Judgment Signals the Start
As soon as the judge announced the beginning of the match, Ludenberg Lavante charged straight at Seia Shahain.
His foot kicked off the ground lightly, propelling him into a world of swift motion. Quick and decisive. He couldn't afford to drag this out and give Seia time to deploy her Saint Laws.
In the blink of an eye, Ludenberg's form appeared right in front of Seia. But an axe-spear blocked his path.
"I figured you'd go for her. But not this time."
"......"
Boom!
Before Ashytara Solenute could even react, Dalia Retiu intercepted Ludenberg's strike aimed at Seia. It seemed she'd anticipated him targeting Seia and positioned herself accordingly.
The moment of impact caused the arena floor beneath Dalia and Ludenberg to explode outward like a blast.
Dalia swung her axe-spear to halt Ludenberg's advance. Chunks of earth clung to her weapon, transforming it into an even more ferocious shape.
"If you want to get to Seia, you'll have to go through me first."
"No need. While I'm dealing with you, Tara will go after Seia-senior."
"You think it'll be that easy? Forgot how Ashytara lost to Seia last time? Why do you think I latched onto you first?"
Clang!
The harsh screech of axe-spear meeting sword pierced their ears, but neither so much as flinched, as if the noise meant nothing.
"Obviously to stop me from targeting Seia-senior, right?"
Ludenberg replied calmly to Dalia, who smirked right in front of his face.
"Exactly."
The instant she heard his answer, Dalia fiercely deflected Ludenberg's sword. Whatever immense divine power she'd wrapped around it, even Ludenberg's strike—bolstered by his convictions—bounced back for a split second.
Dalia didn't miss that opening. She swiftly brought her axe-spear down on Ludenberg. A sharp blow infused with Terra's divine power hurtled toward him.
Whoosh!
But Ludenberg parried it effortlessly. His body, strengthened by conviction, had no trouble handling the heavy axe-spear.
Sword and axe-spear clashed once more. The shockwave rippled outward.
Dalia had seized the advantage moments ago but failed to press it, so naturally, this exchange favored Ludenberg. As the impact made her hesitate briefly, Ludenberg struck again at her axe-spear.
His sword traced a clean arc, its brutal swordsmanship slamming into the shaft of her weapon.
Claaang!
The fierce shock nearly buckled Dalia's knees, but she endured with superhuman leg strength. Still, she couldn't prevent damage to her axe-spear. The earthen fragments coating it, empowered by Terra's divine power, began crumbling away.
If this keeps up, the shaft might shatter, the thought flashed through her mind.
Damn. At this rate, I won't last long.
Dalia gritted her teeth, somehow weathering Ludenberg's relentless pressure while buying time for Seia to neutralize Ashytara.
Only option is to wrap my weapon even tighter in Terra's divine power. Hang in there.
True to her reputation for effortlessly slicing through high-grade erosion beasts at such a young age, her swordsmanship was awe-inspiring, backed by phenomenal physical prowess. Even in defeat, she'd go down convincingly.
But that didn't mean Dalia would accept loss easily.
She'd clawed through every challenge with dogged determination. Back in her first year, when everything was new and her talents were lackluster, she'd trained twice as hard as anyone just to climb upward. Not the sharpest mind, she'd sacrificed sleep for good grades.
That effort landed her the top spot in her second year—a position she'd dreamed of. The sleepy eyes she always sported in the student council room? All thanks to that grind.
Fueling it all was her unbreakable resolve: never give up, see it through to the end.
That's why Dalia couldn't admit defeat so readily. She gripped her axe-spear tight and let out a shout.
"Hah!"
As if respecting her tenacity, Ludenberg pressed her even harder, determined to break through and claim victory. Senior-junior camaraderie meant nothing here. They were rivals fighting for the top.
While Dalia held Ludenberg at bay, Ashytara circled around from the side, targeting Seia. Flames wreathing her cross greatsword left afterimages, heating up the arena.
The crowd erupted in cheers at the sight. They'd already witnessed the dazzling, beautiful arcs of Ashytara's greatsword swings.
Seia wasn't idle either. Despite her priestess robes, she dodged with impossible agility, widening the gap. Unable to use mist-based Saint Laws instantly like in the semifinals, she began checking Ashytara with arrows.
Ashytara batted them away with her greatsword, gradually picking up speed. Of course, the faster she moved, the faster Seia did too. Not even a Celioum priestess, yet Seia moved with remarkable nimbleness.
"Ashytara. Don't think I live just for Saint Laws."
"Never thought that for a second."
Seia evaded her pursuer while preparing her Saint Law—even mid-sprint, mid-shot, she pulled it off. Suddenly, Ashytara realized she was isolated. Seia had vanished from sight.
Tch. Not going according to plan. Can't be helped—nothing ever does exactly as expected.
She recalled their previous clash and Seia's Saint Laws.
Seia-senior's Saint Laws come from nowhere. And like in the semifinals, this mist everywhere. It's all her divine power. So... what I can do is...
Ashytara drew up her divine power to its limit.
Burn this whole area away. Other powers might struggle, but Solem's divine power won't yield to any in raw firepower.
One problem: Seia wouldn't just stand by while she built up power to incinerate everything.
"Think I'll just wait around?"
"......Ah, no!"
Even as she gathered power, Ashytara dodged and deflected arrows raining from all directions. Just like last time. No matter how vigilant, blocking every one of Seia's shots was no easy feat.
And dragging it out only worsened her position. Seia still had an ace up her sleeve.
The First Piercing Arrow from the Adem Festa—twisting causality, defying common sense.
Ashytara knew Seia could unleash it anytime. Shooting arrows through mist defied logic enough, but that was on another level. No barriers like Illiana Nadiel's to block it. One lapse, and she'd be combat-ineffective in an instant.
Ashytara felt her nerves fraying. Even batting arrows, one could be the First Piercing Arrow slipping through.
In friendly matches, all but lethal blows were fair game. An arm or leg pierced would spell disaster.
Determined not to burden Ludenberg, Ashytara sharpened her senses to the max, deflecting and incinerating the arrow storm.
To avoid another limp defeat, she kept moving ceaselessly. Her flame-clad greatsword burned through the mist, halting incoming arrows.
Even amid the frenzy, her mind raced.
Divine power is finite. Pouring out this many arrows means Seia-senior's getting impatient too.
Ashytara's hunch was spot-on. Hidden in the mist, Seia assessed the battlefield. Firing arrows nonstop, she kept tabs on Ludenberg and Dalia.
She glanced pityingly at Dalia.
Senior won't hold much longer. She's hanging on, but if this continues, she'll fall, and Ludenberg comes for me. Can't hit him with a Saint Law either—Ashytara would obliterate it.
Cornered on all fronts. No easy reversal in sight.
Seia maxed out her divine power. The mist coalesced into countless arrows, hurtling at Ashytara.
Ashytara took it all in, wrapping her cross greatsword in flames and slashing a wide arc.
Roar.
Flames trailed afterimages, igniting arrows one by one. As mist turned to arrows, it thinned, revealing Seia.
Ashytara's eyes widened. Seia had her bow trained on her.
......Oh no!
She hadn't expected Seia to abandon the mist for a direct Saint Law. Her miscalculation.
"Sorry. This one's gonna hurt—a lot."
Seia's apologetic voice echoed softly, followed by a massive divine power surge.
In that instant, Ashytara realized the First Piercing Arrow was coming and twisted away—but too late.
Twang.
The bowstring snapped in her ears.
Crunch.
The causality-reversing arrow shattered her armor and pierced her flesh.