Authors note:
Speaking: "…"
Thinking: '…'
_______
Hawks pov
„How do you know that name?" the silver-haired man asked seriously, his sharp eyes fixed on the burning skeleton.
"One of our new members, Oni, had an encounter with one of your members a few days ago. Also, my master predicted this outcome using our abilities," Light explained, holding his blade in one hand as the wind whipped through his clothes.
"I see. Then tell me this, how were you able to mask the fact that my feathers had your aura on them? My experience with aura far exceeds yours, so you shouldn't have been able to trick me."
"Simple. Your feathers didn't have any of my aura on them when you retrieved them. Just because they exploded due to my aura doesn't mean it had to be present on them," the skeleton swordsman explained calmly.
"Hm, haha. Seems like this turned out to be more fun than I originally expected. So, what now? Was confirming my allegiance your only task? Do you still want to fight me when I go all out?" Hawks asked, his signature smile returning as his hands slipped back into his pockets.
"You are correct. I have no further obligations to continue this. But I still ask you to keep fighting me. After all, getting to battle someone of your caliber is rare, unless I count my master," Light clarified, shifting into a battle stance as a silver version of himself, formed from aura, emerged from behind him.
"If you say so, then your wish shall be granted. But don't expect me to hold back, I still have some questions I want answered!" the white-winged man declared. A stream of wind swirled into his hands, forming a pair of lightweight, silver-bladed daggers humming with energy. The blades were thin and sharp, designed for precision and speed rather than brute force. Symbols resembling swirling winds were etched into their hilts.
Both combatants stood across from each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. Hawks decided not to give his opponent the advantage and summoned his awakened manifestation, the Tempest Spirit. A small, silver and light brown imp-like creature, made from his aura, appeared on his head. The surrounding winds began howling louder and louder until most of the battlefield was engulfed in a massive storm of powerful winds and tornados.
A slight smile spread across Light's face as he looked ahead with excitement. Reversing his grip on his blade, he rammed it into the ground, causing a massive explosion. Out of the smoke of the blast came large chunks of ice, hurtling toward the wind user.
Expecting them to be remote bombs, Hawks commanded his manifestation, the light brown falcon, to fly at the chunks and blow them away with its wings. As the falcon neared the projectiles, Light's silver aura clone emerged from the smoke, using the flying ice pieces as stepping stones. As they exploded, the blasts boosted its ascent.
‚It's that teleport clone again. He's likely going to switch places with it once it's within striking range,' the wind Aegis thought, pretending not to notice. Just as he predicted, the silver clone reached striking distance, and the real Light teleported into its place.
However, Hawks was ready. But to his surprise, the burning skeleton was encased in a white sphere of aura, patterned with techno-like designs.
As their assaults clashed, the feathers Hawks had sent as a countermeasure disintegrated almost immediately upon contact with the sphere. The barrier vanished moments later, leaving Light temporarily defenseless.
Seizing the moment, Hawks readied his daggers and clashed with his opponent mid-air, Light's katana meeting his twin blades. Sparks flew as their weapons collided, neither gaining the upper hand at first. But then Hawks briefly lost his grip on his blades, allowing Light to break through. Strengthening his body with aura, Hawks narrowly stopped the blade from piercing his skin.
‚Damn it. What happened? I don't make mistakes like that, I might only have been chosen as Zephyr six years ago but I should still beat him with the experiences I inherited.' Hawks thought, flying back and coating his body in awakened aura. From above, he sent another flurry of feathers at his opponent. However, Light's barrier reappeared, effortlessly disintegrating the projectiles once again.
This cycle continued for a while, with Hawks' long-range projectiles proving ineffective as the barrier destroyed them. Both opponents clashed with their blades, their strikes tearing apart the landscape as the ground was ripped to shreds by the intensity of their battle. At first, the fight seemed evenly matched, with Hawks making unnecessary moves or mistakes and Light capitalizing on them. However, as the battle progressed, it became clear that Hawks was beginning to adapt. He started countering the sword slashes his opponent threw at him, slowly gaining the upper hand.
Clashing once again, Hawks switched tactics. Even while flying through the air in complete silence using his awakened property, Gale's Whisper, which made him utterly soundless, his opponent still managed to react due to Hawks accidentally releasing excess energy. This time, Hawks deliberately released his aura at a distance, prompting his opponent to send an aura crescent toward the location. Counting on this, Hawks had already moved, positioning himself about 20 meters in front of Light while readying his daggers in a cross formation.
"From the breath of the first winds that shaped the earth, from the whispers of storms that have swept across the ages, draw forth the cutting edge of the tempest! Enhance Armament!" he shouted as his daggers began glowing a brilliant silver, releasing a cross-shaped double slash toward the skeleton swordsman.
Surprised, the burning skeleton barely managed to raise his blade to block, but it was in vain. The attack split the blade in two and struck Light directly, leaving a glowing, cross-shaped wound on his chest and forcing him to his knees.
Landing gracefully next to his seemingly defeated opponent, Hawks allowed a sly smile to return to his face as he put away his weapons, though he remained cautious.
"You're pretty good for a newcomer. Your aura mastery is solid, considering you've only been using it for what? Five months. But if you're defeated this easily by me, I can't imagine your master is as strong as they claim. Makes me wonder why Ignathar warned us not to engage him or the other one if we wanted to win," Hawks said mockingly, putting a hand to his chin in a faux thinking pose.
"Ha, hearing that from someone who's never fought a life-or-death battle himself almost makes me want to laugh," Light replied with a chuckle.
"What are you talking about? I've experienced plenty of life-or-death battles," Hawks retorted defensively.
"You don't get it, do you? We both know there are only two ways for a person to gain access to aura. One is through my master. The only other way you could've obtained it is through the ritual. It became obvious during our fight. You were caught off guard far too easily and took too long to adapt. Even with my Aura interfering, someone like you should still be able to turn the tide far quicker," Light began, a spark of white energy flickering on his face.
"You might have memories of such battles, but you've never truly put your own life on the line. And if you think my master is anything like me in terms of power, you're gravely mistaken. This battle we just had? He could have ended it in seconds. But your biggest mistake was assuming this fight is already over. I won't tolerate an insult to my master's strength. I'll make sure you never speak of him like that again."
As Light spoke, a burst of awakened aura surged from his body, forming the spherical barrier around them once again. However, this time it wasn't confined closely around him; it expanded to a 100-meter radius in all directions. A massive amount of energy began to gather in the air and within the barrier itself.
Hawks attempted to escape, flying toward the edge of the sphere, but the barrier proved too sturdy to break through. Turning back toward his opponent, he saw Light standing tall, crossing his empty hands over his chest.
"There is no escape, Hawks. You'll pay for the crime of insulting my master. During my awakening, I wished for the power to obliterate anyone standing in my way. Because of this, my aura gained the Atomic property," Light declared furiously as more and more energy condensed within the barrier, pulsing with deadly intent.
"H-how is this possible? How could anyone possess this much aura? It's not even remotely comparable to anything I've ever experienced," Hawks muttered, horror etched across his face as he watched the overwhelming power build.
"Now, I will show you my almighty power. You shall witness it with your own flesh."
Light paused, absorbing the massive energy within the sphere into himself.
"I... am... Atomic!" he roared, releasing his hands from his chest.
The moment his hands parted, an immense blast erupted. A towering column of white energy shot into the sky, splitting the clouds apart and obliterating everything within the 100-meter radius in a single, devastating moment.