The sound of two objects colliding was heard, and one dagger flew away from the arena, lodging itself in the ground a few meters away.

Amelia managed to repel the strike, but she lost Dana in the process.

"Aura!"

She immediately called her third dagger, Aura.

Orion made some distance between them and Karteira to check on Amelia.

"Are you hurt? That blow was powerful."

Her arm was still shaking from the hit, but she didn't seem injured at first glance.

"I'm good, but that was close."

Karteira was looking at her gauntlet. A tiny, almost insignificant dent appeared on her plate.

A distorted smile appeared on her face, one a battle addict could only display. The thrill of battle grew inside Karteira as she stared at Amelia with eagerness.

"Here she goes! She's found them to be in her league, I guess? She smiled like that only against us, didn't she?"

"Don't make me remember. She becomes quite nasty when she's like this. The way she fights completely changes."

Dramia and Drania were quite surprised to see Karteira, their best fighter and commander, display her ferocity.

Heavy breathing could be heard coming from Karteira, her tail shaking in a circular pattern.

Her eyes began to fill with the desire to fight, and her plates began to heat her skin underneath.

In the humid morning, steam came out of the heated Karteira's joints.

Orion looked at her with a wary look, which made her understand her state.

"I might look like this, but I can still control myself. I wouldn't lead an army of fairies in battle otherwise. I just want to fight a bit more, that's all."

Noticing that Karteira was conscious of her state made him appreciate her more. He would rather fight her in a normal state than as a crazed, beast-like person.

"Are you sure? If you lose yourself in your instincts, it's over. I don't want to fight someone who can't control themselves."

"Don't worry, don't worry."

Karteira locked her gaze on Orion and Amelia and prepared to move.

She crouched, placing her left hand on the ground. Her other arm moved above her in the air, her elbow curving toward Orion as she planned to use it to punch them. Her tail was arching over her back and head.

Orion saw this as her preparation for an attack and immediately entered a defensive stance. He was in a position to receive the strike and gauge her current strength.

'She's coming; prepare to counter her tail.'

He pressured Amelia's thighs to notify her.

'Defending? Alright.'

She crossed both Aura and Ceres and set up to receive the next attack.

"I won't let the same thing happen twice!"

"We'll see about that!"

Karteira left her spot with a burst of speed that could rival Orion's. Her blue hair flowed behind her as she closed in with a smile of pure happiness on her face.

She was going for a lariat on Orion and a slam on Amelia with her tail.

But both had already prepared a technique in case something attacked both of them at close range.

Orion lifted his left knee up and pushed his heel with full weight behind it against the ground. He gave a little spin at the same time, making his body do a small rotation.

Amelia was still firmly wrapped around his waist. She was looking at the tail with 'Calm Analysis', which she rarely used, and observed the tail's trajectory.

Observing carefully where it would strike her, she prepared to deflect it while still in the spinning motion.

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Orion's left leg, containing the power of the 'Second Gear', kicked the plated arm that was going for his throat, and an instant later, Amelia deflected the tail closing down on her.

He had left the ground for two seconds— just enough to be able to kick her arm and fall back to the ground. Amelia was stable even after this acrobatic move.

On the other hand, Karteira flew a few meters away from the kick, with her tail still moving downward. Her stinger pierced the ground, making her stop sliding farther away.

"That hurt! It hurts so much! How much strength did you put into it? What was that for?"

"You were going for my throat; what were you expecting?"

"I know, but couldn't you go a bit easier on me?"

She looked at her left arm, small cracks showing on the plates.

"That's our retaliation. So, are we stopping there?"

Karteira pulled her tail off the ground and straightened.

"Of course not! How much time do you have before your power completely depletes?"

"Four minutes? Around that much."

A big smile appeared once again on Karteira's face.

"Then we have to continue for four minutes, and then we can stop! Great!"

The plates on her body moved slightly upward, releasing a huge amount of scorching air from beneath them.

"Ah! That feels way better. Here I come!"

The plates moved back to their original places before she threw herself toward Orion.

They continued to fight, with Orion and Amelia dodging and parrying each of the strikes thrown by Karteira.

At some point, Amelia got close enough to Dana, her water dagger, and managed to retrieve her with a small thread of water, replacing Aura immediately.

"Amelia, what was that?"

"No time to explain! Focus on the fight!"

Seeing the ability Amelia used reminded Orion of something.

'I was sure my father was the only one able to create threads of magic. Did the fight improve her control over her elements?'

She was having a great time fighting against Karteira, who made her fighting instincts work full throttle.

If she wasn't using Orion's speed, she would have already received many hits and wouldn't have focused as much on their exchange of attacks.

"I cannot believe such a fight exists. I never imagined the untamed beast that is Karteira fighting this freely against someone and thinking before throwing punches. We had to subdue her before she injured herself, but look at her now."

Dramia was genuinely impressed. It had already been many years since Karteira's birth, but only once did they fight. She was a wild character before becoming their commander.

"She grew up alright! She can finally fight openly without having to be stopped anymore. I knew having fun was the right answer! Everyone thinks she's just a crazy woman who loves battles, which, I mean, is kind of true. But she is more than that."

"Look at her moves! It's been a while since we had something so exciting happen! Can you believe it? She's using her legs too now!"

Drania was like an excited child. She was watching the best fighters fight for her amusement. Well, it was a half-truth; she was genuinely amused by the fight.

The fight was beginning to enter its last stage.

Amelia was breathing roughly as her arms tingled, and Karteira was feeling sluggish as she suffered too much from the heat under the plates.

Orion had his leg burning, suggesting that the time to stop was near.

'I still see a glint in her eye; she wants to try something. Who am I to refuse such a thing?'

He let go of one of Amelia's thighs and made her move down with his other hand.

"Last one, alright? After that, I'm done."

"Amelia, get down; you are way too exhausted to continue. Go drink some water."

She released her grip around his waist and placed her feet on the ground.

"Fine... I'm going first."

While still breathing roughly, she walked away to where the twins were.

"I'm dedicated to you now; go on. I can't go much further either, so could you make it quick?"

The two exchanged a tired gaze before Karteira lunged at him abruptly. She spun her body counter-clockwise two times and threw a side-ways kick to his side.

He easily dodged the kick but got caught by the last strike.

After her kick missed its target, she did not stop spinning and instead extended her tail to grab his legs, which Orion wasn't prepared for.

She caught his legs perfectly, and both fell to the ground.

They were completely spent. The plates on Karteira began to retract to their original location, and her heated skin, which was dangerously red, began to revive. The cold air quickly cooled her body down.

Orion had his back against the ground, not yet understanding why he was in this position. There was also something on his chest, making it difficult to breathe.

"Get away from Orion! I looked away for a second, and she's already going for him!"

Amelia ran toward them with water bottles in her hands and an angry look.

Karteira was breathing heavily on his chest, her tail still around his legs.

He looked down and saw her face hidden by her cerulean air.

'You're too spent to move. I sympathize with you.'

He waited for Amelia to come. Once she was here, she removed Karteira from Orion's chest and gave her a water bottle.

"Here, drink this. You too, Orion."

She threw the last bottle in the air, which he caught with ease.

"Well, that was one awesome fight! I don't regret coming to see it."

Drania was already behind Orion. She was crouched next to him, looking in the distance as her sister walked toward them.

"Karteira, you've finally found what you wanted; aren't you glad?"

This time, Dramia moved near Karteira and hugged her while putting her head against hers.

"Yes, thank you very much. I wouldn't have fought openly like that without you agreeing to my request."

Small tears appeared in the corner of her only visible eye. Her face was still hidden, but she was smiling.

"She was never accepted by her peers. She is the only strong fairy, and the youngest one too. No one ever took her fighting spirit as a good thing, and no one gave her a single chance. She wanted one person to accept her as she was."

"More than that, she got two individuals to accept her. She was terribly anxious, thinking you would go back on your words and be unwilling to fight her."

Drania took her rare serious tone and explained everything to Orion and Amelia.

"We're going to send her with you on the mission. Please, send her back home without a scratch."

Watching Drania smile mischievously at him, Orion sighed.

'This is an absurdly difficult request to fulfill.'

He let his back fall to the ground again, and as he looked at the sky, his mind became clearer.

"Alright, we'll bring her with us. We need her strength."

Without anyone seeing it, a gentle smile appeared on Karteira's face, way different from her crazy smile.

With the fight between them over, it was now time for the real fights.

The ring was waiting to be recovered, and Tiohr-nam's enemies were to be slain before it was too late.