The atmosphere was dead silent, perhaps because the cadets knew that the two people here were the cream of the crop. Luciel Gulova, the long-lost cousin of Elina Gulova, the youngest Legion Commander in the history of Noxio, and Evelyn Flykra, the most talented person that came out from House Flykra since the founder herself.
Evelyn broke that silence by soaring through the clouds and unleashing sharp feathers toward Luciel. The rain of feathers looked devastating as they descended, but Luciel had other plans.
He imbued scarlet flame to his sword and raised it from the ground up, blocking and burning every feather approaching. Luciel then immediately thrusted his sword into the flame, turning the fire wall into a cascade of fire. It looked as though a dragon's breath was approaching Evelyn.
Evelyn, confident in her wings, barricaded herself again with pearly white wall. But then she realized, it was the biggest mistake of her life. "Shit!" The wings burned considerably, even her body caught fire. The fire was never-ending, blazing on as it scorched each feather one by one.
Luciel wasted no time and jumped toward the falling bird. He raised the sword over his head and delivered a fatal slash across Evelyn's body in quick succession. Evelyn couldn't even trace the sword let alone dodge it.
She fell down to the ground helplessly, shocked by how she was defeated so easily when others couldn't even slightly injure her. She thought that maintaining height would be the most beneficial, but she realized it was all the same if they were to fight on the ground or sky. Luciel was too strong, and she was overconfident.
The spectators also gasped in surprise. They didn't expect this fight to end that quickly.
"Di—Did I see it correctly?"
"No... He beat her in less than thirty seconds. Does that even make sense?"
"Even if Evelyn wasn't in the best condition, that's just impossible... Isn't her Motif an S-Rank?"
Many might think that just because Angel Wings was designated as an S-Rank Motif, it was bound to be overpowered, but it didn't work like that. The rank designation was based on past holders of the Motifs, proving the ability to be worthy to be crowned at the summit. It signified potential power. However, in the hands of an inexperienced hatchling, it was no more than a shell.
The crowd went from confusion to an explosion of cheers. The atmosphere became lively again, welcoming the presence of a new king.
"I... lost." Evelyn waved the white flag and was carried off the arena to heal herself.
Luciel sighed heavily and walked to the middle where he could earn the most points. He could see the other representatives' eyes shaking in fear. 'Ah, that's the good old days.'
Luciel's life in the slums and streets was full of violence. Whenever he got chased down, he would strike fear into those bastards who dared to take his belongings. The fear in their eyes made him realize that power was everything, but after meeting Elina and living with her for six years, his sense was dulled and he was humbled. In a way, it was a good thing. He didn't want to become a blood-crazed killer and get sent to jail.
As he was about to sit down to rest, Horus approached the stage and challenged him. "You are strong. I expected it from the Legion Commander's family, but not this much! Let's fight!"
'Why is his personality just the polar opposite of how he looks? Such wasted potential.' Luciel sighed. He was the standard of Guizhong male beauty, which was considered the peak of beauties in the continent, yet he didn't know any tact at all.
"Bring it on, battle freak."
Horus channeled his lightning energy to his legs and darted toward Luciel. He was so fast that normal cadets couldn't see it, but it was child's play for him. Even if one couldn't see it, there was only one direction Horus could attack with such speed, so Luciel hung his sword in front his body and blocked Horus' attack easily.
Horus kept his momentum and swung again to the side, his sword infused with blue lightning. Luciel imbued flame to his sword and protected his side with finesse. He thought about how Horus didn't have a chance to showcase himself when he foolishly attacked Evelyn in mid-air, so from swordsman to swordsman, he wanted to give Horus a chance.
"Let's see how you take this!" Horus shouted for the world to hear. The lightning energy concentrated in his sword became more potent. It now wore a blue layer instead of just sparks of lightning. The air around them started to sizzle, arcs of lightning running around Horus' body as if he became lightning incarnation itself.
As the energy formed toward the tip of his sword, he thrusted the blade with all his might, and a lightning dragon was birthed.
Lightning Dragon Art: Azure Dragon Lance
The dragon roared, its serpentine coiled in mid-air, scales made of sharp lightning energy. Luciel couldn't perform Crimson Bloom because the dragon was exceptionally fast, but that didn't mean it was over.
Luciel's blade brimmed with scarlet flame. The unbearable heat dispersed residual lightning energy. He stepped to the side and swung his sword in a wide arc, unleashing a concentrated burst of fire. A radiant wall of fire was formed to intercept the charging dragon.
A shower of sparks and embers burst out from the collision. The dragon struggled against the invincible fire wall as it tried to break through. Luciel didn't stop and unleash Petal Surge, scorching the ground with a pillar of moving flame. Petals fluttered around, cutting traces of lightning one by one.
The deadly flame reached the dragon and split it in half, scorching the corpse of the pitiful dragon. The pillar of flame raged on to swallow up Horus in its course, but he barely managed to get out of its way, burning himself in the process.
Horus tried to get up but couldn't. Azure Dragon Lance was his ultimate skill and took almost all of his energy, and the technique Luciel used gave him backlash. He couldn't get up at all.
The cadets cheered again, this time even louder than ever. Luciel could feel the energy from the crowd and it pumped him up.
"Besting two great houses! Oh my god!"
"Overwhelming at that! He basically let Horus do his ultimate technique."
Violet intently looked at Luciel in the arena. He looked majestic under the sunlight, over the defeated Horus, in the middle of the circle. He didn't move at all during that encounter. Violet pouted sightly as she looked at Horus being carried out, thinking about how Luciel was so much stronger than his peers.
On the stage, Luciel suddenly sneezed. Did someone think bad of him? Ignoring his instinct, he sat down in the center and started meditating to recover his energy. It was one of the best practices to recover energy proven by Guizhong masters. He dulled his sense and focused on absorbing energy into his core.
After about five minutes, he opened his eyes, feeling refreshed and ready for battle. He looked for the other four and saw Rekal and Lumine trying to convince Evelyn to team up. Three-on-one? Luciel wanted to attempt that seemingly impossible feat. Horus was still out-of-commission as he used up too much energy.
A few minutes later, the three of them finally landed on the stage. Rekal looked like he wanted to wait for Horus, but Horus was still recovering his energy, so that wouldn't work. Luciel looked up at the holographic screen and smiled.
[Luciel Gulova - 854]
[Evelyn Flykra - 811]
"Three-on-one? Are you sure?" Luciel confronted them. "You know there can only be one king, right? If I'm defeated, I'm sure you know who's going to take the spot." He glared at Rekal and Lumine. He was trying his best to be scary and made it seem like they were choosing to side with Evelyn. The mind was an important factor in battles, after all. He wanted to shake things up.
"We'll de—deal with that later! Y—You should be worried about yourself first." Lumine was quivering a lot, stuttering here and there.
'Am I that scary? And what's up with people's appearance not matching their personality?' Luciel thought and sighed.
He looked at Lumine straight in her eyes and grinned. "I'll leave you last, Lumine. Watch the show, okay?"
"Okay!" Lumine replied enthusiastically but then realized who was talking. She quickly covered her mouth and stood behind Evelyn and Rekal.
'This kid... She's fun to tease, just like Elina.' Luciel chuckled.
"Hey! Stop picking on Lumine. Let's end this." Rekal's expression was fierce. He already covered himself with Echo Energy already. Evelyn was quiet and serious as usual, observing the confrontation.
Luciel shook his head as he smiled. This situation was one where his strength after six years of training would be proven. He wondered if Elina and Luna were here to see this. Hopefully not. He didn't want to be scolded later by Elina for any mistakes.
The four readied themselves. Lumine at the frontline while Rekal and Evelyn stayed at the back. Facing them all was Luciel, his hand gripped the sword tightly as he walked out of the circle with confidence.