Erin changed her posture.
She once again held her sword out straight in front of her, holding it under her rib.
She then ran at the Haunted Knight at full speed.
When she was right in front of the Haunted Knight, she thrust her sword forward with all her strength.
The force of the blow slightly pushed back the Haunted Knight's chest, the attack releasing a huge gust of wind behind the Haunt Knight.
It hit the spectating students, making them feel like they were caught in a windstorm.
Though, just like before, the sword only left minor scratches on the Haunted Knight's chestpiece.
Seeing this, Erin narrowed her eyes and grit her teeth.
Just as Erin pulled her arm back, returning her sword to her side, she had to duck out of the way, as the Haunted Knight performed another downward swing.
The students watched, as Erin seamlessly dodged out of the way of attack after attack.
Then, just as the Haunted Knight was about to swing her sword down for another attack, Erin applied pressure to her foot.
As the sword came down, Erin dashed forward, causing the sword to hit nothing but air.
The students gasped at Erin's sudden burst of speed.
She ran behind the Haunted knight, before turning around to face her back.
'I may be unable to pierce your armor, but as any seasoned fighter knows, the weakest parts of an armored opponent are the spaces between the individual armor pieces!' Erin thought.
She assumed her thrusting stance once again.
However, this time, she held her sword flat, horizontally on its side.
'And I can't think of a single point more vulnerable that right here!' Erin thought, as she thrust her sword forward, piercing the space between the bottom of the knight's helmet and the top of the collar of her chestpiece.
However, as she pierced it, something felt…wrong.
There was no sudden spray of black blood, and even more peculiar, Erin felt no resistance.
Erin narrowed her eyes.
'It felt like I cut through nothing but air!' Erin thought in confusion. 'Is there even a body in that thing?!'
Erin narrowed her eyes, and she plunged the sword deeper in.
Then, when her sword was buried up to the guard in the Haunted Knight, she pressed down on the handle with all her might.
The effect was immediate.
He sword flung upwards, prying the Haunted Knight's helmet clean off, which was sent flying into the air.
Everyone's gaze shifted upwards to the soaring helmet.
It flew through the air before landing way off-course, the helmet falling like a stone right behind Quinn, Vorden, and Peter, the helmet making a loud, clanging noise as it fell.
Instantly, the three turned, hearing the noise.
Then, their eyes all widened.
The helmet landed on its side, allowing the inside of the helmet to be visible.
There was a tense silence, as every student within the area who could see the helmet, turned and stared at it.
Eventually, Peter spoke up.
"There's…there's nothing in there…" He said in a hoarse voice.
As Quinn and Vorden looked at it, they could see that it was true.
The helmet was completely empty.
Back with Erin, she slowly let her sword down to her side.
She began to let out slow, deep breaths.
"It's over." She replied.
A split-second later, as if to refute her statement, the now headless Haunted Knight swung her elbow backwards, driving it hard into Erin's stomach.
Everyone's jaw dropped.
"What…What kind of Beast is that?!" Duke said, completely stunned, his eyes widened in surprise.
Erin coughed violently from the impact.
She staggered back, holding her gut.
Slowly, the Haunted Knight turned to face her.
However, as she did, Erin…noticed something.
'Wait…' Erin thought, her eyes narrowed. 'What is…THAT?'
With the Haunted Knight's helmet now detached, the bluish, flame-like wisps of the Haunted Knight illuminated its interior like a light.
And there was something now visible there to Erin.
On the very back of the collar, there was a symbol inside the chestpiece, almost looking as if it had been painted on.
It was a circle that contained a six-pointed star created by a rightside-up triangle on the bottom of the circle, and upside-down triangle on the top of the triangle.
There was also a crescent moon in the dead-center of the "star".
The symbol was a dark red, almost brownish in color, making it look like dried blood.
Erin's eyes widened.
She didn't know why, but something told her that THIS was the Haunted Knight's weak spot.
Instantly, Erin's face hardened, her expression becoming more stern.
She tightened her grip on her word, and lunged at the Haunted Knight.
Despite no longer possessing a head, the Haunted Knight seemed to be able to see Erin perfectly fine.
In response to seeing her lunge towards her, the Haunted Knight raised her sword above her head, preparing to make a downward swing.
Erin evaded the strike, and repositioned herself so she was on the knight's left.
She then thrust her sword forwards towards the Haunted Knight's "neck".
She hit the marking on the Haunted Knight's collar dead-on, leaving a large and noticeable scratch in the center of the marking.
Despite Erin still not being able to pierce the knight's armor, it appeared to be enough.
For as soon as the scratch appeared, the Haunted Knight's whole body instantly stiffened, freezing in place.
Her grip loosened, and the sword fell from her grasp.
It bounced twice on the floor, before clattering to the ground.
The Haunted Knight stood there, frozen for a few more moments.
Then, as if the force keeping the individual pieces of armor connected had suddenly been severed, the Haunted Knight collapsed into a heap on the floor, the pieces of armor falling into a disorganized, haphazard pile.
Instantly, the room went dead silent.
The low electronic hum began to emit from the pile of armor pieces, and the pieces began to dissipate, breaking down into pixels, which then faded.
As if to confirm Erin's victory, a System message appeared in front of Tsukuru.
[Your Elite Pawn Grade Haunted Knight has been killed. Would you like to revive it? Costs 4 MC.
[Yes] [No] ]
Tsukuru thought 'no'.
He didn't need the Haunted Knight to revive itself, as the fight was over.
Instantly a new System message appeared.
[Your Elite Pawn Grade Haunted Knight has respawned within your Video Summon Arsenal.]
Instantly, Sergeant Leo stepped forward.
He raised his hand in the air.
"Winner, Erin Heyley!" he announced, his voice booming across the assembly hall.
As Erin sheathed her Knight Sword into the generic sword scabbard she had purchased to house the blade, she heard a wave of applause.
As she turned around, she saw a mass of students clapping.
Even the staff seemed pleased.
"Well, that was worth the price of admission." Duke said, arms crossed with a satisfied look on his face.
Standing next to him, Shizuka smiled.
"Indeed." She replied. "That was quite the show the two put on. An acceptable waste of fifteen minutes."
Hearing her words, Duke brought his hand to his mouth, and let out a loud whistle.
The whistling noise echoed through the room.
Instantly, all the students turned to him.
"Alright, maggots!" His voice boomed. "This concludes our demonstration! It's time for you all to report to your individual combat classes!"
With that, he, General Nathan, and Sergeant Shizuka all left the room.
Over the course of the next few minutes, the students began to disperse.
Tsukuru and Erin walked up to the group of Quinn, Vorden, Layla, and Peter.
Seeing them, Quinn smiled.
"Well, I guess its our turn to head off then." He replied.
Vorden smiled.
"Right." He replied, wrapping his arm around Peter's shoulder. "Time for us to shove off to the Elemental class."
As the two left, Layla glared at Vorden's back, still convinced he was unstable, and a danger to Quinn.
However, just as they were about to leave, Leo approached them, with two guards standing behind him.
"Quinn, I'm afraid that I have some bad news." He replied in a solemn tone, before he glanced back at the soldiers behind him. "These men have some…questions for you. Please follow them. But, worry not, for I will be coming along with you."
With that, one of the guards grabbed Leo's arm, while the other grabbed Quinn's.
Before they left, Leo looked up towards Tsukuru, Layla, and Erin.
"You three, please make your way to the Beast Weapon Hall, and wait for my arrival. This shouldn't take long."
A few moments later, the two guards teleported Quinn and Leo away, leaving the group of three alone in the assembly hall.
Tsukuru and Layla looked at each other, exchanging worried looks.