Liora’s will o’ wisp could have launched devastating flames, while Larissa’s mineral light fairy could have easily blinded their opponents or defended its tamer even better than Kai’s lizard.
Even short spatial jumps would have completely changed the course of the battle.
Because both could do them.
They were truly powerful creatures like Luna’s wolf, but for some reason, they didn’t want to show them.
Ren had a theory, based on the prince’s face and the familiar resemblance some of the girls’ features shared after being close to him for a while.
Also on the fact that no random eggs could produce such beasts… they had to come from unique eggs unavailable in the market.
Unlike Luna’s beast, the eggs of these creatures would be many times more costly… If Luna’s wolf could compete with them, it was only due to her enormous luck in obtaining it from a random black egg.
They had to be very important people… But the fact that they weren’t searched for during the first excursion’s attack by the abyssals must have been because they hid to look as plain nobles.
Yet Ren had one doubt when looking at the girls’ features…
Luna.
Why didn’t she hide?
♢♢♢♢
Jin increased the pressure, his spirit claws slicing through the air ever closer to striking Larissa. She simply stepped back, her glow barely perceptible beneath her skin.
“They’re boxing themselves in!” Cass intensified her attacks, creating a rain of wind cuts that forced Liora to move closer to the shield. The air itself seemed to shimmer with each slice.
The maid adjusted her position, maintaining the barrier though the effort was beginning to show. The armadillo’s plates glowed with increasing strain, their light flickering under the pressure.
“Lost shield formation!” Jin commanded.
Kai suddenly withdrew while Cass and Jin converged from both sides. The maid stepped forward accidentally when Kai’s pressure disappeared, forced to pivot the shield to protect her ladies. This left her back exposed, which Kai immediately exploited.
His green plates blazed on his fist as he struck the girl. Simultaneously, Jin and Cass launched their most powerful attacks, their beasts’ energies harmonizing in deadly synchronization.
Larissa and Liora could have used their spatial jumps to reposition. Instead, they moved conventionally, allowing themselves to be caught in the attack pattern.
The combination was devastating. Cass’s wind cuts forced Liora toward Jin’s spirit claws, while Kai finally broke through the maid’s defensive formation. The coordinated assault left no room for escape.
After that, the noble girls tried to win with hand-to-hand combat techniques, even getting close to knocking Jin out, but ultimately Jin’s group’s liberal use of abilities proved too much for them.
“Victory for Jin’s team!” Yang announced.
The nobles withdrew gracefully, showing no frustration at their defeat. The maid bowed respectfully, her armadillo features fading from view like morning mist.
“Good battle,” Jin smiled, but there was something mocking in his gaze.
From the stands, the six new girls observed in silence. Their expressions remained unreadable as the nobles returned to their side.
“Next match!” Yang announced. “Klein’s team versus Roran’s team.”
The Goldcrest family heir stepped forward with his usual arrogance, his golden lion manifesting in an impressively generous mane. Feng, whose red cobra created scarlet scales across his skin, and Astor, with his rhinoceros’s bluish plates, flanked him with similar aristocratic bearing.
On the other side, Roran’s team took their positions. His troll dog, a robust beast with grayish skin, fully manifested as it adopted a defensive stance at the front.
Mira, his companion with a giant rat, let her beast’s moss and flowers bloom across her arms as she positioned herself on the left. The vibrant growth pulsed with gentle energy.
Trent and his fire ant completed the formation on the right, heat shimming around him.
“Begin!”
Klein didn’t even move. Seeing that Roran had fully released his beast, he did the same, and with a casual gesture, his lion roared, creating a golden pressure wave that forced his opponents back.
Feng followed suit, his cobra slithering forward, scarlet scales gleaming as it spat a stream of venom toward Mira. The giant rat created a moss barrier, but the venom began corroding it instantly, eating through the green defense like acid.
Astor’s rhinoceros charged at Trent. The power of its charge made the ground tremble, forcing the fire ant to abandon its position.
“Hold formation!” Roran shouted, his troll dog struggling to break free from the paralyzing effect of Klein’s lion.
“Pathetic,” Klein smiled as his lion pounced, attacking with golden claws that left trails of light in the air.
Mira’s rat managed to regenerate its moss enough to dodge another of Feng’s attacks, but the cobra’s scales began to glow with greater intensity. The next stream of venom didn’t hit the moss, it made a parabola aimed directly at Mira’s feet, forcing her to jump out of the way.
The rhinoceros charged from the flank, channeling power into a strike that shattered Trent’s fire ant’s defense. The wall of flames was impressive, but the rhinoceros’s bluish plates shone, creating a barrier that nullified the damage completely.
The ant was crushed beneath its power.
Roran’s troll dog was knocked down by Klein’s lion, its gray claws scraping the ground in desperate attempts to escape its grip.
“This is boring,” Klein sighed. “Feng, Astor, let’s end this.”
Feng’s red cobra coiled around his arm while scarlet scales covered more of his skin. The venom it spat this time, guided by Feng’s will, formed a complete circle around Roran’s team.
Astor’s Rhinoceros charged again. The ground beneath its feet cracked and splintered as it rushed forward.
Klein simply extended his hand, his lion roaring one final time to paralyze them. The golden pressure combined with Astor’s charge, amplifying the rhinoceros’s power to devastating effect.
The result was brutal.
Mira’s rat’s moss withered instantly as it was knocked out, and Yang stopped the battle before real damage could be done.
“Victory for Klein’s team,” Yang announced, though it was unnecessary.
Klein didn’t even look at his defeated opponents as he withdrew, Feng and Astor following with the same arrogance with which they had entered.
From the stands, Jin observed in silence. His expression remained neutral, but his eyes tracked Klein’s every movement with predatory focus.
Klein paused briefly, looking toward where Luna watched the battles. For a moment, his expression shifted from arrogance to something else… but the moment passed quickly as he continued on his way, the golden lion fading from his skin like sunset’s last rays.
“Next match,” Yang called. “Luna’s team against…”