Sero bounced his leg, both from fear and anger. It was a terrifying sight to witness, seeing how devastating Liam could be. It was also extremely infuriating to watch Raul get senselessly beaten even after he couldn’t fight back.
He watched onscreen as the referee blew the whistle, and the other officials tried to calm Liam down. Though it took a bit, the Demonic Enforcer eventually pulled himself off of the unconscious Rage Fist, his eyes no longer frenzied. Sero glanced over at Elena, who didn’t seem disturbed by Liam’s behavior.
"Are all S-ranks like this?" Sero muttered to himself, then remembered Kit and Gregor. Enzo was a possible exception as well, but that was only after he had been improving from training. The screens cut to advertisements, allowing the medics to safely transport Raul to the infirmary.
"You two, make any preparations you need. Your match will begin soon." The man with the scar told them.
Sero took a deep breath, feeling his nerves calm down from his Rationality. Compared to Liam, at least Elena wasn’t that brutal, though her dragon was a bit much, to say the least.
He glanced at his phone, seeing another encouraging selfie from the four back at the hospital. Right. Sero couldn’t stop now, not when his father was now able to watch his next match.
A short while later, Liam returned to the waiting room. Sero was surprised to see him back, especially since the final match would be tomorrow, so there was no need for him to return.
At the Demonic Enforcer’s arrival, the officials in the room immediately went on guard, watching his every move. Elena didn’t seem perturbed, absentmindedly scrolling through her phone. Liam gazed around the room until he took notice of Sero, then started walking towards him.
"Oh, fuck." Sero whispered to himself. Just the sight of the S-rank was enough to instill fear into him, but watching him walk to him was a different level. As Liam stood in front of him, gazing down, Sero wondered if he needed to find a way to escape.
"You’re going to proceed?"
Sero blinked, caught off guard by his question. Swallowing hard, Sero stared back defiantly.
"Yeah. I am."
Liam narrowed his eyes, staring at him coolly as if he were a predator amused by his prey. He closed his eyes for a moment and sighed.
"On the off-chance that Elena somehow loses," Liam opened his eyes, a hint of pity and annoyance flickering in his red pupils. "Then I’ll make sure I crush you worse than that worthless bottom-rank."
Despite the chilling delivery of his words, Sero felt an indignant anger for Raul. Sure, they weren’t very close, but the Rage Fist wasn’t a bad person. And from what Sero had seen, Raul was strong in his own right.
"Power complex, much?" Sero blurted without thinking. The officials all stiffened.
Liam didn’t reply immediately, a slow rage burning in his eyes. Though he knew he should’ve held his tongue, Sero just couldn’t take his high and mighty attitude any longer. He had too much experience with people like Liam during his academic years.
"No matter how many skills you copy," Liam began quietly. "It won’t matter if you ever go up against me. You’ll learn the reason hierarchies exist, and I will be the one to teach you. You better hope that my brother taught you how to survive."
Sero clenched his jaw tightly as the Demonic Enforcer walked away. Liam terrified him, more now with his threat, but Sero still couldn’t let go of the anger he felt.
"Champion, you need to be careful…" Aphiel’s worried tone broke through his angered thoughts.
"I know," Sero’s Rationality took over. "Thanks for worrying about me."
After Liam left the room, the atmosphere seemed to relax considerably. The man with the scar cleared his throat as he nodded to Sero and Elena.
"You two are up. Please enter the arena."
Sero followed the Scaletamer to the doors, where she gave him a curious look before entering. Sero didn’t think too much of it, going through the door on the right.
"Please, follow me." Sero blinked in surprise. Instead of Kit, one of the male officials was there to escort him to the arena. Somehow, that was a little disheartening, though Sero quickly surmised that Kit probably had something important to do.
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A few minutes later, Sero found himself back in the arena, facing Elena as their referee went over the ground rules. He studied the Scaletamer, noting how calm and imposing she seemed. Her brown eyes were clear and focused, glancing back and forth between Sero and the referee. In the last two days, she wore the same form-fitting business suit and slacks, and today was no exception. As the referee nodded her head to the two and jogged away, Elena directed her full attention to Sero.
"You’re an A-rank, yes?" Sero heard her voice for the first time. It was low and raspy, but in a strangely pleasing way. He didn’t know why, but it felt like a cat’s fur if it was coarse.
"Uh, y-yeah." Sero stammered. He wasn’t expecting to talk; at least, not in a cordial way.
"Interesting. Your abilities suggest to me that you’d fare better as an S-rank." Sero found it attractive at how well-spoken she was.
"Thanks?"
Elena smiled. "I say this because I would like to know how you wish for me to approach this match. I can fight as I've been in my previous matches, or I can consider you an S-rank and use the appropriate power."
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Sero raised an eyebrow, quickly understanding what she was insinuating. "You’re saying you’ll win either way?"
"Your plethora of skills and replicating ability may be impressive, but I have a feeling you’re not well-versed in combat. At least, not yet."
"That’s.. true," Sero admitted. "But, I don’t plan on losing. Summoning that overgrown lizard is the best chance you’ll get if you want to win."
Elena laughed, a whispery roughness to it. "Then, I suppose that is your answer? To fight as S-ranks?"
"Yeah," Sero grinned. "Don’t hold back."
They walked a couple paces away, turning to face each other. The crowd had regained their spark and were cheering loudly as the announcer began his countdown.
"3.. 2.. 1!"
The Scaletamer remained still, watching Sero carefully instead of acting. That was fine with him. As soon as the announcer had finished, Sero immediately activated his efficiencies, Iron Skin, and Perfect Analysis. He left out Inspiration for now, since his plan required a different approach.
Sero launched forward, conjuring a mana cannon and blasting a couple of nukes at Elena. She smiled and snapped her fingers in response, summoning her alligator familiar.
As it roared and blocked the shots with ease, Sero copied the skill as ‘Summon: Crawl’, which allowed the caster to call forth a familiar with four legs. The enormous olive alligator Elena summoned was suited for defense, though it wasn’t very fast.
Sero dispersed his cannon, shifting in shadows as the alligator opened its jaws to chomp down on him. He dropped a couple of mana knives as he passed through its teeth harmlessly, detonating them in its mouth with a snap as he solidified. The familiar roared with pain, but Sero had to focus on Elena, who braced herself.
He blasted a couple of railguns at her, trying to throw her off balance, but she gracefully danced around his attacks, snapping her fingers and re-summoning the alligator back to her side. Sero scowled in annoyance, raising a hand upwards.
As the familiar came barreling towards him, Sero conjured the Jury axe, timing the crash so that it struck the alligator's snout. It was the first time Sero had ever seen the Jury hit something other than inanimate objects, so he wasn't prepared for the sheer strength of the weapon cleaving through the alligator's snout with a sickening wet squish.
The familiar's roar was cut short as the axe fell to the ground, emitting a powerful shockwave that propelled the momentum of the cleave, splitting it in two. The alligator immediately dispersed in a shower of emerald dust.
Sero released the axe, letting it disappear as he prepared to face Elena. A solid kick to his chest sent him flying backwards, but he managed to catch a glimpse of Elena, who had casted Simulate. He recovered quickly as he copied the skill, eager to test it out later. The Scaletamer blinked in front of him, ready to attack again, but Sero was prepared, casting Fairness to even their strength.
Elena stumbled, but kept going as she launched a barrage of magic-infused attacks. Sero matched her, conjuring his sword and defending against her attacks. As they fought, Sero frequently summoned Sting only to parry Elena’s attacks when he couldn’t, massively reducing the mana consumption she required. It also helped with the power surge he gained from Fairness, sending what excess strength he couldn’t handle to Sting.
The Scaletamer furrowed her brows, beginning to sense that she couldn’t overwhelm him quickly. The strength at which she fought Sero was nowhere near the level she had when she fought Kanna, causing him to think she used the alligator’s power instead of the dragon’s.
That was a little demeaning to him, especially after she asked him if he wanted her to use her full power. Sero smiled dryly, feeling the urge to make her regret taking it easy.
With a roar, Sero dispersed his blade and casted Undying Spirit as soon as his Fairness wore off, capitalizing on the surge of power to land a couple of solid hits on the Scaletamer. Every punch that connected drained a large portion of her mana, straight to Sero himself. Elena gasped, taken aback by the sudden loss, but she managed to break away from him using a pair of ethereal jade wings that sprouted behind her.
Sero’s analysis found out that she had switched Simulate targets, and now her power was rising with her dragon familiar. Elena took flight, her wings flapping quietly as she gazed down at him.
"Ok, I’ll admit it. I was taking it easy on you after your match with Zioth because I thought you’d be in a more fragile state," Elena raised an arm. "I apologize for underestimating you."
Sero didn’t reply, licking his lips with a grin instead. As much as he wanted to engage in flirtatious banter with the Scaletamer, Liam’s words got to him. To make good on his promise to his father, Sero had to make sure he won this match, and that included minimizing the amount of damage he took. That way, he’d be in a semi-decent condition to face off against Liam. Assuming he won against Elena.
With a snap, she conjured an enormous jade portal behind her. A slow smile bloomed across Sero's face as he copied the 'Summon: Drake' skill.
A few moments later, Elena's gargantuan emerald dragon bellowed out from the portal, briefly drowning out all other noises with a thunderous roar. It crashed onto the arena, shaking the entire stadium as it landed. Sero shivered as he craned his neck upwards to take in the shining dark green scales that covered the dragon's body.
He pushed his fear down, raising an arm and casting his own Summon: Drake. With a snap of his fingers, two portals open behind him.
"Oh shit, nice!" Sero thought to himself excitedly. He wasn’t expecting to be able to summon two dragon familiars at the same time.
Elena gazed at him curiously, without a hint of nervousness. If Sero didn’t know any better, he would’ve thought she was more interested in what his dragons would look like rather than winning the match. That was fine with him, since he was going to summon two powerful familiars to deal with her dragon.
The Scaletamer’s familiar lowered its head, anticipating Sero’s summons with a rumbling growl. Sero felt a surge of power as two dark shapes zoomed out of the portal.
"Mrow?"
"Oh. My. God. They are absolutely adorable!" Elena squealed with delight.
Sero stared in disbelief at the two dragons he summoned. They were both roughly the size of a cat. In fact, one had a lighter green coat of fur whereas the other had a darker shade. The twin dragons sniffed around cautiously, looking at each other before slowly approaching the Scaletamer's dragon. It was clear that they weren't intimidated by the giant dragon.
"You're kidding me," Sero muttered to himself, though now that he thought about it, it did make sense for them to be so tiny. When summoning Sting for the first time, she was also akin to a newborn, though she was able to rapidly adapt during the match against Zioth.
Elena ran over to the dragon babies, kneeling and petting them. Sero could only watch open-mouthed as the S-rank played with his summons as if the match didn't matter anymore.
"Oh, they are indeed very cute, champion!" Aphiel butted in, much to his annoyance.
"Uhhh... we're in the middle of something, aren't we?" Sero called out to Elena.
"Huh? Oh, right." Elena stood up and brushed off, composing herself. She dashed back to her dragon's side, activating her Simulate.
Sero's dragons bounded back to him, gazing up at him curiously. They chirped and bumped their heads into his legs, their tiny wings flapping quietly. He crouched down, scratching them behind their ears, feeling a warmth spread through his body at the sight of them. They were adorable, no doubt about it, but he had a match to win. He straightened up, casting a quick glance at Elena.
"While I'd rather not fight the pups, I'm still resolved in winning this match," The Scaletamer began, readying herself and her massive dragon. "Regardless, after this, would I perhaps get the chance to play with your familiars?" she asked, casting a smile in Sero's direction.
"Um... sure." Sero glanced at the two baby dragons playing around his feet, getting the sense that this match may be a lot harder than expected.