Prelinsa entered the open space of the tournament venue for what was truly the final round this time. Cheers roared throughout the stadium, as she waved to the crowd. This time, the cheers were more pronounced. They were mostly cheering for her – the new Silvermoon who had helped out during the Battle of Pyrus, furthered the Path of the Phoenix, and symbolized a new era for the East Realm. Prelinsa looked out for the VIP box, where she could see the Silvermoons, the Leclercs, and the Whitemanes all watching expectantly.

She stepped into the ring and bowed to her opponent, Electrum Radiance, who also bowed back. Despite the fact that it hardly mattered, and that Prelinsa was far stronger now, Electrum had insisted upon finishing their fight.

“We meet again,” Electrum said. “Congratulations on your achievements, and on your new body. In only a short time, you’ve accomplished a great many things.”

“Thanks. Is there a reason why you wanted to continue this fight?” Prelinsa asked. She was interested to hear – surely Electrum knew that this was a losing match now.

“Pride, honor, and curiosity,” the dragon replied. “I can’t defeat you anymore, but I still want to witness for myself how strong you’ve truly become. The people also deserve to see it.”

Prelinsa nodded. “If that’s what you want to see, then I’m going to show off for a bit. That’s what you did before, so I hope you don’t mind.”

Electrum nodded. “Very well. That is indeed the best way to demonstrate your power. Even so, I will go all out from the very beginning.”

“Combatants, stand by!” The referee declared.

Electrum roared, and with a bright light, he shifted into his dragon form. Sizing him up, Prelinsa drew her sword, wielding it in only one hand. As the referee went over the rules one last time, there was no need for the two fighters to exchange further words – they had reached a mutual understanding.

“Now! Orange square, are you ready?”

“I am,” Electrum said.

“Blue square, are you ready?”

“I am,” Prelinsa said.

“This match will begin in three! Two! One! Begin!”

Prelinsa was faster, but didn’t act. Electrum coiled up, opened his mouth, and fired a massive blast of lightning at Prelinsa. It was strong and fast, and large enough to envelop Prelinsa many times over. But Prelinsa was quick on the draw. She ignited her sword, which glowed orange-hot, and with a light swing, she sliced vertically through Electrum’s attack. It split in two, and each half flew off into the barrier. There was a pair of loud booms, and several showers of sparks. The crowd roared. Prelinsa could’ve taken this opportunity to end the fight in a variety of ways, but did not. She just waited for Electrum to make his next move.

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Electrum wasn’t done, and fired again. This time, he fired numerous small blasts, emulating Rensa’s strategy. Lightning flooded the ring, creating deathly waves of projectiles. Previously, Prelinsa would’ve had a tough time dealing with this. More showers of sparks went off around the barrier, as the red pokkit dodged and weaved comfortably with minimal movements, reading the mana flow and finding spaces between the electricity. A few steps here, a few steps there. She didn’t have to dodge everything – at their relative skill levels, she could tell which attacks were going to hit her, and which ones were not.

The crowd loved it – they saw that Prelinsa was barely moving at all, despite the rain of electricity being lobbed her way. It was a cool demonstration.

Just for the show of it, Prelinsa began firing back. Slowly at first, but then more rapidly, she launched arcs of phoenixfire, but not at Electrum himself – only to precisely hit his attacks and stop them in midair. These created explosions of fire and electricity, looking like a fireworks show. She then took to the air with yellow-hot wings of phoenixfire, and even began deflecting a few bolts of lightning back towards Electrum, all while still precisely countering his attacks.

Ordinarily, this would be impossible for someone still lacking in experience, but Prelinsa used her extreme talent and reflexes to make up for it. Some of the deflected shots actually hit Electrum directly. They were his own lightning, so they couldn’t actually do anything to him. It was purely a demonstration of superiority.

Once they’d gone on for a little, Electrum stopped his barrage. As he did so, Prelinsa stopped too, still hovering several meters off the ground. The two squared off again, giving the fight a pause so the crowd could react. They did so, with thunderous applause.

“Wonderful! I expected no less,” Electrum declared. “Now, come at me with everything!”

“Sure,” said Prelinsa. Finally, she gripped her katana with both hands.

Electrum roared and cloaked his entire body in electricity. He charged at Prelinsa. Prelinsa rocketed towards him from above. In a single swift motion, the two clashed, landing on opposite sides of the ring.

There was stunned silence, as the referee paused to try and process what happened. Then, the match end sound rang throughout the stadium.

“Cease! Winner by knockout! The blue square, Prelinsa Silvermoon-Brunswick!”

The crowd rose, giving a standing ovation. Prelinsa put out her wings and sheathed her sword. With another bright light, Electrum shifted back into his human form. The two turned to each other and bowed, before approaching for a handshake.

“Well done,” Electrum said. “You earned that victory.” He smiled – it was the first time Prelinsa had seen him smile. He wasn’t upset either, he was just happy that he’d finally gotten to fight Prelinsa.

“Thanks,” said Prelinsa. “You were good, too. I saw you trying to make the fight fun for the crowd, so I followed along.”

Electrum nodded. “It is one of the duties of the strong to entertain the masses. Prince Rupeth is a man that I respect for his commitment to the role.”

“Yeah, I respect him too.”

“You have had many good teachers. Your growth has been remarkable – not just in power, but in temperament. Remember to be thankful to those who taught you.”

“Of course.”

“Silvermoon! Silvermoon! Silvermoon!” The crowd chanted.

Prelinsa looked up at the VIP box, where all the people who taught her were. She waved at them. Missus B, Corynn, and Rupeth clapped and cheered loudly, shouting Prelinsa’s name. They were joined by Camilla and Mirabelle. Rensa applauded and smiled with muted – but genuine – enthusiasm. Elder Kirith crossed her arms, nodding in pride and approval.

Prelinsa did accept the prize money and reward for winning the tournament, but gave them to Missus B. As far as she was concerned, it would be disrespectful to refuse. But her victory was somewhat unfair, since she’d had a revelation from the avatar of the Phoenix. Later on, this fight would be remembered by many as their first true glimpse of Prelinsa’s career.