I regressed and became the Sword Ice King

The bright smiles from the audience and the cries of excitement completely filled the arena in a euphoric atmosphere as the loud clanging of metal against metal echoed.

The sun had begun to descend while dark clouds hid its brilliant rays from the people. Time was ticking, and with it, the battle was concluding.

A loud clunk echoed as the two demi-humans retreated a safe distance away from each other.

"...This is getting boring…" Darell muttered as he panted lightly.

Time was running quickly, but it seemed they had not yet reached a conclusion in their battle. Two of the torsos were halved, and three of his weapons were destroyed.

"....." Mariam stared at him in silence. Her aura had changed. She had transformed from a naive girl to a warrior princess, which was evident as she held her trident with grace.

"....I haven't seen you use the harp yet," she said, noticing how the torso that held the harp had remained unarmed during their continuous encounter.

"..." He scoffed as his lips curled into a grin. "Nice of you to notice…"

The torso suddenly moved in a bizarre manner as it played a single tune from the harp.

A bright green light emitted from his body, and his wounds began to heal at a rapid rate.

"..." Mariam stared in disbelief. It may have seemed that they were equal in abilities at first, but upon closer observation, it was clear where Darell lacked compared to her. He seemed more exhausted than she was, and she seemed full of life compared to him, but this… this completely tipped the scales to Darell's side.

'Not just his mana, but the torsos too that I destroyed are regenerating.'

She scoffed as a bitter smile crossed her lips. "Tell me. What sort of technique have the elves been hiding from us?" she asked with a raised brow. The elves were known for their connection to spirits and nature, but never for their bizarre techniques.

"...It was you people that assumed…. We elves like to achieve greatness through our abilities as well," he said with a smirk as he took a step forward, invigorated by new energy. "Years ago, a prince of the past king of the elves with destruction attributes decided that he needed something more to stand out from the others. Elves are naturally gifted at something, regardless of what it is."

"...True…" Mariam replied, swinging her trident around as she took deep breaths at the same time. The inevitable was anticipated, and she didn't wish to be a second too late.

"Then? What do you think he did?" he muttered, with a haughty tone. "Prince Krimson was his name. He wanted to make use of the five heavenly weapons granted to us by the goddess of nature: the sword that brings down evil, the spear that stabs the darkness, the arrows that shoot through the shadows of life, the harp that brings life and the mage's staff that commands the power of the goddess."

"...I see… and this monstrosity was created…" Mariam said as her gaze followed every movement of Darell as he closed the distance between them.

"Yes. The 5 Golden Weapon Body… each with its own essence."

His presence suddenly disappeared from her radar, sending high alerts to her brain as she suddenly pulled her trident up, blocking an incoming sword attack from Darell above.

'...When did he?!' she thought to herself when he suddenly disappeared again. Her eyes began to rotate vertically as she searched for his next appearance, locating

it almost in an instant.

She grabbed her trident and struck the series of incoming arrows when she heard a loud seething noise like a rushing volcano.

"You seem full of life," she muttered as she jumped into the air vertically and stabbed her staff into the ground. "Ocean Call."

Water sprung out in large amounts around her, protecting her from the seething red lava that poured continuously from the mouth of the flame dragon, Ignis.

'I thought it was gone ?' she thought to herself, perplexed by its sudden appearance.

Loud hissing sounds and the explosion of hard rocks began to occur as steam emitted when the lava made contact with the water in large amounts.

"How long can you fight for, princess? I have an endless supply of mana," Darell said with a smirk as he floated in the air atop his flame spirit.

"...Funny you should mention that!" Her voice echoed in the arena, followed by a loud explosion and propulsion of the air as she jumped out of the water straight into the air at an impossible speed, grabbing Darell by his face.

"You should stay where you belong, no?" she said, attempting to grab him by his face when three torsos grabbed her with one of their hands.

"...." She cursed, unable to move, but then an explosion of blue mana surged around her as she clenched her grip on his face.

"....Ha! Ha…Ha Ke Ke Ke…" Darell chuckled as more of his torsos grabbed her, one after the other, increasing the pressure of their grip.

"You are the one not staying where you belong, or does the sky look like the ocean now?!" Darell said as he raised his arm up and blew her down to the ground with a loud sonic explosion. Experience tales at empire

She grunted in pain as she coughed out blood, creating a large crater in the arena.

"...Give up, princess," he said with a smile as he folded his hands. "I admit that you are someone not to be looked down upon… and as such, I respect you… but you cannot win this battle."

His words had meaning. Though Mariam had found a way multiple times, she couldn't find it this time. Her chance of winning was getting slimmer and slimmer with each passing second… unless she had something that could possibly tip the favor to her side.

"...Well. You may be right," Mariam replied as she slowly stood back up, dusting off the black rocks from her body.

Her white one-piece had turned into a disfigured muddy red color as blood dribbled down at different parts of her body.

Her eyes still full of life despite the difficulty and the pain she had encountered sent a message to the congregation as a whole.

"The Warriors of the Sea only bow to the powerful."

She swung her trident around rigorously, using more power than she had ever used. A loud twirling noise like a fan set to its highest began to fill the arena.

She took a step forward as her mighty trident began to glow blue while the water around her began to gather.

The yin and yang glowed bright blue, and her crown slowly liquefied, flowing towards her trident.

"7th Primordial Ocean Technique."

"...Who could have known…" Darell muttered, his eyes bulging open in shock as the torso with the armor suddenly raised its arms, forming a massive golden dome around him. "Still… that won't be enough."

The water had begun to rotate with her trident, and the power that swelled up began to increase steadily, causing sonic explosions and creating a deep crater below her.

"Twirl Strike."

She swung her trident with speed and might, causing an eruption of explosions that would have blown a duplex off its foundation within seconds.

It projected towards Darell before he could make sense of what to do next, and a loud explosion occurred as it collided with his dome.

BOOM!

It struck, twirling ferociously as it attempted to permeate through the dome to get to him.

"This bitch till the very end!" he cried out in annoyance as more domes protected him within the dome he had once created.

It struck each of them one after the other, with almighty force and an unrepelled urge to go further.

Darell could tell that this was going to be the end if he did not attempt something else.

'Why?! Why did the mermaids not show this power all this time?' he thought to himself as he stretched his arms forward, and all five torsos followed after him.

"...Well… every clan has something to hide. To protect themselves when necessary."

And ironically enough, so did the elves.

"Spirit Elf Magic, Chapter 8."

A grimoire suddenly appeared, and all five weapons floated above his head.

"...Wind Superposition."

The grimoire made a noise. An evident noise. Like a loud screech or the echo of the wind or the tremors of thunder.

No one was sure what it was, but it took control over the arena in a single sweep.

A wind so strong that it completely blew the ground roots of the arena immediately upon being called upon.

The lights dimmed and disappeared, and a wild green wind shook the arena with might. The water had been blown away, causing deep cracks in the walls of the arena.

The audience section had taken cover, and the dome protecting them was fortified.

The wind continued to blow its might, crying out ferociously in the setting sun.

Time was ticking, and a winner was soon to be acknowledged.