From Strength Verification to Reality
Not much time had passed since the strength verification, but it felt like an eternity. Ludenberg thought so as he glared at the opponent before him.
His face was obscured by the various armor he wore, but one thing was clear: his resolve. The same went for Mion standing beside him. A determination not to yield easily emanated from them.
They were detestable in every way, but Ludenberg had to admit he respected that attitude. If they had approached him with such resolve from the start, perhaps they wouldn't hate each other so viciously now. After all, he respected those who put in the effort.
Lost in thought, he shook his head. Pointless speculation. They had already crossed the line he had drawn and shattered every relationship around him. Twisting what might have been five years of happiness into something unrecognizable was unforgivable.
He would never forgive them, not in a lifetime. And they likely felt the same.
Ashytara, standing beside Ludenberg, was already glaring at the pair with fierce eyes.
Probably what my eyes look like too, he thought. Twisted resentment shot from them like arrows.
Yes. What more was there to say? What Ludenberg and Ashytara wanted was to thoroughly crush those two—and vice versa.
No need for complications. They were enemies. Not ones they could kill, bound by the same empire, but ones they couldn't allow to rise. They had to stamp them down now, break their will to resist entirely.
They faced each other.
"Come for another beating? Feels like the midterms weren't that long ago—you couldn't even touch me."
Mockery spilled from Ludenberg's lips. His sharp aura pressed down on Eden.
Eden feigned composure, meeting Ludenberg's dark green eyes. A chill ran down his spine. The bastard had grown even stronger since the midterms.
Even after all that training, he's pulled even further ahead. Monstrous bastard.
"Who knows? Maybe you should be the one worrying about getting beat."
Bluff. Both Eden and Ludenberg knew it. But it was all Eden could do: resist without buckling under the ferocious pressure.
Pathetic, wasn't it? The one who had dragged others into relational hell now posturing as some noble resistor against tyranny. When he was the worst of the worst.
Thinking that, Eden curled his lips in self-mockery. Not that anyone could see under the helmet anyway.
Ashytara and Mion exchanged no words, just brief glares that ended their "conversation."
The referee signaled the start.
Ashytara struck first. A fierce gust rose, flames cloaking her cross greatsword. Solem's flames. When it came to raw destructive power, the most devastating of all divine powers.
Mion swallowed hard at the sight. Having been badly burned by those flames once before, she couldn't help tensing up.
Of course, she wore a proper helmet this time to protect her head. No risk of her hair catching fire—but the helmet might melt from the heat, leaving her in an even worse state.
Mion immediately cloaked herself in Mare's divine power. A cold aura swirled around her, repelling the flames.
Water beat fire in terms of affinity, sure—but Ashytara's flames were on another level. No room for carelessness.
Mion deemed it impossible to directly clash her slender sword against that massive greatsword.
Then...!
She would evade with her nimble movements.
Unable to grab Eden's ankle, Mion's resolve met Ashytara's flames head-on.
Her body grew fluid, flowing like water.
She stepped swiftly, dodging the greatsword sweeping to incinerate the area. Even larger movements were fine. One brush with that blade's wake, and she was done.
The vast arena felt like a flame-wreathed path. Blazing trails and afterimages blanketed her front.
But she defended with sacred law. Mare's icy waters thrashed to block the heat's intrusion.
Then Mion slipped away smoothly.
Prolonged standoff favored her opponent. Ashytara smirked at Mion escaping her greatsword's domain. The clash had confirmed her overwhelming advantage.
Fast? She was plenty fast too. Flexible? Turn the entire movement range into her territory, and Mion was helpless.
Ashytara didn't rush. She advanced slowly, her steps declaring: No matter what you do, you can't win.
That alone crushed Mion under immense pressure. Fear of the flames surging at any moment weighed her down.
But she bit her lip. Crunch. A grim sound, blood trickling down her chin.
The pain from her mouth drove back the fear. Her feet freed, she charged Ashytara at full speed.
Mion, shrouded in Mare's blessing, dodged the greatsword this way and that, seeking counterattacks. Ashytara spun her blade endlessly, pressing relentlessly.
The crowd watching erupted in frenzy. Unlike Ludenberg and Eden's mutual standoff, Ashytara and Mion's exchanges were dazzling spectacles.
* * *
Eden couldn't move rashly despite the fierce battle beside him. Ludenberg approached slowly, and his feet refused to budge.
He knew: charge openly now, and he'd lose instantly.
What do I do?
It felt like an insurmountable wall.
Why was the bastard so strong? Without divine power, even. Was the talent gap just that vast?
Doubts swelled.
No. Not the time to get distracted.
Eden shook his head clear. Forget talent or divine power. He needed to land at least one hit—flail desperately.
To do that, move. Can't just stand here and lose pathetically.
Eden raised his sword and charged Ludenberg.
Clang!
Their blades met fiercely. Mare's fluidity and smoothness, Celioum's speed, Terra's sturdiness infused Eden's body, then his sword. The triple divine power converged with monstrous force against Ludenberg's blade.
Yet even that overwhelming strike didn't budge Ludenberg's sword.
He twisted slightly, pulling his blade free. Eden, pouring everything in, lost balance in the power vacuum, posture crumbling.
Ludenberg exploited it, slamming down on the off-balance Eden—whose body pitched forward toward the ground—with blinding speed.
Clang!
Another metallic ring, Eden's sword buried in the arena floor.
"Urk!"
The shock climbed his arm, damaging his wrist despite Terra and Mare's protection.
Ludenberg pinned the sword and kneed the bent-over Eden's body.
Thud!
"Guh!"
The knee carried devastating power, shaking Eden's armor innards. He nearly blacked out.
But his obsession to land one hit kept him conscious. He maxed Mare's divine power, healing waves mending his damage bit by bit.
Ludenberg wouldn't let that slide. He pinned the sword again and kneed once more.
Crack!
A different sound. Eden had used Terra to shield his abdomen.
The sword... gotta abandon it. Can't match his strength.
Decision made, Eden dropped it and stepped back. He used Celioum for distance, then reformed a Terra sword in his hand.
Time to go for broke.
The sword formed slowly—damage not fully healed.
"Where you going?"
Ludenberg wasn't one to wait. He stomped hard pursuing the retreating Eden.
Boom!
Cracks spiderwebbed the unyielding arena floor from his foot, staggering Eden briefly.
That moment decided it. Ludenberg closed in, smashing his empty left fist into Eden's helmet.
Bam!
The floor cratered again, Eden's head slamming down. Much like the midterms.
As Ludenberg rendered Eden combat-ineffective, the other fight neared its end.
Bam!
Ashytara melted Mion's Mare blessing with her flames, then broadsided her armor with the cross greatsword's flat.
That blade's weight alone knocked Mion out cold.
Eden and Mion collapsed side by side, their vow for one hit unfulfilled.
The crowd gaped. Brief silence fell, then thunderous cheers erupted.
Ashytara and Mion's flame-and-wave dance. Ludenberg's domination of the prodigy Eden Asta.
All ignited the spectators' roars.
Amid the deafening cheers, the referee declared the winners. The two casually high-fived.
Clap.