Princess’s Struggle for Survival

Dust scattered in the air across the arena, so thick that even breathing carried a distinct earthy scent.

Lyra straightened her legs, peering through the haze at the purple-haired girl not far away. She tightened her grip on the Sword of Light, while at the same time, a sharp stinging pain flared across the skin on her right side.

Slightly twisting her wrist, she looked down, no expected abrasions or broken skin appeared. Instead, the inherently fair skin had turned completely red, as if struck by some invisible force.

A Master Knight's externalized mental power could become a sharp blade capable of cutting and piercing, or transform into a heavy blunt instrument like a hammer or chisel. The sword KI Iris materialized through mental force undoubtedly belongs to the former category. Beyond its razor-sharp edge, the surging, turbulent wind field acts like an immensely powerful hammer, merely touching a fragment of it would leave one feeling as if heavily struck.

Just a single barely perceptible ripple from that sword KI… was enough to inflict this level of injury...

Lyra's brief moment of respite ended. Iris swung her sword again. The girl desperately dodged the oncoming blade, and to prevent her limbs from being crushed by the wind pressure, softly chanted a spell, imbuing the Sword of Light with a trace amount of wind-element particles.

A Magnus's mental energy possesses higher quality than that of an ordinary Sorcerer, allowing them to draw in more elemental particles. Not to mention Iris, being a royal princess, naturally had high innate affinity with the wind element.

As a peak tier Sorcerer one rank lower, this was all Lyra could manage.

Dodging Iris's attack once more, Lyra closed the distance further. Watching the pink-haired girl attempt to interrupt her swing, Iris's gaze stiffened slightly. The oppressive wind field, previously akin to a heavy hammer, suddenly transformed into blades capable of shredding prey.

If Lyra took just one more step forward, defenseless as she was, defeat would be inevitable.

Within her elemental vision, Lyra also suddenly noticed the change in the form of the wind element particles around Iris's blade. She immediately abandoned her advance, and softly began chanting.

"Pure light that wraps the world, mother of shadows, foundation of all creation…"

This was a common prefix for many light-element spells. Generally, these few lines alone weren't enough to determine what spell the caster intended to release.

Yet, based on Iris's combat analysis of Lyra, then light-element area spell, facing continuous aggression, the latter would most likely use the same special technique she used against Sentos.

A high-tier light-element spell, Flickering Light, Passing Shadow.

But… chanting the spell so openly, and getting this close?

Iris understood clearly that, given Lyra's mental energy quality, to include herself within the damage range of Flickering Light, Passing Shadow, Lyra had to close the spatial distance completely. But doing so also meant she'd be extremely vulnerable to interference.

Even if Iris didn't physically interrupt Lyra's casting, simply timing a Spell Counter properly, if successful, the reversed flow of magic at such proximity would easily backfire onto Lyra, potentially incapacitating her spellcasting ability.

Such a fundamental mistake… shouldn't be possible…

A flicker of doubt rose in Iris's mind. She narrowed her eyes, fingers tightening around her sword hilt, while silently chanting within.

In the audience, many who had watched both semifinal matches heard Lyra's soft chanting through the arena's amplification barrier. Countless spectators, like Iris, felt puzzled, eyes locked tightly on the two figures within the ring.

Lyra was the last remaining contestant from Elizabeth Academy of Magic. Although her raw strength was greatly inferior to Iris's, and almost no one expected her to win, a sense of national identity stirred a sliver of hope among most seated viewers.

Losing to Iris was acceptable, but not through such crude tactics. If Lyra could pull off another upset, just like defeating Sentz in the semifinals, that would be ideal.

The destructive wind field was nearly suffocating Lyra. In the blink of an eye, the girl had already completed the first half of Flickering Light, Passing Shadow. Meanwhile, Iris had finished preparing her own Spell Counter.

"…Please turn your mercy and love into a piercing blade."

The moment the words left her lips, Iris's Spell Counter circle simultaneously completed. At this instant, if she touched even a speck of light particles imbued with Lyra's mental energy, Iris's superior mental strength could easily nullify Flickering Light, Passing Shadow.

Once this spell failed, regardless of potential soul-level backlash, Lyra's mental energy would still be completely expended. Especially since she'd need to continue fighting a higher-ranked mage afterward, over-consuming mental energy would be nothing short of disastrous.

Arcane factors quietly disappeared within Iris's body, a flash of light flickering in her pale purple eyes.

Just as everyone assumed Lyra would be caught off guard, the girl continued chanting.

"Please purify all evil in this world…"

"…Drive back darkness and cold."

This was far longer than the initial recitation of Flickering Light, Passing Shadow that Lyra had first released before the crowd. The light-element particles, previously arranged in fixed patterns in the air, shifted once more under Lyra's chanting. The entire spell circle expanded outward from within.

Even many academy professors, aside from Astrid who sat calmly with prior knowledge, were surprised by Lyra's actions.

The spell Flickering Light, Passing Shadow wasn't even recorded in Elizabeth Academy of Magic's archives. Not only could Lyra cast it fully, she had extended and stitched together the incantation.

This confirms it as a spell Lyra had created herself.

The Flickering Light, Passing Shadow circle continued forming, but Iris's Spell Counter had already finished. Under the girl's clear, crisp voice, the gathered arcane instantly, making any further factors counter impossible.

The next second, the spell activated. Light and shadow intertwined, like dazzling sunbeams cast from the heavens to the earth, reflected on the lake like fleeting motes. Intense bright spots and dense dark patches instantly filled the space around Lyra.

Iris was confident, confident she could time her Spell Counter exactly at the moment Flickering Light, Passing Shadow finished. She had allocated an extremely short activation window for the spell, less than a second, just as she did in the semifinals.

Of course, even without shortening the Spell Counter incantation, the extended and amplified version of Flickering Light, Passing Shadow Lyra created would still allow her to endure those brief seconds.

Although there was a gap in raw power, in this fleeting psychological duel lasting only two or three breaths, Lyra had ultimately gained a slight edge.

Facing the destructive light spots, Iris sheathed her sword, switching offense to defense. The flowing wind that once surrounded her blade was replaced by transparent, solid ice.

An aggressive fighting style didn't mean Iris neglecting defense. When she noticed Lyra's actions were unusual, she had already prepared a secondary defense against Flickering Light, Passing Shadow.

The scorching-hot light particles melt the ice on contact, instantly generating a thin layer of white mist. Iris exhaled slightly; the sudden drop in temperature caused wisps of white vapor to form at her lips.

Then, the ice-encased Iris did something no one expected, she shot forward like an arrow loose from a bow, charging directly at Lyra, completely ignoring the floating light particles around her.

Seeing the sword engraved with strange patterns growing large before her eyes, Lyra quickly raised her blade to defend. Steel clashed, sparks flew. The residual wind on Iris's sword seemed to shatter upon impact, sharp wind blades instantly scattering in all directions.

Sensing danger, Lyra instinctively twisted her body to evade. As she rapidly withdrew, her boot heels carved a semicircle into the stone tiles. The white fabric of her sleeve was sliced open, and a thin, thread-like red line bloomed across her pale arm.

Testing her elbow joint, she felt no significant stiffness. Glancing at the wound from the corner of her eye, she noted the shallow cut, though it bled, it didn't reach tendons or veins, merely breaking the surface layer of skin. It just looked severe.

Besides the injured arm, several strands of pink hair that had hung by her waist were also severed by the scattered wind blades, drifting down like feathers. Undoubtedly, if Lyra hadn't instinctively dodged, she wouldn't even be able to grip her sword now.

But… Did Iris intend to endure Flickering Light, Passing Shadow and fight her head-on?

Just as the thought surfaced in Lyra's mind, Iris moved again, closing in at lightning speed.

This time, Lyra saw Iris's movements more clearly. The princess quickly adjusted her position between the dense light spots, her slender waist elegantly dodging the searing light, like a bird flitting through a thick forest.

Such speed… and such incredible balance…

The blades clashed again. The massive force through Lyra's wrist, nearly making her lose her grip. Despite being under the enhancement of Lightfall and assisted by Flickering Light, Passing Shadow, she was still utterly overpowered in strength by Iris.

'The best defense is always offense… I can't keep being pressed like this…'

With that thought, Lyra focused her mental energy to gather light-element particles, concentrating the floating scorching light spots between herself and Iris. Seeing this, Iris didn't ease her assault. Instead, she lightly tapped her heel on the ground, slipping into the light field from an extremely sharp angle, her sword tip aimed directly at Lyra's right shoulder.

Lyra was slightly stunned that Iris could still find a gap within the web-like cluster of light spots and attack her so precisely. Her reaction lagged slightly, but fortunately, passing through the Flickering Light, Passing Shadow field also slightly affected Iris's speed. She managed to dodge the strike, and during Iris's attack gap, quickly swung her blade toward the latter's wrist.

A crisp metallic clang echoed through the air. Iris, having just stabilized her stance, anticipating Lyra's move. With a clean upward parry, she deflected the light sword, then slashed diagonally from Lyra's right shoulder toward her left chest.

In a flash, alarm bells rang in Lyra's mind. Every muscle in her body is tense. She used all her strength to push off and leap backward, barely escaping the sword's range.

The cold gleam of the sword tip merged into the surrounding light spots, confusing Iris's vision. But that split-second hesitation was enough, her blade missed by the narrowest margin.

The failed slash left Iris with a brief moment of instability. Meanwhile, the Sword of Light seized the opening, igniting with a blazing radiance. Lyra, mid-air, swung downward with all her strength. Her sky-blue eyes seemed to shimmer with light.

At this moment, everything in Lyra's perception slowed to a crawl. She watched her own sword slowly descending toward Iris, half a meter, thirty centimeters, twenty, ten, finally down to single digits.

At this distance, evasion was impossible. Iris could only rely on her ice armor to endure the blow.

The blade is approaching. A split second before impact, Lyra even wondered if she should pull back her force.

No one understood better than her just how powerful this holy light-infused strike truly was.

"Crack…"

The sound of ice shattering echoed across the arena. Iris slightly lifted her pale purple eyes. Her calm gaze shows not a trace of panic or defeat, still bearing that expression of assured victory.

Lyra's heart immediately darkened with foreboding. Then, she felt an overwhelming force surge from the point where her blade met the armor. It felt as if an ax had split her wrist open, and a searing burn traveled along her nerves into her brain.

The royal secret technique of the Kingdom of Velys, and one of Iris's long-hidden trump cards.

An early tier Magnus arcane spell, Mirror Light Reflection. Using arcane factors to weave a force-dissipating net, upon receiving sufficient impact, it returns the remaining force entirely to the attacker, minus minimal necessary loss.

In other words, the blow Lyra now endured was her own attack, reflected back at her.

The burning sensation stimulated her brain, followed by excruciating pain. Lyra felt as if her wrist had shattered. The Sword of Light slipped from her grasp due to the recoil.

The metal clanged as it hit the ground, then dissolved into light particles flying back toward Lyra. Iris paid no mind to this, her purple eyes locked onto the pink-haired girl before her.

'It seems you've run out of chances, Miss Lyra Beckett.'

In a duel between knights, the one disarmed usually has no counterplay left, and can only await their fate.

Upon realizing Mirror Light Reflection had succeeded and the Sword of Light had been knocked away, Iris believed victory was certain. Yet, to guarantee absolute triumph, she raised her sword, intending to place it against Lyra's neck.

On the next breath, the sharp blade bypassed her arm, not pressing against Lyra's fragile neck, but halted mid-air by a soft glow.

Lyra's lips were bitten pale white from the pain. A pure white metal shoulder guard firmly clamped down on Iris's sword, immobilizing it completely.