A punch to the liver, a kick to the chest, a slice towards the neck, even a grab to the hair.
Regardless of how improbable a strike seemed, the two challengers made it work, their relentless assault on one another so awe-inspiring that the audience couldn't look away for even a moment.
Sliding across the rough sand, Aaron slashed his blade in a circular arc, a current of water spewing out in all directions with the sharpness of a needle.
Akari's own left hand held her pistol, which shot out bullet after bullet of mana-enhanced ammunition, each one breaking apart against the water currents.
In her right hand, a dagger sent by her teacher glistened in the midday sunlight, its edge piercing through barrages of liquid.
The blond boy's eyes darted around as he scanned the girl's movements, his breathing slow but steady as he fell deep in thought.
His mana supply was low, and a majority of it was devoted to maintaining a barrier around his mind as three Kings stared down upon him.
The fatigue from fainting earlier in the day wrapped around his heart like chains, his reaction time slow and clunky as he parried strike after strike.
I'm not ready…
A bullet made it through the wall of water he had constructed, preparing to pierce straight through his chest.
Without even batting an eye, the boy moved his sword a half a centimeter upward, the metallic weapon colliding with the tiny object and melting it to dust.
Her strikes are restrained as if she is holding back…
Turning his lip downward, he groaned aloud, preparing for another barrage of strikes in their continuing stalemate.
However, contrary to his belief, the sound of a gong striking against a bell would echo across the arena.
Both Akari and Aaron froze, their eyes darting up to the commentator's box where the man within spoke loudly.
"AFTER THE FIRST MATCH BETWEEN AARON GRIMSTALL AND RAPHAEL VON STEINFESTE, THE ENTIRE ARENA WAS DAMAGED!"
His confident voice rang out like that of a god, the challengers standing face to face on the soil, exchanging wary glances.
"IN THE REBUILD, OUR VERY OWN CAURON THORN HAS PROVIDED SOME UPGRADES TO OUR BATTLEFIELD!"
The audience went silent, a sudden beat of confusion rippling throughout the thousands of onlookers.
Standing on the sand, the teenagers felt an odd presence appear below them, the screeching of gears bursting out like an explosion.
The blond boy in particular felt the sand beneath his feet shift unusually, the careful balance he had been keeping previously fading faster than he could react.
What the—
His feet sank downward like he had fallen into the sea, his eyes expanding wide and his pupils dilating.
『Aquatic Ladder』
The moment before his head fell below the surface, he threw his blade ahead of him into the orange stadium border.
Then, he vanished from the sight of the audience, and Akari was left alone to stare in confusion at the disappearance of her opponent.
"Where did he…"
A fist slammed into her ribs, sending her forward and into the magical barrier that the sword had collided with, her form sizzling as she backed away in agony.
Spinning her head around and scanning the terrain, her mouth fell open, the sight of Aaron Grimstall shocking her.
"H-how…?"
The boy gently wiped the sand off his shoulders with his one free hand, the other carrying a sword pulsating with a turquoise light.
"A man never reveals his secrets."
Smiling as he took a step forward, he watched as the arena itself began to shift its design into something different entirely.
Circles of sand with a circumference of perhaps two meters fell away, leaving bottomless pits of black into the ground.
Not only that, but walls of sandstone tore from the soil through earth magic, new obstacles and defenses sprouting from their ruined forms.
Some had spikes while others were clad in flame, the only constant between them being their use in a fight.
Aaron and Akari only had a moment to watch before the sand below both of their feet began to fall away, their forms vanishing in a flash.
Reappearing in the dead center of the arena atop the solid stone foundation that was unaltered, they clashed hard, a burst of energy slamming against the barriers as they fought.
Reaching out to grab a tuft of the girl's cherry hair, he was countered with a quick parry, her hand snaking around his own and forming a pincer.
Using her extensive knowledge of martial arts, specifically the South Continental Style, she launched her body in a straight vertical direction.
Floating over the boy's head with her legs straight into the sky, she allowed gravity to bring her down, her head stopping only centimeters away from the ground as her legs caught her.
They, however, were wrapped tightly around the boy's neck in a choke so tight that his face turned purple in seconds, his eyes bulging red.
Not letting up even as he began to lose consciousness, the pink-haired girl fired two shots into his flesh heel, the entire surface vanishing in a mess of blood and bone.
"AGH!"
Jerking his body forward and downward as his leg collapsed at the loss of a foot, he created enough room between his arm and her shoulder.
Gritting his teeth through the pain and closing his eyes, he summoned Ocean's Bane to his hand, choking out words.
『Swell』
Akari's brow furrowed downward at the singular word, yet as a force equal to that of a bomb shot out of the boy's sword, she could only grimace as her body was tossed away like a rag doll.
Her limp form slammed through two walls, finally landing beside a flamethrower, which she quickly dodged.
Holding her arm tight and staring up at the boy, she watched as he turned towards her slowly, his destroyed foot hanging on by ripped muscle and shattered bone.
He didn't say a word nor even groan as he looked down at the damage, a sad frown coming across his face.
Taking a deep breath, he readied his stance, placing all his weight on his metallic leg that oozed with mana.
What is he…
Her thoughts were panicked as she watched the false limb shift its design, gears within it turning, and crystalline flames bursting to life.
He didn't use this against Raphael, so what the hell is—
Akari Ayaka's head made contact with Aaron Grimstall's foot before she could even notice his mana fluctuate, her mind fading to black as she slammed against the barrier.
Slumping backwards against the floor, she felt pain course throughout her entire body, an agony never before felt now working its way to every pain receptor she had.
"THREE!"
The countdown had begun, the clock against her as she struggled to find the energy and will to stand up.
"TWO!"
Her face was a bloodied and bruised wreck, with multiple fractures and dislocations spread throughout her entire body.
"ONE!"
Nonetheless, she stood firm with her dagger in hand, her pistol so warped and bent that it would be incapable of firing another shot.
Breathing in and out, she felt her lungs fill with blood and her heart rate spike to an unhealthy degree, her time running short.
She had no idea what her opponent's condition was; his health was waning, but left beyond her point of view.
Akari did not know that he was on the verge of total bodily shutdown, or that he had already lost enough blood to long since be considered dead.
Nor could she understand how his very life was being sapped from his form as he stood smiling at her from across the arena.
All she could see from her point of view was an odd cloud blotting out the sun in the perfectly clear sky.
Thud.
The ground shook ever-so-slightly.
Thump.
Once again, another miniature burst of shock echoed throughout the landscape as if it were breathing.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump! Thump! THUMP!
Her face began to pale as she watched the newly constructed third gateway to the arena begin to open.
It was something that had been installed after Aaron's win over Raphael, and therefore, likely another trap.
Neither competitor could guess what lay behind that door until it walked from inside on its own, the sight of something so monstrous and hideous that the entire audience gagged, appearing at once.
The beast's head was split into two pieces, its brain matter visible to see, with rot and decay eating away at its skull.
Its eyes were gone, replaced with mangled replicas that were clearly not of the same species as the originals.
Curled hair that was covered in sewage and other sludge hung from its near twenty meter form, a noise coming from its mouth that sent an echo throughout the field.
"Ker-RAK-A-TIK-TIK-TIK-KKKKKKKKKKK—SCHREEEEEEE!"
The sandstone walls shattered to dust from the sheer magnitude of force released by the terror, its bent and broken legs moving its body forward and into the arena.
Aaron and Akari held their ground from its unstoppable presence, one name ringing throughout their minds as they locked eyes with the beast.
A Chimera.