As I steadied my stance, my gaze locked onto Varen. His fiery aura had transformed into something primal, raw, and overwhelming. The dragon-shaped flames roared above him, their intensity palpable even from this distance. The ground beneath him cracked further with each step he took, his greatsword alight with an undeniable power that seemed to hum with its own will.
I exhaled slowly, feeling the faint sting of the cut on my cheek. A single bead of blood traced its path downward, but I barely noticed. My focus was entirely on Varen, on the sheer presence he now exuded.
‘An epiphany in the middle of a fight,’ I mused, my smirk softening into something closer to a grin. ‘It really is like Valeria’s moment back in her last match.’
The comparison was apt. Valeria had reached a similar breakthrough, pushing past her own limits to grasp something greater in the heat of battle. Watching her then, I’d felt a faint flicker of admiration for the sheer force of will it took to achieve that. And now, here was Varen, standing tall as another testament to the talent that the main cast seemed to possess.
‘It’s not surprising,’ I thought, tilting my head slightly as I observed him. ‘This is what makes them the main cast, after all. The story always bends in their favor, doesn’t it?’
I wasn’t bitter—far from it. If anything, I relished the challenge. They were built for this, sculpted by the narrative itself to rise above ordinary trials. And that made victories against them all the sweeter.
The crowd’s cheers roared around us, their voices blending into a cacophony of awe and disbelief. But for me, everything else had faded into the background. All that remained was the fight, the thrill of facing an opponent who could push me to the edge.
‘He’s powerful now,’ I acknowledged silently, my smirk sharpening into something feral. ‘With this state, I’ll need to push myself to the absolute maximum if I want to win this without revealing my [Starlight] mana core.’
The thought made my blood hum with excitement. A fight like this—one where the odds were steep, where I’d have to rely on every ounce of my skill, cunning, and willpower—was exactly what I thrived on. It wasn’t just about victory; it was about the exhilaration of standing on the razor’s edge, of dancing with chaos and bending it to my will.
‘These odds…’ I thought, my estoc shifting slightly in my grip as the black flames of [Flame of Equinox] coiled tighter around me. ‘I like them.’
I took a single step forward, the movement deliberate, my eyes never leaving Varen. His fiery dragon flared in response, as if sensing the shift in my stance, the unspoken challenge in my gaze. His grip on his greatsword tightened, his stance firm, but I caught the faint flicker of something in his eyes—recognition, perhaps. An acknowledgment of the battle we were about to unleash.
“You’ve reached something, haven’t you?” I said, my voice calm yet tinged with amusement. I twirled my estoc, the black flames licking at its edge like restless shadows. “But don’t think for a second that I’m out of surprises.”
Varen’s only response was a sharp exhale, the dragon flames roaring as he raised his greatsword high. The weight of his mana pressed against me, heavy and unrelenting, but I welcomed it. This was what I’d been waiting for.
With a flick of my wrist, I raised my estoc, the black flames surging brighter in defiance of his fiery onslaught. My smirk widened, my pulse steady as I locked eyes with him.
“Come, heir of the Silver Flame,” I murmured, my voice carrying across the arena. “Let’s see who burns brighter.”
SWOOSH!
The first clash came like a thunderstorm.
Varen charged forward, his fiery aura blazing brighter than ever, his greatsword cutting through the air with raw, destructive power. His dragon flames roared as if alive, each swing carrying the weight of his newfound strength. I met him head-on, my estoc flickering with the black flames of [Flame of Equinox], but the sheer force of his strikes made it impossible to stand firm.
-SLAM!
His greatsword came down in a diagonal slash, the fiery blade trailing flames that scorched the ground beneath us. I sidestepped, barely avoiding the impact, and countered with a thrust aimed at his ribs. Varen twisted his body, his greatsword sweeping upward to deflect my blade with a deafening clang. The force behind his swing sent me sliding back, my arms trembling from the impact.
Before I could regain my footing, he was on me again. A wide horizontal slash forced me to duck, the flames grazing my shoulder. Varen followed through with a pivot, his blade crashing down in a relentless overhead strike. I raised my estoc to parry, the black flames flaring in response.
CLANG!
The clash reverberated through my bones, and I was forced to leap back, the searing heat pressing against me like a wall.
‘He’s relentless,’ I thought, adjusting my grip as I steadied my breath. The precision and power behind his attacks had evolved—each swing was deliberate, carrying not just strength but intent. This was a different Varen, one who had grasped something deeper in the heat of battle.
Varen surged forward again, his flames coiling around his greatsword in a fiery spiral. He feinted high, the flames trailing upward to obscure his movements, before switching to a sudden, brutal thrust aimed at my chest. I twisted my body, angling my estoc to deflect the strike, but the sheer force of the blow sent me reeling.
My back hit the ground, my breath leaving me in a sharp gasp as the heat of his aura pressed down on me.
SMASH!
I rolled to the side just as his blade crashed into the ground where I had fallen, molten cracks splintering out from the impact. Springing to my feet, I retaliated with a quick thrust aimed at his thigh, the black flames surging with precision. But Varen anticipated it, his greatsword sweeping in an arc to knock my blade aside. The flames surrounding him surged outward, forcing me to retreat once again.
SLASH! SWIRL!
This time, his attack came with even greater speed. The dragon flames surged around him as he moved, his greatsword carving through the air with lethal efficiency. I ducked under the first swing and sidestepped the second, but the third came faster than I could react.
The edge of his blade grazed my side, cutting through my barrier and biting into flesh. A sharp pain flared as blood seeped from the wound, but I gritted my teeth and pushed on.
The crowd’s roars became a dull hum in the background as my focus sharpened. Varen’s relentless assault pushed me to the edge, each strike forcing me to dig deeper into my reserves. My arms ached, my chest heaved, but my smirk remained, even as blood dripped from my side.
‘This isn’t just about matching his strength.’
I knew.
‘I need to understand him.’
I steadied my breathing, letting the black flames of [Flame of Equinox] swirl more freely around me. They responded to my intent, coiling like serpents waiting to strike, and I began to focus—not on the overwhelming force of Varen’s attacks, but on the rhythm behind them.
As Varen lunged again, his greatsword blazing with silvery-red flames, I began to see it—not with my eyes, but with my instincts. Each movement of his blade carried a rhythm, a purpose. His strikes were no longer just random swings—they were deliberate, each one part of a greater pattern.
The dragon flames weren’t just an extension of his mana; they were alive, responding to the intent behind his strikes. His greatsword moved not just with power but with precision, each motion calculated to force me into a disadvantage. The fire wasn’t wild—it was disciplined, refined, a reflection of the man wielding it.
‘So, like him.’
This was his sword.
Right now he was talking with the sword. The words were not being spilled.
SLASH! SWIRL!
The rhythm of Varen’s strikes intensified, each movement blending seamlessly into the next, his greatsword carving arcs of silvery-red fire through the air. The dragon flames surged with every swing, coiling and lashing out like an extension of his will. The heat was suffocating, oppressive, and yet there was an undeniable elegance in the chaos he commanded.
Every swing spoke to his intent, his unwavering control. The fire was his, obeying his every command, moving as though it were alive—because it was. His mana, his emotions, his very essence burned within those flames, shaping them, refining them. Each strike was deliberate, the fire responding with disciplined ferocity.
It wasn’t just his sword moving; it was his voice, his will. In this moment, every swing was a word, every strike a sentence, every surge of flame a declaration. He wasn’t merely fighting me. He was showing me who he was.
‘He’s talking to me.’
The fire roared again, a feral growl as his greatsword swept downward, forcing me to twist away. I evaded, narrowly avoiding the next strike, and watched as the dragon flames coiled back around him, like a predator circling for the kill.
But then, amidst the disciplined chaos, there was something he was missing.
‘In this world, can everything be tamed?’
The fire was beautiful in its control, in the way it responded to Varen’s every whim. But there was something else—a tightness, a rigidness. As I continued to dance around his attacks, my mind wandered to the broader truth behind his flames.
‘Is control everything?’
From one perspective, mastery over something as wild as fire was admirable. It spoke to his discipline, his refusal to yield to chaos. But from another…
‘Doesn’t seeking more and more control mean you’re scared of leaving things to the flow?’
I smiled faintly, sidestepping another slash and feeling the heat lick at my skin. Varen’s relentless need to dictate every flicker of flame, every movement, was as much a strength as it was a flaw. And I knew why.
Lira.