"Unbelievable."
Uriel rested a finger against her cheek, her bright orange eyes widening as she watched the scene unfolding beyond the glass.
Her eyes narrowed.
"Elaine is invoking a destructive form of my authority."
Everyone stared at the Ignis Incarnus. Even Phoebe turned her gaze towards her, her expression as blank as ever.
"Your Authority?" Guinevere asked softly. "The Purification?"
Uriel nodded. "Just as Mordred can invoke Cruor's Madness, Ignis users can invoke my Purification."
Her eye twitched at the mention of the Haema Incarnus, but she continued.
"Unlike that maniac's Madness, my Purification encompasses several different aspects."
Her gaze met Guinevere's, sympathy flickering in her bright orange eyes.
"And your daughter is invoking a destructive aspect of the Purification."
She paused and sighed.
"Inferno."
That simple word sent shivers down Guinevere's spine.
"I've heard of it," Morgan said, stepping forward, her expression tightening. "An all-consuming fire that leaves no ash."
Her crimson gaze met Guinevere's.
"A spotless purification."
Guinevere immediately turned back to Uriel.
"Can you reject her invocation?"
Uriel shook her head.
"Invoking my authority is an exceptionally difficult feat. Those who manage to do so have overcome a considerable hurdle."
She met Guinevere's gaze with resignation.
"I am bound to honor that achievement."
"Your obligation will get my son killed!" Guinevere snapped.
"I'm sorry, Guinevere." The Incarnus lowered her gaze. "I cannot make exceptions."
Guinevere clenched her fist, but before she could do anything, Phoebe's emotionless voice reached her.
"Do not worry, child."
The Lux Incarnus's empty gaze held Guinevere in place.
Phoebe didn't exert any influence or authority, yet Guinevere found herself unable to move beneath the goddess's crystalline gaze.
"What do you mean, Lady Phoebe?" she asked, unconsciously relaxing her body as she turned towards the goddess.
Phoebe tilted her head and glanced at the scene unfolding below.
"Mordred will be fine."
*******
[Back to Mordred]
"Bloody maniac."
I muttered, tilting my head back to look at Elaine floating above me.
An intricate construct of interlocking fire-and-water loops hovered behind her. The two elements merged seamlessly, forming a continuous structure that greedily devoured the surrounding ardor like a very hungry vacuum cleaner.
Her eyes glowed a brilliant blue, and she appeared to be in a trance. An intricate sequence of runes revolved around her, forming a massive halo.
I frowned.
The rune sequence looked familiar. Its structure was remarkably similar to the one I used when invoking Madness.
Elaine was invoking Uriel's Authority.
Bugger.
Despite being an Incarnus who frequently interacted with humanity, surprisingly little was known about Uriel.
I was fairly certain most people didn't even know she was a Malakh.
And, unfortunately, I knew almost nothing about her authority.
I should've asked her.
A quick check around the sparring court revealed that Elaine's Aqua spirit was nowhere to be seen.
Probably disappeared when her master decided to invoke the authority of a bloody god.
Still, I should keep an eye out.
As I watched my sister seemingly surrender herself to Uriel's authority, I raised a finger towards her and released a Scarlet Ray.
The crimson beam of concentrated Bloodfire shot from my fingertip, striking the air surrounding Elaine in a flurry of crimson sparks.
My gaze narrowed.
A barrier. Far stronger than anything Elaine could normally produce.
The temperature kept rising with every passing second, and the air began humming like an electric guitar.
Uriel must be a fan of those.
I could also feel her authority seeping into my mind, its whispers urging me to purify myself.
But these weren't the sinister whispers of my broken mind. They were gentler, almost reassuring, yet no less powerful. As though they genuinely believed that being purified would be for my own good.
I couldn't help but chuckle.
A truly dangerous power, Uriel.
As I watched, a sword of bright blue flames materialized before Elaine.
Blue flames, much like Purity Flames. Yet these felt alive, far more potent, their edges burning a brilliant white.
But Elaine didn't reach for the sword.
Instead, her glowing blue eyes snapped in my direction, and our gazes met.
She pointed her finger down and spoke a single word that echoed and distorted all around me.
"Inferno."
The sword fell.
Like a pin dropping to the ground.
The moment its tip touched the floor, blue-white flames erupted from the point of impact.
They spread across the surface before surging upwards, swelling into an enormous wall of purification flames that rushed towards me like an avalanche.
Activating Transcendence, I watched the world slow down.
The advancing flames devoured the very ardor in the air between us, leaving nothing in their wake.
It gave me a tiny window to consider my options.
Oddly enough, I felt no heat radiating from them. It was as though all the heat was concentrated within the flames themselves.
I clicked my tongue.
Taking to the air would be pointless. The wall was already growing too tall to overcome.
My gaze shifted to Clarent.
My grip tightened around its handle.
The Sword of Peace, capable of nullifying any attack.
I let out a sigh and raised the blade before me.
Let's give it a proper test, shall we?
The roar grew louder, drowning out everything else. Blue-white flames filled my vision as the wall bore down on me.
I didn't close my eyes.
Instead, I swung Clarent in a single vertical slash.
The moment the flames touched its blade, they vanished.
A massive gap tore through the advancing wall, as though an entire section had been erased from existence.
The remaining flames roared past me, sweeping over the ground before gradually dissolving into countless sparks.
I stared at the empty space before me.
Well.
That was certainly something.
For a moment, silence enveloped the entire sparring court.
Then Iris's voice burst through the speakers.
"What the fuck just happened?"
Her words snapped me out of my stupor.
I turned towards Elaine.
She was staring at me, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open.
"How?"
That was all she managed before her body began to fall.
The intricate construct of fire and water behind her shattered as she stumbled out of the air and crashed onto the floor on her knees.
I didn't waste a moment.
Crossing the distance between us in an instant, I appeared right before her.
Despite her exhaustion, her body reacted almost instinctively.
A fireball materialized between us as she leapt backwards. I shifted to the side, letting it pass.
"Stay back!"
Her voice was strained, fear lacing her words.
I continued walking towards her, putting Clarent away.
I wouldn't be needing a weapon for this.
Elaine glanced around desperately, searching for a way out.
Unleashing Inferno had clearly taken its toll. Her focus was exhausted, and her control over ardor was nowhere near as precise as before.
She gritted her teeth and swept an arm in front of her.
A single orb of golden flames appeared.
It flared before releasing a beam of condensed golden flames straight at me.
I raised my forearm, covering it in crystallized blood, and casually swatted the beam aside.
It was weak. Whatever power it had once possessed, the attack had lost most of its potency.
I reached forward and grabbed the remaining orb.
My blood-armored hand closed around it.
With a squeeze, I crushed the construct, scattering golden flames before her eyes.
"Any more tricks up your sleeve?"
Elaine's eyes widened as the reality of her situation finally settled in.
Yet she didn't waver.
She buried her shock, took several unsteady steps backwards, and forced her exhausted body into a combat stance.
A desperate final struggle.
I sighed.
Very well. I would indulge you, sister.
I moved, and in an instant, I was standing right before her.
Elaine didn't panic. She shifted her stance and drove a punch towards my side.
I twisted my torso, deflecting the blow, and raised my right leg.
My knee slammed into her abdomen.
A gasp escaped her lips as she stumbled backwards, struggling to regain her balance.
I wasn't about to let her.
Leaping after her, I spun in midair and sent a straight kick towards her face.
With a grimace, she brought both palms up to block it.
Then, to my surprise, she caught my ankle.
Her grip tightened like a vice as she threw her weight into the movement, swinging me towards the ground.
I twisted my body at the last moment and drove a kick into her face.
Her grip loosened.
I used the opening to wrench my leg free and landed on my feet.
The moment I turned around, a glint of metal flashed before me.
I instinctively tilted my head.
A sharp sting ran across my cheek.
Elaine's combat knife had sliced through the flesh, leaving a thin trail of blood behind.
"You sneaky little…"
She had hidden quite well.
I stared at her.
Her expression hadn't changed. There was no brief triumph in her eyes, only the same desperate determination.
She really was willing to do anything to win.
I barely had time to adjust my stance before she came at me again.
Her knife flashed repeatedly, each strike aimed at a vital point or an exposed limb.
There was no hesitation in her movements. She wasn't simply swinging wildly; every thrust and slash was calculated to exploit the smallest opening.
I dodged and deflected the attacks with my hands, keeping my movements as economical as possible.
By the Incarni! Who trained her in close combat?
Fortunately, I'd faced plenty of close-combat specialists during my time in the Shield.
Even with her impressive technique, I could still recognize the flaws in her movements and the openings she left behind.
The problem was the knife.
She had imbued it with ardor, making every strike considerably more dangerous.
I leaned backwards, narrowly avoiding a slash aimed at my throat.
Then I brought my foot down on her right foot.
Hard.
I reinforced the stomp with enough ardor to break the bones beneath it.
Elaine cried out, her movements faltering as pain interrupted her assault.
But instead of retreating, she threw the ardor-coated knife towards my foot.
Ouch.
The blade struck and embedded itself deep into my foot.
It was quite painful, but I've endured worse.
I clenched my fist and drove it straight into her face.
A resounding crack rang through the court.
Elaine's head snapped backwards, blood spraying from what appeared to be her broken nose.
She staggered, her face already smeared with crimson.
I followed up with another punch, this time catching her cheek.
Her upper body tilted backwards, but her broken foot remained pinned beneath mine.
She shook her head, trying to steady herself.
Before I could strike again, she spat blood directly into my eyes.
"Ugh!"
My vision blurred.
I immediately wiped at my face, but I was a fraction too slow.
Her fist slammed into my throat.
The impact was accompanied by a surge of ardor.
My windpipe collapsed under the force, and the blood vessels around it ruptured.
I staggered backwards, choking.
Blood flooded my mouth, and I coughed violently as my body struggled to draw air through a ruined throat.
She had imbued her fist with Ardor, allowing the strike to overcome my own reinforcement.
For a brief moment, I couldn't do much more than struggle to breathe.
That was all the opening she needed.
Elaine pulled her broken foot free and retrieved the knife embedded in my foot.
She swung upwards.
I raised my left arm, reinforcing it with ardor to intercept the blade, while my right hand moved to my throat.
I activated my strand and began repairing the damage even as I knocked the knife out of her hand.
Then I drove a kick into her ribs.
Another sharp snap echoed in my ears.
Elaine screamed, her body folding around the impact.
And yet, she lunged at me again.
Her attacks had lost their precision. She punched, kicked, and clawed at me with whatever strength she had left, throwing herself forward like a desperate, feral animal.
I staggered backwards, dodging and blocking as I continued healing my throat.
Right now, Elaine didn't resemble a High Princess or an S-rank Coder.
She reminded me of the Deathwalkers who kept fighting daemons even after they were utterly exhausted, their bodies maimed and their limbs lost.
They fought because stopping meant dying.
And Elaine was fighting with that same desperation.
It was difficult to see her like this.
My throat finally healed.
I took a breath and prepared to end this.
Elaine released a shockwave of ardor before throwing another punch towards my face.
I sidestepped the attack and caught her arm.
Before she could react, I struck her elbow.
The joint gave way with a sickening pop.
I twisted my body, pulled her off balance, and flipped her over my shoulder.
Her body crashed into the floor with enough force to tear through the padding and crack the tiles beneath it.
I stood over her.
She tried to move.
And something inside me began to snap.
I drove my fist into her face.
Then again.
And again.
Blood sprayed across the floor and splattered against my clothes as I continued pummeling her.
I wasn't trying to subdue her anymore.
I was angry.
With every blow, memories flashed through my mind.
The insults. The humiliation. The years of torment.
The things she had done to the old Mordred, to me.
The things he had endured.
They had been buried for so long that I'd almost convinced myself they no longer mattered.
But they were still there.
And with every punch, the anger of this world's Mordred I'd kept suppressed for all those years rose to the surface.
The voices shouting at me to stop through the speakers gradually faded into the background.
All I could hear were the sickening impacts of my fists.
I punched her again.
And again.
Until Elaine instinctively raised a trembling arm over her face and curled into a fetal position with a whimper.
"Please… Stop."
I barely registered the movement.
My fist was already raised for another strike.
Then something stopped me.
Black, shadowy tendrils of darkness had wrapped around my arm, holding it firmly in place.
I struggled against them for a moment.
A familiar voice spoke directly into my ear.
"That's enough, Mordred."