Urgh…
Has his strikes always been this heavy!?
Carol tried her best to survive the endless onslaught. Every time she tried to run, Raphael would chase her. Every time she tried to strike, Raphael would block her. He wasn’t giving her any space to move.
This is bad!
Their fight so far showed just how far the difference between them was. Each and every blow from Raphael’s side felt heavy but quick. It took her all her concentration just to survive each strike, making her unable to counterattack herself. He knew Raphael was trying to overwhelm her, he knew that Raphael was stabbing blindly, but it didn’t matter. With how large his shield-sword combined weapon was, it left her with no opening to attack. A truly incredible weapon, one that spoke of his ability as a mage with the unique ability to create anything.
Every time she struck, he would block it easily. She tried getting behind him, but he tracked her movements almost too perfectly. Even when she managed to get in position, all he did was retreat.
So he’s been studying as well.
She fought him multiple times in the past. The display he showed her now was a result of his hard work and dedication. She knew it, she understood. She stood with him for so long. Every blow spoke of his training, his intention to defeat her and come out as the victor. With Raphael’s level of talent, when he got serious it became practically impossible to defeat him.
But she loved this. She loved him. She loved how he wasn’t going to go easy just because she was his girlfriend. He must have known how dedicated she was to her job. Going easy would only mean an insult.
A Ranger, a person that needed strength to protect the people. She needed to grow stronger, and the only way to do that was by training.
More fights, harder opponents, stronger rivals. She still had a lot to learn from him. Raphael Kaski, The Great Mage of Kaleya himself flew in front of him. He treated Carol as an equal, as a threat. It made her happy. He understood her.
I’m not going down!
Thus Carol continued looking for an opening. The shield’s size didn’t matter. As long as she could hold out until he made a mistake, she would win.
But the clock continued ticking.
Raphael hadn’t unleashed any magic other than the shield in his hand. The tournament banned participants from using different equipment to the one they registered. None of the weapons he created with magic counted as equipment, giving him a huge advantage over his rivals, yet to Carol’s eyes, this guaranteed that the shield on his hand was magic.
Raphael couldn’t extend the life of the items he created. He could only create new ones. The shield hadn’t disappeared, meaning that it had been there ever since the match began.
He’s creating something big!
But what? Carol needed to think about all this while dodging and deflecting Raphael’s attacks. The strikes were so strong that she had trouble stopping them.
She needed to think about something, fast. She needed to destroy Raphael’s concentration, destroy whatever thing he created in his mind, but without an opening, she couldn’t do that.
Truly a perfect weapon.
Had this been a match without magic, then she would’ve won by now. A weapon like the one Raphael held, if real, must be heavy. It limited the user’s movement, and due to the size of the shield, certain kinds of attacks were harder to do than others. If only this was a match without magic, then all she needed to do was give him a quick greeting from behind.
The inclusion of magic made this a playground for Raphael. Raphael didn’t let her move, not even a little. The sword-shield weapon, lasting who knows how long at this point, gave her zero room to counter. He moved it as if it was lightweight, stabbed it as if it was indestructible, swung it as if it was a thin metal sword, all while chasing her if she dared to get farther away. He kept his quick steps. Dodging, weaving, even flying through Carol’s strikes. Everywhere Carol’s blade goes, it would only find either empty air or the shield's round magic surface.
How long has it been?
Most of the matches involving either of them only lasted a couple of minutes, yet this one felt like an eternity with her constantly on the defense. She searched for a way to counter. She needed a way to counter.
In the heat of battle, she remembered that she herself had yet to unleash another spell. As she continued defending, her brain went to full power, regulating a quarter of its power thinking about the coming strikes, while the rest went to think about a way to counter. An ultimate magic spell that would destroy Raphael’s sword shield and force him to abandon that weapon.
If she could do that, victory wouldn’t be far.
Overwhelm! Overwhelm!
She chanted inside her. Pushing all the energy she could to her hand.
“HIYAAAAH!”
She stabbed the weapons straight into Raphael’s shield, opening a gaping hole through the shield’s side.
“AH!” Raphael exclaimed, dropping his shield-sword and retreating immediately. Carol gave chase. She shook her sword, getting Raphael's discarded weapon off it.
Raphael pulled out a badly put submachine gun. He pulled the trigger. Carol knew that it served nothing more than a distraction and dove down, dodging the stun bullets that traveled all around the place. Raphael started circling the perimeter of the stadium, staying as close to the walls as possible while slowing down. Carol almost caught up to him when he made a sharp turn toward the center of the field. Carol followed behind him like a lion on its target, zero intention of letting go.
Raphael started making frantic maneuvers, trying to confuse her, yet her eyes were on him and nothing else. She mustered up a magic spell. She pulled her sword to her chest, holding it with both hands as she soared through the sky. Its blade reflected her face, but she didn’t see it. Her eyes were locked on her target, no different than a lion stalking its prey. She dove down to the ground, landing on the crater’s surface, before pointing the sword at the still-flying Raphael. Five circles of water appeared on the sword’s blade, surrounding it like rings. She pointed the weapon toward Raphael, her eyes tracking him perfectly. She fired her spell. Bolts of water tracked Raphael down, like missiles following its target.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
She saw him adjusting his magic, flying dangerously close to the shield that formed the arena. Using quick yet risky maneuvers, he dashed from one spot to another, zig-zagging between the air, the shield, and the ground. The spell lost its target, splashing various different spots without a single hitting Raphael.
Carol used this chance to zoom closer, closing the distance. Raphael’s eyes widened when he saw her approach. He kicked back his feet, zooming across the sky. Carol gave chase, once again going after him.
How long has it been!?
She could feel the clock ticking down. The finals didn’t have a default duration, with some matches in the past lasting more than an hour, but that clock didn’t matter. With every second, Raphael’s ultimate weapon neared its completion. The item wouldn’t be used after the match, so that could only mean one thing.
It must be something exceedingly powerful.
Raphael made his way to the center of the field, before stepping on the dirt and pulling himself into a stop.
It’s time!
Carol landed across him, a hundred pebs separating the two. She prepared herself to counter Raphael’s superweapon, waiting for the moment it came into being.
The audience watched in tense as the seconds ticked down. For the first time in this battle, everything ground to a halt. No one said anything.
* ••
She knew. Carol knew. Raphael couldn’t change his plans. His magic was ready. Changing it would reset everything. All the preparation to cast his superweapon would go to waste if he changed it.
But she knew. She knew he would deploy something, thus she waited. He wouldn’t have enough strength to go toe-to-toe with her for another half hour or more. His concentration started breaking apart, he was aware of this. He was losing focus. Without a choice, he deployed his spell.
* ••
“!”
Carol tensed up as light blue lines formed at the center of the crater. In less than a second, the lines merged into one, forming a real, physical weapon.
The weapon had an X-shape base. Each of the four legs had a length of two hundred pebs. The main cannon attached above the center of the base had a length of one hundred twenty pebs, with a caliber of seventy hundred milipebs. On each of its legs was a rapid-firing twenty milipebs cannon providing point-blank defense.
And Carol was standing in between two of those cannons, the railgun itself pointing toward her.
The R-9071, the very same railgun that appeared in that TV show. Carol jumped up, flying straight into the sky. The railgun tilted upward, aligning its tip with her, while Raphael leaped back. Something lit up deep in its barrel, hurling a projectile, probably stun round, straight toward her.
Carol knew that the railgun wasn’t the threat, however. It was a powerful weapon, but it couldn’t hit a target as fast, small, and mobile as her. The four rapid-firing cannons whirred, waiting for the moment the railgun fired.
Carol dodged out of the way, fighting the explosion as the railgun’s stun round flew into the sky. It smashed into the shield. The round exploded, but did little damage to the shield. Instead, its shockwave sent dust and sand flying around the arena, blocking the view.
He never intended to hit me in the first place!
The dust and sand rained on Carol, blocking her view. At the same time, the cannons opened fire, sending stun rounds straight for her. She leaped back up, heading into the skies, dodging as best as she could. Some rounds hit her, sending a sting throughout various parts of her body. It didn’t hurt much, but it damaged her shield and hurt her movements. She felt her movements getting sloppier. She slowed down, some of her limbs refusing her command. She struggled to control herself, using the magic to carry her and clear her way.
The relentless barrage of stun rounds did not end. They continued firing at her, all four cannons focusing on her and her alone. She couldn’t continue flying around like this. She didn’t know how much ammo they had, nor how long they lasted.
Her eyes caught the barrel of the railgun. A seventy hundred milipeb caliber gun, large enough to fit her body. She set her eyes on the dark tunnel, turning her body, pushing whatever she had left in her to realign herself with the tight fit.
She launched herself, utilizing all the magic she could as she dove through the empty barrel. The rapid-firing cannons followed her, hitting the railgun’s barrel, tearing it apart. Shards of metal flew inside the railgun. It didn’t have a reload mechanism, thus the railgun stayed empty.
Perfect!
She increased her speed, flying dangerously fast in the tight fit.
Her mind could only think about one thing. She must win. Looking at Raphael, she noticed that they both carried the same burden. Hope, despair, all mixed into one. Burden given by those they fought, those they defeated, and those that allied themselves with them. A heavy burden that didn’t matter at this point.
Because for her, it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough to push her. Had she been fighting anyone else, whether it was Tania, Lerus, or even Martus, then it was enough. She didn’t need to go this far. She had exceeded expectations. She only had a few months to her education anyway, she didn’t need to graduate now.
But now, facing the boy in front of her, her own boyfriend. He was the center of her mind.
Her hopes of standing next to him, getting as strong as him and protecting him from the world. Her selfish desires, all for this one person. Every cut, every stab, every strike, she did it all for him. Her mind focused on him and him alone.
As her childhood friend. As her boyfriend. As her rival. As her competitor. As her partner. Someone she looked up to. Someone she wanted to be with. Someone she wanted to protect.
His smile, his joy, that was everything to her. At this very moment, only that mattered.
She couldn’t protect his smile if she wavered. She stood here as a Ranger, as a warrior whose job was to protect the people around her. She must be stronger than him. That was the role they decided unanimously long ago. A healer and a warrior.
Come on! Come on!
All her thoughts flashed within milliseconds. All of her wishes, her dreams, uniting into one force, into one wish.
She wished the entire thing to disappear. The one and a half seconds that she took to travel to the end of the barrel felt like an eternity.
Disappear!
She screamed inside. The end of the cannon came closer.
It would soon be over.
If it didn't, the impact would shatter her shield, ending her run.
Disappear.
Disappear.
Disappear.
Disappear!
Then it disappeared.
The entire weapon, created with magic spells unexplainable by a normal person, vanished into thin air. She escaped through the rear end, setting her sights on Raphael who floated above the stadium.
“HIYAAAAH!”
Putting all her strength in this one shot, she forced her limbs to move. She commanded her magic, the world bowing its head to her. Like a meteor cutting through the afternoon sky, she flew upward, her very body became a projectile. She cut through the air, flames following behind her. She discarded her sword, clenching her right fist. The falling silver blade glinted in the afternoon shine.
A meteor traveling upward in a sea of stars.
Raphael tried to escape, but it was too late. She pulled back, and with all her might, launched herself at Raphael.
The two clashed in the sky. A shockwave traveled through the sky, blowing wind all over the place. Flames of unexplainable origins flickered and danced as they fell to the ground before disappearing like fireworks. There was a cloud of dust, and from the sky descended a girl glowing in gold, holding a boy in her arms.
“Looks like I lost,” the boy said.
“Congratulations.”