Rise of the Harem King

An excruciating pain coursed through Ember's body, as if she were burning from the inside out. Upon activating the <Mushussu> transformation, Griff gained tremendous control over his flames, shielding himself from the powers of the Queen of Hell.

"It won't be that easy to absorb my flames," Griff said confidently, as fire began to gather intensely around his magic staff.

Ember clenched her teeth, her brow furrowed in a mixture of pain and stubbornness. She almost fell to her knees from the agony, but she resisted. A spark of defiance lit up her eyes. She would not break, she would not lose over a mere setback.

"If that's all you've got to show, I suggest you surrender," Griff remarked with a harsh tone.

"Never!" she shouted, her voice hoarse but filled with defiance.

With a monumental effort, she forced her black flames to intensify. Instead of aggressively trying to absorb all the fire around her, she focused solely on defense.

Griff watched with a glimmer of surprise in his eyes. He had expected her to collapse from a single strike, but she was proving to be more resilient than he anticipated. A satisfied smile spread across his face as his flames danced with even greater ferocity, continuing the assault.

Yet Ember, even on the brink of collapse, refused to yield. That stubbornness was worthy of a true warrior.

"Impressive," he murmured, almost to himself. "But not enough."

He raised his staff, and the flames around him coalesced, forming a sphere of pure fire that pulsed like a miniature sun of destructive energy. Griff activated <End Sun>, his most powerful attack.

The entire arena seemed to tremble under the pressure of that energy. The searing heat made even the act of breathing a challenge. Ember knew she could not block the attack.

Her barrier of black flames was barely containing the pain consuming her, much less a strike of such magnitude. Even so, her eyes gleamed with confidence, the Queen of Hell would not fall so easily.

She didn't need to block the attack entirely, nor absorb it whole. She just had to redirect it, deflecting it by the slightest margin.

With a scream that seemed to tear her throat apart, Ember channeled all her mana into the tip of her blade.

"Show me your best," Griff said, his tone laced with interest.

He lifted his staff high and, with a deep roar, unleashed <End Sun>. The colossal sphere of fire advanced like a falling star, engulfing the arena in a sea of blistering heat and blazing light.

The ground melted under the pressure, and the walls shook as if they might collapse at any moment.

Ember planted her feet firmly. Sweat dripped down her face as black flames wrapped around her, her chest heaving, but a smug smile never left her lips.

"Is that all?" she shouted with false confidence. "I expected more!"

When the incandescent sphere reached her, Ember charged forward. Her blade carved through the air in a perfect arc, and with a thunderous sound, she cleaved the attack in half.

Her black flames filled the gap she had created, dispersing the attack and forcing the flames outward toward the sides of the arena. The strike exploded, sweeping the arena in a wave of destruction, but it wasn't enough to cause any real harm to Ember.

What's more, the girl smiled as her black flames grew thicker and denser around her body. The deeply dark fire began to absorb the nearby flames, and this time, she had no trouble.

She could not consume all the fire at once, but by focusing on select points, she was able to. Even though it wasn't as efficient, she continued to recover her energy, growing stronger with each passing moment.

The Queen of Hell pointed her sword, now black as night, at her father; her eyes shone with the confidence that she would win.

"Impressive..." the man murmured.

Ember advanced in an instant, attacking aggressively while continuing to use the surrounding flames as fuel. Reacting with surprising speed, Griff adapted. First, he cast a <Firestorm>, forcing his daughter to take a few steps back. Immediately after, he concentrated his flames closer to his body, creating an almost solid protective layer.

Still, Ember did not retreat. With fast, savage movements, she launched herself against that living defense, her blade wreathed in black flames that cut through the air like thunder. With quick movements, she landed a kick to her father's stomach and opened multiple cuts on his body.

For a few moments, the advantage was clearly hers. Ember put him on the defensive, forcing him to retreat instead of attack, a feat very few had achieved.

"I see you're growing..." he murmured, with a mixture of shock and admiration.

It was then that, in an instant of absolute focus, Griff took a deep breath. His body was enveloped in a dense, stable mantle of fire. It was a technique that had taken him a while to master, and Ember was forced to retreat, unable to absorb any flames from him.

Then Griff began to accumulate all his mana at the tip of his staff, preparing to end the fight once and for all. His power concentrated into a small, dense sphere of flames that could not be separated like the last one. With no other options, Ember also began to concentrate her energy at the tip of her sword.

Griff activated <End Sun>.

Ember activated <Black Sun>.

The audience held their breath as the two energies collided.

When the forces met in the center of the arena, the earth trembled, the walls writhed, and the dome of flames surrounding the battlefield broke into violent gusts. Griff's staff trembled in his hands, his muscles burning with the effort. He ground his teeth as his sweat evaporated before it could even run down his skin.

On the other side, Ember roared, her black sword vibrating in response to the power it channeled. Her feet sank into the cracked ground, but she advanced, inch by inch, pushing against the destruction that threatened to swallow her.

The space around them warped. A shockwave tore through the arena, destroying pillars, raising debris, and leaving trails of fire everywhere. The collision seemed endless.

Until... the golden light of <End Sun> began to falter. Gradually, the black flames began to swallow the golden light.

"Impossible..." Griff whispered as his knees threatened to give way.

Ember, her eyes incandescent, advanced with slow steps as the previously colossal flames were extinguished. Both were exhausted, but she was the only one who could still move. She faced her father, approaching him slowly.

"It's over," she said coldly.

Moving deliberately, she pointed her sword, stopping it just centimeters from her father's neck.

Griff clenched his fists in frustration but accepted the result.

"I give up."