NOVEL NEXT Chapter 201: Duels [7]
A low hum vibrated across the training grounds as the tension thickened.
On one side, Kai stood atop Stromeon, daggers drawn, eyes sharp beneath his messy black bangs.
Lightning arced across the Thunder Drake's blue-scaled hide, radiating static energy into the air like a living storm waiting to burst.
Across the iced arena, Lira stood with quiet composure.
Her Platinum-silver hair fluttered gently in the breeze.
Beside her coiled Snow, the Crystalline Frost Serpent.
Her body now grown to match Stromeon's, shimmering like glass forged from ancient glaciers. Her eyes glowed a bright hue of blue, and her breath was cold enough to fog the air around her.
Then—
CRACK!
Lightning burst as Kai jumped off Stromeon's back, boots landing hard on the ice.
"Let's go."
WHOOSH!
Kai vanished with a blur.
[<Ghost Steps!>]
The faint shimmer of his shadow flickered like smoke.
He zipped toward Lira's left flank, blades ready, leaving brief afterimages behind.
But Lira didn't flinch.
[<Frost Pulse!>]
She slammed her palm into the ground.
BOOM!
A circular pulse of freezing air erupted around her. Frost exploded outward like a shockwave, sharp enough to crack ice and pierce flesh.
Kai's instincts screamed.
[<Warding Veil!>]
A faint, translucent veil shimmered around him just as the blast hit.
Ice daggers struck his barrier, splintering on impact, but the force knocked him back a few meters.
"Tch." He skidded, barely keeping his balance.
But it was enough of an opening.
Lira advanced with her ice-forged blade in hand. Sleek, elegant, deadly.
She slashed a diagonal arc meant to hamstring.
But Kai dipped low.
[<Phantom Slash!>]
A faint blur followed his dagger, slashing forward in a ghostly crescent arc. Lira's blade intercepted.
Clang!
The clash sent a shock of cold running up Kai's arm.
The field cracked beneath them.
Meanwhile—
The two beasts moved.
GAWRRAHHH!
Stromeon roared, claws slamming into the ice as he charged at the Frost Serpent.
Snow hissed, coiling tight, then shot forward like a spring loosed from a trap.
CLASH!
Drake and serpent collided.
Stromeon's horns sparked with electricity as he clamped down on Snow's neck, but the serpent twisted with inhuman speed and countered with a tail sweep.
[<Glacial Whip!>]
Her crystalline tail glowed and slammed into Stromeon's flank with explosive force.
CRACK!
He grunted and dug his claws into the frozen ground, holding steady, then retaliated.
[<Thunder Lancer!>]
CRACK-KA-THOOM!
His tail sparked, crackling like a bolt forged from lightning, and he rammed it like a javelin into Snow's chest.
Sparks exploded. The serpent reeled back, hissing.
Kai spun away from Lira's next attack, but his footing slipped slightly on the ice.
'Damn it! This damn field!'
She didn't waste the opening.
[<Icicle Bloom!>]
She stomped once.
Beneath Kai's feet, the ice shattered into needle-like spikes that burst upward.
[<Stealth!>]
Kai dropped into a roll and vanished mid-motion, fading into the shadows of the mist-covered ice.
Lira paused, eyes narrowed.
"Where—"
SLASH!
A dagger came at her from behind, she parried just in time, but Kai was already twisting away, slashing low—
A small cut opened on her hip.
But Lira didn't flinch.
[<Hailguard Armor!>]
Shimmering fragments of snow and ice wrapped around her like floating shards. They hovered, spinning slowly in a defense system made of jagged death.
Kai's brow twitched.
'She's layering defenses now. Tch… this is getting worse.'
The roar of beasts echoed again.
Stromeon lunged with a headbutt, jaws crackling.
[<Thunder Roar!>]
A concussive blast of thunder erupted from his throat, sending a ripple through the field.
Snow was launched back, smashing into the ice wall with a sickening thud, before coiling defensively and hissing with rage.
[<Frost Mirage!>]
The serpent's body split—or seemed to.
Three serpents now slithered in sync, all identical.
Stromeon bared his teeth.
"Oi! Focus!" Kai shouted at his partner.
The drake nodded once, storm crackling along his back.
Back to the two humans—
Kai lunged again, holding his daggers in reverse grip.
He aimed for a blind spot, her side, at the mid-guard.
But she reacted, fast.
[<Frozen Bind!>]
Ice surged up from the ground to latch onto his ankle.
Kai's momentum froze mid-strike.
Lira slashed in a wide arc with her blade glowing pale-blue.
Kai crossed his daggers.
CLANG!
The impact sent him flying, tumbling across the frozen ground.
His back scraped the edge of the arena.
He coughed, a smear of blood formed on his lip.
'Fuck… she's reading my tempo too.'
He stood up slowly, twirling his daggers, breathing heavily.
Across the battlefield, Lira stood tall, face unreadable.
Kai spat blood, then smirked.
Lira blinked, sensing the shift in posture.
Crack—crackle!
Electricity began to pulse beneath Kai's skin.
As from the sides—
[<Static Field!>]
Stromeon released a pulse of electromagnetic energy that rippled outward, coating the ground around him.
Snow hissed in confusion.
The illusion serpents flickered.
One vanished.
Another too.
Now only one remained.
The real one.
Kai's eyes flashed.
[<Falcon Sight!>]
His pupils narrowed, everything slowed.
His vision locked onto the weak points, muscle tension, breath rhythm, shift in her hips.
Her left leg slightly back, preparing for another cast.
His breath slowed.
And then he was gone.
[<Ghost Steps!>]
The shadows devoured him.
Lira tensed—
THUNK!
A dagger struck her pauldron, not aimed to pierce, but to bait.
She turned just in time to see—
Nothing.
SLASH!
But she wasn't finished.
[<Glacier Wall!>]
WHAM!
A slab of ice erupted between them, forcing Kai to leap back.
The others held their breath.
Stromeon snarled, thunder still crackling across his hide.
Across the ice, the Crystalline Frost Serpent stared him down with silent, inhuman patience. Her glassy scales pulsed with cold light.
Kai flicked a dagger, eyes scanning for another opening.
But this time—
Lira didn't wait.
She raised both hands.
[<Frozen Halo!>]
A crown of ice shards formed above her head, each one glowing like a deadly icicle blade. They spun, then launched toward Kai with pinpoint speed.
[<Ghost Steps!>]
Kai blurred left, but his foot slid. The frozen terrain betrayed him again.
One shard clipped his shoulder, slicing open a line of red through his jacket.
He barely regained footing before a second barrage rained down.
[<Warding Veil!>]
The veil shimmered, holding—for now.
But Lira wasn't done.
[<Arctic Chains!>]
Frosty-blue runes flared beneath Kai's feet.
SHHHHHRRKK!
Chains of jagged ice erupted upward, snaring his left leg.
"Shit!"
Before he could cut himself free, she was already moving.
With swift, dancer-like steps, Lira charged, her blade trailing frost behind her like a comet's tail.
Kai twisted, slashing downward—
CLANG!
He got thrown back.
Another chain burst from beneath him.
He ducked, rolled, barely dodging, only for her foot to slam into his ribs.
CRACK!
He flew backward, tumbling like a ragdoll across the ice.
Blood stained his lips. He coughed, chest seizing.
Stromeon roared, slamming his tail down.
[<Thunder Roar!>]
A concussive wave of pure sound rushed at Lira.
She raised her hand calmly.
[<Frostveil Aegis!>]
A dome of shimmering frost enveloped her.
The thunder crashed into it, echoing violently, but the dome held.
Cracks formed, but didn't break.
When it dropped, she was already casting.
[<Mirror Spike Bloom!>]
Dozens of sharp ice mirrors floated into the air around her, shimmering with jagged, blade-like edges.
Each reflected Kai's struggling form.
Each reflected a beast locked in combat.
And then—
BOOM!
She pointed.
"Crush him."
The mirrors launched, spiraling down like a swarm of icy saws.
Kai flared his eyes.
[<Stealth!>]
He vanished, but too late. One mirror clipped his thigh mid-blink.
Blood sprayed.
He stumbled.
Lira closed the gap.
He barely raised his daggers before she broke his guard with a heavy overhand slash.
Her sword cleaved down, then kicked him square in the chest.
"Ungh!"
He crashed onto his back, arms trembling, breath ragged.
"You're fast," she murmured, her tone distant. "But not smart."
A sharp whistle echoed across the field.
The serpent responded instantly.
[<Glacial Surge!>]
Snow's body twisted, then began to grow. Her body stretched and thickened, ice flowing into her frame as if feeding her from the very field they stood upon.
From two meters.
To four.
To six.
Her coils now monstrous, muscle forged into one glistening nightmare.
Stromeon roared, charging—
Too slow.
WHUMP!
The serpent struck like lightning.
[<Coilbind!>]
Her massive body wrapped around Stromeon before he could react.
One coil around his midsection. Another up his back. A third around his throat.
"RRRGHHHRR!" Stromeon snarled, his thunder gathering—
But.
She squeezed.
CRACK!
His bones cracked.
Kai's heart dropped.
"NO!"
He tried to rush forward—
But.
[<Frozen Grasp!>]
too late.
Ice surged up from below, this time wrapping around his ankles, then his wrists.
"Ghh! Dammit!"
Then it climbed his spine.
His arms locked behind him. His knees buckled.
He was immobile.
The serpent tightened further.
Stromeon thrashed, trying to use his Thunder Lancer—
But his tail was trapped.
His roars turned to gasps, oxygen forced from his lungs as the serpent squeezed the air out of him.
Kai tried one last time to resist, his arms trembling, muscles straining.
Lira walked toward him slowly, blade dragging against the ice with a low, grating sound.
Her expression was blank.
Empty.
Like the cold itself had taken human shape.
When she reached him, she stopped just inches away.
Her eyes scanned him.
"You're done."
Her sword lifted.
She pressed it against his throat.
A fine line of red opened.
A slow trickle of blood dripped down his neck and into his collar.
"Finish it, Snow."
The serpent gave a final hiss, and slammed Stromeon's head into the frozen ground.
THUD!
Then slowly, she began to unwind from the broken drake's body, leaving behind a steaming, panting form twitching with the last remnants of thunder.
Then Lira turned back to Kai.
Her blade at his throat.
Blood dripping.
And that terrifying calm in her eyes.
Kai gritted his teeth.
"I yield."