"The descendant of Kryos has become strong.", Vanessa remarked as she watched Ruth's transformation.
Zephyrus nodded, "Of course. I have seen her train alone and even sparring with Seventeen."
"I am glad.", she smiled. Her attention was then diverted to Seventeen's battle. "So he's finally using the Dragon Knight armor. I thought he forgot about it."
The Cardinal chuckled nervously, "Yeaaah. About that. He did forget about it at one point. We fooled around with it and did some modifications to the armor. It is an amazing piece of craftsmanship. Whoever designed it must've been an absolute genius."
"Yes, he was.", Vanessa said with nostalgia.
"The Dragon King?", Zephyrus guessed. She nodded.
"I would like to know more about him.", he said.
She smiled, "All will be revealed in due time, young Cardinal. But now let's focus on this battle. I wonder how the young Night will react to Seventeen's inhuman abilities."
He grinned, "Oh I look forward to that."
*******
Their combined presence shook the island as Seventeen, Alice, Ruth and Jade clashed violently.
The wood surrounding Seventeen and Alice was getting obliterated with each clash of their swords. The runes on the blade of Nyx glowed as Seventeen applied more magia to the black sword.
Alice's power has increased vastly with her buffs. The two warlocks were a blur of golden-red and white flashes of light.
Seventeen has started to smile and his bloodlust has begun to leak. Alice maintained her calm demeanor but inside she was becoming more anxious.
'His skills are out of this world! It is hard to predict and keep up with his moves. What a monster!'. she thought.
She quickly came up with different strategies to get out of this stalemate. She can't use Flashbang, Seventeen seems to have a way of fighting without vision.
First, she needs some breathing room.
She circulated magia to her arms, strengthening them, and, using Light magia as a booster, aimed a jab at Seventeen. He quickly reacted and blocked it with the flat of his sword.
This attack was stronger and pushed him back, although only a little.
But it was enough for Alice. She stretched out her free arm and opened her palm at him.
{Light Code: Luminous Beam)
A bright beam of concentrated light shot out of her palm toward Seventeen. It was a deadly move, nothing short of a death ray but she was confident that her opponent could counter it. But in the worst-case scenario, she can redirect it at the last moment.
And Seventeen did counter it but not in the way she expected.
In a split second, it took for the beam to reach him, he calmly held out his palm, folded his ring finger inward, and smiled.
{Code Cancel}
The light beam quickly dissipated into magia particles and swirled around him like fireflies. Alice was shocked by this.
"What was that?"
Seventeen smiled, "Think of it as my Original Code."
Alice narrowed her eyes. This is not the time to act shocked. She enhanced her senses with magia. She can see every tiny movement made by her opponent, she can hear the rustle of the leaves under his feet.
But.
She can't hear his heartbeat or the breath leaving his nose.
"Huh?", She could not believe what she was experiencing. How can someone not have breath and a heartbeat?
'Just what in Arkenstein's name are you?', she thought as she quickly closed the gap between them. Like Arthur, she released her presence in a single burst to throw him off balance but Seventeen was unfazed.
Undeterred she struck upwards with her sword. Seventeen quickly blocked it but suddenly magia exploded on his face.
In the brief moment their swords clashed, Alice quickly sent a magia pulse to his face using their briefly connected swords as a conduit.
Seventeen brushed it off. He would've received damage if it weren't for his armor. He swiftly launched a punch at Alice's face.
She dodged it and shoved him with her sword. She immediately launched a magia-enhanced kick at his torse.
A shockwave of magia erupted from the contact and Seventeen was pushed back more but he was still unaffected.
Alice, on the other hand, had a throbbing leg.
'Damnit! I forgot about his armor.', she cursed inwardly. No wonder her attacks did not affect him.
As they faced each other, a wave of bitter cold swept by them. Alice shivered and even Seventeen was surprised by the sudden change in temperature. He had activated his thermal sensors to enjoy the feeling of a tropical island, not the onset of a bloody blizzard.
"Looks like the ice queen is getting serious.", he remarked as a familiar yet powerful presence shook the air around them. Alice narrowed her eyes, 'Did Ruth just achieve CAT 1?', she thought.
Things could get complicated. The gap between a CAT 2 warlock and a CAT 1 warlock is vast. The reason why both she and Jade are getting pushed back a bit is that they are holding back.
It looks like that is not going to cut it.
Seventeen smiled and leaned back.
{Air Code: Wind Burst}
With a strong gust of wind, he dashed away from Alice towards the clearing. 'The rings!', she realized his aim and chased after him.
{Light Code: Radiant Needles}
{Light Code: Lumine Blades}
Light needles and blades of all shapes and sizes made of light formed around her. She aimed and launched them at Seventeen.
He glanced back to notice hundreds of Light needles and blades hurtling toward him. {Darkness Code: Black Shards}.
Darkness surrounded him and split into smaller parts. The small tongues of darkness transformed into serrated shards surrounded by black flames. He flicked a finger and the Black Shards intercepted the needles and blades.
Small explosions of magia occurred as light and darkness slammed into each other. Seventeen twirled his finger and some shards changed direction and went for Alice.
She created more needles and blades to intercept them. Unfortunately, the shockwaves produced by the constant annihilation of light and darkness are affecting her. It was as if tiny drums are constantly beating into her ears.
Hold up. Seventeen is using sound and shockwaves to disorient her.
'Oh, you sneaky...', this is on the realms of the same tricks her brother used against her. Like Arthur, he used the fact that her senses are heightened to his advantage.
Her Reserve is half empty but Alice felt a burst of energy just thinking of this battle. 'I haven't felt this thrilled in a long time.'
Being a composed warlock, Alice rarely let the thrill of battle seep into her mind. But this. This is different. And it is ecstatic. But she didn't let the thrill take over completely.
She stopped creating her light projectiles and enveloped her body with her attribute. A swarm of Black Shards came at her. She deflected and evaded them but a few managed to hit her and she winced in pain. Those shards are incredibly painful.
She tried to heal the bleeding wounds after the shards evaporated but were slow. Typical of wounds caused by the Darkness attribute. Either they don't heal properly or even with healing codes, the process is slow.
Alice ignored the pain and increased her speed. They are nearing the clearing. When she was at a sufficient distance she aimed, directed magia into her arm, and threw her sword at her opponent.
Seventeen quickly turned around and deflected it but suddenly, the Luminous Knight was in front of him. She encased her extended palm with light, making it sharp, and struck him on the head.
Seventeen quickly ducked, the sharp attack scratching the top of his invisible helm, and aimed a heel strike with his palm on her left ear. It connected with a small shockwave.
Alice winced and was disoriented, her eardrum had burst but before she lost her footing, she placed her other palm on Seventeen's torso.
{Light Code: Photoshock}
A brilliant shockwave of light blew Seventeen away a great distance. But the recoil also pushed Alice back and she fell on her butt.
"Ow! Ow! Ow! That hurt!", she flapped her smoking palm. She then touched her other hand on her damaged ear and used her attribute.
{Light Code: Healing Touch}
A warm light spread into her ear and repaired her damaged eardrum and the bleeding and pain stopped. She then used it on her other wounds. The ones caused by the Black Shards were healing slowly but the pain had disappeared.
"That's better.", she sighed in relief.
Alice could feel the powerful presence of Jade and Ruth fighting some distance away. Heck, she can feel the waves of cold and smell the scent of blood in the air.
She narrowed her eyes to see where she had blown Seventeen away and smacked her forehead when she realized where it was.
"I launched him to the clearing."
Alice stood up and used Empowering Cloak on herself. She retrieved her sword and took a deep breath.
{Light Code: White Loop}
A perfect circle of light formed behind her and it started to spin rapidly. Her Reserve quickly got replenished as the spinning loop sucked in environmental magia like a vortex.
The students watching this on the Cardinal's magia screen were shocked. "Your sister can use a Magia Loop?", Claire asked Arthur with wide eyes. He nodded with a proud smile, "Yep. She just mastered it."
"She mastered a tough code after graduating. I am impressed.", Zephyrus remarked with a smile.
'You mortals consider the creation of a simple Magia Loop tough. How cute.', Vanessa told him telepathically with a snicker.
'Not everyone is a genius like you.', Zephyrus replied.
'Fair enough.'
Back in the woods, Alice had replenished her Reserve. The loop of light dissipated.
'I need to improve my White Loop.', she can only maintain it for two minutes. If she can maintain it indefinitely, she would get almost limitless magia.
She gripped her sword and activated her Original Code.
{Vestement Of Luminosity}
Her sword glowed bright and threads of light emerged from it. They snaked around her arms and body and threaded together. Her whole body shone like a beacon of white light, almost blinding the headmaster and students watching through their magia screens.
When the light faded, Alice's appearance was stunning. She wore a full white armor with silver designs and the insignia of the Night Family glowed on her breastplate. An ethereal glow covered her and she floated above the ground on two massive wings of feathers made of light.
The air shook with her presence and her eyes glowed underneath her helm. She casually swung her sword and a huge gust of wind rattled the remaining trees.
"This is going to be fun."