I swung Sacha in a wide, gleaming arc, the glassblade singing through the air as it tore straight through the golden and silver spheres streaking toward me. Each one burst like a firework on impact, scattering sparks of moonlight and embers across the Colosseum floor.

The air hissed as the smoke cleared.

I didn't wait. I lunged forward, boots slamming into the cracked ground, the black aura around me rippling like a second skin. Nora barely had time to raise her hand before the space between us warped.

Gravity slammed down on me like a mountain.

The marble beneath my feet groaned, splitting under the sudden pressure. My knees bent, muscles screaming as I struggled to stay upright. For a split second, my body refused to move, then I gritted my teeth and forced my strength outward, shattering the invisible weight pressing down on me.

"Cute trick," I muttered, breath steadying.

But before I could move again, she vanished.

One blink and then she was there, right in front of me, her leg whipping upward in a blur of motion aimed straight for my face.

Reflex took over. I raised my forearm just in time, her heel crashing against my guard with a sharp crack that sent a shockwave rippling through the dust.

I slid backward, boots skidding across the arena floor, cloak flaring behind me.

I landed on one knee, grinning. "You're fast."

Nora's eyes gleamed, cold, focused, and utterly thrilled. "You haven't seen anything yet."

I lunged forward again, no hesitation, no flourish this time just pure momentum.

Steel met steel, Sacha's glasslike edge clashing against Nora's gleaming rapier. Sparks burst into the air, and the sound of our blades colliding echoed through the Colosseum like thunder.

She didn't back away. Neither did I.

Our weapons blurred a rapid-fire storm of slashes, thrusts, and parries that would've looked like chaos to anyone watching, but to us, it was rhythm. Her blue eyes locked on mine, her strikes precise, almost elegant. Mine? A little more chaotic. Wild. Unrestrained.

I caught her blade mid-swing, twisted, and drove my foot into her abdomen.

She slid backward, armor glinting, but her stance didn't break. Her counter came instantly, rapier lunging forward in a clean, deadly line straight for my face.

I twisted my head to the side, but not fast enough.

The blade's edge grazed my cheek, slicing a thin red line across it.

Warm blood ran down my face only for it to fade seconds later, the wound knitting itself shut under a soft, white glow.

I wiped at it absently, smirking. "That almost hurt."

Nora didn't reply. She just pressed forward again, faster this time.

Our blades collided, clang after clang, until we dropped the weapons entirely and met fist to fist, kick to kick. The air around us warped under the pressure, each blow heavy enough to make the tiles beneath our feet crack.

And then, finally, I leaped backward and hurled a blast of frost from my palm. The ground beneath her feet froze over instantly, shards of ice racing toward her like spears.

Nora jumped back, her boots landing with perfect balance. Her expression shifted, sharp focus melting into a small, dangerous smile.

She raised her hands, bringing them together in front of her.

Between her palms, a swirling sphere began to form fire and ice, twisting together, the two forces fighting and fusing, burning and freezing all at once.

The air hummed. The heat and cold bit into my skin.

I tilted my head, the corner of my mouth curving up."Now that," I murmured, "seems dangerous."

I watched the sphere grow between Nora's palms, its light bending the air around it, flame and frost weaving together in a way that should've been impossible.

I stayed silent, my grip tightening around Sacha's hilt.

Of course, she'd have something like that.

Her affinity, the so-called Celestial Domain, was absurd. Everything within our solar system bent to her will. Meteors, gravity, fire, ice, black holes, supernovas… the list went on and on. It wasn't an element; it was an entire universe compressed into one person.

She could conjure the pull of a star or the chill of space itself with a thought. Even now, the energy radiating from her was so volatile that the ground at her feet fractured half molten, half frozen.

Annoying doesn't even begin to cover it.

If she had real control over that power, if she could properly channel the chaos swirling behind her eyes, I wouldn't stand a chance. Not a single person here would except Belle.

It's a good thing she doesn't.

Because if she did this fight would've been over before I could even move.

Nora's lips curved upward, a sharp, confident smile someone would wear right before doing something insane. The air shifted. A shiver crawled down my spine, instinct screaming before my mind could even form the thought.

She was about to do something I wasn't going to like.

Without thinking, I dashed forward. The floor shattered beneath my feet as I shot straight for her, glassblade flashing in my hand. The swirling mass between her palms had already grown too bright, too unstable, fire and ice twined together, devouring the air around them.

"Nora—!"

Too late.

Her voice rang out, soft but clear, laced with dangerous focus.

"Judgment of the Frozen Sun."

The world froze for a heartbeat.

Then the orb screamed to life, a comet of blue-red, flame and frost roaring toward me, the sheer pressure of it making my skin burn and freeze at the same time. The Colosseum floor fractured, the shockwave ripping through the air.

For a single breath, my instincts screamed to dodge, but I knew I couldn't. I wouldn't make it. That thing was too fast, too wide, too alive.

So I did the only thing left.

I raised Sacha high, her glass surface rippling with black light, and poured everything into it pure death mana, thick, cold, endless. The air around me darkened, shadows bleeding into existence until even the sunlight above seemed to bend away.

"Let's see whose light dies first," I whispered.

I swung.

A single arc of mana tore through the air, so black it made the world itself look pale, like color had drained out of reality.

The two forces met midair.

Fire and ice against death and end.

The instant they collided, the world convulsed, a soundless explosion, a blinding clash of elements. The ground buckled, light shattered, darkness erupted outward in waves.

And then everything vanished into white noise and dust.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.