The crowd murmured around us.
"A barrier?" "That didn't look like an amulet." "Earth, nature and light... he's already fusing advanced forms." "And what is up with that regeneration?"
Small bruises and burns sealed themselves back to nothing.
Qiyana couldn't hold the smile back.
"Careful." Her hair turned weightless around her. "Keep this up and I might actually remember your name."
Dots of fire sparked around my frame.
I dashed—KraBOMM!
A path of small explosions chased me. Her fingers tracked every step.
KraBOOM!
I cut left, right, zigzag, it didn't matter. She followed without effort. So I stopped running away and ran at her instead.
She spun on her heel—
Crack!
The ground shook. A ridge of earth rose directly under my feet. I felt the impact shoot up through my legs and rolled with the falling momentum, using it to keep pushing forward.
[Nimbus Cloak] [Ghost]
I accelerated.
Her pupils contracted. Her breath caught.
I was too fast for her to react.
Or so I thought.
I reached for her head. My hands were right there, right at her face—
Her mask rotated a full 360, like she had always meant to let me get that close. One second I was grabbing for her. The next, everything went dark. My hands closed on nothing.
'The hell?'
Something hit my stomach hard and I was shoved backwards. When the darkness cleared Qiyana was standing in front of me, composed, unbothered.
'She blinded me. Since when she does that?'
"Come on." Her chin lifted slightly. "Don't stop now. I was enjoying watching you try so hard."
"..."
[Flash]
I reappeared above her. My feet blurred downward—
SLAM! By the time she registered I was gone, her body was already hitting the ground.
She recovered fast. One hand braced against the earth, the other raised to her face. When she looked up her eyes were sharp and her back was coiled like a spring.
The arena was silent.
She was on the ground. While I was standing. The crown that probably cost more than the entire arena was slightly askew, and nobody in the stands seemed to know what to do with that information.
I tilted my head.
"That's it?" A taunting smile. "Keep it up and I might ask for your name."
Silence.
Then—
"Pfft—"
She pressed her fist to her mouth. It didn't help.
"Hahahaha—!"
Full, unguarded. Like something had cracked open that she hadn't planned for and she had stopped caring to hide it.
"VAYAL!"
Seconds later an awkward boy came skidding to a halt just a few feet from the arena's edge, nearly tripping over himself.
"Y-you need me, your empress? I was just— I mean, I'm here now!"
"Oh, I knew you were here, Vayal." Her voice dropped into something sweet, almost a purr. "I could hear your heart thumping from across the space."
He bowed so deep his spine curved.
"I... I was—"
"Bring me my weapon."
"Y-yes!"
I watched her stand and fix her crown back into place. Then:
"...What about me? Do I keep fighting with my bare fists?"
She glanced at me for exactly one second before turning toward the retreating boy.
"AND BRING HIM A WEAPON TOO!"
"Y-Yes!"
'...'
'Poor kid.'
.
.
After he returned, he handed her the ring blade. Then turned to me and held out my twin blades.
I had no idea how he found them, or how he knew they were mine.
Qiyana was getting a feel for the ring blade's weight when I said:
"He's a genius."
She followed my gaze to the retreating Vayal.
"That's given. He serves me."
"..."
"Are you both ready?" The referee called out, tightening his armband. When did he get back up there?
The stage was more packed than before. Significantly more.
"Feel honored," Qiyana said, grabbing her ring blade. "You've entertained me enough to earn a proper ending."
"I present to you the Ohm—"
"A ring blade."
"OHMLATL!"
"Alright. I get it. Calm down."
.
...After we took our positions, I stood across the ring and thought it through.
'Playing with elements against her is dumb. This version of Qiyana seems a different beast entirely. If I want to survive this, I have to stop thinking like a duelist and start thinking like a butcher.'
She began to spin her blade.
'Focus.'
My surroundings blurred, yet she remained.
Her grip tightened as she turned her body sideways. Feet spread. Chest inflated with a slow breath.
'Right-handed.'
ZIIINNG!
The edge ignited. A sharp horizontal swing sent a burning afterimage spinning toward me.
I tightened both my blades grips and met it head on, wrists straining to hold. The spinning fire was too dense to cut through.
'Something stronger.'
My jaw locked. Blue fire erupted and swallowed both blades. The flames ate into the edges of her attack and changed its color before my shoulder dragged both blades through a wide moon cut.
SWISH!
The fire halo broke apart and launched with a loud BOOM into something behind me.
'Too dense to cut through cleanly. I need to parry.'
Even though it lasted under two seconds. I caught something in this clash. My blue fire had fused with hers for a split second. I didn't know what that meant yet.
No time.
Qiyana's gaze tightened, like she noticed something, but I was already moving toward her.
With a twist of her waist she dragged her weapon left. Her blade flashed white and she jumped back, using the attack's force to flip herself backwards. A white spin this time.
Once again I faced it head on.
I brought both blades up and relaxed my joints.
'Faster, but that's good for parrying.'
Before it made contact I noticed Qiyana smirk as she landed.
'No. Dodge!'
No time for that either. My blades clashed against the spinning frost and it exploded on contact.
SCHIISSHH!
White dust swallowed my vision. I was still standing, but my muscles went numb and my movements dragged like I was pushing through frost.
She was already mid-air, flying kick coming in with her halo wrapped in fire and every single one of her teeth showing.
I bit down.
[Legend: Tenacity]
BANG!
Bronze-golden light broke across my skin. My body steadied. My mind cleared. The frost lost its grip like it was never there.
Qiyana's eyes sharpened. "What?!" Already shifting to defense.
'Her balance is off. Weaker hand carrying too much.'
My blades blurred.
CLANG!
Our weapons collided.
Too heavy, as expected.
[Empowered Attack]
Unimaginable strength tore through my body—KAPOW!
"AAGH!" She was thrown back before she finished the sound.
Winds swirled around her like a current. An aggressive twist—
SHHhhh—her sandals slid across the ground.
Her gaze weighed what had just happened. I couldn't give her the time, so I rushed in.
As I closed the distance her weapon glowed green and swung upward.
Swish!
Vines split through the cracks in the arena floor. I felt the green crawl up my ankles, torso, arms, tightening with every second.
'My rune is on cooldown. [Cleanse] is available, but,'
I spread mana through my breath and synced to the vines. Tzeleah's words surfaced and with a single thought—Sckreeec—they fell apart.
"What?!" She shouted.
Qiyana was right there.
Her feets spread. Halo pulled to the right.
'Fire.'
The edge ignited. Horizontal swing, burning afterimage.
I dropped low, knees bent. The heat grazed my hair as it passed.
Her eyes widened. She threw another without hesitation.
I let that one pass too.
Her body said everything.
From the game I knew she had those attacks. Knowing and surviving them were different things, but the pattern was clear now.
'For sure. This Qiyana had more cards up her sleeve than the one I remembered.'
"Those are quite predictable now," I said after stopping just a few feets of her.
She forced a smile. "Y-You're quite the little anomaly, aren't you?" She swallow. "You actually know the secret ways of the jungle... and I have never heard of magic that can read another's power."
"That wasn't magic. Just...uh, common hunter knowledge I guess."
Her face went puzzled.
"Is that so." She said, already preparing her next attack.
She swung left and bent her knees.
'Ice.'
She jumped. The blade flashed white.
I opened the UI.
She launched the halo.
[Mark & Dash]
A snowball shot from my hand toward exactly the spot where she was going to land. She flipped back through the air right on cue.
When her feet touched the ground I was already behind her, standing inside her ring-blade's.
Her eyes scanned for me as I surprised her, snaking one arm under her chin and locked the other behind her head, applying pressure to her neck.
Cheng—she dropped the Ohmlatl and grabbed my forearm by reflex. Her eyes bulging.
"UGHH!"
The arena sweat cold at her roar.
Qiyana panicked. Fire hissed—FSSSH—and I felt the heat crawl up my arms. Vines erupted from below—CRACK, knotting us together tighter. She tried everything.
"Let—go—!"
But my expression stood unchanged.
Darkness swallowed my vision, but my grip remained. Ice overflowed from her skin—SCHIISSH—sinking into mine, forcing my grip loose by inches.
She bit my forearm. "GRGH—!" Her own voice, muffled against my skin.
SMACK! A punch to my face hard enough to crack something.
The arena still didn't utter a sound.
The crowd that had been fearing the little empress since she started walking could only observe with their mouths shut. Their expressions difficult to read as the boy took everything she threw at him without a flinch.
Her eyes grew heavy. Her body went slack.
"..You fought well." I told her. "Now sleep."
And she finally did.
"T-That's it!" The referee shouted fast.
I let out a breath and eased the pressure. I didn't let her fall though.
One arm slid behind her knees, the other across her back, pulling her against my chest as I lifted her. Princess carry.
'She weighs like a feather.'
The arena filled with murmurs.
"He won. He actually broke the empress."
"Look at how he's holding her. Isn't he afraid of the consequences?"
"He should kill her and leave. Once she wakes up she'll go after him and his family. She won't stop until they lose their heads."
I kept walking toward the guards. Ignoring what I just heard.
I felt her heartbeat against my chest. Pulled her a little closer without thinking. Her scent came. Exotic flora. Something heavy and sweet.
'Mn. That check out.'
The exhaustion hit me all at once. Each step felt longer than it should. The only sounds were the crowd's murmurs and her quiet breathing.
What started over a pair of shoes ended with me meeting the self-proclaimed empress.
'I never actually believed I'd win. And what gave me that wasn't even a magical power.'
"Ugh." She stirred. A face of pain.
"...Right. She can't regen."
[Heal]
Green light washed over both of us, sealing every bruise and cut clean.
After handing her to the confused guards I noticed the old scars on my body were gone too. I don't usually use this spell.
'I keep forgetting I'm the most broken thing here.'
Vayal was already waiting when I turned around, both my blades and the Ohmlatl in hand.
'...'
I nodded. He bowed and left with the guards and the little empress.
'...My blades are too damaged. Don't know if they can be fixed.'
Huss.
My breathing was off.
Vrmm.
My vision was doing something strange too. Colored ribbons of smoke drifting from everything around me, from the walls, to the floor, to the people. I had no idea what I was looking at.
'Exhaustion is hitting hard huh. But I'm not out of shape. Strange.'
"I got my points. I'll grab those sorcerer's shoes and maybe gold. Then get out of here, I don't know if it's safe anymore."
Tap-tap.
The sound of goat hooves.
"Wait." A deep voice coming from behind me.
I turned.
'Shit, a furry. An actual goat.'
PLING!
'Pling?'
'...'
'Pling?!'
.