Before Sophia could take a single step towards me, I made my move:

«Gravity Surge!»

Pushed down by an invisible force, my opponent immediately fell to her knees.

I saw her arms shaking as she fought desperately not to be crushed to the ground.

I knew from the start that pinning Sophia down was the first step to defeating her.

Although she was almost invincible in close combat, she was completely powerless at a distance.

But I knew it would not be easy to keep her at bay. With her power, any attempt to stop her advance with barriers or bindings would fail.

So when I read the effects of this spell in Celeste's grimoire, I knew I had hit the nail on the head.

After all, gravity was not something that Sophia could simply cut through. That was why I had worked so hard all week to be able to cast this spell.

It was complex and required great concentration as I had to spread my mana evenly over the ground and then amplify the gravity in the area.

A small instability in my mana flow would have ruined everything.

But I had succeeded and it was having the desired effect. Despite Sophia's fierce resistance, her face was getting closer and closer to the ground.

Was that really enough to win?

Of course not, Sophia would never give up at the first sign of trouble.

«AAAH!»

With a scream, she managed to lift herself up just enough to drive her sword into the ground and, leaning on it, stood up, her legs still trembling from the immense effort.

With difficulty, she managed to raise her face and for the first time since the duel began, our eyes met.

Just what I wanted to see!

The serene calm that had characterised Sophia's face for the past few days had been swept away by a raging storm. It was as if a blazing inferno had melted the icy surface covering her face, revealing a pure, unbridled rage beneath.

But I wasn't going to stop there. It was only the beginning.

I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply.

"It's time for phase two."

This was the moment of truth. If it had been difficult to cast the Gravity Surge correctly, things were about to get even more complicated.

With extreme caution, I directed a stream of mana to my left hand and, raising it to the sky, shouted:

«Icicle Crush!»

A storm of small icicles began to rain down on the area where Sophia was standing.

It was an extremely basic spell: it simply froze the water vapour in the air to create a hailstorm of projectiles.

A weak fire shield would have been enough to defend against such an attack.

But the girl in front of me was completely defenceless against it.

Not only was she incapable of casting any spells, but the ice spikes were too numerous to be cut down by her power.

Sophia struggled to raise her free arm to protect her face. The spikes that hit her there seemed to meet an invisible force and melt instantly.

But for every spike that was intercepted, others struck her in other parts of her body, causing many small wounds...

Pinned to the ground, there was nothing Sophia could do to escape the relentless ice storm.

Except surrender.

But I knew Sophia would never do that.

Even as drops of her blood began to stain the floor at her feet, the girl stood her ground, still putting up a fierce resistance.

But she was still human.

Soon the force pushing her down became unbearable for her limbs, now torn by dozens of cuts.

Sophia fell back to her knees, holding onto her sword with both hands as the rain of ice began to fall on her back.

"How long do you intend to resist...?"

I wanted to win, but seeing her reduced to this state certainly did not please me.

But, biting my lip, I decided not to stop.

Having asked Sophia to fight with all her might, I could not back down now. It was my way of showing the respect I had for her.

Perhaps I knew deep down that the fight could not end like this. The duel I had waited so long for would not end with a helpless Sophia kneeling at my feet.

This girl had always managed to shatter my expectations.

I concentrated on her, ready to react to any sudden movement.

Her face was obscured by her long black hair, spread out in front of her like a curtain.

That was when it happened.

Suddenly I felt my right foot sink into the ground.

"What the...?!"

Lowering my eyes, I saw something unimaginable. From her sword, still stuck in the floor, a crack had extended all the way underneath me.

I lost my balance and started to fall backwards.

In that moment of surprise, I felt the flow of mana I had fought so hard to keep stable tremble. It was enough for me to lose control of my gravity spell.

That had probably been my opponent's goal all along.

Cutting through solid ground like that, her power was simply absurd!

"Fuck!"

But when I saw Sophia running towards me, no longer held back by the gravitational field, a smile spread across my face.

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"I'm sorry, Celeste... After all the effort you made to help me... I'd rather fight my own way in the end!"

«Typhoon!»

Before I could hit the ground, I used my wand to summon a powerful gust of wind. Sophia stopped her charge and defended herself by grabbing her sword with both hands.

But it was not my intention to attack her.

The power of the spell was so great that it sent me flying backwards, putting distance between me and her.

Before I could crash into the magic barrier, I used another spell with my other hand to stop my flight.

But Sophia had no intention of giving me time to think.

Blocking the wind with her sword, she dodged to the left and took off after me.

Now that my strategy had failed, I had to fight on the fly.

«Earth Spikes!»

Huge pointy spikes of rock began to form in front of my opponent, who managed to avoid them by zigzagging.

"Not so fast!"

I cast the spell again, taking Sophia's movements into account.

This time a row of spikes appeared where she had just stepped. With a twist of her body, she managed to avoid being impaled, but was caught between them.

Before she could use her power to free herself, I shouted:

«Eruption!»

A brilliant red light illuminated the ground at Sophia's feet, and less than a second later, a gigantic pillar of fire exploded, reaching into the sky.

But when the flames died down, Sophia, her uniform blackened and the tips of her hair scorched, was still standing, her sword pointed at the ground.

She seemed to have escaped the worst of the damage, and after cutting through the stone spikes with a single slash, she resumed her relentless charge.

But I did not give up. Perhaps I could borrow a leaf from her book.

«Fissure!»

I pointed my wand at the ground and a huge crack quickly formed, running through the arena and threatening to swallow Sophia into the abyss.

But the girl was ready and jumped nimbly to the right.

That was what I wanted.

I slammed my left hand down on the floor and yelled «Earth spikes!» again.

This time my opponent was in the air and could not dodge: her only chance was to use her power to cut the spikes that were about to stab her.

And so she did.

But now my wand was free to strike her.

«Fireball!» I shouted, casting the spell as fast as I could before Sophia could react.

The fireball hit the girl in the chest and sent her flying, landing a few feet away.

Sophia lay motionless on the ground.

"Did I... did I win?"

I started to take a step towards her, but stopped in my tracks.

Sophia pulled herself up with shaking hands.

She was in a horrible state: her body was covered in wounds, her uniform was torn and scorched in several places, and now a large burn had appeared on her chest.

It was clear that she could barely stand.

«Do you hate the idea of losing to me that much?» I shouted despite myself. Her resilience was unbelievable.

I didn't expect her to answer. Instead...

«It's not that!» Sophia exclaimed in a pained voice, «you're the one who told me to face you with all my might.... I won't give up as long as I have an ounce of strength left!»

At these words, the girl pushed back her long black hair. The same defiant expression that had animated mine now adorned her face.

"I almost had to kill you to make you take me seriously, huh?"

But I couldn't help smiling.

«Very well. That means I'll have to crush you completely. It's about time for you to find out just how terrifying my magic can be!»

It was time to end this.

Sophia threw herself at me again, sword in hand.

I pointed my wand at the ground.

«Field of Frost!»

The entire arena instantly froze. Sophia almost lost her balance, but by sinking her blade into the ground, she managed not to fall.

Ice began to rise up to her ankles, momentarily trapping her. I knew I did not have much time to act.

I had decided how to defeat her.

"If you are determined to face me with all your might, then I will do the same."

I would hit her with the strongest spell at my disposal. Normally, I would never have thought of using it against a human.

But if anyone could survive such a thing, it was Sophia.

I called upon almost all the mana I had left in my body.

«Try to cut this, Sophia! Meteor!» I shouted, pointing my wand at the sky.

A huge ball of flaming stone formed about forty feet above the arena.

It was so large that it blocked out the sun.

Before it could begin its descent, I quickly summoned a powerful barrier of water around me.

I was sure Sophia would try to break that spell as well, but what she hadn't counted on was the explosion that would follow. I would definitely have to rush her to the infirmary.

Sophia didn't even have time to look up before the meteor began its descent, picking up speed.

It was a moment.

Sophia pulled her sword from the ground and threw it into the sky without hesitation.

"WHAT?!"

Her thin blade disappeared from view like a pin thrown into a volcano and then...

The sky exploded.

"You got to to be fucking kidding me… OH SHIT!"

Caught up in this sudden display of pyrotechnics, I had lost sight of my opponent, who, having freed herself from the ice trapping her legs, was rapidly sliding towards me.

I quickly pointed my wand in her direction.

But it was too late: deftly dodging the chunks of stone that were falling from the sky, Sophia stepped in front of me and with one sweep of her hand swept my arm away, causing my spell to miss its target.

Suddenly I felt a sharp pain as Sophia punched me in the stomach with all the strength she had left.

I felt myself slip backwards through the ice beneath my feet.

But before I could fall, a hand behind my back supported me.

I was faced with a breathtaking view.

Under a blazing sky, Sophia looked at me with a smile, resting a finger on my neck.

«I yield...»

I had lost the battle, but I had won something far more important.