The guys brought the wounded Aileen into the room. In addition to the burned side, the girl had a severe burn in the center of her chest.
"It's terrible," Feris immediately started treating her. "It looks more like torture marks than wounds from a battle."
A golden aura enveloped the guard, and the burns began to slowly heal.
"We need to call Grandpa; I won't be able to heal all of this," Feris stood up, but Aileen, regaining consciousness, stopped her right away.
"I don't need that," she said.
"But you'll be left with scars," Feris insisted.
"It doesn't matter, just make them not so scary. It will be a reminder for me."
"Do you want to remember the lost battle?" I glanced at the girl with doubt.
"No, I don't want to forget how dangerous some mages can be."
"Well, there are mages here too," I gestured around the room.
"But you respect your opponents, unlike him."
"Oh, you've got me there. Now I'm left with only Alfred to beat," I sat down next to the guard with a dissatisfied look.
"Well, I tried to defeat him. I just didn't consider something in my calculations."
"Yeah, tell me, what was in those balls?"
"Why do you need to know? It wouldn't have worked on him anyway."
"Well, who knows, maybe it will come in handy someday."
Aileen leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes.
"It was a simple and effective explosive. Though it's difficult to use it in an open battle," Aileen took out an iron ball from her belt pocket and opened it. It was empty, but it was the same ball she had exploded in the arena. "I had to make very sturdy capsules for it. This liquid explodes upon a strong impact, but it's resistant to temperature and fire. The explosion produces a powerful shockwave, flames, and heat similar to that of a full-fledged fireball, but it wasn't enough to defeat Alfred."
"No," Seleria joined our conversation, "even a fire mage can get burned. It's all about preparation. He was ready to defend himself from the attack, so it didn't work."
"So, it's my fault after all."
"But you were the first one to give him such a hard time," I patted the girl's shoulder, "Can I do that thing?"
"Nah, well, unlikely. Even with my knowledge, I had a hard time gathering the ingredients for a liter from all of you. And I doubt I can find more."
"That's a shame."
"Don't worry so much, Krito. You can make almost any combustible mixture explode. " Aileen started bending her fingers, listing substances, "Oil, resin, dragon's saliva, and most gases can be detonated if you have the right proportion of air. You won't believe it, but even dust can be exploded."
"Really?"
"Of course. In mines, they always remove coal dust, and it's all because, with the right amount of it, it can instantly kill all miners and the force of the explosion can bring down supports, burying the survivors forever."
"Hmm, I have an idea of how to defeat Alfred."
"Will you share it?"
"You'll see for yourself," I leaned back comfortably in the chair, waiting for the start of the next match. Katrina didn't come back, but the girls were already heading to the arena.
"And here comes the final match of the second stage," Vina's melodious voice once again ignited the crowd's interest, "The mighty and all-powerful mistress of black flames, the beautiful princess of black dragons, Raaagniiii!!!"
The audience erupted into loud applause, just as Vina had saved the most anticipated battle for the grand finale.
"Last time, she shook the Colosseum to its foundations with her power, and now she will face the most dangerous enemy for a dragon..." Vina paused theatrically before pointing to a figure in a black cloak on the screen, "The Mistress of Death, Rizel!"
The crowd greeted the girl with cheers no less than her opponent. Many people placed bets on this match, and since the outcome was uncertain for anyone, it only fueled the interest.
"Dragons are strong, immortal, and they fear neither swords nor magic, but they fear one thing... death. Who will prevail today?! Dragon or necromancer!! Let the battle decide it!!!"
"Well, here we are on the arena," Ragni said slowly, stretching her arms and transforming them into dragon claws.
"Yes, a battle with a formidable opponent always makes me nervous."
"And you wouldn't tell just by looking at your face."
"Really?" Rizel reached for her hood, but stopped in time, "Haha, very funny."
"I can't believe you fell for it," Ragni smiled contentedly, "But I feel a bit awkward fighting you; you saved my life not long ago."
"Saved you?" Rizel recalled recent events. The arena, battles, the trip to the village with a more down-to-earth mission, the incident with assassins, "Ah, you mean the poisoning."
"Yes, after all, I don't owe my life to many people. If you want, you can ask me to surrender," the dragoness shyly crossed her arms behind her back.
"No way, that's not fun. I want to fight you, and I don't want you to hold back," Rizel's voice sounded excited, "And about that... You can consider us even. You saved me a long time ago, and I just repaid the debt."
"Really?" Ragni thoughtfully scratched her head, "Well, if you say so, then okay."
"Don't be shy, attack," Rizel held her staff with one hand and positioned it in front of her.
"You asked for it!" Inhaling deeply, the dragoness released an enormous stream of flames in front of her. The fiery whirlwind spread like a cone, enveloping half of the arena. No one could survive in such conditions. No one except those who weren't afraid of death.
"Poor Rizel, it must be very hot there," Kurone watched the arena with concern.
"Don't worry," a familiar voice came from the crystal, the voice of the millennia-old golem, "as far as I know, necromancers are not bothered by such trifles as heat, cold, or simply the lack of air."
"Rumy? But still, surviving in such fire is extremely difficult."
"Necromancers are not ordinary people; they are partially dead, so residual effects don't affect them. The only thing that can hurt her is direct flame, and I'm eagerly awaiting how she will stop it."
The flames raged for almost two minutes and finally began to subside. The figure in the black cloak stood in the same place as if there had been no powerful attack.
"I thought so," Rumy chuckled on the other end.
"She defended herself, but it doesn't seem like the flames even touched her," Kurone marveled.
The entire surface of the arena was covered in black ashes, except for the part behind Rizel; it seemed as though the flames shattered against an insurmountable barrier, leaving that section of the arena unscathed.
"This," I interjected into the girls' conversation, "is Thanatos' Shield, isn't it?"
"Wow, Krito, you've heard about it?" Ragni asked with surprise.
"I read about it in a book. An impenetrable barrier, the secret of which only the Mistress of Death knows."
"You're right. Only one person can master this spell. I suspected it for a long time; after all, her scythe is the same. But I was waiting for her to reveal her strength."
"So," Kurone pondered, "is Rizel also invulnerable like Alfred?"
"No, no, no. She is by no means invulnerable; this shield has many weak points. For example, it's weak in close combat, but no magic can penetrate it."
"Hey, Rumy!" Vina's voice rang from the crystal, "Do you know that you can be heard perfectly in the arena?"
"Uh-oh, did I blurt out something important?"
"What a silly golem!"
"Hmm, so magic is useless?" Ragni stretched her joints and prepared to attack.
"You would have guessed that anyway, so it doesn't matter to me," Rizel twirled her staff in her hand and placed it behind her back, with its tip down.
"And you're not afraid? After all, I am stronger than you," Ragni slowly dissolved into a smile.
"Not at all, and maybe I am stronger than you," a snowy smile flashed under the hood.
Ragni leaped at her enemy, extending her clawed paw forward. Rizel stepped aside and deflected the girl's attack with her staff. Ragni abruptly stopped and struck again, but the dark figure crouched, and the paw flew over her head. The dragoness jumped and attempted a kick, but Rizel jumped back, and the girl hit the ground. The necromancer turned around and struck the girl's chest with her staff. The blow was so powerful that it threw the dragoness back ten meters.
"How is this possible?" Ragni got up from the ground, shaking off the dust, "Where did you get such strength?"
"That's a secret," the dark figure smiled and returned to her original position.
"I'll have to try harder. Raaarrrgh," Ragni roared, and her body began to be covered in a dark glow. In a few seconds, she transformed into a half-dragon. Now her entire body was covered in black scales, "Even if I can't use black flames, in this state, I'm much stronger anyway!"
The dragoness flapped her wings and soared under the dome of the arena. Ragni released a burst of fire at the necromancer and then followed with a strike using both hands. Rizel retreated, shielding herself from the fire and avoiding the attacks. The strikes of the dragoness became faster and stronger, and Rizel now struggled to fend them off with her staff. Backing away, she found herself about ten meters from the wall.
"Damn, this can't go on," the girl became distracted, and the dragoness seized the moment. Swiftly appearing in front of the sorceress, she delivered a direct blow to her chest, sending Rizel flying towards the wall.
Ragni took a deep breath and unleashed her fiery breath at the necromancer. Rizel no longer had time to raise her shield.
"You asked for it," the skull's eyes at the end of the silver staff glowed with a greenish light, and dark-violet flames burst forth to meet the fiery breath, "Flames of Decay!"
The dark-violet flames clashed with the dragon's breath and scattered on the ground, quickly fading away. The earth turned black in the blink of an eye, the grass withered, and the ground crumbled into black dust.
"Oops, I better not get caught in that," Ragni fluttered upwards, and the flames scorched the arena behind her. "Yes, that's what all dragons fear."
Rizel, slightly staggering after the attack, moved towards the center of the arena. A trail of violet flames continued to burn on the ground behind her.
"Forgive me, Ragni, but you left me no choice," Rizel stopped and traced a circle around herself with her staff. "Necrotic explosion."
A wave of black mana exploded from the center of the arena and collided with the walls, revealing to the spectators the flawless hexagonal crystal barrier.
When the darkness dissipated, the audience saw the girl in the black hood, leaning on her staff with some difficulty. Such powerful magic had drained her strength, and she needed a break, but Ragni wasn't ready to take advantage of the situation. The dragoness lay twenty meters away from the sorceress, thrown by the force of the explosion onto the dome and then to the ground from a great height. But that wasn't all; her beautiful wings had large holes burned by the necromancer's magic, and some areas of her meteorite scales were charred or melted. The power of decay was one of the few magics capable of penetrating the impenetrable defense of black dragons.
"Ouch! That hurt," Ragni got up from the ground and looked at her body, "how did this happen?"
"Sorry, but it was hard for me to defeat you while you were flying around, so I brought you back to the ground," Rizel finally straightened up and took a deep breath, "shall we continue, or are you surrendering?"