Fey and Aura had entered the final phase of their chase, and the wolf allowed the fox-girl to use detection magic as the two were too evenly matched and weren’t progressing in the slightest. Naturally, once Fey knew where exactly she had to look, the time for tricks was over, and the two met soon enough.
“Welcome~.” Once Fey was allowed to use her detection magic, she quickly pinpointed Aura’s location and found her comfortably sitting down in the middle of a massive green field. “No rules for us were a bit of a hot-headed oversight, huh?”
“I do admit that I got caught in your pace and hadn’t fully thought it through.” The red-haired fox nodded. “You have a skill for that.”
“I sure have~.” It was a compliment for her. “Should we start with the grand finale?”
“Hmm?” The fox tilted her head.
“You have found me, but I have yet to be caught.”
“That is true.” She nodded once. “I assume jumping at you with high speed isn't going to work, huh? The sisters are highly susceptible to it."
“You can try and embarrass yourself, but that tactic only works on babies.”
“I figured as much.” Fey rolled her eyes. “Should we add one or two more rules on how I have to catch you? To avoid another stalemate?”
“That is a good idea.” Aura agreed. “How about we limit ourselves to this plain?” She looked behind her while gesturing at the never-ending green. “No world-ending magic, either.”
“Seems like a plan to me.” The fox nodded. “What would count as catching you? A simple tap or a full-on tackle?”
“I want a big fat hug from you!”
“Why?” She tilted her head. “I thought you preferred my full form?”
“That’s the issue you have?” The wolf hadn't expected that. “It’s true, but if I get a hug from you, I have something I can tease Steph with~.”
“Ohh, okay, that’s a reason I can get behind.” Fey became a fan of the plan. “I’ll give you the heartiest hug possible when I get you.”
“You’re the best~.” Her voice was super playful. “If you get me!”
“Don’t you worry, I’ll make sure you can tease Steph plenty later on~.” Fey’s voice had the same ring to it. “Ready?”
“Ready!”
“Go!”
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The moment they said the word, the fox instantly jumped at the wolf with a speed that made it look like she broke the sonic barrier. It sounded like it, too. Unfortunately, Aura’s reaction was faster. Right before Fey reached her, an earthen wall appeared right in front of her, causing her to crash into it.
“So you opted to embarrass yourself after all, huh?" The wolf smirked at the fox, whose head was sticking out of the other side of the wall right in front of her.
“I had to give it a try.” Saying so, the entire three-meter-wide and one-meter-thick wall exploded into countless pieces, and the fox shot forward even faster.
Aura barely managed to dodge to the side and made another big leap to increase the distance between them a little more.
Afterward, the wolf created multiple more earth-made walls around her to shield herself from the catapulting fox, who was about to launch herself once again.
“So trigger-happy~.” Fey let out another chuckle when she had time for a breather. “Let's see, what could we do to-, oh!” Before she was able to finish her sentence, a torrent of water breached the walls and threatened to drown her.
Controlling the water herself, Aura held it above her and pushed it over yet another wall and away from her. Immediately after, she jumped right through the wall on her left to free herself from the self-made prison.
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“You won’t get away that easily!” The fox-girl used her power with air magic to tear up the ground left and right of the fleeing wolf. The trenches were about 20 meters wide and 10 meters deep and went on for about a kilometer.
It was nothing the wolf couldn’t easily jump over, but it carried the message of something worse happening if she did, so Aura continued to run in a straight line for a while longer before coming up with a new plan.
“Yep, this is a lot more fun!” Having a great time, Aura sped up even more, and the curious urge to find out what would happen if she were to cross the trench immediately overcame her.
Jumping over it, the wolf got attacked by countless roots that had been laid bare inside the trench. They were about to reach and entangle her, but as it didn't seem like she was into this kind of thing, Aura wrapped herself in a ball of fire and ignited every root that came close to her.
“Her reflexes are admirable.” The red-haired girl had only praise for her. “I guess I need to try a little harder. A few moments later, the whole area was bathed in a glaringly bright light.
With the use of light-based magic, she turned the entire plain so bright that it was impossible to open one's eyes without them hurting. Being able to see anything had become impossible, too.
“Blinding me is a creative one.” With her eyes firmly shut to protect them, the wolf nodded a couple of times. “Though, what’s the point?” She looked confused. “Aren’t you hurting yourself with more than you affect me? I’m a wolf, you know? Our hearing might be on par, but my sense of smell is unbeatable. You can’t outsmart me on instincts, either. Not to mention that we can still use our detection magic.”
Slightly confused over Fey’s tactic, Aura erected an earthen dome all around her to shield herself from the brightness and rest her eyes. Unfortunately, she didn’t get the chance to get a breather.
“Got you!” The fox instantly used her fist to break through the earth and filled the entire dome with red-hot fire while she turned off the blinding light. The temperature was so high that even the dirt melted away. “I know this won’t hurt you, too bad, but it’s over now-, ah.” The smugness in her voice disappeared the second she realized the dome she had melted was empty.
In the time between Aura shielding herself from the brightness and Fey breaking through her protection, the wolf had dug herself underground, and all that was left between the molten remains was a wolf-sized hole leading underground.
“She’s such a hot personality!” Currently being busy digging a tunnel away from the scene, the wolf had to chuckle at her own stupid joke. “Okay, let’s get away from her for the time being!” Aura sped up her magic-assisted digging.
Feeling called out, the hot personality of a girl, Fey, lifted her hand over the hole and shot another pillar of fire into it.
“Alright, let’s see where she pops out.” She fixed her gaze on the field in front of her while continuing to flood the tunnel with fire.
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Roughly 30 seconds later, an explosion happened approximately 300 meters to the right of her before a pillar of fire shot out of it.
“She might be too hot for me!” The explosion right before the fire was caused by Aura, who shot out of the ground right before the flames caught up to her. Although, there was a slight scorch mark on the very tip of her tail, so it definitely was a close call. “Let's cool her down a bit!”
Soon after, a three-meter-high wall made out of stone shot out of the ground and formed a roughly 500-meter-wide circle around the wolf. Afterward, she made a small pedestal for herself and then filled the entire area with water, creating a shallow but massive lake.
“Are you not a fan of fire?” Fey also made herself a pedestal around 200 meters away from the fold and smirked at her.
“I am.” Aura shook her head. “I’m not a fan of being set on fire, though.”
“I didn’t know you care so deeply about such small details as semantics.”
“This is far from a small detail if you ask me.”
“Really?” The fox cutely tilted her head. “How do you feel about being steamed, then?” Not waiting for her reply, Fey began throwing fire into the water to heat it up. Soon enough, steam began to rise from the entire body of water before it eventually started to boil and bubble violently. Before long, the whole area had turned into a sauna with near zero visibility thanks to the thick steam.
“I can’t say I’m the biggest fan.” Aura shook her head. “I do like myself a hot bath every now and then, but this might be a bit much. I think we should chill it a little.” Having had enough of her surroundings, she concentrated for a moment, and the water around her pedestal began to freeze. Pouring even more power into it, half of the lake was soon frozen while the other half was still boiling.
“Well, ice seems more your style. That is indeed true." The fox couldn’t blame her for not liking the steam. “In all fairness, I like your side better, too.” The fluffy girl also was a fan of the ice. “Not today, though!” Trying her best to win against the spreading ice of the wolf, Fey increased her fire to fight back.
The heat and cold went back and forth for a long while. At times, more of the water was frozen, while in other moments, more of it was boiling, but it roughly always stayed at 50-50. To ensure that, both girls poured more and more power into their magic.
Too much power. As it became more and more violent, it got more unstable, as well. Super cold and hot water and/or ice often don’t get along too well, either. As a result of that, things soon went past the critical levels and exploded.
A massive steam explosion occurred, eradicated the entire makeshift lake, and took the two girls with them.
Once things calmed down, the duo was lying at the bottom of the 800-meter-wide crater with a dizzy-looking Fey on top of the equally disheveled wolf. Whether it was a draw or the win of the fox had yet to be determined, but the answer would most likely vary depending on who one would ask.