Immediately, Ezekiel extended a finger toward Lucius.
"Thunder!"
The clouds above roared.
A bolt of lightning crashed from the sky.
It should've been a direct hit, yet when Ester managed to follow the lightning's path, it appeared suspended directly above Lucius. One finger was raised toward the sky, his expression unchanged behind his blindfold.
Ezekiel grimaced and the crowd awed.
"It's not going to be that easy…" Arthur regarded worriedly.
"He knows…" Kris muttered, biting his thumb. "But he's still going to try anyway."
Se'raf snorted. "I'll give him thirty seconds… Depending on Lucius's mood."
They all gave quick glances at Se'raf who seemed unapologetic.
Ezekiel pointed upward again.
"Thunder!"
Another strike crashed down.
"Thunder!"
Another.
None of them connected. Every bolt remained suspended above Lucius, trapped In the air like glowing spears of judgement.
Ezekiel was already breathing harder.
"No…" Saphy muttered, rising to her feet. "Not again…"
She was stopped by Kris who grabbed her arm.
"He won't die."
She darted her head around, shooting him a look filled with panic.
"He won't?!"
"You think he'd throw away the life that Lin Hua risked to save?" Kris hissed. "You think he'd repay that by repeating the same mistake?"
Saphy opened her mouth to argue, but no words came out.
Instead, she turned back toward the field. Kris released her arm. Her trembling hand fell to her side.
Lucius twirled his finger lazily.
The suspended lightning began circling around his body.
"I can attack now, right?" he called out casually.
He didn't wait for a response.
In one smooth motion he directed his turned finger toward Ezekiel. One of the orbiting bolts broke off and launched itself across the field.
"T-thunder!"
A bolt raced from the clouds above to intercept it. The two strikes collided mid-air with a crack that shook the ground beneath their feet. The shockwave erupted outward, scattering sparks across the field and sending Ezekiel skidding backwards through the grass.
He was up before the sparks had settled. Face scraped. Breathing harder with eyes completely alert.
"Hmm." Vanessa studied him with a quiet attention. "For a young Starless, he's not bad..."
"….Maybe he should call it though" Arthur said, his voice sounding worried.
Lucius launched another bolt. Ezekiel threw himself sideways, narrowly dodging it. He came up panting, and managed a thin, weary smile.
"Hey...Careful!" They heard Burnad bark from across the field. "I don't want any deaths on my hands."
Saphy turned to Ester.
"What do you think?" She whispered, as she glanced back at the panting Ezekiel.
Ester pursed her lips.
"It's like someone playing with their food… He has no reason to kill him."
"...That still doesn't mean Ezekiel can win right?"
Ester glanced at Kris whose eyes hadn't moved from the field. Who watched with a focused, private intensity as if waiting to see something happen.
Lucius cocked his head slightly, the final lightning strike spinning around him faster and faster.
"Are you done?"
He slowly closed his hand into a fist.
The lightning dissipated into glowing blue fragments.
"I'm bored." Lucius sighed in frustration. He turned toward Burnad. "Can I g-"
He froze.
His head snapped toward the clouds above him.
"...It's not over yet!" Ezekiel called out, arms spread wide, chin raised, blood trickling freely from his nose. He was grinning.
Slowly, the clouds began to descend in a spiral. A wide, lazy, deliberate spiral that wrapped around Lucius from every direction, descending toward the ground in a slow coil.
The formation was massive.
Too wide to escape easily.
Lightning sparked violently through the rotating storm while Lucius stared upward with growing interest.
"Huh."
For the first time since the battle started, he sounded intrigued.
"What's he doing?" Saphy breathed.
Nobody answered her. They were all too busy holding their breaths.
"Go on then." Ezekiel's voice rose across the field. "Escape." The grin hadn't left his face. One side of it was smeared red. "Take me seriously."
Lucius went still.
He turned away from the charged clouds surrounding him and looked directly at him.
A slow smile crossed his face.
"Do your best."
Ezekiel's expression darkened.
"SPIRAL STRIKE!"
The spiral detonated.
Bolts erupted simultaneously through the descending cloud formation, wild and cascading, tearing in every direction around Lucius. Above, the sky split apart with a deafening crack, and a single massive streak of lightning came tumbling straight down from the cloud directly overhead.
The crowd threw their hands up. The combination of noise, pressure and light made it nearly impossible to look directly at the field. Ester had to cover her ears, eyes shut firmly.
When she could look again, Ezekiel was on the ground.
He had collapsed onto his knees, coughing. One arm shakily pressed against his ear while the other braced weakly against the ground. He was in pain. Around where Lucius stood, the air was thick with smoke and the fading smell of charged air.
Lucius was completely unharmed.
A faint prismatic layer shimmered around him, partially visible, already beginning to fade.
Ezekiel stared upward through blurred vision, chest heaving violently.
"A barrier." Vanessa murmured. Her expression had shifted into something more thoughtful.
Kris cursed under his breath.
Arthur looked between the two fighters in disbelief.
"...That was a really smart attack." He glanced toward Ezekiel. "You didn't say he was smart."
"He is." Kris scratched his neck. "It's just tailored in his own weird way."
"Creating a spiral formation…" Se'raf murmured, staring upward. "To flood his perception…"
Vanessa's expression shifted slightly.
"If he were up against another Starless.." she murmured. "At his current level?" Her eyes flicked toward Ezekiel. "Yeah... he's going to be a problem."
Saphy looked overwhelmed.
"He couldn't even use more than three lightning strikes a few days ago…" she muttered. "And that was before he…"
She stopped herself abruptly.
Vanessa's eyebrow lifted.
"...Before he..?"
Nobody answered.
She sighed lazily.
"Fine. I'll just ask Eli later… wherever he is."
Across the field, Lucius casually waved his hand.
The remaining thunderclouds scattered apart instantly, unravelling across the sky.
Then he started walking toward Ezekiel.
"You surprised me," Lucius called out.
He stopped a few feet away from him before crouching down slightly.
Ezekiel forced himself upright into a sitting position, breathing harder than ever now.
"...The match is over now, right?" Arthur turned nervously.
Lucius slowly raised one hand toward the sky and for a moment, nothing happened.
Then the sky changed.
A heavy, total grey that rolled across the field like a curtain being drawn. Thunder rumbled from somewhere. Everywhere. The temperature dropped and the air pressure hit Ester in a way she couldn't explain.
This was different from anything Ezekiel had produced. Different from where he currently stood.
Lightning flashed endlessly overhead, illuminating the field in violent bursts of white.
The sound was deafening.
She felt like she could die at any moment.
Around her, several Starless students were already cowering or covering their heads in fear.
Yet the Starred students simply stared upward in awe.
As if this level of power and control was something expected
Vanessa smiled nervously.
"How terrifying." She raised her hand slowly toward the field, then hesitated. Her arm faltering back to her side.
"ENOUGH!"
Burnad's voice cut through everything.
He slammed his foot into the ground, sending the entire training field into a violent tremble.
The storm unravelled and the blue sky returned, as though nothing had happened.
"And just as I was getting into it…" Lucius sighed, glancing at Burnad who was now walking toward them. He turned back to Ezekiel. "What now?"
Ezekiel sat there in silence for a moment, deep in thought.
Then he nodded slowly. Satisfied.
He then let himself fall backward onto the grass and waved one hand in the air.
"...I'm done."
Burnad paused momentarily.
Kris sighed shakily.
Se'raf scoffed beside them. As if any other conclusion had been unimaginable from the start.
Burnad looked at Ezekiel for a long moment before clasping a hand onto his shoulder and turning to the crowd.
"The match between Ezekiel Barak and Lucius Ren has concluded!" his voice thundered across the field. "Though Ezekiel displayed exceptional skill and surpassed all expectations placed upon a Starless..."
"There you are, Eli."
Ester turned at Vanessa's voice.
The scowling, blue haired boy had emerged from the crowd, paying no attention to anything except the three figures in front of him.
Ester had never realised the inked mark that raced up the side of his neck before.
"What's he doing?" Saphy whispered.
Burnad stared at the third year student.
"Elijah?" His voice had flattened. "What are you…" He glanced at Lucius for a moment, before sighing. "No…"
"Can I fight him?" He said calmly.