"Looks like Solcren is in trouble — he got that disgusting woman interested in him."
From the stands, Elowyn watched Enrico's fight against Lira, and to be honest, Lira was going to completely break him now that she had taken an interest in him. Elowyn just hoped she'd leave him in one piece, since she still needed to use him for her kingdom.
"Why do you call her disgusting, princess?"
"Because she is — and you don't need to know why."
The one who asked was Velka, who immediately fell silent. All of Elowyn's subordinates, male and female, were gathered around her watching all the fights since the first day in a place made especially for her, since she was the princess of Sanos.
'That's truly disgusting.'
Around Lira, her essence was shown — and it was simply grotesque, with multiple liquid, solid, and gaseous shadows swirling around her body. Her special eyes saw it as one of the worst essences imaginable.
The only thing she respected about Lira was her ability to control herself despite that abomination of an essence. But Elowyn knew it was temporary — that one day it would explode, and she didn't want to be anywhere near it.
'She seems to want to find someone who can handle that abomination… but honestly, I doubt she can.'
As if fate itself wanted to prove Elowyn wrong, Lira began laughing, showing that she had chosen Enrico as the vessel who could contain her.
'How can Solcren do that?'
Back in the arena, Lira moved as if dizzy, then stomped the ground and dashed forward, managing to surprise Enrico with her speed. Tilting his head back, he dodged a fist made of white aura.
[She's using ki magic to increase her speed.]
'Really? Wow, I wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't said that.'
Using his charged impulse, Enrico kicked Lira's chin, making her bleed from the mouth — but even so, that smile didn't leave her face.
[Enrico, end this already. The longer you fight her, the more the air gets poisoned by her madness.]
'You say that like it's easy.'
Grabbing her foot, Enrico threw her into a house, causing it to collapse. Forming his bow, he began firing arrows nonstop in her direction.
"Inner Manifestation!"
From the ruins, Lira emerged with her speed further increased — and not only that. When Enrico tried to block her punch by crossing his arms, he felt his limbs tremble.
'Her strength increased too.'
"Flame Impact!"
Hitting her in the stomach, Lira was pushed back slightly — meaning her resistance had also increased. With a grin, her body burst with magic as she charged forward again.
"Inner Eyes!"
Lira's eyes turned a glowing violet as she advanced, dodging one of Enrico's zero impacts. With those eyes, she could now predict the flow of magic and hostile intent, allowing her to anticipate Enrico's movements.
"Heavenly Slash!"
Receiving a deep cut across his chest, Enrico flinched from the pain. Using his fire lines, he tied them around her arm, intending to cut it off — but before he could move, the lines snapped, and Lira struck him in the face with a Purifying Palm, damaging his soul.
"Hnhnhnhnhn… You're trembling, aren't you? HAHAHAHAHA! So fragile! Come on, don't be so deliciously fragile — or I might break you too easily!"
[Crazy bitch.]
Gritting his teeth, he touched her stomach with his left hand, created his fire bow, and quickly loosed a flaming shot that hit her squarely, sending her flying backward.
Breathing heavily, Enrico secretly used his water magic to heal his wounds while the spot where Lira had landed erupted with mana. She burst out of it and punched him, sending him crashing into another house.
"This girl is crazier than me… Why didn't she want to fight me instead?"
Sitting in the stands, Danyana looked surprised at Lira's completely different personality from when she herself had tried to fight her. Looking at where Enrico was getting up, she clenched her fist, remembering her training for the rematch.
'You can't lose.'
"Why does he have that playful smile?"
Looking down, Danyana saw Elowyn and her subordinates. Paying closer attention to the princess's words, she focused on Enrico's face and noticed a small smile — which somehow lifted her spirits.
"I think I understand what to do."
His words were calm, but everyone knew something was about to happen. Standing up, Enrico saw Lira approaching. Taking a deep breath, he entered a state of extreme focus.
'As I thought… she's too strong…'
With focused eyes, he saw her Purifying Palm magic approaching. Spinning on the spot, he let the attack pass beside him, and during the spin, he filled his fist with fire and released a long-range strike that hit her chest.
"Gahh!"
Thrown backward, Lira fell to the ground, still smiling — though now a bit surprised, especially seeing Enrico's expressionless face. He was in an extreme state of concentration, his eyes glowing faintly with embers.
What he was doing was a focus technique combined with his magic — he abandoned all thoughts, concentrating solely on predicting his enemy's movements after observing and adapting to them, even foreseeing them a few moments ahead.
[So this was the technique he was saving for the right moment?]
Enrico had been saving this technique for two reasons: first, because it wasn't complete yet — he could only maintain it for thirty seconds; and second, because he was saving it to fake an "awakening" moment as a "prodigy," which was the impression he wanted to give others — the reason for his earlier statement about "understanding something."
"Hehehehe… please, keep entertaining me, Enrico!"
Lira combined her Purifying Palm with her physical palm strike, just like before. Seeing the attack, Enrico deflected it with his hand and sent a punch toward her face. Lira mirrored him — this time, she tried to kick Enrico's face, but he stepped back and countered with a leg sweep, which she avoided by jumping.
Both could predict the other's movements to some extent, making it unlikely for either to land a clean hit unless their magic ran out. Licking her lips, Lira imagined a new magic forming in her mind.
"Hehehe… I've figured something out too."
Focusing her mana into her palm, Lira began fusing her two magics, creating an ethereal sword made of compressed air and pure spiritual magic.
"Storm Spirit Sword!"
The magic surrounding her was so intense that the ground itself cracked under her feet. While Enrico was pretending to be a prodigy, the opponent before him was a true prodigy — and even so…
"Charged Flame Impact!"
The ground beneath them cracked with magic as Enrico also powered up. He was still in a state where he could win — only five seconds left — but he had already prepared something to counter Lira's strike. Seeing that, Lira grew even more excited, especially noticing his eyes fully locked on her, as if they were the only two people in the world.
Pushing toward each other, their attacks grew stronger with every step. Seeing Lira's trajectory, Enrico's eyes gleamed as he began spinning his fist. In that strike, he added a rotation, just like with his Flaming Shot, to land a piercing blow capable of shattering Lira's still-incomplete sword.
KRAAAAASHHHH!!
When the two attacks collided, an explosion erupted. Neither backed down, but Lira knew she'd be defeated the moment she saw his punch twist slightly, beginning to break her sword.
"I want more! I want more — so please, keep going!"
With a crazed smile, she pressed forward even as her sword shattered, channeling spiritual ki magic into her fist. It was her final move — she knew she'd lose as Enrico's fist approached her face… or at least, that's how it should have gone.
CRRZZZZZ
It should have — if not for the burst of fiery energy erupting from Enrico's body, accompanied by an explosion of blood that shocked Lira. To everyone else outside — except those with high-level magic — it looked as if Lira had struck first, sending him flying back. Which was, in fact, what happened when Enrico suddenly stopped moving at that instant.
"Damn it."
Virelle and Hao immediately stood up, realizing what was happening, and Angela prepared to enter the arena. What had occurred was that today, both the Fire Cancer and the Maximum Pact of Sacrificed Vampires had activated at the same time.