"Valença, I want you to trust me no matter what happens..."
Valença looked at him and nodded, trusting her rival. As everyone stood on guard, the first attack came from Val'Drakar, who slammed the tip of his sword into the ground, beginning to turn the soil into lava.
"Lava Field"
It was a field spell that increased the effectiveness of lava users. The two jumped back, gaining distance, when they saw Val'Drakar raising his sword. Enrico, acting quickly, activated the fire kick he had improved.
'Charged Boost'
Enrico vanished from Valença's sight. Two feet slammed into the sword, forcing it slightly backward.
"Tsk... I couldn't make him move from his spot."
Channeling magic into his body, Enrico was struck by a sword slash that sent him flying into some chains that didn't even budge. A large fireball from Valença came from Val'Drakar's side, which he deflected with his sword before assuming the same stance from the interrupted attack.
"Fire Slash"
A large slash comes toward Valença, who summons a fire tornado using a great amount of her mana. The two attacks collide, but a second later, the tornado is split in half by the slash, which hits Enrico's shoulder as he pushes her aside. If he hadn't ducked right after pushing her, he would have lost his arm — and upon seeing this, Valença feels a pulse in her heart.
Enrico vanished, and two arrows struck Val'Drakar's back and exploded. Even so, he didn't move and launched a slash at Enrico, who was behind him. Using the charged boost to leap over the slash mid-air, Enrico created only one arrow from his dual magic and aimed at the knee. Valença, grateful for the push, created a fire tornado around Val'Drakar to disrupt his vision.
"This won't work."
With a swing of his sword, the entire fire tornado was blown away. He caught the arrow and broke it in two. Val'Drakar noticed Enrico wasn't in the same place anymore and suddenly received a charged boost to the head, causing a slight crack.
With one motion, he struck Enrico with the sword, sending him flying again, but immediately after, Valença hit below his knees with a fireball, making him kneel.
He raised his hand and launched a fireball two levels above Valença's, which she barely dodged. Then he gripped his red sword, now glowing as flames burst from it.
"Emperor of Flames' Sword – Cut Everything"
The sword exploded into flames as he spun, making a ring-shaped slash that nearly hit Enrico. Just after dodging it, the ring curved and came back, aiming for his back.
"Damn it."
A slash appeared on his back, revealing the fire cancer mark. Val'Drakar, upon seeing this, looked saddened by the fate of the boy he had come to respect. Seeing this reaction, Enrico merely smirked and tried to hide the mark from Valença, who was charging a spell with her staff.
"Don't worry. I don't plan on dying from this."
Enrico licked his lips, excited because he had already seen a few moves and was thinking of ways to adapt.
'Crimson Eyes'
His eyes turned red and he activated the ring. Now he was going to use everything in his next move. Seeing Val'Drakar's sword being engulfed in lava, he knew a stronger attack was coming.
"Lava Chains"
As Val'Drakar succeeded, the lava behind Enrico on the ground formed into chains and bound his ankles, burning him.
"Aaaaah!"
He felt intense burning—of course, he was taking high-level attacks. The lava slash hit him, and he started to fall backward, losing consciousness. Valença wanted to charge her spell more, but upon seeing this, she pointed at Val'Drakar, who looked at her and began running, lava forming on his sword.
'Valença, I want you to trust me no matter what happens...'
Valença smiled at the memory of those words and simply waited for Val'Drakar to approach while continuing to charge mana.
His sword glowed brighter, but behind him was Enrico, who had been falling, smiling with lava burns on his skin and now crouched in position. Flames burst from his feet and the boost was stronger than ever.
"Zero Impact"
Enrico appeared behind Val'Drakar, who noticed and slashed with lava, but hit a fire clone instead. Enrico appeared in the air behind him, upside down. He had commanded the small clone to always stay behind Val'Drakar, who wouldn't feel the difference due to the heat caused by his own lava.
With a motion, Enrico's fist vanished in flames and punched through Val'Drakar's back, exposing his hidden core.
"VALENÇA!"
"Scorching Ray!"
As she shouted, her smile grew and the ground beneath her cracked as a ray of fire shot from her staff, passing through Enrico and hitting the core, shattering it and piercing through Val'Drakar's body.
Enrico fell to the ground and Valença knelt, both breathing heavily.
"Huff... Did we really have to kill him if he seemed to want to help us?"
"You're feeling sorry for a Nartheis? Huff... if so, don't worry."
Confused, Valença looked at Val'Drakar's broken body on the ground with no core, but suddenly he began to reform with lifeless eyes. A new core emerged from the tree behind him—specifically, one of its fruits turned into a core and entered Val'Drakar as he stood back up.
"I am quite satisfied with the level shown by you two, my lords."
Valença began stammering in confusion while Enrico had expected something like this. He didn't know the exact form, but the druid had spoken of a hidden boss: as long as the tree lived, the guardian would always return. Val'Drakar took two fruits from the tree and approached them.
"You may only take it once in a lifetime, and even if you eat another, it won't increase your power."
They both received the fruit, and Enrico told Valença that what he knew about it was that it could increase the fire circle percentage depending on one's compatibility.
"So that's it... how amazing."
Valença's eyes sparkled a bit, and they both took a bite. Feeling nothing, they ate the whole thing. Just as they were about to question Val'Drakar, he replied:
"You just need time to absorb it. Depending on your compatibility, it will be faster."
They both nodded, and Val'Drakar sat down to wait for them. He wanted to witness their growth with his own eyes. Valença sat closer to Enrico.
"Thanks for saving me back then..."
It was clear she was embarrassed, but Enrico simply lay down calmly and closed his eyes.
"No need to thank me. I'm sure you'd have done the same."
Valença lowered her head, covering it with her arms and knees.
"Yeah, I would have done the same."
Valença's ears were red while she thought about the pain she had felt seeing Enrico take a hit for her.
'No way... he's just my rival.'
Beneath the arms hiding her face, her entire face was bright red.