Chapter Three: The Ignition of the Confrontation
Suwad slowly raised her head, her mysterious features shrouded in a chilling calm. She gently placed Roro on the ground, a faint, inexplicable smile dancing on her lips. Without uttering a single word, she stood up and fixed her gaze directly on Aiden. Closing her eyes, she took a deep, rhythmic breath as if drawing power from the very air around her. Then, in an instant... she vanished.
Panic surged through the crowd. Eyes darted frantically, searching for any trace of her, until someone shrieked in a trembling voice:
— "She's behind Aiden!"
Everyone spun around in shock. There stood Suwad, towering like a literal shadow. Aiden, however, remained as steady as a mountain, his expression unreadable, not a single muscle twitching. At that moment, dark purple auras began to erupt from Suwad's hands. She raised her palms toward the sky and declared in a commanding tone:
— "Form: Eclipse Radiance!"
The mist between her hands solidified into a sword shimmering with a lethal black luster. Despite the terrifying threat, Aiden did not flinch; he waited for the decisive moment. Suwad lunged at him with unbelievable speed, and only then did Aiden move, parrying her strike with a solidified bolt of lightning that served as an impenetrable shield.
The duel intensified. The clashing of their blades sent violent tremors through the hall, making the very walls quiver. Aiden's speed slightly surpassed Suwad's, and seizing that small opening, he roared:
— "Lightning Strike!"
He surged around her with indescribable force and immense energy. Volts of electricity exploded from his sword, cascading toward her like a torrential river. With remarkable grace, Suwad evaded the deadly assault and returned to her original position. She tilted her head back, inhaling deeply as if savoring the thrill of the hunt, and remarked coolly:
— "You are not an easy opponent..."
The Appearance of Akina
The brief silence was shattered by the arrival of a girl of breathtaking beauty. She stepped into the arena with arrogance, her voice dripping with mockery:
— "Isn't it sad, Suwad, that you fight Aiden while I am right here? The atmosphere has finally become interesting, and I want to join in."
This was Akina, the daughter of Queen Rima, ruler of the Kingdom of Sahaya. Suwad asked her coldly:
— "Who are you?"
Akina replied with pride:
— "I am your opponent now!"
Akina charged toward Suwad with overwhelming power. A strange pink bow materialized in her hands, and she began firing a barrage of arrows with blinding speed, chanting:
— "Form: Damask Roses!"
The spectators gasped at the intensity of the attack, convinced that Suwad's fate was sealed. King Shahin laughed triumphantly, turning to Binsil:
— "Oh, Binsil! Your servant has been crushed!"
Binsil offered no verbal reply, maintaining only a mysterious, confident smile.
The Tables Turn
As the dust settled and the chaos subsided, a wave of shock washed over the crowd. Suwad was standing exactly where she had been, unmoved. Not a single arrow had even grazed her.
Akina was horrified by what she saw, stumbling back a step as she cried out in disbelief:
— "Who are you?! No one has ever escaped my attack!"
Suwad locked eyes with her, a cold gaze that seemed to pierce through her soul, and said:
— "You know nothing about me yet..."
A sinister smile crept across Suwad's face. She vanished again with insane speed, reappearing behind Akina in the blink of an eye. She raised her hand, her voice a low, ominous threat:
— "If you hadn't interfered, what is about to happen would never have occurred."
With a swift, blurred motion, she struck Akina with a bolt of Black Flame. The princess collapsed to the ground like a lifeless body, gasping and thrashing, unable to draw breath, as if death itself had wrapped its cold fingers around her throat.
To be continued...