The battle between the two could be said to have been a straight counter to each of their Paths.
Morgan's Path is not really that special in terms of the early stages in combat. His Path is Ardor, it utilizes the user's own passion and determination in combat.
If a battle is prolonged, then the user's physical capabilities, strengths, and fortitude would rise.
However, it comes with a defect.
The user starts off as weak at the start of a battle, susceptible to great attacks and swift strikes. It could be said that the user of this Path is a coward, but Morgan was quite the contrary..
He did not run away or stay passive with the upcoming attacks, although he did not always strike first... Morgan was great at counter-attacking.
One could say that he possesses the Southern Style of Swordplay in Elrod, but he did not possess the flowing movements of that unique style.
As for his Attunement, its name is Vigor of Passion. Morgan did not possess an elemental-type but his own Attunement enhanced the physical properties of his body.
He held the steel sword and got on a defensive stance, facing towards the ever-emotionless Alice.
Alice though.. held nothing and merely relied on her Soul.
The Path, Dragon of Purgatory is quite complex to comprehend.
One, the word Purgatory could be a double-meaning word. The Soul works in mysterious ways and even Alice could not comprehend what it meant.
Maybe it was related to the flames of hell? Or was it the afterlife? Maybe it was paradise.. Yet, she did not know.
All she knew was that it is something related to the domain of Death, though she could not quite feel the essence of death, she felt that feeling of dread that comes with it.
Simply put, Alice was very familiar with feeling and sensing death.
To add to that, her Attunement, Daughter of Flames, is not a simple elemental-type Attunement. She still felt and manipulated flames but there was a second aspect to it.
She was manifested from flames itself, and she was born from it. That said, she was like a forged blade, durable, sharp, and can cause death.
However, it was not her physical body that is considered to be durable and sharp. Rather, it is her Soul, it is dignified and refined to the utmost excellence.
Her Soul is bright orange, radiating and pulsing through her entire body. With the refined Soul, her reserves could be said to be tantamount to that of a Pure or Beyond Soul.
Yet that very Soul of hers is a lamenting Soul.
It burned her to the core, making her cold and emotionless, only sensing the feeling of death which made her feel dread.
It was ironic, her Soul was the essence of lament as she was born from the flames and ashes, and her Path dealt with the domain of Death itself. It was as if her own Soul lamented the Death that was so close to her.
This was probably the reason as to why she had a 97% in her Aptitude. Her Attunement and Path, along with her Soul and Body resonated greatly with each other.
While she waited for the signal of the Professor, she conjured black flames on her fingertips.
With that, the two of them heard the high-pitched whistle and the Professor's yell to begin.
At first, no one moved an inch, they studied each other thoroughly before rushing in to attack. This was in line with Morgan's and Alice's style of battle.
Morgan focused more on counter-attacking and prolonging the battle. While Alice was a long-range Attunement user.
For a couple of seconds, the two of them stood still and stared at each other's eyes.
The first to strike was Alice, sending a hot ball of black flames towards Morgan's direction.
It was.. not that fast to begin with, but its sheer heat compensated for its lack of speed.
Morgan ran to the side, and dodged the black flaming ball.
'A long ranged fighter!'
Morgan shifted his combat style from a passive counter-attacking method to a more aggressive one!
He dodged the cumulative flames that were being sent in his direction, moving side by side each time. He was bombarded by the flames, and he could not get close at all!
It was the perfect counter!
But.. time had been ticking, and each time Alice missed, Morgan felt his Vigor get stronger and improve.
In a matter of minutes, Morgan moved faster and dodged the barrage of flames easier! He aimed to get closer to Alice, but she was too quick in conjuring her black flames.
Her way of fighting was really annoying but it was not something that couldn't be overcome.
Morgan made steady progress towards her, running quickly yet moving slowly near her.
Suddenly, a condensed black flame quickly shot past him. Luckily, Morgan dodged it or otherwise.. it would've been fatal.
He was surprised by the sheer speed of her shots. He asked himself why couldn't she have done that earlier, so he would've adapted better!
Morgan was pushed back once more, the slow balls of flames now turned into compressed 3-inch shots that sped past the dome.
This went on for 10 minutes or so, the continuous flames never stopped coming but Morgan was beginning to feel his body lighten.
Dodging the compressed flames was now much easier than before!
This time! There was nothing holding him back.. Morgan could easily dodge the flames so he ran straight towards Alice!
His speed was exceptional, perhaps slightly lower than Veritas' full speed, but still!
In a few seconds, he dodged all the compressed flames and eventually came near Alice.
Suddenly, the flames stopped and she was left wide open!
'Has she run out of Soul?'
Morgan took this opportunity to jump in front of Alice.
"I've got you!"
He wielded his sword and performed an upward slash.
But then!
A pillar of black flames rose up between them, forcing Morgan to retreat again!
It seared his forearm, leaving behind a red-burned flesh.
"Hnggh!"
Morgan twitched in pain, his eyes were half-opened due to the lamenting flames conjured by Alice.
'How is she not out of Soul yet?!'
It had been approximately 15 minutes when the match had started, and in that duration.. she had been nonstop in conjuring flames. Any Impure Soul would've ran out by now!
But here she was.. conjuring pillars of flames repeatedly.
Morgan frowned.
Bearing through his seared forearm, he gripped his steel blade tightly and laid down the ground.
Immediately, blazing black flames were sent through his direction, but he already anticipated this as he laid down.
Morgan rolled to the side and glared at Alice.
..She was still unfazed!
She held the same expression that she had 15 minutes ago and there were no signs of her Soul running out soon!
That worked in Morgan's favor, as long as he endured the next upcoming attacks, then he would adapt long enough and raise his Vigor.
Now, her attacks were combined..
It ranged from slow yet powerful fireballs, highly condensed quick flames, and now.. a frequent black flame rose up into the air!
Morgan had no choice but to focus on dodging or else his skin would succumb to the immense heat brought upon by Alice's black flames.
'A few more minutes!"
Each of his steps was calculated and precise, if he were to make a single mistake... then he would pay for it greatly.
The continuous flames ran rampant for 9 minutes or so.. It didn't seem like Alice would run out of Soul any time soon, and that was fine for Morgan.
The longer he waited.. the better it would be.
His plan was to prolong the battle until she ran out of Soul, and once she did, he would end the battle with a single strike!
'Longer!'
10 more minutes passed!
'More!'
Another 10 more passed!
'Come on'
Another 10!
'I could do more!'
Then.. an hour finally passed since the two of them commenced in combat.
The flames were reduced, and Alice only sent out a few quick condensed black flames.
She was.. slowing down.
Morgan noticed this, he was nimbler and stronger now, he could probably reach her destination in a single second now!
'Once she shows an opening, I'll go for the strike!'
And that.. she did!
Most of the ground had already melted due to her flames, but those flames fluctuated and got weaker.
And then.. it stopped.
Alice looked tired and she actually dropped a sweat.
She tried to catch up to her bread but... Morgan didn't let her!
His eyes were as daunting as a hunter finally going for the defining strike!
His blade loomed over the regal figure of Alice, it reached for her neck, aiming to actually kill her!
It was dangerous!
Everyone in the area was suddenly alarmed! The Professor even aimed to stop him, but his speed was too impeccable! His own desperate attempt to conjure a barrier between them had not worked at all!
'Morgan! Sto-
However! His eyes saw otherwise..
Morgan, who was on the verge of victory, suddenly saw the deep darkness of Alice's black eyes.
She whispered:
"You fell for it.."
Immediately, the entire dome was engulfed with black flames, burning everything inside! The flames could be felt outside, and Veritas sensed a dreadful warmth coming from within.
'Did she kill him?' Veritas thought, his eyes widened.
Dread engulfed the entire Duel Area, and the feeling of death was prevalent in the air.
Everyone's heart was flooded with fear.
Then... the dome's black flames subsided, revealing the figure of a blonde-haired Daughter of Flames. Most of her clothes were burnt but they were still intact.
Everyone anticipated for the entirety of the flames to vanish.. and upon waiting for a couple of minutes, the figure of a burned up Morgan lay on the floor.
Professor Newt and the nurses rushed inside to check the burned Morgan.
"He's still alive! Pour the potions!"
He looked in the direction of Alice, whose eyes were black and cold.
"You-"
"I held back, I didn't want to cause death to another person."
She cut him off and Professor Newt bit his lips bitterly.
"That was still dangerous! What if you died?!"
Alice looked up and breathed deeply.
"I can't.."
"What?"
"My flames.. could never cause Death, even if I went all out or held back.. they would never be the reason for Death."
She pursed her lips and somberly said to the Professor.
"Such.. is the essence of Lament.."