"Hmmm?" Hugo noticed that Ace had disappeared from sight. "Where did he go?"
His eyes darted from screen to screen on the multiple holographic displays in front of them, and yet, Ace had completely disappeared from sight without leaving a single trace.
"The video transmitters are hidden with a Divergent-type Light Attribute Spell: Camouflage that keeps it from sight by refracting light and making it bounce off the object, preventing the naked eye from noticing it. So how did he know?" Hugo questioned himself before letting out a sigh.
"That child certainly does have something special if even Hugo can't track him down. I wonder, exactly who is he?" Leonardo's curiosity piqued as he noticed the slightly surprised look on Hugo's face. "He's disappeared from sight. None of the video transmitters have caught even a glimpse of him. It's almost as if he disappeared from the very face of the earth. But who knows, maybe he went treasure-hunting."
---
---
---
With daggers in hand and swirling flames draped around her, Mira was having the time of her life hunting down students without an ounce of human mercy. She was an ecstatic battle junkie with a flushed face and grinning expression that seemed to have released all her pent-up inhibitions like an instinctual beast.
She laughed widely as she closed in on a female student in front of her, blade blazing with fire and eyes focused on her neck.
In a single instant, she felt a shift in the air. She didn't question what it was as she immediately shifted her body, propelling herself with flames that erupted from her feet.
"Wooow," muttered Mira, completely dumbfounded. "I would've been roasted if I had taken that head-on. But seriously…"
From the ruins, Arnold emerged, his aura ferocious and suffocating.
"I really have the worst luck. Why did I have to encounter him of all people?"
"Nice to meet you, daughter of the Argos," Arnold greeted respectfully.
"Nice to meet you too, Your Highness," said Mira with a few sarcastic giggles and a distraught anxious expression that dripped with cold sweat. "Though if I may be so rude, I would have preferred not meeting you at all."
"I figured as much," he said with a slight chuckle. "And truth be told, I also expected to encounter someone else, but it would seem that our paths don't seem to pass at all."
"Guess you mean Ace, right?" asked Mira, her guard up.
"Yes," replied Arnold, his grip on his sword ready as his eyes became focused, complimenting his confident smirk. "I'll admit that I would like to battle against him."
"Now I'm just feeling hurt," she jokingly said with a sullen tone. "Right now…"
It all happened in an instant.
Mira darted at Arnold with incredible speed, her daggers clashing with Arnold's sword while flames erupted around them.
"I'm your opponent!"
While their blades grinded against each other, Mira was slowly getting pushed back.
"My apologies," said Arnold, his eyes completely focused on Mira as a smirk played on his lips. "You're right. As you are my opponent, I shall fight you with all my strength."
Sparks started emerging from his form.
He redirected Mira's daggers that glided on his blade with his sword, now draped in white flames.
<…Arc of Dawn>
He swung his sword in an upward manner while the faltering Mira saw the blade slowly closing in on her.
In the instant before the white flames erupted right in front of her, Mira's wide-open eyes seemed to glow with a strange gleam.
From the smoke, Mira emerged leaping backwards, creating distance between her and Arnold.
"Impressive," he said, surprised by Mira's quick reaction. "I didn't expect you to block that attack with a barrier of flames."
"Hehe~," she brushed off the cold sweat on her face. "Well, I had to try something."
"Hmph," Arnold then took a stance, sword held with both hands and expression hardened to the point that it was menacing. "I won't hold back."
"Heh," Mira reaffirmed her grip on her daggers, fire sparks slowly emerging from her. "Bring it on!"
White flames erupted from Arnold's body, his eyes were fierce and unhesitant.
Arnold appeared in front of Mira in a split second, the temperature around his body was burningly suffocating.
"Shit!" Mira, though having barely managed to block the attack, was blasted away with the force of a canon.
In mid-air, the hundreds of meters that were between her and Arnold, were closed in an instant.
"This is gonna hurt," thought Mira seeing Arnold's sword slowly coming down on her.
In a single strike, Mira fell on the ground the same way a missile landed and exploded, rising the ground only to leave a giant, ruined crater.
Mira coughed violently as she lay on the ground.
"Aaaah… This hurts. What happened to the diminishing-the-pain function. Or maybe he's just that strong. Anyway, no way am I going down without having landed a hit on him."
Arnold slowly approached Mira who was painfully rising back from the ground.
"I'm impressed you can still stand after that. I'll at least do you the honor of ending this battle quickly," said Arnold, his words annoying Mira.
"Don't give me that, you bastard!" Mira said a pained yet determined grin playing on her lips. "Without a doubt I'll lose today. But… I'll still give you a beating like no other!"
Mira's words made Arnold smile, pointing his sword toward her. "Then come."
With those words, Mira calmed her breathing. Her body was hot, hotter than ever. Whether it was because of the pain was not important. All she knew was that this heat was continuously growing, and her breathing became more and more steady, flames started surging from her.
The flames continued to grow more and more as her grandfather, watching everything from the VIP Lounge through the holographic screen, reacted to her evolution.
"Well, well. It would seem that this competition truly is a great mean for the young ones to grow," thought Dorian, pride filling his eyes. "Now Mira, show me the real power of your flames."
With a roar that carried the proof of an indomitable will, blue fames surged from Mira with blazing ferocity.
Releasing a deep and calm breath…
As she pointed her dagger towards Arnold, "Ready or not, here I come!" Mira leaped towards Arnold at such high speed that, even though he barely managed to block her, he was completely taken off-guard.
While steel grinds against steel, "I guess I underestimated you," said Arnold, a drop of cold sweat dripping down his face.
"Hehe~" Mira's flames grew fiercer and fiercer. "Told ya."
Leaping backwards, Mira started dashing around Arnold, her form becoming a silhouette of bright blue blurs as she then started a diagonal onslaught aimed directly at him.
Though he managed to evade and block most of her strikes, the ones that did connect always ended up surging into a burst of blue flames that still hurt.
"Thank you, Mira von Argos." Arnold had satisfied smile on his lips as he then released a slow and deep breath. "This was a fun battle. But…"
"You're finished!" Mira thought, a fierce look in her gaze as she was only centimeters of landing her blow.
"It's time to put an end to this," thought Arnold, his reaction faster than what Mira, who was completely surprised by the sudden motion, could handle.
One strike was all it took. One single, clean swing which erupted into a wave of white flames that consumed ground, air and leaves was all it took for Mira's attack to discharge into a wild explosive burst, her lower body half separating itself from her upper half.
"Shit," she cursed as her body dispersed in glitch-like blue cubes that disappeared the next moment.
"One participant has been eliminated!"
Back in the spectator stands of the colosseum, the audience roared in excitement at Arnold's victorious figure that stood tall amidst the molten field.
"AND THERE YOU HAVE IT PEOPLE!" Isidor's voice boomed in excitement, the crowd following him in the frenzy. "THE INDOMITABLE ACADEMY'S STRONGEST HAS DONE IT ONCE AGAIN!!! THAT'S THE STRENGTH OF OUR PRINCE!!! ARNOLD VON RIESE ENFILIIIIIAAAA!!!"