It was only a single strike but the wave of energy that ensued, flames and light together, would have been enough to destroy everything in a mile’s radius if it wasn't for Arima's soul realm.
The only thing that remained the same as it would be outside was the shockwave that merely made the plants sway as if it was a simple breeze. It didn't even reach the group watching as it stopped right in front of them.
Lanya didn't want to waste time and wanted to end this fight as quick as possible. She was aware that when you fight against someone equally strong, the first error, as well as the first clean hit, would always be the main turning points.
She pressed the trigger of her rapier and the pellets left the barrels with a detonation. Because the two girls' swords were entangled, the shot was aimed at the sky but the noise surprised Velvet and her blade was struck by one stray bullet.
Lanya used the recoil to move in Velvet's blind spot. When she was about to swing her sword once more, the nine tails all produced orange flames and stabbed toward Lanya.
She reacted quickly and conjured a large wall of silver light that illuminated the surroundings and mixed with the dark blue hue of the bluestone beneath. The nine tails struck the wall of light and made it explode.
Lanya and Velvet both retreated because of the aftershock and glanced at the bluestone at their feet when the explosion subsided. There wasn’t even a dent. They smiled wryly and charged at each other again.
Each time the two weapons clashed, a destructive force and aura would spread. The longer they fought in close quarters, the more serious they became. Lanya started using her tail a lot more, she was also firing with her rapier every time she saw an opening, and also made use of her wings to help her in her deplanements.
Meanwhile, Velvet appeared to be mainly relying on her nine tails to counter and combined it with her sword skills. She had a great advantage from a sensory aspect; her ears were not only there for show and she had great hearing.
Until now, neither Lanya or Velvet had used any powerful magic and just fiercely battled with their martial arts using everything they had. They continued doing so for ten minutes at least. Sometimes they would be so fast that you could only hear sonic booms, detonations, and metal clashing.
Only people around Raal's level or higher could clearly follow their movements while the students had to do their best to even locate the places where the sounds were coming from.
Some who were quite resourceful used magic to boost their eyesight. Lena got the help of her soul beast and watched. Ofia's eyes also had transformed and her pupils were shifting back and forth from left to right.
Other people were doing the same, especially those who possessed a soul contract with a beast that had better eyesight than a human.
Arima, Karma, and Night didn’t care though. This place was their territory. They ‘knew’ everything that was happening within it without having to employ any of their senses.
Lanya and Velvet clashed one last time when they both realized that waiting for an occasion to hit the other was too uncertain.
Lanya swung her rapier and traced a silver line in midair. She continued to slash with her sword and formed different runes and circles. Velvet's nine tails also moved and started drawing runes and circles in red color.
"[Hallowed Dragon]," Lanya chanted and the incantations she had written became a whirlpool that slowly formed a silver dragon above her. The beast roared and shook the air.
"[Burning Impalement]," Velvet chanted and the runes turned into flames that condensed into nine different spears hovering in mid-air.
The light dragon spread its wings and raised its head toward the sky and started inhaling. As he did, the varied lights filling Arima's soul land were absorbed as well. Silver energy gathered around the dragon's body as his lungs inflated.
At the same time, the nine spears of Velvet began to rotate and a huge amount of flames suddenly appeared behind them, ready to propel them like rockets. The spear in the middle was particularly big and seemed to be boosted by even more mana.
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The two opponents only needed a thought for their magic to be cast at that point. The dragon roared and a giant beam of light came out of its maw. The huge spear on Velvet's side was thrown with unimaginable speed and the two attacks instantly met each other.
The encounter caused a tremendous discharge of energy that spread through the entire realm. Although the bluestone was still indestructible for them, some plants around started to lose some of their petals or leaves.
The audience watching couldn't spectate the fight anymore as the light from the explosion covered the entire place.
At that moment, Arima smiled. "A fox is mischievous…"
Velvet threw the other spears in eight different directions that went around Lanya and attacked her from the same number of angles.
"But a dragon is wise," Arima muttered.
On the back of her right hand, Lanya's sigil revolved.
"[Fourth Destruction Art, Vashta Nerada] (The Shadow that Eats the Flesh)," she chanted and the zone behind the huge dragon of light was trapped by darkness. The blazing spears penetrated the dark smoke but nothing happened after that.
After a while, the dark smoke dispersed and the spears were nowhere to be seen. Lanya had prepared the Fourth Destruction Art while she was writing the runes for her light dragon.
Velvet snickered. "I see," she waved her hand and the explosion that was still ongoing became even stronger with more fire surrounding it. Lanya's eyes glowed and she extended her hands. The holy dragon thundered even stronger and the beam of light expanded.
A final discharge of energies occurred. The fire spear lost any stable form and exploded while the silver dragon howled one last time before vanishing. The sound and shockwave caused the students to cover their ears in pain. Arima snapped his fingers and the sound from outside was muffled as they were now surrounded by a peculiar transparent dome.
When the flames died down and the light dimmed, Lanya and Velvet were already making their steel talk. They also started using a lot more of their magic and aura. The orange fire was filling the air and the crisping sound of the flames could be heard at any time. On the other hand, Lanya's light was shining over the place and shooting numerous beams at Velvet.
Although it was an intense confrontation, the fusion of the two magics was really pretty and was even more accentuated by the environment.
At some point during their fight, Lanya managed to parry one of Velvet's strikes and break her guard. She had her rapier pointed forward but if she were to go for the stab, Velvet would most likely have high chances of dodging it.
That's why Lanya went for the most logical thing to do. She pressed the trigger and shot the adamantite bullets whilst infusing mana in them.
Velvet pushed her limits to circulate her mana in front of her and created a shield of flames. Her nine tails also moved to the front to protect her. But the bullets were surprisingly powerful and she was directly struck in the stomach. She coughed some blood and flew away while Lanya jumped back because of the recoil.
Velvet's students gasped while Arima's class was quite cheerful to see Lanya land the first hit.
Velvet landed on the ground with a small amount of blood flowing down her lips. She snorted and took a decision. Her eyes glowed and a strong fire ignited around her feet, spreading across the whole bluestone arena.
Lanya's eyes widened. Velvet wanted to end everything in one attack. She retreated and released her full aura. Now, the stage was filled with fire on one side and a sort of physical silver light on the other.
"[Shroud the world and turn it into ashes]," Velvet intoned.
"[Ashes aren’t enough. Make them disappear]," after that, it was Natsu's voice that resounded.
"[Auribus percipite verba mea] (Heed my words)," just after, Lanya initiated her chant as well.
Arima frowned at the sight. He slowly stood up and silently waited. His companions understood the reason and didn't say anything. Only the students, the judges, and the principal were confused.
"[Then let's burn it even more]," Velvet chanted. It sounded like a conversation between her and her soul beast.
"[Yes, let's reduce everything to nothingness]."
As the two were preparing their magic, the flames around just kept burning stronger and stronger and the highest flame reached almost four meters. It was like the air itself was combustible.
Lanya then reached the last stage of her chant and a blue and black light flashed in her hands to form the shape of a book.
"[Third Destruction Art, Pars impios] (Lawless Tome)," she finally conjured the Art and the book materialized. It opened itself and the pages started flipping as a strange aura filled the atmosphere. Lanya's scales and entire body shone brighter as the book continued to flip the pages.
"[No blood, no bones, no ashes. Destroy everything to oblivion!]" Natsu and Velvet shouted at the same time and the fire that had spread became even hotter and even some of the plants started to perish. All of this fire became a giant tide that loomed over Lanya.
The book that the latter was holding transformed into numerous rays that merged with the light she radiated. Then, this time, the light actually became physical and took the shape of hundreds of small spheres.
Those spheres then twisted and transformed into miniature dragons. Soon enough, a great number of small silver dragons joined Lanya's side. The small dragons' eyes flared with a red light and they flapped their wings. They flew off and plunged toward the incoming tide of auburn flames.
Now, it was literally a 'tide' of tiny silver dragons facing one made of flames. When the two clashed against each other, the result was even more impactful than the fight Arima had with Koden back when he was at the tenth level.
Arima's soul realm was now being assaulted by silver and orange outbursts of energy that went on for miles starting from the epicenter.
Both Lanya and Velvet's figures were masked by the explosions. Arima pointed his fingers at the sky right at that moment. When he did so, the water of the ocean firmament condensed toward a single point and formed a small drop which slowly fell toward the ground.
As it was falling, the drop met a stray ray of light. But the drop of water wasn’t perturbed and the magic that touched it was blasted into microscopic pieces instead.
What happened after was something that could never be explained. The entire zone below the drop of water was suddenly freed of any kind of flames or illuminance.
Then, it really started. The ocean in the sky continued to release more drops until it escalated into a real downpour. After a few seconds, the silver dragons and orange flames had literally been erased.
Lanya and Velvet were both panting whilst glaring at each other.
"It's good to do your best and all… But don't risk your lives just for a showcase, okay?" Arima spoke to them as he teleported on the stage drenched in water because of the rain.
"On this note, I announce the end of this fight. The winner is Lanya Leona," Arima declared and waved his hand. The rain stopped and the ocean returned to normal. After the rain, the plants now looked even more resplendent than before.
"Wait! Why did I lose?! This should at least be a tie!" Velvet exclaimed.
"Calm down, Velvet. Look at your neck," Natsu emerged as a fox beside her and calmly said.
Velvet sluggishly looked over shoulder and spotted a miniature sky dragon ready to bite her neck off at any moment. She gulped and didn't dare to move.
Arima smirked. "The Lawless Tome is even craftier than a fox."