The dragon pups had gotten used to their surroundings and were patiently waiting by Sero’s feet, purring. Elena stood idly, like she wanted him to make the first move.

Deactivating his Undying Spirit, Sero noticed that the dragons weren’t draining his mana to remain summoned, but they had taken a substantial amount in order to do so. Compared to Sting, they had their own mana reserves, decently robust despite their size. However, if Sero had to use Simulate, it wouldn’t be much of a boost since his own reserves were about equal to the two of them combined.

He sighed, deciding he’d see what the dragon pups could do. Sero casted his usual skills, conjuring his mana blade in preparation for battle. He was still pretty healthy and wanted to remain that way.

Sero discovered that he could command his dragons through thought, but it was more of an instinctive thought rather than words. He dashed forward, immediately casting Fairness to even their strengths. Elena snapped her fingers, causing her giant familiar to roar as it swung its head down to meet him. Sero snapped his own fingers in response, calling his two dragons to appear by his side.

He wasn’t exactly sure what they could do, but he was hoping that they’d at least distract the Scaletamer’s dragon long enough for him to do some heavy damage. As it turned out, they were much more clever than he had given them credit for. The moment they appeared, they dashed forward, one going for the giant dragon's front legs while the other went for its tail. The giant dragon roared in surprise and whipped its tail around, nearly hitting Sero. He dodged just in time, barely feeling the wind from the impact.

He wasn't so lucky dodging Elena though, grunting as he got a direct clothesline to the neck. Getting knocked away, he caught sight of the giant dragon charging up its breath as he landed. With a loud roar, Elena's familiar breathed a fiery torrent of dark green flames right towards him.

Sero yelped with fear and surprise as he scrambled to his feet, but before he could react, his darker colored dragon leapt in front of him, opening its tiny jaws wide. With a whoosh, it sucked up the flames in its entirety, swallowing it with a burp as it finished.

"Oh," Sero said, glancing at the two dragons. He felt a surge of relief, realizing that they had absorbed the attack and protected him. He turned his attention back to Elena, who seemed surprised by their actions. "Thanks, guys," he muttered, patting his darker colored dragon on the head, hearing it audibly purr. The lighter colored dragon growled with jealousy, turning to the giant dragon and crouching low.

Expecting it to be able to swallow attacks as well, Sero was once again surprised when it howled and glowed bright green, a misty lime haze wafting from Elena’s dragon to the pup. His familiar filled him with a surge of strength as Elena’s dragon whined from being weakened. He quickly figured that the darker dragon could absorb and provide defensive capabilities while the lighter provided support and debuffs.

Sero grinned to himself, clashing with Elena once again as he relied on his summons to deal with her familiar. His initial worries had faded away as he kept up with her, his dragons surprisingly doing the same with their opponent. It was almost as if every fight he had been through made him stronger. Of course, most of that growth was due to the many skills he had acquired, but Sero felt like he was gaining more and more experience in battle.

He batted several of Elena’s attacks away with his blade, firing off alternating nukes and railguns to wear her down. Even after his Fairness wore off, the light green dragon kept his strength consistent, though he began to struggle against the Scaletamer. With a shout, Sero casted Undying Spirit once more, landing several strikes as he sapped the mana from Elena.

The shocked look on her face told him that she was not expecting him to prove more than a challenge for her. She began to fire dense concentrations of magical blasts in desperation, hoping to push him back. Sero countered by summoning Sting to deflect the blasts, obscuring Elena’s vision with a couple of detonating mana knives as well.

"What an incredible match!" The announcer shouted with glee. "Sero seems to have gained the upper hand despite summoning two runts! Compared to the match against Zioth, the Scholar seems like a different person!"

Elena growled with frustration, looking as if she couldn't believe that she was being pushed back. Her familiar was also having a hard time dealing with Sero's dragons, as it was forced to constantly defend itself against the lighter colored one's debuffing. With a final roar, the giant dragon summoned a fierce gust of wind, hoping to knock Sero and his dragons off their feet.

Sero smirked again, sensing the attack coming. He quickly casted Force Field around himself and his dragons, blocking the attack effortlessly. The giant dragon growled in frustration, but it was too late. Sero took advantage of the opening and unleashed a powerful nuke at the beast, striking it directly in the chest. The impact didn't really do much, but it did tick it off Elena's familiar, causing it to focus its attention on him.

"Oh shit," Sero muttered with regret as he felt the giant dragon's anger. He quickly casted Inspiration on himself and his dragons, trying to outmaneuver the familiar as it charged at them. The lighter colored dragon darted around, keeping the giant distracted with its quick movements while the darker one stayed close to Sero, ready to absorb any attacks that might get past them. Sting was busy clashing with Elena, though the Scaletamer was gradually gaining the upper hand.

Sero checked his mana reserves, relieved that it was still more than halfway full. Elena snapped her fingers, summoning her alligator as well as the giant pair of snakes she used against Kanna. Copying the ‘Summon: Slither’ skill, Sero brought out the entire 12 face cards roster to help, turning the match into an all-out war. He was hesitant on doing so, but when he realized the dark and light dragon pups were working in tandem to steal mana from Elena’s dragon and strengthening him with it eased his worries of running low on resources.

The four Queens kept his stamina stable as his dragons supplied him with the mana. The Jacks and Kings were divided between handling the giant dragon and aiding Sting with Elena. Compared to his match with Zioth, the addition of the pups were making this match even, if not in his odds.

He directed the other half of Jacks and Kings to deal with the Scaletamer’s familiar as he joined Sting, quickly cutting away the alligator with another Jury slam. He blew up the snakes with a couple of mana nukes, and finally turned his attention to Elena.

Exertion was plastered on her face as she found herself struggling against Sero and Sting. Her movements were getting slower, and she wasn’t able to block most of their blade strikes. Sero pressed harder, trying to overwhelm her and finish the match quickly. He upped the strength of his Inspiration and Undying Spirit, doing doubled echoing damage with every hit.

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In mere moments, Sero had backed Elena towards the arena wall. Her suit had multiple cuts, and she was bruised and bleeding. She gazed at him with an impressed and nervous look.

"I’m really surprised," she began as she panted and tried to catch her breath. "I thought you’d be in worse shape after the fight with Zioth."

"I’m really stubborn," Sero grinned, omitting the fact that it was Kit’s help that he was pretty much back at full strength. "And I’m determined to win. Sorry for this."

Elena shook her head with a smile. "No, it’s fine. It’s a tournament after all." She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. When she opened them again, Sero saw a renewed look of determination. "But, I should be the one to apologize."

Before he could ask her what she meant by that, Elena yelled, sending out a wave of pressure. Sero stood in shock as he copied ‘Synchronization’, quickly seeing what it could do.

The giant dragon roared one last time as it dissolved into emerald dust, zooming over to Elena and surrounding her. The smoke coalesced into an aura, which then formed an ethereal green armor with a draconic-like appearance. A pair of giant translucent jade wings sprouted from her back, clawed gauntlets on her hands, and a crown atop her head. The ghostly armor made her look like a queen. Or in this case, the queen of dragons.

The Synchronization skill gave Elena the combined strength of all her reptilian familiars as well as the ability to conjure spectral apparitions of her summons, which Sero watched firsthand as she became surrounded by an entourage of ghostly reptiles.

His dragons and face cards appeared by his side, ready to take on the seemingly endless army. Sting glanced at Sero with a slightly worried look.

"Master, it seems we might be outnumbered."

"No shit, I can see that."

Elena pointed at Sero and his summons, yelling a charge command and mobilizing her army forward. Sero had no chance to plan as he trusted his instincts, sending his smaller army to meet them.

He then deactivated Undying Spirit, casting Fairness instead. He immediately fell to one knee as overwhelming strength flooded through him, but he siphoned the excess to his dragons and Sting, rising back to his feet. The Scaletamer hadn’t flinched, as if she expected him to do so.

"Goddamn," Sero grimaced as his familiars began clashing with the phantom reptiles. "So this is why she’s an S-rank."

Elena cracked her knuckles and crouched, pushing off a split second later. If it wasn’t for Sting blocking her swipe in time with her rapier, Sero’s head would’ve been decapitated by those razor sharp claws.

He cursed and berated himself for thinking he could’ve won the match without difficulty. Regardless of the skills and experience he gained, he forgot to heed Enzo’s words of not getting ahead of himself.

Conjuring his blade and coating it with mana, Sero moved to help Sting fight back against Elena. Green sparks of magic sprayed the air as the three clashed, neither side willing to give any ground. Sero found his mana quickly draining and knew he had to do something soon, or he’d end up in the same situation with Zioth.

"Man, this sucks," Sero groaned to himself as he could only come up with one solution. He telepathically communicated his plan to Sting, who moved into position, easing up her attacks so that Elena could land her strikes onto Sero.

He hissed with pain as Elena’s claws shredded his clothes despite the reinforcing of his Iron Skin. Using Revenge as the last resort felt masochistic, but it was the best thing he could come up with as his summons were being overtaken by Elena’s army. The damage accumulated fast, causing Sero to begin lapsing in his movements, but Sting was there to catch him if he slipped up.

In mere moments, he was ready to use Revenge, but Elena seemed to have caught on, keeping her distance as she switched to ranged attacks. Even as Sero and Sting drew close, she would either blast them away, or fly up out of their reach.

Clicking his tongue in irritation, Sero altered his plan, dismissing his face cards and Sting while calling his dragons to him. The ghostly reptilian army immediately moved to surround him, but Sero made a mana cannon and slammed it down, simultaneously casting Blast Zone and Force Field. As his dragons growled and kept the army at bay while Elena pounded on his Force Field, Sero infused a large portion of his mana into his cannon and fired it into the sky.

The arena was dyed green and his Starfall Nuke began to fall, bombing the ground with earth-shaking explosions. The Scaletamer switched focus, batting away the oncoming nukes as her army was wiped out. Sero cursed, falling to his knees as exhaustion overtook him. He hadn’t been careful in monitoring his status and now it had caught up to him. The lighter colored pup whined and glowed green, slowly restoring his stamina and mana.

"Thanks." Sero muttered as he patted its head. He got up and dispersed his cannon, watching the last of his Starfall Nuke fall to the ground. Elena stood alone in the midst of the dust, not the least bit bothered by the wide-scale barrage; Sero’s body ached from the damage he had taken.

The Scaletamer disappeared, only to reappear in front of him and slamming down on his Force Field once again. The green bubble shook with each impact, beginning to fizzle out. The darker pup growled at her, while the lighter kept restoring him. The final details of his plan became clear to him as Sero glanced at his dragons.

"Sorry for this guys," he muttered to the pups as he gave them a command. "I’ll name you guys later, if we win this."

Timing Elena’s attack with his Force Field, Sero dropped it as she swung down, causing her to hit nothing and slightly putting her off-balance. In that moment, Sero summoned two Kings and Sting, just to merge with her right after. The sheer power made him drop to his knees, but he wasn’t done, casting Undying Spirit and doubling up on his Inspiration which made him unable to move. His pups barked and leapt forward, clamping their jaws onto Elena. She gasped in surprise, unable to shake them off.

Sero’s Kings gripped both of his arms and yanked him forward, throwing him headfirst towards Elena. Utter disbelief flashed across her face as Sero hit her abdomen face-first.

"Oh, her stomach feels really nice and soft." Sero thought to himself as he used the last of his mana to cast Revenge.

Boosted by Undying Spirit, Sting’s merged power, the doubled Inspiration, and the remnants of Fairness, Sero’s Revenge was the strongest he had ever used, enveloping Elena with a dark, almost black, green aura. She was blasted away at supersonic speed, hitting the arena wall so hard that the protective mana barrier in front of the audience briefly flickered off. A few seconds later, the Revenge went off, sending a massive shockwave that tore up the ground and shut off the barrier a second time.

If Revenge returned the damage the user had taken, then Sero had sent it back with an almost 8 times multiplier with his buffs, the largest return he had ever done. As he laid face down on the ground, Sero quickly deactivated his buffs and the Kings, casting Recovery with what little mana he had left. His dragons whimpered with concern, the lighter one healing him as best as it could.

"Oh my… Both fighters are down!" The announcer cried out after the crowd had stopped screaming with fear. "The referee is going to check if either one is still conscious!"

"I’m conscious!" Sero yelled into the dirt, his words muffled. "Wait, fuck." He commanded his dragons to roll him on his back, facing the sky. The darker one gently bit his hand and raised it up as Sero managed to give a thumbs up. He heard a whistle go off and the darker dragon let go of his hand.

"Incredible! There you have it, everyone! Sero Kassel the Scholar is still awake!" The audience cheered as medics rushed to Sero’s side. As they worked, he wondered if Kit would be able to use her Cat Paradox on him again.

"Ah," Sero suddenly remembered. "I wonder if Elena would be willing to give me her autograph for Nala…"