Primordial Heir: Nine Stars

The sky still shimmered with streaks of fire where they had fought, but the battlefield shifted. With a final clash that sent a shockwave across the barrier, Nero and Elreth broke apart, wings flaring before folding back. Slowly, almost in unison, they descended, touching down on the scarred training ground.

The earth was scorched, cracks glowing faintly where their flames had melted stone. Both warriors dismissed their weapons, steel dissolving into sparks.

For a moment, they just stood there.

Breathing heavy. Shoulders rising and falling. Grins on their faces that mirrored one another.

Their eyes met, and in that instant, no words were needed.

It was time to fight barehanded.

Flames burst from their fists and feet, each enveloped in their Law of Fire. The air shimmered with heat, distorting everything around them.

Then—crack—the ground exploded beneath their feet as they launched at the same time.

The first collision was a fist against fist. Fire erupted like a cannon blast, rippling out in concentric rings that rattled the barrier. The audience staggered back, shielding themselves from the heat that pressed down like the heart of a forge.

Nero twisted, throwing a high kick wreathed in fire. Elreth ducked, flames searing over her head, and countered with a sweeping leg strike. Nero blocked with his shin, and when their limbs met, it was like molten steel colliding—sparks flew in every direction.

The two blurred into motion. Punches, kicks, elbows, knees—each blow enhanced by fire, each strike detonating with explosive force. They didn't just fight; they danced in destruction.

"Ha!" Elreth roared, spinning into a fiery roundhouse.

Nero leaned back, the heel of her foot missing by a breath, then drove his palm forward. Fire surged from his strike, blasting her backward across the field. But Elreth landed smoothly, wings of flame flickering briefly to stabilize her before vanishing again.

She grinned, her orange eyes blazing.

"Good! This is what I wanted!"

Nero didn't bother replying. He lunged.

His fist drove forward like a meteor, flames spiraling around it. Elreth caught it with her forearm, her skin glowing with prana reinforcement, and countered with an uppercut that lifted him off the ground. Nero twisted midair, flipping to land on his feet, and immediately dashed back in.

The audience could barely keep up. Lux's eyes gleamed, analyzing every movement, while Adam leaned forward, knuckles white against his chair. Even Azalea, usually quick to roll her eyes, was transfixed.

Every clash left new craters in the ground. The once-smooth training floor was now a battlefield of shattered stone and glowing embers.

At one point, Elreth ducked low and swept her leg, her flaming kick tearing through the ground like a blade. Nero leapt over it, twisting in midair, and came down with a double axe-kick. She blocked with both arms crossed above her head—only for the impact to drive her into the ground, stone cracking beneath her boots.

She pushed him off with a fiery burst, spinning out of the crater with laughter.

"You're not holding back anymore, are you?"

Nero wiped sweat from his brow, smirking.

"Wasn't planning to."

Then they clashed again.

Fist against fist. Foot against foot. The barrier screamed under the pressure, golden threads of prana stretching thin as it regenerated faster than ever.

A spinning elbow from Nero nearly grazed Elreth's cheek, the flames licking across her skin. She retaliated with a knee strike, fire erupting with the impact against his ribs. Nero winced, but countered instantly with a brutal headbutt, flames sparking between them.

It was savage. Relentless. Neither one giving an inch.

Finally, both jumped back, chest heaving, fire still dancing wildly across their bodies. The ground around them was utterly destroyed—burnt black, shattered, and littered with glowing fragments.

They stared at each other through the haze of smoke and firelight, both smiling, both trembling with exhilaration.

"…Again?" Elreth asked, tilting her head, flames rising along her arms.

Nero rolled his shoulders, his crimson eyes narrowing, a dangerous smile tugging his lips. "Until we break this stage."

And so, they lunged once more—two warriors wrapped in fire, fists and kicks clashing in a storm of martial fury, reducing everything around them to ash.

The spar had already destroyed the training ground, but when they summoned their weapons again, the atmosphere shifted into something heavier—something primal.

Nero gripped his longsword, flame surging along the blade until it roared like a living inferno. His crimson eyes glowed ominously, narrow slits of heat and focus. The air around him shimmered, warping under the sheer intensity of his prana.

Elreth's spear spun in her hands, whistling with each turn before she planted her feet. Behind her, flames surged high into the sky, swirling upward until they coalesced into the majestic image of a phoenix. Its wings spread wide, feathers burning brighter than the sun, its cry echoing across the battlefield like a hymn of fire.

The barrier shuddered. Everyone watching leaned forward, their expressions taut with awe and disbelief.

"This…" Adam muttered, sweat dripping down his brow, "…isn't sparring anymore."

Khione's ice-blue eyes narrowed. Even she, unmoved by most battles, felt the heat pressing against her skin like a warning.

Azalea clenched her fists, heart hammering.

"That flame… she's serious."

Lux, ever calm, only smiled faintly. "And Nero hasn't even shown his true hand yet."

Elreth lifted her spear high, her orange eyes blazing with raw excitement. Prana surged through her body, flames gathering at the spear's tip until it burned white-hot. The phoenix behind her shrieked, wings beating, its form feeding power into her Law. The temperature soared so high that the barrier warped visibly, cracks spreading before golden threads stitched them back together.

She roared, voice thick with battle lust.

"Burn away everything, Nero!"

Then she leapt, the phoenix screaming with her, diving as one. Her spear descended like divine judgment, flames trailing like a comet.

Nero's lips curled into a dangerous smirk. His chest rose and fell, sweat rolling down his temples, but his crimson eyes glowed brighter than ever.

"…Fine."

He tightened his grip on his sword. Flames erupted along the blade, wrapping it in molten light. But that wasn't all. His pupils shifted, glowing deeper, crimson runes spinning faintly within them. For the first time in front of others, Nero invoked the true gift of his eyes.

The world shifted.

Through his eyes, the Law of Fire was no longer wild, chaotic flame—it became threads, luminous lines of prana interwoven into patterns. He could see the structure itself, the very skeleton of fire. Elreth's ultimate attack was a river of energy flowing into her spear, tethered to the phoenix. Beautiful. Powerful. But now, vulnerable.

His vision narrowed dangerously. His sword trembled as if alive.

"…Let's cut this."

He slashed.

Not at Elreth. Not at the phoenix.

But at the thread of prana itself.

The sound was indescribable, like glass shattering inside the soul. The phoenix's cry broke mid-scream, its form unraveling into embers. The radiant energy at the tip of Elreth's spear sputtered, then died, vanishing like a candle snuffed out.

The entire arena froze.

Elreth landed hard, her spear clanging against the ground, eyes wide in disbelief. The flames that had moments ago threatened to engulf everything were gone—canceled, stripped away like they had never existed.

Gasps erupted from the sidelines. Adam nearly fell from his seat. Azalea's jaw clenched tight, her pupils shrinking. Khione raised her brows ever so slightly, for once betraying surprise. Lux… Lux only chuckled quietly, his eyes shining with interest.

"…What… did you just do?" Elreth's voice shook—not from fear, but from the raw shock of her Law being cut apart.

Nero lowered his blade, crimson eyes still glowing faintly with that terrifying vision. He tilted his head, offering her the same smirk as before.

"Guess your flames weren't as absolute as you thought."

He didn't explain. He wouldn't.

But the fight wasn't over.

Elreth's spear shook in her grip as her shock turned into laughter. Slowly, her lips curved into a feral smile, her eyes blazing hotter than ever.

"…You dare cancel my fire? Fine, Nero, let's see!"

Flames erupted around her once more, raw and untamed. This time, she didn't summon a phoenix. This time, she embodied it herself. Her hair whipped violently in the heat, her figure outlined in a fiery aura that burned brighter than before.

Nero's crimson eyes narrowed, and his sword lifted again, fire dancing along its edge.

And once more, the two charged.

The ground split beneath them as they clashed again, each strike thunderous, each movement shattering stone and air alike. Firestorms rose around their bodies, spinning into whirlwinds. Every slash of Nero's sword tore fiery crescents through the battlefield; every thrust of Elreth's spear exploded like volcanic eruptions.

Though she no longer had her phoenix, Elreth fought harder, faster, driven by pure excitement. And Nero, now armed with eyes that could see the skeleton of her flames, parried her every strike, weaving through destruction with surgical precision.

The arena became a warzone of fire and fury.

And yet, both of them smiled.

The result was her defeat again.

''Shh! I learn what you were hiding I'll make sure of it.'' Elreth wasn't going to give up, that mysterious power to disrupt the Law was unheard, at least not this way. There must be something. But Nero didn't use it again, he won fair and square.

Lux and the others were interested as well but seeing Nero not bringing up anything they choose not too.