The ground below Toobu's feet was layered over with thin ice, spreading to all directions around him. Under Qeena, it was the complete opposite, as it was melting away very quickly. They attacked at the same time. Queena summoned a ball of crimson fire, throwing it at Toobu, who imitated her and sent out his own that was blue in color. They met in mid-air, resulting in a violent explosion between the two. Intertwined strands of flames snaked around them in the air, spreading in every direction as they canceled each other out. Before they could dissipate, Qeena was already aiming a kick at him. It formed a giant, bird-like leg made out of pure, hot, dancing flames, striking towards Toobu's waist.
"Hm?!" Qeena flinched, quickly pulling back her leg and distancing herself as she felt something truly dangerous.
After a few steps, she realized that the fire around her leg was already extinguished. Her legs were clearly seen, and they looked like birds. Her claws were digging into the limestone surface of the arena to stabilize her footing while she watched Toobu with a serious look. Her opponent's hands were covered with her own fire as it was consuming it at a speed that was visible to the naked eye.
"Don't be surprised~" Toobu whispered as he exhaled, and his breath was filled with flakes of ice. He was imitating Qeena's kick, and now he was the one that sent out a flaming silhouette of a human's feet, heading towards her.
"You're strange!" Qeena said, shaking her body and turning into a 2-meter tall, brightly feathered chicken. She was opening her mouth, spitting out fire like a flamethrower, forming a wall out of it, blocking Toobu's kick.
She stood tall and proud with her thick, fluffy feathers, which were glowing in vivid orange, dark gold, and black colors. Flakes of embers were constantly flying off of her body as she looked at Toobu, who was raising his eyebrows, seeing her true form.
"A chicken?" He spoke out involuntarily, clearly enraging Qeena, who let out a sharp screech, spitting out fire arrows immediately. She was opening her small wings, flapping them hard, kicking up strong wind around her. "Fuck… me and my big mouth!" Toobu groaned as a literal firestorm swept over him in the next moment.
"Exactly." Ariana nodded while Wyland just shook his head.
“B-b-big b-b-brother c-c-can’t c-c-control i-i-it.” He sighed, already used to Toobu, who usually spoke before thinking.
"I don't see the problem." Sylvett mused. "She IS a chicken. She may not like it or think differently about it, but she is one."
Nobody could refute it, but they felt the piercing gaze of Qeena, who was looking at them.
"That was a mistake," Toobu whispered, appearing next to her and placing his palm on her body. "Don't get distracted in a battle." He said, and his voice was ice cold and indifferent.
His body was covered with glistering ice, and his uniform was still aflame, burning at multiple spots. Yet, taking a closer look, it was still mainly undamaged. Qeena could feel how quickly he was absorbing the heat around himself, affecting her, too. So fast, in fact, that it terrified her demonic senses. She wanted to distance herself, but it was too late by now. Toobu's palm, which was touching her, started to encase her body in ice. After a few seconds, she was frozen in space, looking like an ice statue.
"Master… Is it… tasty?" Kyu asked quietly, licking her lips. "Can we bring her back now?"
"Shut it, you glutton!" Ren chuckled, gently slapping the back of her head. "The fight is far from over!"
Just as she said it, Toobu quickly let go and jumped backward while a flaming column rose towards the sky with Qeena's figure in the middle of it. The ice melted, releasing white steam accompanied by a sizzling sound that slowly revealed her demonic form once again.
"You are right. I was careless." Her voice resonated from between her beaks. "It won't happen again."
"You are strong, filled with power, that's for sure! This is going to depend on which of us runs out of energy first." Toobu smiled, but his eyes were cold and almost blue in color. "Sadly for you, it won't be me. Why don't you give up?"
The only answer she gave was taking a deep breath, puffing up herself, almost doubling her own size, before breathing out wildly dancing flames. They were burning so strongly they were turning white in color.
"Okay, I take it as a no!" Toobu shouted, stretching out his arms and blocking the flames with his bare hands.
As Toobu's body started to take in the energy, his face mirrored the pain he felt inside. His uniform, especially on his legs, burst into burning pieces as the ground started to disintegrate below him. When the fire finally was extinguished, his arms were completely burnt up, releasing smoke, while Toobu himself looked sick and nauseous.
"Too much…" He groaned, and while everyone thought he meant he was giving up, what he really meant was that the energy drawn into his own body was way too much.
Ignoring his burnt hands, he quickly produced a paper that already had a drawn-up Instant Fire on it, and he just added the final stroke.
"Idiot," Leinor whispered as he spread his aura as wide as possible, protecting the disciples around him.
The fireball that appeared from nowhere was blindingly bright, and its heat was painful for everyone who was watching their battle. It was yet to reach her, but Qeena's feathers were already turning into ashes, and it was impossible to breathe. It had burnt up the oxygen in the air in a flash when it appeared. There was no time to dodge or block; she could only take it head-on. The resulting blast shook the earth itself, destroying the arena completely. The ear-piercing roar of the explosion left most spectators reeling on the ground, holding their ringing ears while screaming for help.
By the time the smoke settled, and everyone could see what was left behind, Toobu stood there with a surprisingly intact body, breathing heavily, but besides that, he seemed to be fine. He was already regenerating his burnt hands. On the other hand, Qeena was lying in a pit, her feathers burnt down, leaving her naked. She was like a chicken, freshly out of the oven, with badly burnt flesh and a metal collar that was still attached to her neck.
She was breathing heavily as she stood back up. Her sight was hazy and blurry, but she could make out Toobu's silhouette as she tried to look at him. The only sound she heard was the piercing ringing in her ears and the muffled words of the spectators. She thought about collapsing and giving up, but her collar zapped her mind into action, and a cold voice traveled into her ear. It was blasting through the noise, echoing inside her soul.
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"Rush at him and blow yourself up! Or you don't even need to come down from the arena, you useless beast."
It was the commanding voice of Rudrick, and the collar immediately started not just zapping her nervous system but forcing her to start walking forward.
"At least it's going to be finally over…" Qeena whispered, starting to collect her remaining energy and life force to ignite it. After a few steps, Toobu pointed at her as a violet spark flew out from his finger, hitting right at the collar that stopped working the next moment. Before she could realize what happened, it just cracked and fell down from her neck, clanking loudly on the ground. Qeena could only hear the collar's pieces hitting the ground, like bell tolls next to her ears, rolling away, missing any other voice and shouts around her. She could do nothing else but just look at it, watching the pieces of the collar she had been given at birth.
"Whoops… I missed it." Toobu chuckled, jolting her mind back to reality as she looked at him. "What now? Do you want to continue? I can still go on~" He grinned as he produced another Instant Fire, making a lot of spectators edge backward from the remnants of the arena. They feared if Toobu released another explosion like the one before, they would be burnt to a crisp, too.
"No… I'm good…" Qeena shook her head, turning back to her human form, wearing only the remains of her shredded uniform. It barely covered anything on her curvy body, but she did not bother with it at all. "I give up."
"Useless bird…" Rudrick murmured, already ready to strike her down when they got back home. Yet, to his surprise, she was following Toobu off of the stage.
"Huh?" Rudrick blinked his eyes, and even Toobu and the rest of the Immortal Wonders' disciples were confused. But not their elders, who remained calm and just smiled.
"What are you doing?" Toobu asked.
"Going with you," Qeena answered calmly, looking into his eyes.
"Why?" He asked, twitching his mouth.
"Just."
"Wait… are you defecting to our Sect?" He asked, holding back his laughter.
"Yes."
"Bwahahaha!" He finally couldn't hold it in and just burst into laughing, turning towards her and putting his arms around her shoulders. "You are something else! I like you!"
"You are rubbing up against my breasts." She commented immediately.
"Oh… ah, sorry, sorry!" Toobu grinned, undressing himself, taking off the top part of his mostly intact uniform, and putting it around her. Wyland and the rest of the disciples just acted as if they did not see or hear any of that.
"I don't mind." Qeena continued, stumping Toobu, who just looked at her.
"Huh… I thought you were some kind of ice queen or something…"
"I breathe fire." She countered as she raised her eyebrows.
"ENOUGH!" Rudrick shouted, who snapped back from his short stupor, stepped onto the stage, and grabbed Qeena. Before he could reach her, Ren was before his hand, grabbing it by the wrist. "You dare?!" He shouted as he looked into her eyes. His violet irises lit up, literally, but Ren was not backing down.
"Yeah, I do." She answered without a problem, pushing his hand away. Next, she was aiming a sharp kick towards his chest that he blocked with his other palm, sliding backward, throwing the remains of the arena to the sides.
By the time he stopped, Zelig was already behind him as Aerthus stood before Ren, and the atmosphere changed immediately.
"Do not interfere with this Aerthus," Zelig said with a dark and deep voice as he was furious at Qeena's open and public betrayal. "This is my Sect's internal problem to resolve. You and your disciples have zero rights to step in!"
"Not anymore." He shook his head. "The girl came to us by her own will. We do not refuse those who are in need and brave enough to come to us for help."
"Nice rhetorics." Zelig scoffed as he looked into his eyes. "This is not that simple! She is knowledgeable in a lot of secret techniques of our Sect! I won't let her join you just like that!"
"I am not interested in your techniques." Aerthus countered with a flat tone, saying it plainly. "Isn't this whole farce about you wanting to obtain ours, anyway?" He smiled provocatively.
"You are distorting my words!" Zelig flared up, raising his voice, and it echoed like thunder.
"I learned nothing from you," Qeena spoke up when nobody expected her to do so. Her voice was defiant and filled with bitterness, aimed at Rudrick mostly. "I was only brought here to be a sword in your team's hand! The only thing you ever taught me was pain."
"Lies!" Rudrick replied immediately. "We accepted you into Heaven's Gate and nurtured you! This is how you return the favor? You backstabbing demon!"
"She is telling the truth." Ariana came forward, placing her arm on Qeena's trembling fists. The black smoke quickly covered it, and the demon girl's face slowly turned softer as her shaking subsided. "It's okay now…" She whispered to her while Ren just smiled, nodding at her disciple.
"And who are you?" Rudrick chuckled with scorn in his voice, turning his eyes towards Ariana. Before he could exert any force, violet lightning struck before him, blasting the earth high into the sky. Ren was already floating above the ground by a meter as purple electricity danced around her arms constantly.
"She is my disciple. So if you want to continue breathing, rein in your eyes, or I'll scoop them out with my own fingers, you old, senile fuck."
"Oh boy…" Leinor chuckled, who was remaining at the sides with Zern, protecting the rest of the disciples.
"He just touched Master's reverse scale." Zern smiled.
"You dare to talk to me like that, girl?" Rudrick harrumphed as he was turning completely red, breathing heavily. His aura was rising exponentially, shaking up everything around him. By now, the spectators were panicking, and most of the regular people or low-level cultivators were rushing away, sensing that this couldn't be good for them.
"This is why I called you senile. You old fuck. Do I need to repeat it again, or should I write it down?" Ren repeated it with contempt, looking down at him.
"Your Head Disciple is a disgrace," Zelig said, turning towards Aerthus and holding his hand out. "Give the demon back, and we can resume our competition."
"And if I don't?" Aerthus asked.
"Then I'll take her back by force."
"Try it." He said, completely calm as his body started to glow in soft, creamy light. It was refreshing and cleansing anybody's mind from the Immortal Wonders Sect, even if they just looked at him.
What happened next was something nobody expected as Zelig punched out, his hand completely silver in color as it met with Aerthus's own punch. The resulting blast swept away everybody, and even Ren crashed to the ground, thrown backward by the shockwave. All hell broke loose in an instant as the two leaders started to fight, rising to the sky with their next steps.
"To the Skyshark!" Leinor ordered swiftly. Just as they moved, a figure jumped forward, and a group of Heaven's Gate cultivators, with Astair at the lead, blocked their way.
"You won't leave from here!" He smiled.
"We don't have time for you." Leinor shook his head as his aura swept over them, acting like a black hole, sapping them from energy. Two just fell backward before he even reached them physically. By the time their bodies hit the ground, they had aged almost 40 years, losing their consciousness, maybe never to be recovered again. By that moment, he was crossing his path with Astair, who was holding a strange medallion, resisting his aura. He was standing in his way, not giving an inch as they started to fight. On the other side, Ren was already fighting against Rudrick. She was holding a lightning spear, relentlessly attacking her great-grandfather. The King of the Naulins summoned a light shield and a transparent scimitar, defending himself with a calm expression, reading her every move.
It was clear that the competition was over, and the two sects' competition turned into an all-out brawl. The question in a lot of people's minds was, which side is going to shed blood first… or will they at all, escalating the already dangerous situation even further.