Izun charges at Samael at quick speed. As he gets close, he attempts to slash him using his longsword. Samael barely dodged it. Rein fires quick arrow at Izun, but the arrow got destroyed by Astha's flying dagger.
"Damn, you always get in my way." said Rein.
"I thought I'm your opponent? Chickening out?" taunted Astha.
"I will beat the crap out of you!" Rein is pissed off. He fires consecutive arrows at Astha.
Astha charges at Rein while dodging the arrows. She jumps to the air and throws one of her daggers at Rein. Rein flips backwards and fires a poison arrow. It hits Astha in the left shoulder. She falls to the ground after the green poison spreads in her wound.
"It will not kill you, don't worry. Poison Arrow is an instant spell for rangers. It will only immobilize you for a short while. Seems like you've lost this fight."
Black aura surounds Astha's body as she stands up. Her wounds recovered and the poison is cleansed. She then screams out aloud. Her howling voice reverberates throughout the whole Colosseum, and darkness surrounds the sky. Everyone halts and looks at her. It looks like she is going to transform into something.
"I've never feel a strong force like this." Exion said that after he regained consciousness.
"This will be troublesome." Izun murmured to himself.
"Normally in movies the heroes stand still when an enemy transform, but now, let me shoot her off!" Rein fires some arrows at Astha.
The black aura defends Astha's transformation from Rein's arrows. Seconds after that, dark waves swarms the entire Colosseum, limiting everyone's vision.
"Is this the moment where we're all gonna get our butt kicked?" Rein asked Samael.
"Most likely. Although I'm pretty sure we can still beat her." said Samael.
Cyril is sitting with Lize in the participants' dorm. They can see the battle through a magic hologram that acts like a television inside the dorm.
"Is this the moment where your friends gonna get their butt kicked?" Lize asked Cyril.
"Most likely. Even so, they can still win against her, don't worry." said Cyril.
Melisa prays for Rein and Samael's safety as the dark waves become stronger.
The black aura that surrounds Astha's body vanished as soon as she successfully transformed into a mysterious creature. Some of the crowds look at her in terror.
Exion's eyes widened.
"This is outrageous. Assassins don't transform. What sorcery is this?" Exion is confused.
Astha has turned into a humanoid wolf beast. Her black fur is blending into the dark shadows, making her hard to see. She then charges at Exion with quick steps and delivers a powerful punch. Exion flies and crashes into the wall.
She quickly charges Izun next. Izun attempts to slash her multiple times, but her speedy movements dodge all the slashes. She then slams the ground, generating a strong force that knocks Izun back. As she attempts to deliver a punch towards Izun, Earth Spikes come forth from the ground and blocks her attack.
"Lucky I cast Earth Wall in time. Now, come and face me, you hideous beast!"
Samael raises his left hand and cast a spell. Astha charges at him to deliver some quick punches. Rein fires a few flaming arrows to prevent her from getting close to Samael.
"Oh seeking blaze of destruction, devour your enemies with your wicked chasing flames, Burning Missiles!"
A vermilion magic circle is formed above Samael. Small fireballs come out from it and chase Astha. She runs as fast as she can to avoid the seeking fireballs.
Rein takes an arrow from his quiver and arms it in his bow. He then cast a quick spell.
"Pierce her, Arrow Splinter!"
He fires the arrow at Astha. The arrow magically splits into five and chase the violent wolf beast down. One of the arrows hit her in the left leg. She falls to the ground and got blown away by Samael's chasing fireballs.
"Frozen blade, strike him down, Ice Bolt...times three!" Samael adds up the destruction by casting three ice bolts at the impact area, furthering the damage.
The two Rose Garden members wait for the destruction smoke to fade away. Astha is injured, but she is still standing up. Her left leg is bleeding terribly. That does not look good, but she quickly charges at Samael and Rein like nothing has happened to her.
"Does wolf beasts have insane regeneration? They don't have pain cells or something? We beat up some werewolves in Vizrock's lair, so it should be easy. Damn, this is annoying!" Samael said that while dodging Astha's attacks.
"At this rate, we'll get our butt beaten up by her." Rein seems tired.
Astha flips into the middle of the Colosseum. She then channels a huge spell. Large dark holes surround her, releasing a great amount of energy.
"This is bad. She's going to cast Overwhelming Blast. We need to stop her now before it's too late!" Exion warns the other fighters. They need to cooperate and stop Astha from casting her big spell.
The four fighters start attacking Astha, but the dark holes are preventing them from doing so. Astha completes her channeling. The dark holes combine into one large dark sphere. She then jumps into the air and throws the sphere into the centre ground.
The sphere crashes to the ground and explodes in a very large radius. The crowds are blinded by the bright lights covering the entire Colosseum. Overwhelming Blast is not a small spell. The explosion area is three times bigger than a normal Meteor Blast.
After the blinding lights fade away, the arena is disrupted by the huge damage caused. The centre area is clearly demolished. Melisa sees the fighters are still there, not defeated yet.
Samael opens his eyes and is surprised by his condition.
"Life Shield? But I never-" He turns to look at everyone else. All of them are affected by Life Shield.
"Samael, did you cast Life Shield on us?" Rein asked.
"No, it wasn't me." Samael denied.
The two of them look at Exion, who is currently suffering from extreme fatigue.
"Don't tell me, it's you who cast the shield on us..." Samael said that to Exion.
"Heh, thank me later..." Exion falls unconscious to the ground.
Astha seems a bit tired now. Izun walks towards her.
"I'll finish her off. You two, stand behind."
Samael and Rein walk a bit further away to the back. Izun holds his longsword using both hands and aims it to the sky. Astha charges at him.
"Now that it has come to this, I'm afraid I have to show you my true powers."
Astha gets close to him and attempts to punch his face.
"Sword of extermination, scatter into sharp blades and weave your ways to glorify the land, Swift Avenger!"
The longsword he holds emits an azure light and magically shifts into many, glowing azure blades. Astha got knocked back by a sudden wave force, probably the defensive impact of the longsword's transformation.
The azure blades split into two, doubling the amount of scattering flying blades.
"You will be the first testament of my true powers." said Izun in a serious tone.
The crowds are fascinated by the glowing azure blades wandering around the whole Colosseum, making it a wondrous scenery combined with the dark sky. Rein and Samael look at each other. They should not interfere or else things will not turn out good for them.
End of Chapter 19