NOVEL NEXT Chap 218: Maki vs. Areci.
Areci's sword grazes my head—if I hadn't crouched at that moment, the slash would have gone straight for my neck. At the same time, my right sword slides between her torso and arm as I try to stab her heart. Neither of us manages to land a clean hit; we both avoid it by a hair's breadth.
Our reactions are getting slightly slower after minutes of intense combat. We not only have to worry about ourselves but also remain focused on preventing the other from breaking our constructions.
Her magma golems have lost speed and defense as the minutes pass, and I can no longer control as many Joyeuse blades with the same intensity. Our brains are running at full capacity, and a single mistake would be enough to lose.
Areci lands a cut on my left arm. I endure the pain as I've been doing so far. Her affinity destroys mine like paper—it's hard to erase it quickly.
I manage to stab my sword into her shoulder. I've been improving the layering of my ice, making it lose less heat. It breaks part of her armor, and the death affinity does its work. We both bite our lips to fight through the pain.
I have to use one charge of my movement skill to avoid a magma slash aimed directly at my body. I can't counterattack because an eruption bursts at my feet, forcing me to move again. I gather enough electric mana to unleash it—she manages to cover herself with her sword and steps back.
"This is the first time I've been able to have this much fun with someone of my own rank!" I shout to Areci as I try to stab her with a Joyeuse from behind.
"I feel the same. I'm glad I met you, little brother." She blocks it with a wall of magma and throws a fireball at me, which I barely manage to dodge.
Point of view: Susan
These kids are going a little overboard. This was supposed to be a friendly match before the final—by now, no one in the audience remembers that.
At first, there were cheers for both sides, but little by little, everyone went silent, watching the fight in awe. Nobody wants to miss a second; even a blink could make you lose something incredible in this high-speed battle.
How many of them are thinking Areci and Maki are Ruby rank? This is definitely not normal for Sapphire rank. Maki has higher mana capacity, better swordsmanship, and multiple affinities in his repertoire; Areci, on the other hand, has a rare affinity that naturally counters Maki's main one, better control of her Banner, and experience fighting Ruby ranks.
In everything else, they're almost equal. In some aspects Maki is superior, and in others Areci is—it's a perfectly balanced fight. A smile forms on my face as I see my daughter so happy and my protégé enjoying himself. It must be the first time either of them gives their all against someone of equal rank.
"I've never seen Areci fight like that." Shawu, who had been quiet for a while, finally speaks—she couldn't hold back her urge to comment.
"Me neither. When we go to grade-three or grade-four dungeons, she's always watching over us. She rarely gets to forget everything and focus solely on fighting." The healer Ogine replies without taking her eyes off the arena.
"Impressive." Bruk speaks, showing a hint of reaction on that emotionless face.
"Fascinating." His sister adds a single word. These two really need to talk more.
"I feel weak watching them. I know comparing myself to them makes no sense, but it's impossible not to." The son of one of the eastern alliance leaders, Humyr, clenches his fists, his Imra radiating pure emotion.
"We're at the top of Sapphire rank, but Maki and Areci are above even talented people like us—they're geniuses." The princess is right.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
This entire group is extremely talented; very few Sapphire ranks could defeat them. But none of them could stand against a limit breaker—and down there, two of them are fighting without holding anything back, every strike pushed to the absolute limit.
"I wouldn't want to be in the shoes of the two finalists. I don't know how they'll top this duel." Everyone agrees with my comment. "Don't take your eyes off them for even a second; this could end at any moment." The group falls silent again, focusing entirely on the fight.
Areci keeps forcing her strikes with stronger explosions, every blow carrying the intent to end the match. Maki, with his outstanding swordsmanship and reflexes, manages to dodge or deflect each attack, though at times he ends up in awkward positions.
My daughter's golems and Maki's ice swords are closing in more and more—both are beginning to give in under the pressure and exhaustion. If they keep their constructs too far apart, they'll lose control and efficiency, unable to suppress the other effectively.
One of Areci's golems is weakening with every passing second. Fighting for more than fifteen minutes at this level is difficult. Maki's ice swords are reconstructing more slowly, and there are fewer of them than the original twenty-four.
Maki dodges Areci's sword too late, taking a slash across his right cheek. The safety collar prevents real damage, but the burn on his face is still painful. Maki counters by trying to drive his sword into Areci's head. My daughter steps back just in time, only getting grazed by the tip—being frozen on the forehead isn't pleasant either.
Every small movement, skill use, or decision counts now. Their bodies are clearly reacting slower after five relentless minutes. The accumulated fatigue and pain have pushed them to the limit.
One golem is restrained by eight swords, and the other by six. Their cuts are still sharp, but their delayed reactions are costing them. Now they're taking small, accumulated injuries in moments where they could have dodged ten minutes ago.
"Everyone stay focused—if you lose concentration, you might miss the end of the fight." Nobody replies, but I can feel the increased focus in the air.
Both are one strong blow away from defeat. I requested a special configuration for this battle—though the collars can withstand more damage than usual, they wouldn't react fast enough to block a second lethal strike.
With the golems and swords involved, the difficulty has increased even further. Maki can sometimes attack Areci with his swords, while Areci can launch the golems' arms as magma projectiles toward Maki.
"That must hurt…" One of Maki's swords pierces my daughter's leg, and a magma fist strikes Maki's stomach. They both choose to trade blows instead of defending—are they trying to end this at the highest level? They're focusing only on minimal defense.
Maki sends all six swords at Areci—two of them land, one embedding halfway into her stomach, the other in her right shoulder. Areci counters at the same moment, knowing that one more hit would mean her defeat.
Her weaker golem launches both arms as projectiles toward Maki. My protégé decides to dodge—he knows that getting hit would mean losing. He positions himself behind the other magma golem to avoid another attack. Smart move. Is Areci redirecting mana from the weaker golem to the stronger one?
Areci begins forming a magma spell while Maki repositions himself. A wall of boiling magma rises to Maki's right. The golem turns to face him—I can see Maki watching its arms closely—but that's not all…
The golem is infused with the redirected mana—it's not a simple attack like before. The magma golem doesn't throw its arms; it explodes, sending massive chunks of burning rock and fire toward Maki. Being so close, he has no time to react and takes the explosion head-on, thrown backward by the impact.
Areci falls to her knees from sheer exhaustion, still pierced by two swords. Maki finally hits the ground after taking that massive blast of magma mana less than a meter away. His body lands several meters back, and his collar's defense activates.
That declares my daughter the winner. Areci won the fight against Maki! She was a breath away from losing—if the explosion hadn't vaporized the ice swords, Maki might have turned her into a porcupine at the last second, taking the victory or at least a draw. Maki was only one hit away from winning.
"Areci! Areci! Areci is the winner of this match!" The announcer starts shouting, waking the astonished audience. The crowd erupts into cheers and whistles of excitement.
"Areci won! She actually beat that little demon." Shawu hugs me out of joy, and I return the hug without taking my eyes off the arena. This match has been witnessed by many influential families and organizations across the continent. I did well by declaring Maki as my protégé—that way, many will hesitate to approach him recklessly.
I turn to see the rest of the group celebrating my daughter's victory, though looking slightly apologetic toward Maki. I'm happy for both—they gave us a performance to remember.
When I meet the princess's eyes, she speaks softly. "I can't complain; he lost giving it everything he had." Then she murmurs, "Though it's a shame they couldn't use life mana…" She's right—life mana is heavily restricted under this configuration. I can't help but wonder what would've happened if there had been no rules.