The walk to his mark was deceptively calm. Were he not here to prove himself wrong, the boy would've thought he'd be nothing short of a nervous wreck after an introduction like that.

However, that thought was the furthest thing from a complaint. He turned to face Lyric, the pair now exactly 30 feet apart, set on a collision course for the center of the arena.

With his hand still signaling skyward, Rory got the crowd going in another show of raw, concentrated passion.

"You know what time it is, folks! Can we get a word from our combatants before this showdown starts showin' down?" Just as he asked, twin magic circles appeared before the two; Miscreant and Seraph, locked in a staring contest for the ages.

Lyric gave her statement first.

"It's a damn shame I won't be able to fight in the real tournament, but I've got the feeling I'll get my fix just fine from this. I'll be sure to make it fast—don't wanna embarrass him too badly in his first run on the big-time."

"Now that is a KILLER opener from our reigning champ! What's your rebuttal, underdog?"

"If she's dead set on coming out on top, there's no reason I shouldn't be. Don't expect me to be some deadbeat, now; I'm the one with something to prove."

That drove the audience into a frenzy, with even Rory throwing both hands up.

"Man, oh MAN! Truer words have never been spoken! If that doesn't make you wanna ROAR, I don't know what could! But that's enough fore-war, people! It's time to get this goin' with our kickoff countdown! Everybody with me!"

Now, his heart raced in tandem with the dwindling clock.

An ecstatic Rory joined the cheer in a unified chant, thousands of voices all erupting with the same message.

"Three!"

Kyoya dug his greaves' claws in deep, standing ready to spring off with more force than he'd ever exerted. Lyric was already in a stance of her own.

"Two!"

There was no going back, now.

"One!"

It would all start here.

"LET'S GO! ROCK, ROLL, AND ROOOOAR!"

"HELLS YEAH! LET'S SEE THE REAL YOU, BLUE!"

"YOU'RE LOOKIN' RIGHT AT 'EM! BRING IT!"

Lyric's polearm collided with Kyoya's fists the instant the clash began. A vicious, metallic hiss erupted from the forces' impact. She spun out of their brief deadlock to swing, so he dodged low and cleared that encounter with a deflection.

The boy ducked another horizontal swipe and exchanged that for an uppercut, but she parried the hit and tried a swing from the left. He blocked that by a hair, and now with a combo count at one from knocking her weapon away, Kyoya cut right to the chase. "Affinity Extension: Critical Outburst!"

He used the window to rear back and slam his head into her collarbone. Explosions of azure packed only two hits' worth of power and dazed his vision for a moment, but this was going to be a fight of inches and sacrifices.

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That ended the clash.

"What a start! They were neck and neck to that point, but Kyoya's Extension Effect came out almost immediately! What're the numbers there, your highness!?" Rory looked at an equally stunned Alexandria.

"Kyoya's Affinity, Critical Ascent, increases his Physcial Power Level with every hit he lands on an opponent. The Extension Effect lets him forfeit the chain of hits for double the impact of the applied chain on his next attack, so he must have been able to do it after he hit Miss Lyric's weapon!"

"I was right to think this wouldn't be a sweep. Let's see what else we'll get treated to," Ryder finished, though the battle had only just begun.

Lyric recovered with a backflip out of the knockback. She vaulted over his fist and countered with another parry, with that combination completely preventing him from chasing the hit. A sidestep dodge of his attempted follow-up saw her staff brought down on his shoulder, a vicious crack of thunder blowing him back just as when she'd struck the Demon.

He stumbled; that hit left a crushing ache, but now wasn't the time to cry uncle.

"I'm a bit surprised you pulled out your stops so fast! Where's the respect!?" The Seraph broke into a rush, opening with another cleaving overhead swing. He dodged to the side, but took some of the time gained from her having to recover to see just how incredible of an opponent she'd proven.

Even a completely missed attack sent an enormous arc of hissing electricity surging past him; crackling explosions rained rubble down even without hitting its mark.

"Spare me the fluff; I've got nothin' to lose here!" Kyoya dashed back into the fray; close combat followed multiple failed attempts to get through her seemingly impregnable defense. He just kept on the attack, trying to find something—anything—that he could use as a means to exploit her strengths so he could turn them into weaknesses.

"Don't bank everything on attack! I'm no pushover, Blue!" Lyric disengaged, batting her opponent away each time he tried to keep them in closer quarters. She found enough room to vault into the air, practically flying by using air currents to keep her airborne.

She reared her arm back as charges of bursting blue thunder gathered at her palm. Somehow, the electricity itself pulled him toward whatever it was she was charging.

"Lights out, Blue! Galvanic Surge!" Lyric thrust her open palm forward and let loose a massive beam of concentrated lightning. It tore forth and ripped straight through the ground he dodged from. Somehow, she was able to keep the attack going, trailing every move he made in an attempt to avoid it.

After losing his footing in one of the fissures from the blast, the beam rolled right into him. It sent the charred Miscreant careening into the East border, and if not for wrenching himself out of the impact crater, he'd have gotten fried where he lay.

The shock was expected, only with the accompanying sensation of a battering ram barreling into his chest for good measure.

Such a sharp, unrelenting pain almost inspired a buildup of fear, but staying within its radius would only make that worse. With what little room he had, the boy managed to slip out of her range just long enough to start dodging again, even if it wouldn't be for long.

"There's no way she could keep an attack that intense up for so long! There's gotta be a limit..." Kyoya kept dodging, but his windows were getting narrower by the second.

"Talk about wicked! Lyric's Galvanic Surge is usually a finisher, but it looks like there are ZERO holds to be barred, here!"

Alexandria tailed Rory's observation, unintentionally giving light to Kyoya's predicament.

"Galvanic Surge is one of Lyric's most magically draining skills, but when her Affinity takes effect and begins storing the energy of attacks from her staff, it mitigates the extreme cost imposed by such a powerful move—although, it can only stay out for so long. It's a wonder he was even able to dodge the initial blast, let alone avoid the skill when she prolongs its use... Of course, that hit looked far from pleasant."

Lyric's beam buzzed for only a few more moments before fizzling out. Of course, not before grazing his abdomen one last time and leaving it burned beyond what he knew his body could withstand. She landed with haste, re-materializing her weapon.

"Jeez, you really made me go and waste all that Magic I built up... What a drag."

"I didn't make you do jack, and you NAILED me! How was that a waste!?"

"Close is for horseshoes, Blue; if it doesn't get the job done, it's a miss. That's a whole lotta talk for the one that's been running this whole fight."

Kyoya narrowed his eyes and planted a brutal glare forward.

"Who said anything about running?"