'Is it going to hold.' Marcus thought, watching the protective magic around the arena crumbling in the wake of Malika's Holy Thunder Sword Unique Skill.
Thankfully it seemed that Aezam had applied the absolute best defensive enchantments that they could to the arena, as eventually even Malika's attack was pushed back by the barriers protecting the audience.
This was certainly impressive, as these devices had just withstood an attack unique skill from a level eighty warrior.
However, the ring itself had seen better days, and the small gash Mrazivy had sliced into it was not even comparable to the damage it had just taken.
Even the enchanted adamantine had been melted by the golden lightning and along the attack's path the ring was heavily warped.
Except one spot was still perfectly fine, and that was where Zilre and Igna were standing.
Zilre's shield looked worse for wear and was definitely ruined, but neither she nor her sister seemed to have taken much damage despite how devastating Malika's attack had been.
"I am really glad we entered this tournament now. I cannot wait to fight either duo." Mrazivy said, practically buzzing with excitement.
It was rare for them to be able to fight such powerful opponents in a friendly match, and of course, Mrazivy enjoyed testing her skills against other experts quite a bit.
Marcus was also looking forward to it, but he did not relish in battle nearly as much as his wife.
After Zilre and Igna had tanked Malika's attack unique skill the match continued to rage on for nearly ten more minutes before a clear advantage could be seen.
The duo representing the Hayil Clan started to overwhelm the beastwoman twins.
Kaleem and Malik's unique skills were just a bit more suited to battle than Zilre's and Igna's.
This allowed the husband-and-wife pair to slowly beat the sisters who were suffering from several slight injuries at this point.
Except there was a power that the twins had been holding back on using that drastically increased their powers when it was activated.
'So, they finally went ahead and used it. I suppose they were bound to lose otherwise.' Marcus thought, watching the twin leopard beastwomen undergo drastic changes.
Almost all evolved beast people had a race ability that awakened their bestial powers and the higher their evolution the more powerful this transformation was.
Marcus had seen both Treasa and Lyra use this power in the past for explosive increases in power.
Treasa as a tungsten tiger gained enhanced strength and grew more fur on her body that added a powerful layer of protection.
Lyra's awakening on the other hand was far more powerful. Her being a golden fox beastperson put her at the equivalent of a mythic grade beast and she had several race abilities that were as strong as unique skills.
As for Zilre and Igna, their awakenings were not quite at the level of Lyra's, but only a step below it.
Each one of them was a different type of evolved leopard beast person with Zilre being a magma leopard and Igna being a phantom leopard.
Once the awakening transformation had completed, Zilre's spots had become red hot, and her body had increased in size by around seventy percent. Making her already normally large form that was two meters tall nearly three and a half meters tall.
Igna though had actually disappeared from view. She had already blended in well with her surroundings as if she always had some level of concealment around her, but now she had become fully invisible and intangible. An ability that was normally reserved only for spirits and ghosts.
Nevertheless, while most could not hope to see Igna anymore, Marcus using his spiritual energy to enhance his eyes was able to make her out just fine.
Now that the beastwoman twins were exercising the full power of their races, the battle turned once again in their favor.
Zilre's already high strength stat had soared and whenever her club stuck the stage a pool of magma erupted around the area.
Igna, however, was definitely the more difficult opponent for Kaleem and Malika.
While both of them could use spiritual energy, their level of expertise with the difficult skill was rudimentary.
It took them both a great deal of focus to just to challenge the energy into their eyes to attempt to keep track of Igna. Trying to enhance their weapons as well took too much effort for them to do while having to also focus on not being crushed or burned by Zilre.
Eventually Igna's claw blades scored a hit against Malika's neck and blood began pouring out of her.
Thanks to having the regeneration skill this randomly fatal wound was not going to kill her, but she was unable to defend herself for several moments after taking the hit and Zilre slammed her club into the defenseless woman.
Malika flew across the arena until she impacted the barrier, and she slid down it and collapsed onto the floor unmoving.
With one look Marcus could tell that Malika had several shattered bones all throughout her body, along with some intense burns from the blazing aura Zilre was generating.
Kaleem tried to avenge his wife's defeat as best he could, but in a two on one battle he did not last long before Igna had used her blade claws to cut through several of his muscles and prevent him from moving around properly.
In the end Kaleem was deemed unable to continue and the leopard beast woman twins Zilre and Igna were announced as the winners.
The crowd in the arena went absolutely wild with cheering at the end of this battle. Among all the matches so far during the Muharib Festival, it had been the most intense and explosive. Creating a truly amazing spectacle even for those that could not fully grasp what had occurred during the battle.
"So, do you two think you stand a chance against them?" Jamal asked, a smirk on his face.
Despite it being in the best interest of his clan if Marcus and Mrazivy won, he was hoping that they would express some fear here at the overwhelming display of power that Zilre and Igna had demonstrated.
"It will be tough, but I am certain we can stand on equal footing with them." Mrazivy said, not a hint of terror in her expression or tone.
Jamal grimaced at this response, and it looked like he was going to try and goad them again, when Akeem interrupted.
"I am sure that our two esteemed guests will do perfectly fine. Bashir has already given me his assertion that both of them are just as powerful as he is."
Hearing this Jamal froze with his mouth hung wide open. Before all he knew was that they were strong but having them compared directly to the Eazim Clan's top warrior really put just how powerful they both were into perspective.
This finally seemed to shut Jamal up and he made his presence small. Now he knew that if he really pissed Marcus and Mrazivy off, that even his clan's best fighter would not be able to protect him against both of them.
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