To counter, Bryan lifted his knee and forced down his elbow, to get a good catch of the moving spear. This rendered his Katana wielding arm, useless. But the spear was still incapable of moving. Realizing her mistake, she tried to yank the spear out.
This caused Bryan to get scratched on his knee, but it was no bother for the Slayer. But she had forgotten that Bryan had another weapon on the other hand. Since she was too hyper-focused on getting her weapon out, she failed to see the attack from his smaller sword.
She narrowly dodged it, sacrificing a bit of her fringe as she moved her head back. With his body unbalanced, Rie quickly got her weapon out by kicking her foot up in the air and leaped away. But Bryan swiftly changed his footing and angle to hit her leg back down.
He took the chance to use the pommel of his Katana to dislocate her left shoulder. Though not her spear-wielding arm, Rie still found it cumbersome to have an arm out of function for a bit. This man was a monster in close combat, so the only way to fight him was to keep a distance away from him.
If she was facing off with another one of the more experienced Mages, she would've stabbed from the top of her head. She heaved a sigh of relief as she realized that Bryan may be fast in his reflexes, but he knows little to counter after an opponent dodges.
Using her Hateful Wolf's Bane to grab Bryan by his legs, Rie shot out Petunia Rage and activated her Wolf's Bane at the same time. The explosion kicked up quite a dust storm, blinding Rie from Bryan's whereabouts. With her sight blurred, she was hoping that Bryan got hit badly.
To her utter horror, the man stood strong as he used Zephyr Tunnel to clear his path. With a major opening on the horizon, he threw a seed that he found back at the Velvet Pearl.
"That's impossible! You ran out of your Crystal Balls!" shouted Rie, in disbelief.
"I don't get my powers from the Crystal Balls, you dumb butterfly..." scolded Bryan as he readied his stance.
"Malevolence Of Lobelia!" shouted Rie, attempting to thwart off the oncoming attack.
But it did not hinder the man one bit, with his incantation and Aura canceling out the spell.
"Symbol of Royalty And Power, Mightiest Of All Zodiac Constellations," chanted Bryan, as his Aura turned to fiery orange and red display.
The tips of his hair were slightly tinted with red as he tried his best to control and unleash his best constellation. His eyes flew open, revealing two red orbs with rings of orange as his pupils. He felt his lungs were on fire and his body felt like an oven.
With an influx of Elemental Energy, Rie found it hard to believe that she was facing a Mage born within the confides of Human physiology. The higher the Mage's Elemental Energy, the more that their body can withstand.
Right now, an entire pagoda with several stories could land right on top of Bryan and he won't feel a thing. But since the night sky wasn't on his side, he wasn't able to reach his full potential. And even if it was, his physical body might give out.
"Leo, Stars Of The Lion!" shouted Bryan.
The constellation of the Horoscope of Leo appeared on the seed. This ignited the seed into a visage of a roaring lion made out of the fire. Rie knew that an attack was coming so she was prepared for it. Especially with her first move being negated so quickly.
If she couldn't use spells, then she would use normal weapon combat. Thus, she used another swift move to slice the seed in half.
"Hah! Such predictability, shouldn't have expected a lot from you. Human Mage," spat Rie, with a snobbish grin.
But, the halves of the seed exploded in flames, slightly burning the tops of Rie's shoulders. She wasn't fazed by this, but it did hinder her sight within her side views. And this was exactly what Bryan wanted.
"Gotcha," whispered Mavislin, appearing right behind Rie.
The Flower Mage spun quickly as her neck could allow her to, only to see a grinning Valkyrie, unscathed and back to normal. Rie was taken aback, it was the only one move that she could muster without losing anything precious. And that Valkyrie just brushed it off like it was nothing.
Not that she brushed it off, but rather that the Valkyrie was still standing tall. Like she had been getting a good nap. No way... That acid was several thousand times as potent as the stomach acid within humans. And how did she not see her move from her spot?!