"Don't make excuses when you get your ass kicked!"
Takumi's roar tore through the arena the instant the barrier shimmered into existence.
He launched himself forward like a cannonball, boots digging deep furrows into the stone as raw mana surged through his reinforced body. Every step cracked the stage beneath him, heat rolling outward in suffocating waves.
[Flaming Fist]
Fire bloomed around his right arm, spiraling violently as the flames compressed tighter and tighter. The heat distorted the air, warping vision itself. This wasn't decorative fire—each rotation condensed, sharpened, refined until his fist resembled the heart of a furnace rather than a human limb.
A direct hit would pulverize bone.
Aiko didn't retreat.
She took one calm step to the side, golden eyes tracking the arc of his punch with absolute clarity.
[Light Severance]
Her sword moved.
A single, clean arc.
The moment steel met flame, the fire screamed—then vanished.
Not dispersed.
Not deflected.
Severed.
The mana sustaining the flames was cut at its origin, collapsing instantly as the heat dissolved into harmless motes of light.
Takumi's eyes widened—only for a fraction of a second.
Momentum was already with him.
Relying on the sheer mass of his armor and the continuous reinforcement coursing through it, he forced the punch forward anyway, aiming to break her balance through brute force.
Aiko shifted her grip.
The blade twisted, redirecting his arm downward with surgical precision.
CRASH!
Takumi's fist smashed into the ground instead.
Stone exploded outward, fragments launching skyward as a crater formed beneath his arm. Before the debris even finished falling—
Aiko was already airborne.
She spun mid-leap, cloak fluttering as she delivered a horizontal slash aimed directly for his neck.
Takumi reacted on instinct.
A mana barrier flared into existence at the last possible instant.
CLANG—!
The sword screeched against the barrier—
Then cut through it.
Takumi staggered back with a sharp grunt, clutching his neck as blood seeped through the dented armor plating. He barely yanked his arm free from the crater before jumping back, creating distance.
His breathing grew ragged.
But his eyes burned brighter.
"I'll show you," he snarled, straightening despite the pain, "what it means to have the highest mana among our generation."
Mana erupted outward like a pressure wave.
[Flame Dragon][Infernal Fortress][Ember Charge]
The arena temperature spiked instantly.
A three-meter-wide fire dragon coiled into existence above Takumi, molten scales shifting as it let out a thunderous roar. Crimson flames engulfed his armored body, reinforcing every joint and plate, while compressed jets of fire ignited beneath his legs.
The stone beneath him began to melt.
With a deafening BOOM, Takumi shot forward.
The dragon lunged alongside him, tethered to his will. Each step shattered the ground, shockwaves rippling outward as flame propulsion amplified his already monstrous speed.
The crowd roared.
Aiko did not wait.
She didn't brace.
Didn't raise her sword.
[Luminous Flick]
Her figure blurred.
Light bent around her as she shot sideways, narrowly avoiding the dragon's snapping jaws. The attack missed her by inches, flames scorching the air where she had stood.
Meeting that charge head-on would be pointless.
Those spells were devouring Takumi's mana at a terrifying rate.
All she had to do was survive.
But survival was not simple.
The battlefield had become treacherous—uneven, molten in places, shattered elsewhere by repeated impacts. The fire dragon spewed torrents of flame, forcing Aiko into constant motion.
And then there was Takumi himself.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Each punch he threw—despite not landing—released compressed shockwaves powerful enough to tear through the air, threatening to throw her off balance with a single misstep.
"You can't keep running forever!" Takumi bellowed, laughter bordering on mania. "I can just keep doing this!"
Flames intensified around his legs as he pushed even harder, speed climbing to reckless extremes.
Aiko glanced over her shoulder.
Instead of fear—
She smiled.
"I don't have to run every time."
Takumi stepped forward.
And the ground betrayed him.
[Luminous Burst]
The stone beneath his foot detonated into blinding light.
Shattered rock and debris exploded upward, swallowing his vision entirely. The sudden radiance overwhelmed his senses, momentarily severing his awareness.
By the time the glare faded—
Aiko was already there.
Standing directly in front of him.
Her sword shone with a brilliance so intense it bordered on painful.
Too bright.
"Shit—!" Takumi cursed, throwing his arms up on instinct.
[Celestial Flare]
The strike crashed into him like divine judgment.
Light tore through his flame barrier, shredded reinforced plating, and carved deep into the flesh beneath. Takumi was hurled backward, armor screeching as it skidded across the arena floor.
At the same time—
The fire dragon lashed out blindly.
A torrent of flame slammed into Aiko, ripping through the light surrounding her and scorching her right arm from hand to shoulder blade. Pain exploded instantly, white-hot and brutal.
Then the flames dissipated.
Takumi's concentration shattered.
Aiko landed heavily, breathing hard, blood dripping from her burned arm.
Had she been any other swordsman, the injury would have ended the fight.
Unfortunately for Takumi—
She simply switched hands.
"Hah… hah… hah…"
Takumi struggled to stand, vision blurring, lungs burning. Nearly half his mana was gone from that exchange alone.
But Aiko wasn't unscathed either.
Her mana pool was critically low—enough for perhaps two spells. Worse, she was bleeding mana constantly just to stabilize her injury.
Takumi still had the endurance advantage.
His lips curled into a grin.
[Hell Spear]
Mana surged violently as he poured everything he had left into the spell.
Twenty fire lances formed in the air behind him, tips burning white-hot, each one locked onto Aiko's position.
"It's over…" he rasped.
"It is," Aiko replied calmly.
Takumi froze.
Before he could question it—
[Dawnstrike]
A slim arrow of condensed light flashed across the arena.
THUNK.
It pierced into the back of his neck, embedding itself just above the spine.
He had protected his front.
That was his mistake.
"Ack—!"
The impact shoved him forward. Panic shattered his control, and the fire lances misfired wildly, streaking off in chaotic arcs.
Aiko slipped through them effortlessly.
In the next instant, she was in front of him.
Light surged around her leg.
CRACK!
A roundhouse kick slammed into Takumi's face, launching him off his feet as the arena barrier rippled violently.
He hit the ground hard.