In a single step, Arnold dashed towards Stephany who then unleashed the barrage of electrical balls onto him. Without hesitation or fear, he sliced up the electrical balls one-by-one which made them explode ferociously.
"As always, you're such an upfront person, brother," said Stephany with weary smile and an anxious tone.
Having destroyed all of the projectiles that came at him, "Aren't I the nicest brother," sarcastically said Arnold who hid his ragged breath with an undisturbed and confident expression.
At the same moment…
"BROTHER AND SISTER! PRINCE AND PRINCESS! EACH VYING FOR THE CROWN OF THIS YEAR'S 5-STAR COMPETITION WINNER! NOW THAT'S EXCITING, DON'T YOU THINK?!" Isidor said, smearing his enthusiasm and excitement on the audience who were just as restless as him.
Within the VIP lounge, "Guess they're back at it," said Leonardo smiling warmly at the sight. "Stephany has always loved messing with her brother since they were children, and Arnold always did what he could to make his little sister happy."
"Quite the good sibling relationship they have," said Hugo with a praising tone.
"If only. Stephany has more qualities fit for a monarch than Arnold has, but he has more strength than she has. Ultimately, the two of them have always relied on each other without ever asking for help from anyone. So I will admit that I'm curious of how this will play out."
Hugo only glanced at Leonardo silently before setting back his gaze on the royal siblings that were still engaged in battle.
"Casting speed," thought Arnold, both him and Stephany keeping their guards up. "If I overpower her in terms of raw strength, then she overpowers me in terms of casting speed. In a drawn-out battle, she could overwhelm me just by hitting fast. After all, she's got the brains and necessary firepower to do it. Better to strike fast hard first without letting her any time to counter."
Arnold wasted no time as he started running around Stephany with enough speed to destabilize her.
"Nice try, brother," thought Stephany not bothering to try to follow Arnold's movements. "I may not be strong enough to overpower you, but I'm still able to put you under pressure with my speed. Speed versus power, it's quite poetic, don't you think? Unfortunately for you, I'm not planning to go down so easily, brother."
"Huh?" exclaimed Arnold, noticing a giant magic circle that was encircled by several other smaller ones. "You definitely aren't making it easy for me, Steph."
"Rain down…" Stephany started.
Electricity originated from the main circle as it then branched through the remaining secondary circles, enclosing the space with lightning which also randomly struck fiercely through the entire perimeter of the main magic circle.
Arnold struggled to evade and block all the strikes that came at him.
"Damn. This spell is basically a wide area of effect spell that encloses the enemy while bombarding him with continuous attacks, eh?" thought Arnold observing how the strikes didn't touch Stephany but instead seemed to flow in a spherical manner from her.
Still darting around while blocking and evading the shower of lightning strikes, "I guess she needs to remain at the center of the spell to be out-of-danger. In that case…"
He swung his sword, releasing an impressive wave of giant flames that came towards Stephany without mercy.
"Please give me a break, brother," thought Stephany, fan closed while she held it out in front of her.
The flames simply surfed around her without ever reaching her.
"The heat really is unbearable," she thought as the flames died down.
"What?" Stephany's eyes widened as Arnold had disappeared from sight. "Where did he go?"
With a gasp, Stephany turned around, noticing Arnold right behind her as he prepared for his attack. He was still injured from the full brunt of Stephany's previous spell.
"Too late, lil' sis. I've got you now," with his sword engulfed in flames, he prepared to finish this duel with one final strike.
Unfortunately for him, Stephany still hadn't given up yet.
Two charged up magic circles appeared right beside Arnold, leaving him no space to evade or counter.
"Sorry, brother," Stephany opened her fan, grinning mischievously. "But I'm not going down without a fight."
Arnold simply chuckled as he pressed on with his attack, letting Stephany also activate her spell.
<…Sun Blade>!
Each of their attacks hit directly, resulting in a giant explosion that seemed to be spitting out a fierce wave of flames.
"One participant has been eliminated!"
The tension was palpable as the announcement came out. Isidor, just like the audience, also held his breath, curious to know who had won this fight.
And just like that, as the dust cloud faded away, leaving place to only a single silhouette, the answer became evident.
"He… he… HE WON!!!" announced Isidor, his voice stretching out as if it was an echo, the audience also roaring in excitement. "HIS HIGHNESS HAS WON!!!"
In the meantime, Arnold released a deep breath that seemed to last for eternity.
"That was close," Arnold muttered, his mind replaying his inhumane counter.
After striking Stephany, he pushed on with his momentum, slicing the two pincer attacks that were only a few centimeters from hitting him with unbelievable speed.
"One second later, and I really wouldn't have survived. Still though, I hope she had fun."
Now standing in the waiting room designated for those eliminated from the competition, Stephany crouched down, moaning frustratingly.
"In the end, I still lost," her mood quickly changed as she stood back up while smiling happily. "Oh well, at least it was fun. I'm curious how the Special Admission student will handle him. I'm looking forward to it."
Meanwhile, in the VIP lounge, Leonardo harbored a proud and satisfied smile.
Hugo, while the other Elders were also commenting and having their own opinions about the battle between the royal siblings, only glanced at Leonardo with a pondering face before gazing back at the fight that held all his attention.
Emilia had lost all control of herself. She was only a gleeful creature that was simply playing with Ace who had only evaded each and every one of her attacks while his shots only got blocked by her shields of ice.
"How annoying," thought Ace, his cold expression not reflecting his own inner state. "Time to finish this."