Ivan and Ellen stood facing each other.
Swords floated around Ellen as Ivan's essence moved, activating his ability—a power that allowed him to create plasma.
It was a very strong ability, but he couldn't unleash its full potential while being only second rank, especially since it consumed a lot of essence.
Suddenly, the air in front of Ivan warped, and a small purple light orb appeared, emitting thin strands of lightning, showing that it was a compressed plasma sphere.
But Ellen didn't stand there to watch a display.
Without hesitation, her swords moved, and two flew directly toward Ivan. Ivan shaped his hand like a gun, then pointed at the swords while the plasma sphere, about the size of a golf ball, hovered in front of his finger. He aimed his finger at the incoming swords.
In the next moment, the plasma shot from his hand at insane speed, burning the very air. The moment it touched one sword, a loud explosion rang out; grass burned, dirt scattered everywhere, forming a large crater in the center.
The sword that took the direct hit broke and partially melted before solidifying again in a distorted, blunt form, while the other flew away from the force of the explosion and got stuck in the ground.
Meanwhile, Ivan didn't stand idle and moved toward the princess, trying to close the distance.
"I have to get close to her to land a finishing strike," he thought.
As he moved, another sword headed toward him. Another plasma sphere formed at his fingertip and was fired at the sword, causing another explosion.
But as soon as he deflected that sword, another one was already beside him. If he fired the plasma from that close, the explosion would engulf him too.
So he tilted his body and dodged the sword's path, charging another plasma sphere in his hand. As the sword adjusted its trajectory and moved toward him again, this time he didn't fire at the sword but aimed at the princess herself, releasing the plasma bullet toward her.
The bullet flew at incredible speed, but Ellen was already prepared and stopped it with her distorted sword. Although it had lost its edge, it was still functional. The explosion landed a few meters away, sending dirt flying toward her and vaporizing the sword completely this time.
At the same time, another sword struck Ivan's shoulder, spilling his blood onto the ground. He gritted his teeth while avoiding other strikes.
"Damn princess…" he cursed under his breath.
"Why don't you just surrender so we can finish this quickly?" the princess spoke.
Ivan laughed at her words. "Sorry, Your Highness, but that's not an option."
With that, essence surged through his legs, and with a powerful push, he tore through toward the princess, avoiding the swords that had cut him and spilled more of his blood.
He charged another plasma sphere in his hand and aimed it at the princess, who was still standing in place, then fired without hesitation.
Once again, Ellen used her broken sword to stop it, losing one of her weapons, leaving her with only two.
"I've used too much essence," Ivan thought as he dodged the two swords.
He charged another bullet at his fingertip and fired it at the princess, but one of her swords collided with it, stopping the attack mid-air.
Ivan gritted his teeth. At this rate, I'm going to lose.
From the beginning of the battle, the momentum favored Ellen, while he was being pushed back continuously.
But even she had lost most of her weapons. All she had left was one sharp sword and a piece of molten metal.
When she saw this, Ellen finally moved from her place. The distance no longer favored her; a few more shots and she wouldn't be able to stop his attacks.
Ellen moved toward Ivan, closing the distance, while her sword trapped him, and the molten metal pieces floated around her, ready to block any further attacks.
Ivan took advantage and fired another plasma bullet at her, while the princess sent the molten metal piece to stop the explosion away from her.
Before the explosion even settled, she was already in front of Ivan.
Just because she preferred long-range combat didn't mean she was weak in close quarters.
Ellen moved in sync with her remaining sword, encircling Ivan, who created another bullet and aimed it at her.
The purple sphere shot from his finger, threatening to explode on Ellen, but the princess leaned back, letting the bullet pass by with a hair's breadth. The plasma continued its path before hitting a small mound and flattening it.
That was close, Ellen thought.
Then her sword lunged at Ivan, stabbing into his shoulder plate. At the same time, she moved her foot and delivered a powerful kick to his abdomen. Air rushed from his lungs, and he was thrown back, hitting the ground.
At the same moment, he raised his finger and fired another bullet at her, this time bigger and stronger. She couldn't dodge it while still off-balance from her own kick.
She called her sword back, but by the time it arrived, the bullet was only a few meters away. It collided with the sword, and the explosion occurred nearby. She raised her hands defensively to protect her vital organs.
She felt her hands burning from the heat of the blast. She gritted her teeth and endured the pain.
When the explosion subsided, her arms were blistered, and some of her skin had even turned black.
Meanwhile, Ivan tried to stand. He had lost a lot of blood in this fight, and worse, his essence reserves were already depleted.
He saw Ellen, her hands burned and all her weapons gone, walking toward him.
She reached him and stood over him as he knelt there, struggling to stay conscious.
She smiled. "Looks like this is your win, princess… please make it quick."He meant the finishing strike.
Ellen nodded without words and delivered a blow that ended the battle.
When Ivan's body vanished before her, she looked at herself and assessed her condition.
It was bad… both essence and body.
"I need new weapons," she muttered, continuing forward.
Remaining time:[2:13:43]
Top ten rankings:
1.Ellen Asterval [2560]
2.Elliot Sivrax [2123]
3.Garon Blackfall [1867]
4.Caius Astroweild [1723]
5.Izel Ashvil [1670]
6.Kyle Astro [1634]
7.Leona Starlin [1530]
8.Ivan Rexel [1470]
....
Elsewhere
In the penultimate area, which was a land of hardened volcanic lava but still radiating much heat,
there, in that desolate place, a great battle was about to erupt.
Two people stood, each radiating immense pressure as they faced each other.
One was a human tank, while the other shone like a star.
It was Elliot Sivrax… against Garon Blackfall.