Nikolai clenched his fists, and with a thought fire sprung to life around his hands and clung to his arms. That alone was enough to draw a chorus of whispers from the typically stoic audience of nobility- for them it was like watching a scandal play out before their very eyes. For Nikolai it was like a mighty roar, it thundered in his ears and urged him to push onward.

The servant across from him stood with his hands clasped together in front of his chest. He was unassuming in build and in demeanor, but Nikolai knew behind that placid expression was a cunning mind- Jericho was one of their best. The announcer was interposed between them, and with a short glance at both parties he uttered a single word with crystal clarity.

"BEGIN!"

Nikolai didn't do something as crass as charging forward. He stepped into range, covering vast distances as he pushed off the ground with his foot and leaving scorch marks on the floor. Leos had a fixed quality to their element that severely limited their range- Nikolai could only extend his flame up to an arm's length away from his fingertips, but what they lost in range, they made up for in sheer control.

Each step was accompanied by an outburst of flame at his heels and a brief flash of light as he blurred forth, always stepping within his opponent's range for just moments before stepping out to approach from a new angle.

Through it all, Jericho never so much as flinched. Where Leos had a fixed quality to their element, Virgos had a mutable one. Their range was much greater than a Leo's, and while they somewhat suffered from a lack of control, it was still very much possible to guide and control projectiles mid-flight. What worried Nikolai most was his seemingly instantaneous response. The level of control and range a mutable quality offered typically required a great degree of concentration that resulted in some lag time, but the moment Nikolai so much as tapped the earth nearby he could feel a slight tremor in response.

There was only so much time before the clock ran out, and he needed to win at any cost. He mimicked the same pattern once more, lingering for moments before switching up the angle of approach- before fully committing to his next attack. He shot forward with all the speed he could manage, as he did the flames along his arms flared before coalescing into a blue envelope surrounding a cutting white flame at the end of his hands.

There was a dizzying amount of information to process as he sped forward, and barely even enough time to react to the stone hand crashing through the earth to reach him. It struck him- like a bug suddenly swept off a shirt. As he flew he crashed into something- he wasn't quite sure what, but his vision swam. Nikolai crashed into the earth, picking himself up just in time to throw himself to the side as a column of stone rushed toward him.

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He scrambled to get back on his feet, raising his head just in time to see the whirring columns of stone stop for just a moment in a circle around them, and the rough humanoid shape looming behind Jericho reset into some kind of default position: with its disproportionately long arms hovering over Jericho in some semblance of an embrace. It was a cage, and Nikolai was trapped in there with him. Jericho wasn't reacting instantly, no matter what happened Nikolai would have to close the distance somehow, and he'd just waited for the right moment to spring the trap.

Both Nikolai and Jericho were islands of stillness surrounded by a chaotic sea of shifting columns moving this way and that in patterns unseen, threatening to punish anyone who would dare to escape. Given that Jericho had yet to take action on Nikolai's vulnerability, he reckoned that this had to be his maximum. Nikolai leapt high into the sky, propelled by a short burst of flame, though he wasn't quite able to fly he could buy himself a few seconds of air time, from above those patterns were quite obvious. Basic shapes circles and triangles and squares overlaid against each other, the exact same looping pattern followed by a short rest. Avoiding them would still be near impossible if he were working soley on the ground, thankfully that wasn't his only option.

By slowing the descent with his flames he landed lightly against a column of stone, and as it started moving he vaulted off of it, landing heavily against the side of one column before rebounding onto the next, he bounded from place to place, striking hard and fast as he made his next approach. This time he was ready, a low rumble in those stone arms warned him of their attack long before it happened. As the right hand reached out to bat him away he struck back with an explosive combustion of flames from his hand. The recoil changed his trajectory mid flight, and he landed hard on the floor before springing back into action. His next attack was deflected again. It continued in this way for some time, as Nikolai bounded from place to place in the narrow strip of space and timing he had to work with in search of a vulnerability, and Jericho struggled desperately to keep one step ahead with the slight delays in his response.

Eventually, it was inevitable that one of them would slip, Nikolai slipped past those stone arms and struck Jericho square in the face. His head whipped back and crashed into the body of the humanoid standing behind him. It wasn't enough, not nearly enough, Nikolai thought. He needed to win this match, dominate this match, he needed to prove his worth to everyone watching from the stands. Jericho wasn't someone to be trifled with, there was no telling what he might pull if he still had the strength to fight- that's what he told himself. He grabbed onto Jericho's face, brought it back, and with a violent twist he slammed his head against the stone, cracking it, and ending the match.