For a time, not a single one of the spectating Sarkaz made a sound. The only noise to be heard was the rhythmic, violent clashing of weapons between the two figures in the center.
At this moment, both sides were giving their all to counter their opponent... or at least, one of them was giving their absolute all. The onlookers felt that in a battle of this caliber, it would be inappropriate to cheer and holler as they usually did. For such warriors and such a fight, they only needed to maintain a respectful silence; witnessing the birth of a victor with their own eyes was the only thing they ought to do.
"Huff... huff..."
Inside that heavy armor, Mudrock was now gasping for breath. In the brief but intense exchange just now, she had consumed far too much physical energy and desperately needed a moment to recover.
But Jeanne had no intention of standing by idly to wait for her to catch her breath. She planned to close the distance and end the duel then and there with a single punch. Through their clash, Jeanne had roughly gauged the limit of Mudrock's endurance; her next strike would be enough to incapacitate her without causing lasting damage.
In fact, had she not been worried about her own immense strength accidentally killing her opponent, Jeanne could have ended this battle the moment it began by simply lunging forward.
As Jeanne closed in, she suddenly felt the ground beneath her feet begin to vibrate, as if something beneath the earth was straining to burst through the surface. The tremors were strong enough for everyone present to feel the earth shaking. Stones and soil began to coalesce around Mudrock, rapidly growing into behemoths—golems that stood even taller than Patriot.
"Old man, is this also a type of Sarkaz hereditary Originium Art?" Talulah asked, leaning toward Patriot as the massive stone statues rose.
She hadn't expected the heavy-armored Mudrock to possess such powerful Originium Arts. If she could summon these without limit, wouldn't she be a one-woman army? But Talulah knew that was impossible. Still, it didn't diminish the terror of these golems; they had no weaknesses and knew no fear. Until the caster dispelled them, they were practically an insoluble problem on the battlefield.
"Her Originium Arts are laced with a very ancient form of Sarkaz witchcraft. It seems ancient blood flows through her veins. However, someone capable of reaching this level was rare even in my era," Patriot remarked, his eyes fixed on Mudrock. He hadn't been certain before, but now he was sure she possessed truly ancient Sarkaz lineage.
Seeing such a talented descendant forced to flee Kazdel filled Patriot with a brief pang of worry for the future of his homeland. "But this kind of Art places a massive burden on her. Given her current state, those statues likely won't last long before they begin to weaken."
As Patriot observed, Mudrock was indeed under immense strain. Creating four golems simultaneously after exhausting so much physical energy was a monumental challenge. She leaned on her great hammer, watching Jeanne. She knew she was likely to be defeated, yet she still wanted to give her absolute all for this final gambit.
"Fertile soil and bedrock, stand tall!"
At her command, four colossal golems took their places around her like sentinels, slowly advancing toward Jeanne under Mudrock's direction.
Well, isn't this interesting, Jeanne thought. Her curiosity was piqued by Mudrock's ability. Instead of dodging the statues to strike Mudrock directly, she decided to face these behemoths head-on. She wondered about the specifics of the ability—could Mudrock only control things she created, or could she animate any statue? If it were the latter, it would be hilarious to have her carve two stone statues of Talulah and watch them start moving in the heat of battle.
But now wasn't the time for such idle thoughts. Though the golems moved slowly, the distance was short, and one had already reached her. The giant slowly raised its massive arm and slammed it down with crushing force. The earth shattered upon impact, leaving a deep crater in the ground. Had that punch landed cleanly, the only way to retrieve the target would be to scrape them into a box with a small shovel.
Jeanne, however, was no longer there. The moment the fist fell, she leaped with powerful legs, landing steadily on the golem's shoulder.
"Hah!"
Jeanne lashed out with her right leg, kicking the golem squarely in the head. Under the force of that kick, the rocks forming the head disintegrated like low-quality masonry. If this had been a living person, they would be dead instantly; once the head is crushed, not even a god can save you.
But the golem was merely a mindless puppet. It swung its other arm toward its own shoulder where Jeanne stood. The massive stone limb collided with Jeanne's seemingly fragile fist.
CRACK.
The golem's arm shattered on impact. Even though its body was made of solid rock, it was no match for Jeanne's iron fists. The golem was left with nothing but its legs. To be fair, Mudrock's technique was impressive; in some ways, these physical puppets were more troublesome than direct Originium Arts. If Mudrock had used direct energy-based Arts on Jeanne, they would have been useless due to Jeanne's unique nature. But because the statues were physical objects created by Arts, Jeanne couldn't simply ignore them—their physical strikes could still hurt her.
Jeanne then raised her flagpole, weaving between the four golems with blistering speed. With a few swings of her hands, she reduced the remaining statues to piles of rubble. It was a pity; while they were products of magic, they were still made of stone. Had they been made of steel, Jeanne wouldn't have won quite so easily.
"You win," Mudrock said, watching her golems crumble. Though she had the power to reshape them, she didn't hesitate to concede the defeat. There was no way around it—the opponent was simply too strong. She had used every trick in her arsenal, only for Jeanne to dismantle them with nothing but her bare hands and a flagpole.
The moment Mudrock signaled the end of the fight, a wave of exhaustion hit her as her body relaxed. she had to struggle just to keep from collapsing on the spot. Perhaps she had been so focused on controlling the golems that she hadn't noticed how weak and weary she had become until now.
Seeing this, Jeanne reached out to steady Mudrock and helped her sit down. It was clear that these spells took a heavy toll on her body. Furthermore, Mudrock didn't even have a proper staff; her hammer was just a sturdy piece of iron, and her armor had been "scrap metal" for years. She had been relying entirely on her status as an Infected, using the Originium crystals in her own body to fuel her combat. Every time she used her Arts, she was effectively accelerating her own death.
The surrounding Sarkaz remained silent for a long moment after the fight ended. It took a few seconds for the reality to sink in before they began to applaud the two women in the center. There was no mockery for the loser. To them, both women were sufficiently powerful and worthy of their respect.
A Sarkaz will follow someone they acknowledge. There are many ways to earn that acknowledgment, but for them, letting your strength do the talking was always the simplest and most understood.