, yeah, you're lucky this time..."

  Zoe was beginning to get impatient, but she kept trying to fix her malfunctioning weapon.

  Zalgo's smirk grew wider, she knew this was her chance to take advantage of the situation. She conjured her spears again and sent the flying at Zoe.

  "Crap...!" Zoe quickly ran away into the maze of tall walls, barely dodging the spears.

  The spears lodged into the ground, missing their target.

  "Damn...I missed." Zalgo quickly gave chase, using the maze's high walls to boost herself into the air.

  Zoe ran through the maze, trying to focus on both finding and fixing her rifle.

  "Stupid gun...I swear if I don't get it working…”

  "Keep running...it won't do you any good."

  Zalgo was closing in, closing the distance with each of her jumps across the maze's walls.

  "Ugh, how are you able to run like that?! I shot your legs!”

  "Don't underestimate me...I can still move with these wounds."

  Despite the pain and blood loss, Zalgo continued at full force.

  "You...are one stubborn girl, you know that?"

  Zoe looked back, still focused on fixing her rifle's mechanisms.

  "You could say that...I'm rather stubborn."

  Zalgo jumped off a high wall, landing right behind Zoe.

  "Gah!"

  Zoe felt the ground shake from underneath her, but she didn't hesitate. She dove on the floor, barely avoiding the sudden attack.

  "Almost got you~"

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Zalgo attempted to grab her, but missed as Zoe slid past her and back into the maze labyrinth.

  The game of cat and mouse continued, with Zoe desperately trying to distance herself from the pursuing spear-wielder and fix her rifle at the same time.

  "How long are you gonna keep running? Your gun isn't working, and you're wasting your energy."

  Zalgo was close on the sniper's tail, her breathing only slightly labored despite her wounds.

  "I won't go down so easily...I'll have this damn thing fixed and shoot a bullet clean through your head!"

  Zoe's eyes darted around, looking for a way to put more distance between her and her pursuer.

  "Oh, really now? I'd like to see you try. You're only delaying the inevitable."

  Through sheer determination and adrenaline, Zalgo remained unfazed, closing the distance with each step.

  "Shut up, damn you!"

  Zoe continued running through the maze, trying to think of a way to lose or stall Zalgo. Even with her adrenaline pumping, the wounds on her body were starting to slow her down again.

  Zalgo noticed the slowing down of the sniper, her movement starting to stagger.

  "Are you getting tired already? Running out of strength, I see."

  Zoe ignored Zalgo and kept working away at her rifle while running until a sharp CLICK! sounded through the maze. Her rifle was fixed at last, immediately turning around and firing a bullet at Zalgo’s forehead without a second's hesitation.

  "Gak-!"

  The shot connected. Her Aura Shield, which shattered instantly, absorbed most of the punishment, and a red welt formed on Zalgo’s forehead.

  "Gotcha!"

  A smirk formed across Zoe’s face, finally gaining a bit of advantage in the match.

  "Yeah...you...did."

  Zalgo slowed down, her knees shaking as the adrenaline wore off. The bullets still lodged in her extremities began to weigh her down, and her wounds were continuing to bleed.

  Noticing her adversary's slowing down, Zoe continued: "Heh, seems like the pain is taking effect now.”

  "Not...yet."

  The words came out between breaths as the pain was definitely starting to take effect for Zalgo.

  The crowd began to cheer frantically again: "YEAH ZOE!! BLOW HER WHOLE HEAD OFF!! POINT BLANK RANGE!!!”

  "Oh, I will in a moment."

  Seeing the vulnerable position her opponent was in, a smirk grew across her face.

  "Yeah, it was. You were a good opponent, for sure. Nice knowing ya."

  Zoe was about to fire when...... The sound of Marco’s countdown once again echoed through the arena:

  “AAAAND TIME'S UP!!”

  Both of the opponents were shocked, hearing the time run out. The crowd let out a series of loud "BOOOOO!!"s, desperately wanting to see a better conclusion than this one.

  "Damn it...time went by that quick?!"

  Zoe had her finger still on the trigger.

  Zalgo shook her head, "If you wouldn't have spent all that time running from me through the maze…”

  "Hush up...not like you were trying to make it quick either."

  Zoe shot back, her finger still on the trigger.

  "Yeah, I guess you’re right..."

  The two of them stood still, with the crowds still booing and screaming to have them continue. But the timer ran out, so Marco looked to the big screen to see who has the larger aura reserves. Zoe was at 88%, while Zalgo was at 8%. So the winner was clear as Marco concluded: "The winner of this match is...ZOE!!!!!!”

  The crowd erupted in cheers once again, with a girl shouting out "OH MY GODDESS, THAT MATCH WAS AMAZINGGGG!!!!!"

  Zalgo sighed to herself, the adrenaline fully wearing off causing pain to overwhelm her.

  With her good sense of sportsmanship, Zoe put her rifle away and stepped up to the defeated Zalgo. "Hey, you okay?"

  Zalgo nodded slowly, "Yeah, I'm fine... just...gonna need to lie down for a while....”

  "Here, let me help."

  Zoe wrapped her arm around Zalgo's shoulders, slowly helping her onto the stretcher that the medical team has already rolled out for her, with them taking Zalgo away for healing.

  "Thanks...I suppose."

  Zalgo let herself be carried by the stretcher, her face still showing some level of pain, and the crowd continued their cheers throughout the whole thing.

  Marco, now, started announcing to the crowd: "I am sure everyone here must have enjoyed this amazing and intense match!"

  A few of the audience agreed with him, "Sì! IT WAS AWESOME!!”

  "I’m glad to have pleased the crowd!!"

  Marco looked over the other fighters, some seemed ready to head into the next match while some were exhausted from the one before.