Upon realization of the situation before her, Reverti.. I have to Reverti! Noelle attempted to grab the sword, only for a watery leash to snatch it.
She turned back and saw Syvne grabbing it with her left hand. Or.. That can work.
Fully facing her, she extended her arm, aimed at the sword. "PANSÉLINOS!" Syvne tossed the sword away the moment it glowed cherry red, and took the form of a human.
It landed on one knee and looked up. It was a girl–tan-skinned like Sanguinex, her iris was as red as blood and as closed off as Syvne's, with hints of black surrounding the pupil that resembled the phases of the moon–just like Sanguinex.
She had light grey hair that resembled her blade color, all of which was tied up to a low bun that spanned down the back of her neck, and wore a dark attire that virtually gave the impression of an assassin–a dark grey and metallic chestplate and leather shoulder plate above of a hooded black top that gave away her form–above her black gloves were dark grey and metallic wristbands.
Wrapped around her waist was a black and silver belt able to hold knives on each side, and beneath were skinny black pants with shiny, long and black leather boots.
All were black, save for the long sleeveless coat similar to Noelle's hair color.
It's two against one–what will you do now?
Noelle flinched from the pain of losing her right hand, which started to kick in.
The polymorph dashed at Syvne–she was just as fast as Noelle in dashing speed, even faster in attacking speed.
Syvne backed away inch by inch to avoid the former's blows, which went by so fast and seemed to have no waste in energy, it could break the bones of whoever she hit.
She dashed back to a comfortable distance and shielded herself with a sphere of water. If there's anything we learned from the past, that would be these spheres, or any magic spheres were quite impregnable.
.
"Ms. Phoebe.. What is this duel we're watching..?" the commenter asked with pure shock in his face and voice.
"To think she'd use.. Ayuna.."
"Is that the name of the polymorph?"
"It is. I've seen her a few times by Emperor Bernard and Emperor Faris' side when they did public speeches, like some sort of guard.. Though, she does look older than before."
"So this one ages like us.." he rubbed his chin. "Interesting."
.
She drew a musket from her scabbard and pulled back the cock, stopping when it clicked.
Slowly, water floated and revolved around the musket, reaching closer to the muzzle. Meanwhile, Ayuna dashed closer and kicked the sphere, forcing a very loud thud as if it was a dragon instead of a human.
She aimed up the sky then the musket recoiled downward, releasing a violent surge of water that propelled up and emanated an arena-sized sphere of water.
She cocked the gun again–her mouth, inaudible but made out the word: Kohenévoa. Upon firing again, the sphere dropped.
Noelle covered herself in light to avoid getting wet. Ayuna on the other hand, braced herself–she jumped, spun as fast as a spinning top–no, even faster, and sent all the water above and beside her away, keeping herself dry by the time she landed.
When the two looked around, they were completely engulfed in a thick fog. Noelle's light from above grew weaker by the second, so all they could see was grey, and all they could feel was the instant cold that kicked in.
Noelle wiped the sweat off her forehead and exhaled heavily. When was the last time I duelled for this long? to be exact, 6 minutes had passed by since the start of the duel.
She crouched and grabbed her hand, aligning it back to her arm which stuck as she let go of it–she was able to move it, though poorly. Upon dragging down her sleeve, there were glowing stitches that held it from falling. This should do for now.
Syvne left not a single trace of her whereabouts within the fog and left the two wary, observing their surroundings as much as they could. She was like a hunter waiting for her moment to gun them down.
She pulled the trigger with a clear sight on Ayuna's head.
Ayuna tilted her head to the left and caught the ice bullet between her index and middle finger. She turned around to see no one, but now knew Syvne's location.
She dashed where she thought the latter was and found her. Closing in the distance, her nails turned razor sharp and cut through the cloth in-between Syvne's arm and elbow.
The former pulled her own right arm back with a clenched fist, followed by Syvne's left arm moving forward, as if it was being pulled. She swung her right arm to the left–Syvne did the same and punched herself.
The latter stumbled back and dropped her musket to stop the next punch, only for Ayuna to swing a kick at her exposed arm–absolutely sending her to the wall like a catapult.
The wall forced a loud thud and crater as she landed, then dropped back to her feet. She held her right arm as it was left hanging.
Ayuna dashed forward again and grabbed her by the collar, mustering all her strength to throw her over.
She flew without resistance and rolled over deep within the arena.. After a moment, she sat up–she gritted her teeth and held in the pain–giving an expression for the first time.
"What a nice expression you have..~" said Noelle, who stood before her as the fog passed by.
Noelle folded her arms, flashing a soft smile. "You can't bear the pain of a broken bone?" she walked closer. "Even I can bear the pain of a severed hand."
She extended her left hand, releasing a beam of light that pierced through the middle of her left arm–it swung down as though paralyzed like her broken arm.
Her smile faded away, replaced by a big frown with a piercing glare. She crouched and grabbed her tight by the chin. "You must be confused.. Who do you think you are to injure me–the Princess???" her tone was menacing and filled with rage.
Yet, Syvne still kept silent. The grip grew tighter until she rose with her feet off the ground–Noelle's hand still on her neck.
The faint light above them glowed brighter–the fog was fading away.
"Second Form: Longsword Form." Ayuna sprinted towards Noelle as she glowed a cherry red silhouette. Before she could fully form, she jumped high and dived like a swimmer.
Noelle caught her by the hilt the moment she fully turned to a sword, and by that time, the fog completely faded away–the light shone upon the three and only them; the rest was utter darkness.
.
The audience watched in silence, some wide-eyed, some jaw-dropped, either in surprise, amazement or horror..
"It's.."
"..The end?"
"She won?"
.
The eerie silence engulfed the whole stadium, only a thud echoed as Noelle dropped Syvne to the ground. "Victory.."
She pointed the tip of the blade at Syvne's neck. "..Is mine." her voice held not a tone of pride or anger, but a monotony that expressed all of it with equal measure.
All this was like a theater play–the spotlight was on them, they could hear only their own sounds echoing through the silent place, and watch their own actions.
.
"Princess Trysta..–"
"PRINCESS TRYSTA WINS THE DUNKRON SHOWDOOOOOOOOOOWN!!!" Ms. Phoebe was as shocked as the commenter when she stood up, cut him off and announced with excitement.
The commenter smiled and stood up as well. "THAT'S RIGHT! IT'S THE STEPAN ACADEMY'S VICTORY FOR THE SECOND TIME IN A ROW!"
The whole sea of Stepan students cheered in pure elation–a sense of pride swooped within them to the point some shed tears of joy.
"Time and time again, fierce opponents stepped in the arena of the Magiaville Stadium with hopes of taking down the Stepan juggernaut, but to no success–for the magnum opus of Stepan Academy–the Undefeated Octet showed them again and again just WHO ARE THE MASTERS OF THIS STADIUM!!!"
Ms. Phoebe chuckled. "Now now, you're giving them too much credit! Princess Trysta, Undefeated Octet, please come down to the lobby. Syvne, you may leave."
.
A little later, Noelle got her hand healed, allowing it to properly work. Ten minutes later, the white gems were restored–bringing back light to the stadium.
The Undefeated Octet returned to the middle of the arena with two flag bearers–one held the flag of the Stepan Empire, the other for the Stepan Academy.
The Stepans sang their anthem in support of the pleasant and skillful symphony of drums and trumpets as part of the winning tradition, all with smiles, some with a sense of patriotism, some with nationalism looming deep in their hearts.
.
"And finally, the moment we've all been waiting for.. The awardings!" Ms. Phoebe announced. "Come out, Mr. Commenter!"
He stepped into the arena, holding a golden trophy with the figure of a man, his arms raised up with a sphere–supposedly the planet floating above him.
But that's not what surprised everyone.. It was who held it.
The Octet was as surprised as their fellow schoolmates. "EMPEROR FARIS!?" Damon exclaimed.
Papa.. Noelle smiled in realization. Nice voice changer, I didn't notice it was you.
As soon as he came close, the Octet–save for Noelle, dropped to one knee as a sign of respect and greetings to the emperor.. Of the Stepan Empire.
He stopped in front of Noelle with a prideful smile. "Good job, I knew you could do it."
"Thank you." she replied, stepping closer as she wrapped her arms around him for a hug. They hugged each other for a brief moment until it was time to let go.
"Grandpa didn't come?" she asked. Emperor Faris shook his head.
"He said he'll come when it's time to celebrate."
The very fact her grandfather was absent from this moment killed her smile a little. Oh.. but then, she smiled again. "I see.." That's fine, at least I get to see him soon.
.
"Well then, that concludes the 157th Dunkron Academies' Tournament! I am Stepan Academy Professor and Geologist, Phoebe Omala.
Starting from Stepan students, followed by their right and so on–please depart the auditorium in a double file line."
.
"It's interesting.. How many students from other countries go here just to watch." Breah commented as she observed the whole stadium.
Meredith looked down in thought. "I remember back in Zenith, it was voluntary to join and watch the tournament. Since Zenith had a lot of money to spare," she held her coin bag, "they could let a max of.. One thousand students board the ships."
"In 4 years, the tournament will take place in a different country, right?"
Meredith nodded. "Unfortunately, we won't be there anymore since we'd have graduated already–making our final the 160th tournament."
They looked forward, spotting Keahi walking beside Noelle, talking to her with a suspicious smile.
Meredith chuckled. "There he goes again, trying to hit on the princess with full confidence!"
Breah hugged herself, slightly shivering. "He's a narcissist, right?"
"Very much."