Chapter 717 Hidden Intent
His sword swept horizontally, aimed at the woman's exposed mid-section. But instead of evading the blow, Phoenix spun the glaive like the blades of a windmill, and slammed the blade against her opponents, producing a deafening sound.
The feeling of the collision took aback Ulrick. This was fire, yet it felt like his sword had hit steel.
'How condensed did she get those flames?!' he wondered, bewildered.
But he didn't have much time to ponder. The glaive was already on the move again, rotating from vertically to horizontally, in a collision course with his neck.
Ulrick was fast enough to bend backward, escaping from the weapon, but he felt the flames lick at his face. Even just the proximity of the weapon shaved a bit of his health away.
"Good! This is great!" Ulrick shouted, spinning on his back foot, before launching a kick at Phoenix's stomach.
Phoenix managed to bring the shaft of her conjured weapon in front of the attack just in time, but hadn't expected such a powerful push. The kick impacted the weapon, and her entire body lifted off the ground, starting to fly back.
Fortunately for her, Phoenix was no stranger to flying, and she wasn't about to become an easy target.
Ulrick chased after her, jumping forward, and slashing his sword in a downward arc. But before his weapon could find purchase, Phoenix's body had already shifted sideways, and with a flourish and spin, she went to slam her glaive into his exposed back.
However, just like Rodney earlier, Ulrick's sword suddenly shifted to his back, laying flat against it, and absorbing the hit.
Phoenix expected him to rocket away since she put quite a bit of force into that attack, but just like her, Ulrick wasn't against fighting off the ground. He shifted forward a few feet before spinning and kicking on the air itself, dashing forward once more.
The fight went from the ground to the sky instantly, and already the young Mana Knights outside the arena were uttering oohs and ahhs. They rarely saw the guardian of their family fight, and even less often saw someone go toe to toe with him.
This was rarer than meeting a mythical creature.
Inside the arena, or rather, over it, Phoenix and Ulrick were going at each other with the ferocity of two tigers fighting over a mountain. But their faces showed no aggression.
Both of them were all smiles, enjoying every clash, every spell fired, and every injury taken. They had shifted from a pure melee fight to a mix of melee and ranged attacks.
Phoenix showed superior control over her magic, over Ulrick, but the man was much more powerful, in terms of raw power.
And with the fight stretching on, Phoenix could feel the power in her regalia start to flicker. She was running on fumes already.
From the sidelines, Rodney was watching with rapt attention. Both the might of his queen, but also the moves his father employed, made him realize he still had so much to learn.
Unfortunately for him, the human lifespan was far from the longest thing. And from his traits alone, he already looked older than his father in certain aspects.
He wondered if he would ever be as strong as him. If he could ever say he surpassed his father, a guardian of Themiscus, proudly.
From the other side of the coliseum, Elias, who had finally come to completely, was watching in awe. Rarely had he seen a woman so powerful outside of his mother.
If she hadn't been with another, he would have asked her to marry him outright. Of course, his mother would have never let him.
In Themiscan society, a man married into a woman's family, not the other way around. So he would have to leave the kingdom. His mother would never allow it.
Also, there was the man she was with, who he wasn't sure why, but felt a visceral fear when he locked eyes with. Like his soul was crying to him, not to confront him.
Next to him, his sister was also watching with rapt attention, but for some different reason altogether.
'She will eventually weaken. She might be strong now, but she can't stay like that forever. There is no way. When she goes weak, it'll be my chance. I will teach her that no one talks to a Lorhen woman like she did. Not without facing the consequences.'
Astaroth suddenly felt uneasy.
'What's this ominous feeling? The fight has stayed fair this whole time. Why do I feel like something bad is going to happen?'
He looked around, seeing everyone looking at the fight with focus, and wondered where his unease was stemming from.
Up in the air, Ulrick could feel Phoenix's attacks weakening by the second and knew it was time to put an end to it.
"Alright, we've had our fun. Time to end this!" he shouted, suddenly flashing forward.
He appeared right behind Phoenix, his sword already in motion. Phoenix blocked the strike with her glaive but felt herself lurch forward.
'This is so much more powerful than his other strikes! Has he been holding back?'
Again, Ulrick disappeared, reappearing before her, and slashing.
Phoenix barely managed to bring her weapon back to the front and felt the attack go into the haft of her glaive. It was starting to lose solidity.
With another step, Ulrick was now to her left. The attack this time smacked Phoenix's weapon away as it dissipated.
Ulrick rotated his body in mid-air, going from a horizontal slash to an overhead chop.
Phoenix's eyes widened as she brought both her arms before her, wrapping them in heavily condensed flames, hoping it would block the blow.
The sword hit the small fire shield she conjured and catapulted her toward the ground. In her focus to strengthen her defence, she had let go of her attention to maintaining a stable flight.
As she flew down toward the ground, that was when Mariah made her move.
Her eyes gleamed with malice, and her killing intent pulsed inside the arena.
"Die!" she screamed, raising her hand toward the arena floor, where a plethora of ice spikes appeared, sharp and ready to catch Phoenix.
The next moment flashed by, every onlooker suddenly holding their breath.
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