“Then… Fight.”

As soon as the signal was given, the air became heavy and dense with a scorching heat taking over the entire room. This was Vivian’s power, her hair shone like flames and her eyes became balls of fire.

Fortunately, the heat was blocked from leaving the Arena by a sort of invisible barrier, erected by none other than the woman in blue, Miss Frostwood. Even so, the small audience had no time to worry about this, they were all silently observing the arena.

Vivian, with her eyes burning with fire and incandescent hair, raised her hands, invoking her ability. With a firm and quick movement, she punched the ground, making the entire arena tremble before a gigantic wave of flames rose up.

Like a tsunami of fire, that wave over 5 meters high swept everything around Vivian with violence. The sound of the wind being consumed became a dull roar, the flames took over the entire arena and soon reached Monique.

SSSHhhwaaaaa

Monique felt the massive heat that almost suffocated her, but her expression remained unshaken.

She would not retreat.

She moved as far away from the wave as possible until she reached the edge of the arena, patiently waiting for the best moment to make her move.

The wave would become weaker the further away from its epicenter it was, that was a basic truth…

So, delaying as much as possible, Monique crouched down to gain momentum and jumped against the wave of fire. Like someone diving, she used her claws and forearms to make her way through the flames.

Her claws and forearms were naturally more resistant and had good thermal insulation. It was enough for the resistance of her massive body amplified by training to improve her natural defense to withstand the impact and intensity of the flames.

“Ooh, how clever.”

“Bold…”

“It seems like it won’t be such a bad duel to watch…”

It was a very peculiar feat. Caleb and Miss Frostwood let out words of surprise and admiration, while Nora’s curiosity and expectations were revised.

A wave of fire of this caliber would be enough to end a duel under these conditions. But Monique surprised them, a Physical Type resisting such a destructive point-blank attack from a Magical Type.

Overcoming the obstacle, Monique felt the pain of her body being burned. But she advanced without fear, she managed to get close enough for her fists to reach Vivian.

Each of her fists, scorched by the flames, had enough brute force to knock out her opponent. But Vivian, was no beginner, she expected hand-to-hand combat and was ready for it.

Vivian was skillful in moving away just as Monique’s fist was about to hit her stomach. Throwing herself back, with a sneer, she quickly conjured a jet of flames in her hands. The fire danced, sharp and relentless, frustrating Monique's attempt to pursue and forcing her to dodge.

Unfortunately, the jet of flames followed her movement...

"Urrghhhhh What the Fuck..."

The heat of the flames kissing her body was unbearably painful. Even though she managed to move away and dodge with agile, almost desperate movements, the damage had already been done.

The burns on her skin made Monique feel like every second was an eternity. The flames did not cease. Vivian launched a sequence of flamethrowers, forcing Monique to retreat and move away, only to see the fire spreading like a flaming blanket across the entire arena.

In the end, Vivian had burned practically the entire arena and even though Monique managed to dodge 90% of the attacks, she had to endure the rest of the attacks directly.

Her clothes were burned, her hair singed, her entire skin was red and several places had serious burns. She was in tatters, panting and supporting herself on one knee.

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Vivian, with a cold expression, observed Monique’s decrepit condition, with his eyes still blazing like torches of fire. And she looked at Caleb…

Caleb in turn looked at Monique, he had hoped that the duel would not go any further. But the sparkle in Monique's eyes gave him the answer immediately.

“sigh She wants to continue. The fight continues.” With a displeased expression, he nodded negatively as he gave the signal for the duel to continue.

“Sigh” Rolling her eyes, Vivian found herself wishing Monique would just admit defeat.

Since that wasn’t going to happen, Vivian continued her attacks, releasing an incessant jet of flames that whipped across the arena as she relentlessly pursued Monique.

"An enviable resistance... She could dominate a level 3 mutanid alone in battle, even a magical-type mutanid would be defeated. Who is her partner?” Mrs. Frostwood said.

“Gregory Gunn…” Leyla replied.

“Hmm… Did he train her? Or is it entirely her own merit?” Asking her own question, Darya kept her eyes focused on Monique the entire time.

“I don’t have that information… The academy avoids sharing that information. But from the data, Monique had a significant increase in her tests after starting the partnership with Mr. Gunn.”

“Interesting…”

The scene was pitiful, Monique ran from one side to the other, jumping, rolling, crouching and throwing herself in an almost desperate attempt to dodge the attacks.

Even so, Monique was determined to continue fighting. Her eyes shone with fierce determination; this was not how she would go down. Even though I have no complaints or strong grudges against Vivian, since the previous day she has been feeling that she is no good, she failed as a Hound and started to feel weak, despicable and disposable.

She wanted to prove herself... She wanted to fight to feel useful, strong, and trustworthy again. Even if she lost, if she could stand out it would be enough for her to prove herself to Gregory again.

On the other hand, the more Monique desperately dodged, the more upset and bored Vivian became. She could have continued this attack for almost 20 minutes, and it hadn’t even been 3 minutes since they started.

However, it was already longer than she had assumed this duel would last. Monique was tough, agile, sneaky and annoying, Vivian couldn't help but compare her to a cockroach, ironically.

But Monique wasn't just running away. She was learning the pattern. Vivian's every move was meticulously observed, every burst of fire recorded, every pause between attacks calculated.

She looked for an opening, a small flaw in the attack, a blind spot where she could strike. Until finally she understood... She found an opening.

Making short movements, jumping from one side to the other she managed to momentarily destabilize the jet of flames. Forcing Vivian to pause. Which she took advantage of to quickly close the distance.

Arriving in front of Vivian, Monique launched her attack.

KLONK

A punch that hit Vivian squarely in the chin.

“Ohhh. Not bad.”

“Very well…”

“Too bad she's already worn out... If this punch had been with full force the duel would have been over.”

Just as Nora had said, Monique's punch was strong, making Vivian stagger back several steps, blood coming out of his mouth. But it wasn't enough to knock her opponent out.

Monique realized her mistake and quickly tried to continue her momentum, launching herself at Vivian to continue her offensive.

Unfortunately, Vivian hadn't been disoriented enough to lose track of her surroundings.

Then, noticing Monique's movement, Vivian gave a cold and disdainful smile. She mentally cursed herself for getting distracted and letting her guard down. A mistake that could have cost her the duel, and her life if it had been a real battle...

So, throwing herself back and dodging Monique's attack, Vivian decided to stop playing around and take this duel seriously.

She frowned and looked at Monique seriously, and without wasting any time, she conjured a series of fireballs that spread through the air as if they were stars in a moonless sky.

They circled around Vivian and protected her, forcing Monique to retreat and assess the situation. She needed to resume her defense and prepare to endure until she found an opening.

But it was doubtful whether there would be time for that.

The balls began to spin even faster, making a crackling sound as they increased their rotation, and they became smaller and more concentrated. Soon, the red fireballs the size of a basketball became blue fireballs the size of a tennis ball.

“Yeah… it was interesting, but it seems the duel is over.” With enviable calm and tranquility, Darya stated.

It was an indiscreet thing to say, but the truth is that she only said what everyone was thinking. Monique had no chance of fighting an attack of this magnitude. She had no armor, weapons, artifacts or anything like that.

And against her, countless fireballs at extremely high temperatures were spinning restlessly, as if they were waiting for something.

Snap!

Then, with a snap of Vivian's fingers, the sound of wind being pressed and heated, like a pressure cooker, echoed in the air as the balls shot towards Monique.

She saw a shower of lights coming at her with undeniable speed and force. The heat was so intense that the air around her seemed to vibrate with a continuous SHHHHHH.

ZAP! CRACK! BOOM!

KABOOM

The explosions of the fireballs lit up and shook the arena with a loud bang. Monique was quick to analyze her escape route, dodging as many blows as possible. But she was hit by several of them.

"AAArrgghhhh"

The impact was brutal, Monique screamed and groaned in pain, but she didn't stop.

She resisted.

Each blow seemed to tear her skin, burning her clothes, but she didn't give in.

She didn't want to give in.

She continued to resist, despite the deep burns on her body, a snarl of fury on her lips.