Winter sat by the magic circle Sapphire used to challenge the Guardian, staring at it. "So the amount of light represents her condition, the fainter it gets the closer she is to dying. She didn't take me with her in the end afterall." Winter sighed as she studied the magic circle.
The magic circle's glow flashed for a moment, startling Winter before stopping at a very dim state, and getting steadily dimmer.
"What?" Winter exclaimed. "No, no, no, no! She can't die, she is strong enough, I don't believe she is dying." Winter slammed her fist on the magic circle and clawed at it. "I refuse to let her die, send me there right this second." She cried out as panic seized her heart. "I don't want to lose my only friend, please."
The light of the magic circle died out and Winter froze, tears streaming down her face. She slowly shook her head in disbelief.
"No! Sapphire! Please, send me there! I need to help her!" Winter screamed as tears ran down her face.
She slammed her fist on the magic circle multiple times. Without her realising, blue lines shot through her right arm as she slammed it onto the magic circle. As her fist hit the magic circle it again shone bright. Winter froze again, startled.
"What?" She tilted her head.
Winter gasped as she remembered something. She searched through her pockets and her doubts were confirmed when she failed to find her phoenix feather.
"The feather can revive people!" Winter gasped. "Go, Sapphire, win and come back, please."
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The Guardian turned and started to walk away after the mana blast killed Sapphire, having confirmed that her core was destroyed. While the Guardian remained turned, a light-blue flame lit on Sapphire's chest, spreading to her entire body.
"Sapphire!" A voice called out through the darkness.
Sapphire woke up, gasping for air and stressed, her ears standing straight. She barely realised the fire that covered her entire body, not minding it even after she did realise. She pushed herself up to her feet, the pain slowly fading away as her body healed.
I have a guess as to why I am alive, and it's the only reasonable one I can think of. Thank you, Winter, I am definitely not going to lose. Sapphire grinned as she prepared herself.
The Guardian held her hand in front of herself, turning around on realising she couldn't leave the arena. She stared wide-eyed at the light-blue flames in a humanoid shape, being aware as to who stood there but confused as to how she survived.
"You were dead a moment ago, I made sure you were," The Guardian grunted.
"It seems my death was, greatly exaggerated." Sapphire replied as she swung her arm, extinguishing the flames. Her all black clothes were lined with glowing blue patterns throughout, her fists also possessing similar patterns.
Krystallite ability: Supercharged, activated, Appraisal informed
"Let's end this now." Sapphire called out, beckoning the Guardian to attack.
The Guardian took a step towards her, causing large waves in the water that still remained in the battlefield. Neither of the two moved an inch for the next few moments, staring at each other before dashing in the blink of an eye, blocking a kick with a kick.
The Guardian performed a roundhouse-kick, being deflected by an upper block, followed by a leg sweep from Sapphire. The Guardian dodged with a backstep but Sapphire spun around and kicked her hard on the knee, bending her leg in the wrong direction. The Guardian's eyes widened as the crack echoed through the arena.
She slowly stepped backwards, staring at her leg in shock. Sapphire struck at her face with a knife hand strike, which landed, but the Guardian instantly struck Sapphire on her lower jaw with a right hook and sent her flying into a wall. Before Sapphire could get back on her feet the Guardian healed her leg and prepared to engage again.
Sapphire appeared out of the shadows behind her and kicked her at the back of the neck. The Guardian turned around in an instant, grabbing Sapphire by the leg and slamming her into the ground. Spinning around the Guardian kicked her in the chest, raising a wave of water and breaking her body in half, only to realise she exchanged with a Shadow Warrior.
Sapphire landed on the Guardian's shoulders and attempted to twist her head around, but the Guardian fell backwards, slamming Sapphire into the ground and water. Getting up in an instant she grabbed Sapphire by the hand and flung her into a wall, shooting a giant fireball at her right after.
A shadowy flame dragon appeared from the ground and took the hit, charging straight towards the Guardian while covered in flames that evaporated the water around it. The Guardian punched forwards with a wind magic infused fist, shooting air at high velocity that blasted a hole in the dragon's chest, causing it to crumble to the ground with a splash.
The Guardian jumped up on realising the color of the water changing. She aimed her fist with a similar attack towards the poison dragon standing behind her. As she did, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sapphire launching a fireball towards her own poison dragon.
Figuring out the plan the Guardian infused her fist with water magic and shot a blast of water downwards, extinguishing the fireball. As the Guardian landed back, the poisoned water ignited and caused a large explosion. Coughing blood from the force of the explosion the Guardian fell to her knees, the stadium completely dry now.
A Shadow Warrior ignited the water, she was just a decoy. The Guardian realised as her ears rang from the blast.
As the Guardian attempted to get up she got hit by an uppercut from Sapphire, accidentally biting on her tongue as some blood sprayed from her mouth. Sapphire kicked her hard on the chest with a roundhouse kick, sending her flying into a wall. Just as the Guardian hit the wall she summoned a large magic circle, unleashing a high flood from it.
Aqueous magic: Flash Flood.
Sapphire charged her breath attack and shot it on the water, slowing and diverging it, though it still slammed into her with great force, washing her away and slamming her into the wall. The water quickly receded back to knee level after that, filling the area again. Sapphire coughed out the water as she tried to stand back up, her entire outfit completely soaked along with her hair.
Without giving Sapphire any time, the Guardian dashed to her, slamming her knee into Sapphire's head with all her strength. Sapphire deflected the attack with a strike from her right hand and by tilting her head to the side. The Guardian grabbed Sapphire by the hair and lifted her into the air, releasing her just as her body reached high enough and roundhouse-kicking her. Sapphire managed to use her leg and arm to block the brunt of the impact, being flung away regardless. She bounced on the water once before submerging under it.
She quickly sprung back to her feet to avoid getting hit again. As she did the Guardian summoned two magic circles, both releasing a torent of water that took the form of a shark and charged towards Sapphire.
Sapphire brought both her arms close together, lightning crackling between her fingertips. She slammed both into the water, electrocuting the Guardian and causing the sharks to dissipate. The attack lasted only a moment however as Sapphire also electrocuted herself, having been standing in the same water.
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The Guardian slammed her fist into the ground, causing a set of rock spears to shoot up from the ground in a straight line, Sapphire jumped to the side as the rock spears reached her. Knowing how the spell worked she unsheathed her katana.
Shadow Swordstyle: Encasing Darkness.
Sapphire slashed around her multiple times as the rock spears shattered and shot all around in a large number of smaller rock spears. She deflected or destroyed every incoming attack with ease and turned to the Guardian, finding her to have disappeared.
She performed an upwards slash behind her as the Guardian slashed downwards with a katana. The two attacks collided and ended up in a clash. Sapphire realised the Guardian used her older katana, the black blade easily recognisable. Stepping sidewards Sapphire shoved aside the katana aside and raised her katana to her head.
Shadow Swordstyle: Shadow Claw.
She slashed diagonally with her katana, three Shadow Slashes following the katana instead of one, resembling the shape of a claw strike. The Guardian jerked backwards as the attack slashed her torso, grunting in frustration. Stepping forward in a flash she slammed her shoulder into Sapphire, sending her flying and splashing through the water.
The Guardian punched upwards into the air, the water below Sapphire doing the same and tossing her into the air. The Guardian closed her first and turned it, disorienting Sapphire by spinning her around with wind magic before hitting her with a flame infused mana blast from the opposite direction. Sapphire used the momentum of the spin and performed a Shadow Slash covering her from all sides. The mana blast collided with the Shadow Slash, losing most of its power before hitting Sapphire and pushing her towards the Guardian.
Sapphire slashed towards the Guardian's neck as she got close enough, still airborne. The Guardian ducked under the slash at the last second and punched Sapphire in the face, sending her flying into a wall and launching a wind infused punch towards her, clearing the smoke from the impact to keep an eye on her.
Sapphire's lower jaw bled heavily, broken. Blood flowed from her forehead and several other places all over body, but she didn't have the time to heal them. She focused on stopping any bleeds and healing her bones so she could keep going, not paying much mind to heal them completely.
The Guardian dashed to Sapphire and kicked at her head. Using Shadow Movement Sapphire dodged the attack and appeared behind the Guardian. Sapphire grabbed the Guardian by her hair and slammed her into the ground, attempting to slam her elbow onto the Guardian's face right after. The Guardian punched at Sapphire's back as she fell down, causing her to cough blood and sending her rolling away through the water.
Rolling to her feet Sapphire opened her bleeding mouth and shot a breath attack towards the Guardian, landing a hit. The Guardian punched with wind infusion, dispersing the steam from the breath attack and water. The wind from the punch blasted through a Shadow Warrior and the Guardian strengthened the wind magic on her fists as she sensed many more.
She punched to her right, punching through one and roundhouse-kicked another, impaling three with stone spears as she grabbed another by the neck and slammed it into the ground. Water climbed halfway upto the Guardian's body and shot out like a blade in a circular area, slicing many of the Shadow Warriors in half, the rest surviving by either jumping over or ducking under the ring.
She punched with wind infusion, blasting holes through two other Shadow Warriors. Axe-kicking one that got close she spun around and roundhouse-kicked another before punching a third. She slammed her fist into the ground, unleashing a large number of stone spears from the ground in a small area, destroying all the remaining Shadow Warriors.
"This is all you have got?" The Guardian questioned, turning to Sapphire.
She stood far from the Guardian, her eyes closed and her katana hanging loosely in her arm, her expression calm. Exhaling, Sapphire opened her eyes, blue flames igniting at the corners of her mouth. She unsheathed her katana and beckoned the Guardian to attack, her eyes focused and her face expressionless.
"I am tired of your games." The Guardian sighed and summoned a large magic circle behind her.
The magic circle formed a giant mana blast and shot it towards Sapphire. Sapphire sighed and walked towards the Guardian, her katana held to the side by both her arms. The blast collided with the ground and caused a large explosion, but Sapphire kept walking forwards without flinching, completely unscathed.
The Guardian's eyes widened, confused as to how Sapphire survived it, let alone unscathed although a weaker one killed her earlier. The Guardian gathered wind on her fist and punched it towards Sapphire. The wind passed right through her, not harming her in the slightest. She shot a fireball at Sapphire and the flames extinguished on hitting her. A water prison rose around Sapphire, breaking apart and falling back to the ground like normal water almost instantly.
"Anti-magic?" The Guardian grunted.
Dashing to Sapphire the Guardian punched towards her head, but Sapphire sliced her arm off effortlessly, causing the Guardian to flinch in pain and step back. Kicking at the Guardian's leg Sapphire tripped her, getting her on eye level. As the Guardian fell Sapphire pointed her katana at her neck, staring into her eyes.
"This was fun while it lasted." Sapphire smiled as she raised her katana to decapitate the Guardian.
As Sapphire brought her katana the Guardian disappeared from in front of her. She felt a hit on the side of her body by a kick from someone behind her. Sapphire coughed blood as she splashed through the water, leaving trails of red from her bleeding body.
"It only affects magic I use directly on you, and surpasses magical barriers. You have no way of stopping my healing or physical attacks," The Guardian smiled.
"What are you saying?" Sapphire questioned as she pushed herself back up.
"Nothing important." The Guardian smiled, raising both her fists towards Sapphire.
Sheathing her katana Sapphire did the same. "I will honor a true and great warrior, and fight fair."
The both of them dashed forwards and punched for each other's face, their punches hitting each other and causing a shockwave. Sapphire performed a right jab to the face, being hit at her stomach by a knee and failing to reach. Sapphire hit the Guardian's shin with her knee, causing both to click their tongues in pain and disengage.
As both took a step back the Guardian stepped forward first and axe-kicked at Sapphire's head. Using Shadow Movement Sapphire appeared in the air beside the Guardian's head, kicking her head with the back of her heel and landing on her feet as the Guardian staggered sideways.
Sapphire attempted to strike the Guardian with a right jab but the Guardian spun on her heel, dodging the attack, and striking Sapphire in the stomach with her knee again, causing her to grunt in pain. Just then the Guardian got kicked by a Shadow Warrior on her temple, causing her to stagger sidewards and fall to the ground. Using her arms to support her body, Sapphire raised her legs into the air and brought them down with all her strength onto the Guardian's head, cracking her skull.
Grabbing Sapphire's left leg with both arms the Guardian twisted it around and snapped it in two, causing Sapphire to yelp in pain and back away. As the Guardian attempted to get back up Sapphire kicked her head with her regenerated leg, pushing her back down and away.
She lunged at the Guardian, who, using her leg shoved Sapphire over herself. Sapphire fell on her back and quickly rolled back to her feet, but not fast enough. The Guardian, already up, kicked Sapphire in the head, knocking her backwards. Grabbing Sapphire's leg the Guardian slammed her body into the ground, splashing the water.
Standing above her the Guardian slammed her fist towards Sapphire face, being deflected to the side by a punch from Sapphire. Sapphire kicked the Guardian away, getting back on her feet instantly and shoulder barging into the Guardian's stomach, driving her elbow into the Guardian's abdomen. The Guardian uppercut Sapphire, breaking her lower jaw again, and causing blood to spray from her mouth. As Sapphire fell backwards she kicked the Guardian in the face with the back of her heel, causing her to fall to her knees.
As Sapphire attempted to kick the Guardian again, the Guardian grabbed her leg and pulled her close, punching at her abdomen, causing Sapphire to cough blood. Sapphire snapped her body to a sitting position, headbutting the Guardian and attempting to roll to the side. The Guardian, still holding Sapphire's leg, swung her body and tossed her into the air.
The Guardian got up as Sapphire reached the highest point, picking up Sapphire's older katana that lay beside her and preparing to slash her as she fell. Doing a flip in the air so her legs point downwards, Sapphire unsheathed her katana and raised it into the air above herself, a shadow slash with traces of dark blue.
Channel all remaining energy into this Shadow Slash, Sapphire commanded.
The Guardian slashed upwards with all her power, a red blade of energy forming on her katana. Not being pure mana it would surpass any anti-magic barriers, no matter how strong. Sapphire slammed her katana into the Guardian's as she reached close enough, causing a large shockwave and resulting in a large explosion a short moment later.
As the steam from the evaporated water settled, Sapphire found her katana to be halfway down the Guardian's body, the blade resting in her abdomen, having sliced right through her heart from above her shoulder. The Guardian held the katana to her side, having applied a deep slash into Sapphire's chest, but missed her core by an inch.
"This was truly a great battle," The Guardian croaked. Sapphire nodded as she slowly laid down the Guardian on the ground, the slash on her own body already mostly healed "I am sure you will achieve greater power in the future, but it is a request from me, please do not use them for evil," she requested with a sigh.
"I will not, you have my word," Sapphire smiled reassuringly.
The Guardian smiled back and closed her eyes as she drifted into an eternal slumber, seeming to be at peace. Sapphire sighed and fell sideways, passing out from exhaustion as the pain and fatigue shot through her body at the same time.