Demon Lord's Reincarnation

When Lara and Valdel heard Henrietta's voice they immediately moved. Both of them moved at all almost the exact same time, but despite his speed, Valdel was the slower of the two. Lara had unleashed her arrows before Valdel could move forward an inch. The incoming arrows were moving towards Valdel at a speed that the human eye could not follow. 

Valdel's reflexes kicked in and using the wooden sword he deflected the three arrows. When he thought that he had redirected all the arrows, a fourth arrow made of mana was hidden behind the first three arrows that were shot only half a second faster. 

Valdel had already relaxed his sword arm and wouldn't be able to move it fast enough to redirect the incoming arrow made of mana that was aimed at his right shoulder. The time frame of his mind sending the signal to his body to move was taking too long. The mana arrow was now a few millimeters away from hitting Valdel's shoulder. At that moment the training Ren did with him kicked in. 

The moment Valdel's body was about to get hit before he could even think of evading, his body had reflexively moved at the last second avoiding a major injury. After twisting his body to the side and barely avoiding the arrow made of mana, Valdel noticed that his shoulder was scratched. 

"As expected you're able to evade that, then how about this!" Valdel heard Lara's voice from above. Valdel lifted his head to look up and he saw a falling object. Valdel quickly evaded to the side, but then he noticed that the falling object was simply the wooden bow Lara was holding a second ago. The wooden bow was there but there were no signs of Lara. Valdel placed the wooden sword behind his back as his instincts dictated his movement. 

Valdel felt the wooden sword made contact with a massive force. Valdel knew that the force was Lara's fist as he parried it. Valdel spun around and saw the stoic Lara about ready to give him a spinning kick. Valdel bent his body a little bit backward avoiding the attack, but Lara was quick to follow up. 

After doing a spinning upper kick, she followed up with a low sweeping kick. Valdel had no choice but to avoid the kick by jumping upward. Lara followed through and did an upward somersault kick. Valdel used his wooden sword to block the attack and was blown away. Lara followed closely as she dashed towards Valdel before he was able to land. 

The whole fight was being dictated by Lara as she was the one in control of the flow. The difference in their attacking speed at the beginning was all it took for Lara to take the initiative. Valdel tried his best to counterattack using his wooden sword but Lara's fists were quicker. 

"You might have the advantage in strength but in speed, you're no match for me!" Lara shouted as her stoic expression was slowly changing. Valdel was already having a hard time dealing with Lara's onslaught but seeing her expression change so much was making it harder for him to keep focus. 

He had known Lara for eighteen years now, and this was the first time he has seen so many different expressions on her face. Valdel could practically see the frustration she was feeling not only on her face but in every attack she made.

...

The audience was stunned into silence as they watched the match. The speed at which the two contestants moved was so fast that it was hard to follow. All they could see were the blurred hands and legs of Lara, while Valdel desperately dodges all of her attacks. 

Henrietta was also amazed by the sight she was witnessing, but in a different way from the others. She was able to watch the fight on a much deeper level.

The control in which Lara and Valdel distributed their mana was so precise that it was amazing to see them do it so naturally as if it was as simple as breathing. It didn't look like they had any difficulty in doing the task of evenly distributing their mana as they used it.

Henrietta was aware this was also the way in which Kretos did things, in fact, it was at this moment she started to wonder. She knew for a fact that both Valdel and Lara visited Afeus for the same reason of looking for their missing friend. The techniques Kretos knew was similar to the techniques Valdel and Lara know and which their mutual friend uses. 

'It is highly probable that Kretos and Ren are one and the same. Well, it's not like it matters if he's Kretos or Ren, to me him with or without memories is irrelevant.' After coming to a revelation, Henrietta simply shrugged her shoulders and continued to watch the match. 

...

After a very intense assault, Lara was able to push Valdel down and got into a mounting position. She then proceeded to punch and punch at Valdel's body. Valdel protected his vitals with the wooden sword and strengthened his defense by using a hardening buffing spell. 

"I told you not to hold back, so why the f*ck are you holding back!" Lara continued to pound at Valdel as she screamed. This time her stoic expression has thoroughly disappeared as she was now able to express her emotion so vividly. 

'Lara must have been extremely stressed all this time, with everything that has been going on... Lisa dying, the village being burnt down, Ren missing. The other day when she thought she found some clue of Ren's whereabouts and it turned out to be nothing must've been the final straw. All the pent up emotions for the past eighteen years must be coming out. I better endure it all until she calms down.' Valdel gritted his teeth as he focused everything he had on defense. 

"Why aren't you fighting back at all! Come on show me what you've got!" Lara continued to hammer away at Valdel as her emotions were bursting out.

This was the first time she had felt this way in her entire life. In normal circumstances no matter what she felt she wouldn't be able to express it so openly like she was doing right now. It's like something is heightening her emotions to an extreme level. Even the audience who came with a dampened mood seems to be even more expressive than they usually were.

She was feeling good that she was able to express her emotions but at the same time, she felt like something was wrong.. Still, she decided not to think about it for now and simply release all her pent up frustrations.