As the sun had reached its zenith, our bodies were warmed by its gentle rays of light, though it was unnecessary as we were already burning bright.
There was no longer a single fraction of my brain that focused on how handsome the man I was about to fight was, instead my focus reached inwardly. Feeling the slight increase in my heartbeat, how the wind kissed my untransformed fingers, as well as the rush of dopamine which intruded into my bloodstream.
"5,4,3,2,1, fight!"
The fight had started.
Both of us rushed forward, knowing there was no point in trying to gather information before engaging in combat. We already knew each other's way of fighting too well already. Enveloping my hands in blue fire, I quickly transformed them before making use of my new skill.
*[Wings]!*
My newly acquired pair of wings burst out of my back, destroying the second uniform shirt I had put on. Gathering mana into my right leg, I leaped forward, eager to finally start exchanging blows with my darling. "Hup!"
Now we were finally close enough to begin our dance, Arthur seemingly ready for my increase in speed as he met me with a smile. Beginning with a light combination of punches, I wanted to test the waters before I dove in for real. *Don, Don, Don!*
All of my punches were either deflected by his sword or dodged, without the man having to break a sweat. Somehow, his face appeared to be frustrated, frustrated that I had decided to start slowly, as he made a face I had never seen before. A face that was twisted with anger. 'Danger!'
I made a quick retreat as my senses were screaming at me to do so, not knowing what had produced the uncanny feeling in my body, just that I should back off. Arthur's body was trembling as he suddenly started to shout at me, breaking my heart a little.
"Please stop Sophie... I know you are stronger than me, but please take this seriously!"
Though I was only taking it easy to enjoy the fight for a bit longer, I finally understood why he looked so angry. He thought I was toying with him. My darling was thinking that I wasn't taking this fight seriously, making his already low self-esteem crumble even more.
Biting my lip, I made a quick mental note to never let this happen again. I never wanted to see Arthur look like that ever again. Raising my fists, I activated [Draconic Strength] and responded to his feelings. "Alright. Let's go all out from the start then. Get ready!"
Recognizing the increase in mana in my body, the man finally smiled again, taking up his sword in position to fight. "Always ready!"
I dashed yet again, letting my wings push me forward as fast as possible. Swinging my arm, I tried to use the momentum to my favor, which worked splendidly. "Aah!" As my scaly fist connected to his sword that he tried to defend himself with, he got launched into the air from the impact, his body flying in the air.
"Woah..."
However, he somehow managed to fix his posture while in the air, making a backflip and landing on his feet. Not wanting him to fully regain his bearings, I continued my offensive, sending a barrage of punches and kicks. *Don! Bam! Don! Don!*
As Arthur was starting to falter to the pressure, his face already bleeding from a cut that my fist made after he barely managed to dodge the punch, I got that uncanny feeling again. This time, however, I decided to push through it, knowing Arthur would be disappointed if I backed off now that I had an advantage.
That's when his body suddenly started shining as a surge of mana started to envelop his entire being, from top to bottom. 'So this is the feeling I got... He was about to activate [Ascension]...' Before I could launch another attack in order to try and stop his power-up, he somehow caught my dragon paw in his left hand, not minding it bleeding heavily from the impact.
My hand couldn't push through his strength, his skill had made him just as strong, if not stronger, than me. "Gah!" As I was about to take a step back to rethink my strategy, his feet were planted in my stomach, blowing me back to the ground. Gritting my teeth to ignore the pain, I spun and rose to my feet just in time to dodge the shining sword that was heading for me.
*BOOM!*
A huge cloud of dust was raised when his sword hit the ground, creating a big hole where I had just been laying. It didn't take long for Arthur to reach me once again, piling up attack after attack. *Bam! Bam! Bam!*
It took my all to parry his strikes, my arms completely numb from the impacts. Still, I didn't find any opening to counterattack, his attacks were too controlled for him to make him vulnerable. This was the skill of the hero. Even when he didn't use [Ascension] he was still an artist in the way of the sword as he danced in front of me with every move ending in either my hands feeling a blow or a scratch appearing on my body.
At the same time, I was resisting the violent urges in my mind with all my mind, knowing that if I succumbed to them, I might easily fall victim to attacks that would end in my defeat. There was no other choice than to try my best and stay calm, thinking of the ways I could win.
In the game, the skill [Ascension] was the hero's Core Skill of his Manual, which I assumed was the same in this world. And if that was the case, it wouldn't last for much longer. It was very similar to my skills, except it drained his mana instead of physical energy. So the smart choice would be to use my wings to keep my distance until his mana ran out.
However, something was stopping me from doing so. A feeling of pride that I felt would get trampled if I let a lowly human control my movement. At that moment, Arthur wasn't my darling anymore. He was just a pitiful human, a creature who should bow to me!
Arthur hadn't let up at all, still continuing his chase to make sure he would end the fight before he couldn't use his skill anymore. It was a truly magnificent skill, letting him completely overpower me who was already using both [Draconic Strength] and manual enhancement. But my pride wouldn't allow it anymore.
As Arthur was making an incredibly reckless overhead attack, his sword shining with holy energy, my vision turned red. "Don't fuck with me..."
*Bam!*
In a matter of seconds, I had managed to blow his sword to the side hard enough that he lost his grip, rendering his attack useless, and put my draconic hand around his neck, lifting him up from the ground. At the same time, I understood why Arthur had decided to make such a reckless attack as his skill dissipated.
"Gah! Shit... You really are strong Sophie..."
"Why, thank you! Now, do you surrender?"
My mind was elated at seeing the human who had overpowered me suddenly end up in my hand due to his overconfidence, unable to break free, but my heart was screaming, wanting desperately for him to forfeit so I didn't have to end this by taking his artificial life in the arena.
He just smiled at me, confirming the fears of my soul, "Surrender? Didn't you tell me to never give up?"
Seeing the pale-faced Arthur, with determination still burning in his eyes, I steeled my heart and acknowledged his desires. "Okay. I'm sorry, but this might hurt a bit..."
*Splurt!*
"AAARGH!", Using my still free left hand, I pushed it inside of his chest, disregarding the sensation of feeling his ribs give way, and quickly found his heart. Taking a hold of it, I tightened my hand into a fist, making it explode.
Now, artificially dead, it didn't take a lot of seconds before the body I was holding blurred out and another Arthur appeared next to the judges, who were staring at me with eyes full of disgust. Eyes that made me realize what I had just done. 'Oh shit... That was pretty brutal, wasn't it...?'
Still, Arthur's smile comforted me immensely, showing that he didn't think I did anything wrong even though I had made his heart pop like a fleshy balloon.
Knowing I would have to endure a very awkward conversation with Anna, I walked up to Arthur and talked to him a bit about the duel as the crowd cheered and Ms. Rose commentated on the match, deliberately not talking about the ending.
****
[The Pov of a raven]
'Holy fuck...!'
I had just witnessed Sophie go all death metal mode on Arthur's ass, even going as far as destroying his heart while he was still 'alive'. Thankfully, the pain inside of the arena was decreased, so it wasn't like he would end up with permanent trauma, but sheesh! If she did something like that to the one she loved, what would she do to me if I pissed her off too much?
Taking a peek down, I could see that king George seemed to share my sentiments as his otherwise unmoving expression had changed into one of astonishment and disgust. Suddenly, his face turned up against me, and he opened his mouth, "So, what did you think little crow? Even though the ending was pretty messed up, it was a good match, right?"
'Does he know that I'm James?!'
Yes, it was stupid of me in the first place to set my Matt body next to the king, but I really wanted to test the limits. In hindsight, I shouldn't have. Just as I was about to recall Matt, another voice rang out, coming from one of the bodyguards in black suits.
"Your highness, you really shouldn't talk to animals in a public place. You already do so enough in the castle."
Waving his hand, the king forgot about my existence as he apologized, "Oh, sorry about that. Old habits die hard, you know?"
'...'