She swung her spear around and dug her toes into the sand.

Without further ado, the supervisor announced the start of the match, and Lawal's
lips split into a savage grin.

A blood red glint streaked across his eyes for a moment, and it caused a shudder to
run down Jumoke's spine. She frowned. He must have noticed her apprehension,
because his grin grew even wider.

She tightened her grip around her spear and sent a column of earth at him to test
the waters. He sneered and slashed at it. To her surprise, the earth shattered
apart as though hit by a blunt weapon. She narrowed her eyes at his stance and
scrutinised it again. It didn't look like he wielded something heavy enough to
inflict such damage, so there was only one explanation.

He paid homage to more than one god. How despicable.

An astringent taste coated her tongue, and she almost spat in disdain.

Distracted as she was, she noticed something was wrong a bit too late. A fierce
gust of wind swept towards her, and she erected a thick wall to staunch it before
dodging away.

The wall exploded, and debris darted towards her like projectiles. One large piece
of earth crashed into her left arm and split it open. It left a grisly wound just
below her shoulder, and her arm hung limply as blood drenched her sleeve. The crowd
raved at the sight of blood, and a few vulgar calls echoed through the crowd at her
exposed skin.

She ignored them and turned her attention to the ground beneath her. Even if he
lied to her eyes, he could never lie to the earth. Yet, all was silent. She frowned
and focused harder, and soon enough her efforts paid off. She felt the ground to
her left shift, and she tensed. He was aiming for her injured limb.

She raised a field of earthen spikes in that direction, and a grunt followed by a
splatter of blood revealed her opponent for a moment. She seized it and thrust her
spear with blinding speed. She felt resistance and knew her blow struck through.

She pushed her advantage, but without a visual grasp on her opponent, all her
attacks fell through.

She fell still and waited for the dust to settle. He would never give her another
chance to determine his location, and she couldn't start swinging wildly. She would
only die faster that way.

She took a deep breath and let her toes savor the gritty taste of the sand. Before
she could determine her next course of action, her pupils shrunk, and she darted to
the sides in a haste.