Reyna flew into the air, her katana flashing as it slashed toward Sho. Sho, however, managed to block the blow with her sheathed odachi, though the blade was bound and couldn't be unsheathed fully. She used the sheath itself as a shield to deflect the strike.
Tenshi, struggling to regain her composure, stumbled to her feet and smiled, her energy returning.
"Full_Heal(players: Reyna, Viri; effect: permanent)," she whispered.
A white light appeared behind them, growing brighter as Tenshi took a mana position. The light engulfed both Reyna and Viri, healing their wounds and granting them a permanent boost to their vitality. They attacked Sho again, but Sho dodged with agility, moving longer distances this time, avoiding their strikes.
Sho descended back to the ground with a graceful thud and, with a flick of her wrist, threw her odachi away.
"Mana_Bind (player: Arden, effect: active, Mana: necessary)," Sho wrote in the air, her fingers moving quickly as she almost entirely ignored their attacks. A foreign power rushed into me, binding my mana in a way I had never felt before. It was as if invisible chains were tightening around me. Binding me from the inside. My body buckled. I collapsed to the ground, unable to move.
Reyna's eyes widened. "Max_Phoenix_Featherstorm."
She summoned a storm of golden feathers that surrounded Sho. The air crackled with energy as a burst of wind intensified the feathers, which then rained down like fiery missiles. As the feathers exploded, each burst left behind a trail of fire and sharp winds, dealing continuous damage to Sho.
A silver bullet made of ice appeared next to the storm, its shape resembling a dragon, and shot forward toward Sho with deadly precision.
"Arden," Sho called out, her voice unphased, "Mana_Bind works on players, but the catch... you need to have more mana than the person you're binding!"
Before the feather storm could reach its target, Viri activated another skill.
"Stone_Shackle," Viri whispered, and cracks appeared beneath Sho's feet. Massive stone and gem shackles erupted from the earth, wrapping around her legs and arms, trapping her in place. The shackles were made of pure stone, with embedded gems that pulsed with energy, ensuring Sho would be immobilized.
"Paralyze_!" Eli shouted as she ran forward, aiming at Sho, trying to stop her movements. The feathers from Reyna's Phoenix Featherstorm landed around Sho, and the bullet struck true, piercing her defenses. A flash of red, blue, and yellow erupted from the impact, temporarily blinding us all.
Amidst the chaos, a red circle appeared, glowing with intense energy.
"Wind_Barrier," Sho wrote in the air.
A thin, shimmering barrier of wind materialized around her, its circular form rippling as it deflected the damage. The barrier was like an invisible wall, and with Sho's mana, it began to expand, counteracting the elemental attacks directed at her.
"Since you'll be healed, I can go half out," Sho muttered, her voice determined.
Sho's skin broke free of the stone binds, and she attacked once more, switching to the offensive. Despite Tenshi's barriers protecting us, Sho broke through with nothing more than her fists, each strike causing the air to crackle with raw power.
Tenshi, blood trickling from her mouth, spat out more as she collapsed again to the ground.
"Craft_Weapon_Sword," Sho wrote, the earth beneath her shifting as she used her crafting skill to forge new weapons from the surrounding dirt, rocks and sticks. She formed a sword—simple yet deadly. With swift precision, she used the newly crafted blades to knock Reyna's katana from her hand, disarming her.
"Wind_Lash," Sho wrote, pulling Viri, Reyna, and Sera toward her with a gust of wind, only to push them back with even greater force. The wind swept us away, sending us crashing back to the ground.
Sho stood, unphased, as Eli walked up to her, picking up Reyna's katana in the process. Reyna, Viri, and Eli were unconscious from the battle's toll. Sera stumbled to her feat.
With a simple flick, Sho wrote, "Cancel_Mana_Bind." The invisible chains that had bound me dissipated, and I felt my energy return, flowing back into me. My body relaxed as I slowly regained control.
The sword that Eli held was encased in flames that seemed to burn her hands, but as Reyna's consciousness faded—more importantly, as her mana faded—the flames extinguished, and the sword returned to normal.
Eli, however, appeared different now. A sense of eerie confidence crossed her face as she turned to me and Sera.
"It's... over," Sho smiled.
Sho laughed at her but remained calm. The sword she had created crumbled and shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces, scattering across the ground.
"Show her…" Reyna mumbled, returning to her feet.
"TheoreticalSkill_," Eli wrote with a frown.
Eli looked toward me, a solemn look in her eyes—she couldn't do it. She couldn't finish the skill.
Before she could continue writing, the hundreds of pieces that had scattered across the ground suddenly encased her, flying around her like bullets in the wind, shattering through her.
Eli collapsed.
Reyna was all that was left.
"OverSoul_Phoenix_Flames," she wrote.
The moment the command was etched into existence, her body ignited. She engulfed in an inferno unlike anything before. The flames didn't just surround her—they became her. Her skin shimmered like molten gold, her hair whipping wildly as if made of pure fire.
She wasn't just a person wielding fire—she was the fire.
She is like a blade.
The air burned as Reyna wreathed herself in flames. Her entire body igniting in a furious blaze. The ground beneath her charred. Then, with a single burst, she launched herself forward. She soared through the air like a blazing comet.
Sho barely had time to react. They clashed, sparks flying as steel met flame. Sho pushed back with raw force, sending a gust of wind to knock Reyna away, but the flames surrounding Reyna twisted, propelling her forward again.
She was faster. Stronger. More relentless than before.
Sho's eyes narrowed. She wove defensive barriers between them, layers of protection infused with her mana. But Reyna didn't stop. She burned through each one. Carving through magic as if it were paper. The heat intensified. Sho felt the sting of pain.
Reyna cut a blazing arc through the sky. Sho barely dodged, her barrier flickering under the pressure. She countered, delivering a precise strike, but Reyna twisted midair, redirecting her momentum with a burst of fire, landing another devastating blow. Sho staggered. Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth.
Then, Reyna did something new.
A shift in the air. The flames around her changed. Turning from vibrant orange to an eerie, consuming blue.
Reyna exhaled. The fire wasn't just magic anymore. It was her.
Her life force burned away, fueling her strength.
Sho barely had time to react before Reyna struck again, faster than before, her power overwhelming. Sho's barriers shattered. Her sword arm trembled under the weight of the assault.
Reyna hovered above Sho. Flames swirling around her like a living inferno. Her outstretched hand crackles with power.
"It's over," Reyna mocks.
Below her, Sho stands unmoving, her gaze sharp and unreadable. She doesn't flinch, doesn't react.
Pressure.
Sho's grin faded. With a sharp inhale, she forced mana through her body, reaching deep into reserves she rarely needed. A new layer of energy wrapped around her, not defensive, but something else. Something final.
Reyna lunged, her flames roaring in defiance—
And then, it was over.
Her blade hovering inches from her throat.
The flames flickered, then vanished, leaving only the smell of scorched earth. Reyna collapsed to the ground. Chest heaving.
Sho exhaled, rolling her shoulders as she wiped the blood from her lip. She looked down at Reyna, then up at the battlefield around them.
She chuckled, but there was no mockery in it. Just something cold.
She places a red rune on Reyna. The flames around her begin to fade as her body starts to recover.
G2 pushed themselves to the absolute limit. They used every skill, every ounce of mana they had—and it still wasn't enough.
I stop myself. Reyna could have won.
This fight makes me realize something unsettling. The top ten are a lot closer in strength than anyone wants to admit.