On the arena, the mist and ice shards dissipated, revealing the scene within.
Angie stood ramrod straight, her right hand gripping her Ice-Blue Longsword. Her cold blue eyes gazed down at Fidelle, not with mockery, but with pure indifference.
Fidelle knelt on one knee, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, freezing the moment it emerged. Her heavy Battle-Axe had flown from her grasp, embedding itself diagonally into the Geo Crystal ground far away, residual Electro energy flickering weakly along its blade.
Had the battle been decided?
No, not yet. With a supreme effort, Fidelle staggered to her feet, shattering the self-imposed limitations that had restrained her until now.
Her once eagle-sharp golden eyes now burned with an inhuman, almost frenzied purple-red light. Fine, spiderweb-like energy cracks radiated from the edges of her pupils.
"We... continue!"
Fidelle extended her right hand, and the Battle-Axe embedded at the arena's edge began to tremble violently.
Buzz—crack! Clang-clang-clang!
A surge of powerful magnetism combined with uncontrolled Electro energy erupted. The heavy Battle-Axe shook violently as the frost on its surface instantly vaporized. Within the crimson-purple glow, the complex mechanical structures along the haft and blade rapidly deformed and reassembled.
With a screech of grinding metal and the piercing shriek of overloaded energy, the Battle-Axe abruptly disassembled, transforming into two streaks of violet-red light that surged back into Fidelle's hand as if drawn by a magnet.
In her grip, the streaks reassembled and transformed once more. This time, it was neither a double-edged sword nor a battle-axe, but a massive war hammer radiating a menacing aura of destruction.
The hammer was now wreathed not in pure purple Electro, but in a chaotic mix of crimson overcharged energy and ominous deep-purple lightning.
The searing heat of this power instantly vaporized the icy chill surrounding Fidelle.
The Electro serpents coiling around her body twisted into whip-like arcs of violet-red electricity, her rationality teetering on the brink of being consumed by the berserk energy. Yet, having dared to wield such power, Fidelle still maintained a precarious grip on control.
However, relentless waves of negative emotions surged through her mind, clouding her judgment and momentarily disrupting her grasp of the situation.
For the first time, Angie's eyes flickered with visible emotion—not indifference, but grave concern.
She could clearly sense the danger emanating from the opposing force—savage, chaotic, and driven by a will to annihilate everything.
-
On the Main Observation Deck, Ningguang glanced at the three Gods seated beside her. Seeing no reaction from them, she calmed down.
Though the power radiating from the arena felt savage and destructive, Fidelle seemed to retain her rationality, suggesting she could control it.
In truth, the three seemingly unhurried Gods were watching the arena intently.
Injuries were inevitable in a match. Minor wounds would be ignored, while Rukkhadevata would heal severe injuries later. If a mortal wound threatened, Zhongli and Venti would intervene before it could strike.
For Zhongli and the others, everything unfolding on the battlefield remained within their control.
Moderate injuries could ignite their fighting spirit and accelerate their growth.
To combat the Abyss, the Gods alone weren't enough...
-
Tartaglia's earlier composure had completely vanished. His eyes widened as she stared in astonishment at the two figures clashing in the arena.
Beside him, Ailina's face was etched with worry.
Earlier, she had been certain that Lady Angie would win. She never expected her opponent to have such a trump card!
-
"Wow, Lumine, Fidelle seems to have gotten even stronger!"
Lumine gazed intently at the arena. No surprise there. Anyone worthy of being a guard to the Hydro Archon wouldn't be so easily defeated!
Chasca's expression darkened. Two more people I can't beat now...
Charlotte stopped filming, her heart racing with anxiety. But remembering the Summit's rules—that divine healing would be provided—she quickly raised her camera again. I've never seen Fidelle like this before!
-
On the arena stage, Angie unhesitatingly raised her Ice-Blue Longsword before her. The blade glowed with an intense blue light, and terrifyingly cold energy surged outward from her in all directions.
The arena floor began to freeze over, a thick layer of ice instantly covering a radius of several dozen meters around her. Countless razor-sharp ice spikes erupted from the frozen surface like a forest of thorns, creating an absolute zero domain of death.
Without exchanging a word, the two women clashed again.
Fidelle swung her hammer down, shattering the ice spikes within the Domain and cracking the frozen ground.
Clearing a path, Fidelle swung her massive hammer with one hand, charging straight at Angie.
Angie neither flinched nor dodged, meeting the hammer head-on with a thrust of her sword.
The colossal impact hammer, crackling with destructive purple-red lightning, slammed into Angie's sword like a siege ram. This time, it was Angie who was forced back.
The purple-red lightning from the hammer surged along Angie's sword the moment they made contact.
Seizing the advantage, Fidelle pressed her attack, swinging her hammer, which weighed as much as a thousand pounds, so fast it left afterimages.
Angie retaliated with her sword, continuously summoning ice spikes to attack Fidelle.
Each collision between their weapons triggered violent explosions, shattering the steel-hard ice spikes and vaporizing them under the hammer's impact.
Icy shards and scalding steam, mixed with violent Electro energy, sprayed wildly in all directions, causing the arena's protective barrier to flicker violently.
Angie gradually found herself overwhelmed, while Fidelle's speed showed no sign of diminishing. On the contrary, each act of destruction seemed to fuel her with even greater, more frenzied momentum.
Angie's pupils constricted sharply. She was infuriated. Fidelle's completely reckless style—abandoning all defense, trading blow for blow, and overpowering skill with brute force—had completely exceeded her calculations!
Ice crystals flickered beneath Angie's feet as she retreated rapidly, her longsword tracing arcane patterns through the air.
Zing!
A condensed, soul-freezing ice-blue aurora shot forth from the sword's tip, instantly freezing everything in its path—even the raging Electro Element and scorching steam.
Faced with this world-freezing aurora, the manic gleam in Fidelle's eyes intensified!
She pushed her charging speed to its absolute limit. At the precise moment the ice-blue aurora was about to strike, she braced her massive hammer before her, the violent purple-red Electro Element plasma on its surface boiling to its peak intensity.
"Break!!!"
Zzzz—BOOM!!!
The ice-blue aurora slammed into the purple-red Electro Element hammer!
There was no crisp cracking sound of freezing; only the terrifying roar of annihilating energy. The two forces collided in a cataclysmic clash, forming a rapidly expanding sphere of destructive energy composed of ice shards, purple-red plasma, and absolute zero cold.
The protective barrier flickered wildly, its light pulsing erratically as if on the verge of collapse. But it soon stabilized.
The energy sphere persisted for several seconds before detonating with a deafening roar. The cataclysmic shockwave hurled both combatants violently away.
Angie was flung back like a kite with a severed string, crashing heavily into the violently flickering barrier before sliding to the ground.
The ice-blue longsword in her hand dimmed to a near-extinguished glow, several hairline cracks spiderwebbing across its blade. Her armor was scorched and fractured in multiple places, and blood trickled incessantly from the corner of her mouth, staining the ice crystals on her chest crimson.
Fidelle crashed against the arena's edge like a burning meteorite, her warhammer flying from her grip, the crackling Electro energy on its surface extinguished. The frenzied purple-red light in her pupils flickered violently, then gradually faded, the madness receding from her eyes.
Leaning heavily on her ice sword, Angie struggled to her feet. She wiped the blood from her mouth, raised her sword weakly, and then let it fall limply.
Fidelle coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, forcing herself upright. But her condition was far worse than Angie's; her face was deathly pale.
The arena barrier opened, and Tartaglia was the first to rush inside.