Hana leaped back upon realizing that her petals were no use against Leo.
Her skill, Flower Domain, had a fixed amount of flower petals that it produced. Hana could make more but that would need immense focus and willpower. So, losing precious petals to Leo's Desert Veil is not very ideal.
"So you've got tricks of your own, fiend."
"That goes for you too! Your flowers are really pretty Hana!"
"I am flattered."
Immediately, the flowers gathered towards her hand and formed into a meter long blade, holding the newly created weapon on her right hand.
The flower radiated in a pink aura, glowing ever-so iridescent in the flower domain.
As for her other hand, she held a normal ivory sword that was as sharp as the sword in her right hand.
She dual-wielded the blades and pointed the ivory sword at Leo.
"However, it is not the time for flattery, I'm here to defeat a sand fiend."
Leo grinned but his expression was hidden by his Desert Armor.
"Please do your best."
The auburn-haired boy vanished in the ground, perplexing Hana as she rushed forward.
"Show yourself!"
In the background, the sandstorm seemed to get stronger and it overpowered the durable flower petals that were conjured by Hana.
She deduced that her Domain could only last for 7 minutes max and 3 minutes minimum. It depended on whether Leo would focus on his Sandstorm as a means of an attack or if he would charge head-on.
Knowing Leo, he would probably do the latter.
Thus, Hana anticipated his next move and held the two blades in her hands tightly.
Leo was doing his best to carefully strategize his next move. With the wisdom imparted from his ancestors, he managed all the aspects of the battlefield and aimed to control the outcome of the situation.
While being in a state where he vanished into the Sandstorm, Leo observed Hana, who seemed to be troubled about his whereabouts.
'She hasn't gone all out yet.'
Just by gazing at her state, Leo already concluded that she was still holding back against him. Perhaps she had not used her Path yet, but Leo had no way of knowing.
He knew that the girl lied in their previous sharing of Paths. Servitude? It didn't seem correct to Leo's ears.
..It was sketchy.
Yet, Leo had no way to prove that she was lying.
If one would think about it, Knight of Flowers could somehow be related to Servitude, but in some ways.. it didn't align all that much.
Yes, a Knight could equal Servitude, but the nature of flowers is much different to the initial Path that she mentioned.
Flowers were ruthless..
They had thorns on their stems, sapped the earth of its life, and most importantly.. they needed great care.
To remain beautiful, a flower would have to be served and protected..
Leo remained calm and decided his next move.
'A frontal attack would be best! I'll exhaust her energy and Soul, frequently attacking at intervals.'
Leo used the sand to his advantage and camouflaged himself in the background. With a quick leap, he materialized near Hana and struck down once more..
It was easily blocked though, the flowers served as Hana's extended shield! Whenever Leo showed hostility towards her, the petals would immediately cover her blind spot.
This would result in Hana knowing where Leo's position was, making it harder for him to hide again.
But it was alright.. Leo planned this outcome already.
"Wuah!"
He cast multiple stabs in her direction and hoped to pierce through the durable pink petals in her domain.
Hana struck back, wielding the ivory blade to slash Leo's body. But.. his Desert Armor proved to be quite useful!
It redirected her blade to the side, and staggered her.
Yet she wasted no time!
Hana utilized her iridescent pink blade and threw a blow towards Leo.
He anticipated this and counter-attacked while she was mid strike.
It almost reached her body but the flower petals meddled at the last second! Hana's flower blade was also useless as it only phased through Leo's body.
It was a battle between durability and flexibility!
Leo struck a couple more times and studied the patterns of her petals.
If, somehow, he learned about the limited amount of petals that Hana conjured, then Leo would immediately shift his fighting style to that of a passive one.
However, Leo had no clue at all! Even with the cumulative knowledge and wisdom that he had, the flowers were just too rampant to even count!
Like the sands, there could be thousands upon millions of petals that were prevalent in the air, and all were as sharp as her ivory blade.
Luckily, Leo had the perfect counter to it.
It consumed a lot of Soul so it would probably take around 7 minutes to run off.
'Enough time to defeat her!'
He twisted back and blended with the sand below, sending a stab that was meant to hit her torso. But, Hana automatically blocked the dagger with the flower petals, and she countered back with a strike from her iridescent blade.
There was one thing that she noticed..
Her normal blade didn't phase through Leo's body. Perhaps it was due to its nature as a steel, that it would merely be deflected away or maybe it was due to the uniqueness of Leo's armor!
A thing was for sure, the Desert Armor is not invincible!
It rejected anything related to iron and steel, based on Hana's observations.
Additionally, her carbon-based flower sword phased through Leo's body quite easily, ending up wilted when it came out.
It didn't feel like it was deflected but it did feel quite light to the touch... and hot.
"Your defense is impeccable!"
"As to you, Leo."
The two crashed blades once more, forgetting about their defense as they let the petals or armor handle it.
Leo mainly focused on speed-based attacks while Hana dealt with a more heavy approach.
She thought:
'If this sword can be deflected, then that armor can be broken!'
It would take a couple of tries but she was sure of that fact.
As for Leo, he deemed the durable petals as impregnable by his blade. But... they were slow and susceptible to heat, so.. Leo needed to go faster in order to land a single hit.
"Orarararara!"
He sent a couple of wildly aimed slashes to test in order he can outspeed the pink petals.
Then! Hana's extensive striking bore fruit as she made a deep dent in the integrity of the Desert Armor.
Leo had preparations for this..
Sand rose up in his feet and made their way to his armor, fixing any damage that Hana was dealing.
It was weird.. how could an armor made out of sand be dented?
The common answer would be that the sand was being chipped away slowly. But, due to the quick rotations that are in its nature, a dent could be seen where Hana's strikes were.
"You can heal your armor!?"
"Yeah~"
The duel went even wilder as Leo's Sandstorm was soon overpowering Hana's flower Domain.
Before, the dome was split in half between brown and pink, but now... 75% of the dome were as brown as the Sandstorm that Leo conjured.
It didn't look too good for Hana.
'I might lose at this rate!'
There was only 2 minutes left until her domain ran out, and by then.. she would be overrun by the harmless Sandstorm where her vision would be rendered useless.
'I'll use that as a last resort when the timer is close to running out!'
With that, Hana kept striking through Leo's durable yet fluid armor.
Her iridescent flower blade passed through him and her ivory blade was deflected as if she had struck armor.
Leo, however.. could not out-speed the petals at all! Even with the enhanced speed brought upon by the sands, he still could not penetrate a single one!
"Such pretty flowers, yet so hard! Aren't flowers meant to be smooth and soft?"
Hana stood quiet and focused on breaking through Leo's Desert Armor.
Dent after dent was made and Leo kept restoring the armor to its full glory!
A minute left and the two of them got desperate.
Hana's domain got even smaller as it encased the two in a flowery landscape.
In a desperate attempt to break through, Hana sent out the sharp petals towards Leo while she was clashing with him.
Thus, the Sandstorm overtook her domain, enveloping and blinding her!
'There was still 30 seconds left in my domain! Did it get overwhelmed by the sands?!'
She did not give up though, utilizing the last of the petals to guard her against attacks.
.. Still, it would not last long!
Leo vanished amidst the Sandstorm, he wasted no time to attack while she was blinded!
There were only a couple of seconds of time left until his Desert Armor would run out!
'A faint to the left and a slash towards her abdomen. Once she tries to deflect or dodge, I would rush behind her and strike!'
A simple plan, yet with the conditions that Hana was in, she was only waiting to fall for it.
With a loud clang!, the sound reverberated through the Sandstorm.
Leo struck towards her but the pesky petals blocked his path to victory!
'I'm so close!' Leo struggled.
'Should I.. use it?' Hana considered.
And then.. Leo's armor dissipated, leaving him defenseless and visible in the Sandstorm.
Hana almost considered using her Path to dissipate the sandstorm but she decided to do so..
'There he is!'
As she saw the distinct figure of the petite and short boy, she rushed towards his direction and plunged her iridescent blade towards him.
"I've got you, Leo!"
At this point, her petals had run out, also rendering her defenseless. Leo struck back as he saw a rushing figure in the distance.
"Back at you!"
The two of them struck one another with their respective blades, hitting their bodies raw.
"Garngh!"
"Bragh!"
With Leo's fall, the sandstorm dissipated and revealed the revealing sight inside the barrier dome.
Laying beside him, Hana laid on the ground as she had received a hasty blow.
Before any of them bled out, Professor Newt was already standing in front, carrying two high-leveled potions in his hands.
He poured the red liquid diligently on their wounds, cauterizing and then healing it.
After that, with the sandstorm no longer obstructing the view from the audience, Professor Newt raised his hands to announce the results of the match.
"Match Tied! Leo Sandde and Hana Hyosube have fallen!"
Everyone was awed in shock, and they attentively stared at the barrier dome from down below.
Veritas laid back in his chair and closed his eyes.
'She didn't reveal her Path.'
He then opened them once more to stare at Alice and Mercury.
"See, it's a tie."
He smirked and made a face that said: 'I told you so!'
The two were then brought by a couple of nurses to be healed at a station nearby..