As Circe landed a hand on the door, the thing brightened up with flames and turned into ash as it faded away. Circe was shocked but remained calm as she pulled out the bow and arrow set she would use for the battle.
"Combust and burn. Ignite and create. The fire within my heart sets this hair ablaze..." mumbled Circe as the strand of hair turned into flames within her palm.
"This sword shall pave my way to glorious victory! The holy sword of the Sun is its name so let's hear the thunderous applause for the peerless Knight! Sister of Excalbur: Galatine!" yelled Midori as she opened her eyes.
Midori summoned her sword first and held her battle stance as Circe's palms glowed brightly, turning the hair into a longbow. Then, Midori watched as two small flames ran from Circe's arm down to her feet and divided upon touching the floor, creating some drawings.
Bryan was taken aback as the symbol of the Leo Constellation appeared beneath Circe. Was the Hawkeye trying to invoke the spirit of the Leo Constellation? No... She shouldn't possess that kind of Magecraft. Perhaps Circe was gathering an inspiration instead, something that resembles a lion?
Midori couldn't care about the emblem on the ground as she tightly gripped her new sword, still following instructions from Mordred.
"The Greek Huntress Of Arcadia, the lady who landed the first shot during the Calydonian Boar hunt and joined the esteemed Voyage of the Argonauts. Saved from death from the Goddess of Hunt; Artemis, this huntress holds the blessing of a Goddess within her bow and arrow..."
"Atalanta's Bow... Tauropolos: Bow of Heaven!" called out Circe as the hair morphed into a large black and gold bow with furry ends.
The bow was enormous, being almost the same length as Circe. The bowstring was engulfed with flames, and the emblem on the ground started glowing brightly. Soon, the symbol became a pillar that caged Circe. A Tick passed, and the light dissipated, revealing Circe in her new battle wear.
The child of flames had sprouted a set of lion's furry, golden tails and ears. Her dress was now green and orange, with some black streams. Her shoes were long knee-high black boots, and her gloves were brown and covered her lower arm.
With the girls' weapons summoned, it was time for the actual fight to begin as the two vanished from their spots but not in the same direction. Instead, Midori lunged toward Circe to close the distance between the two while Circe leaped up to get to proper fighting positions in the battle.
Midori was a step too late as she slammed the massive sword onto the spot where Circe stood, creating a break on the floor. Meanwhile, Circe was in midair for a brief time and called upon her Original Spell.
"Arsonist Arrow: Quad-Core Inferno!" shouted Circe as she pulled back the bowstring and released four arrows towards Midori.
The arrows turned into four fireballs as they came barrelling towards Midori. With a swift movement, Midori used her skills as a swordswoman and sliced through all four luminaries. Or was it additional help from the Knight of the Round Table? Bryan could only assume so.
But wait... Midori hasn't summoned Mordred into the play, and the Knight of Rebellion's Elemental Aura wasn't detected anywhere on the battlefield, so that must mean... Furthermore, those movements shown by Midori weren't that of a child who recently knew how to swing a sword...
It was a skill of an adult who had many years in swordplay. Was that the main reason she nearly beat Rina into a pulp during the first rounds? Was it all by herself, needing the aid of a spirit of the legends? Bryan was befuddled that Midori would be so experienced with the saber.
In reality, Midori was taught by Mavislin to use her sense of hearing to determine where the attacks will come from without needing the use of her sight. That's why the fox child didn't look fazed when Circe hurled the four fireballs toward Midori.
She quickly prepared her sword to slice the attack in four points, one swift motion. Midori's actions didn't hold an ounce of doubt that she would be the Swordsman Pillar one day as her movements were as if her sword was fused with her arm. And Tomoe was proud of Midori.
Circe was impressed but not dumbfounded as she ran towards the sides of the arena to hold the gap between Midori and herself. The fire child drew her bow again and launched a few more fire arrows with no special skills. Midori deflected them all and propelled herself to Circe.
But before Midori could reach her, Circe ran up the wall and backflipped to escape the raging swordswoman.