Arc 2 Chapter 25 : Raul de Garcia Vs Elena de Aragon 2

[Raul PoV]

—Tap... tap... tap...

Only the sound of our footsteps echoed through the corridor leading to the arena.

I had to fight Elena in the first match of this round.

Glancing to the side, I saw the blonde woman's face, wearing a confident smile. It made me wonder just how far Elena had grown since the survival exam.

Had she already unlocked her other Profound Codex?

Princess Elena de Aragon...

In the game Path of Destiny, she carried the title "Goddess of War" of the Empire. Why had she earned that title?

That was because one of Elena's Profound Codexes could turn the tide of battle whenever her side was being cornered.

Elena's Codex was called Glorious Thunder Reign, where the more you could inspire or motivate someone, the stronger you'd become.

This Codex carried three Profound Codex themes: Honor, Glory, and Inspire.

Elena's Honor-themed Profound Codex could unlock an ability called Almario del Relampago. Elena had used this ability twice against me before. Activating it increased her speed three to five times faster than normal.

Next was the Glory-themed Profound Codex, which unlocked an ability called Thunder Emperor. When activated, Elena could absorb natural lightning around her, or lightning of her own creation, and focus it into an extremely powerful AoE attack.

Lastly was Inspire, a Profound Codex that could multiply the morale and strength of the soldiers she led, several times over, in battle. This ability was exactly what earned her the title Goddess of War.

"Hey, Raul," Elena called out to me. "Will you be using your Nature Mana against me this time?"

I simply shrugged in response to her question. Elena fell silent for a moment, then continued walking out of the corridor.

Arriving at the field, Elena's blue eyes met mine directly.

Her gaze seemed to say, "I won't forgive you if you don't take this fight seriously."

It wasn't that I didn't want to use my Nature Mana against Elena.

The real reason I never used Nature Mana in public as Raul de Garcia was so that they wouldn't come hunting me once I eventually joined The Masquerade.

"Are both competitors ready!?"

The announcer asked, ready to begin our match. Elena and I both nodded and drew our swords.

"The first match of the quarterfinals, begin!"

Elena and I both activated Accel magic and charged toward each other.

—Clang!

Sparks flew as our swords clashed.

Elena then launched a thrust aimed at my neck, but I dodged by shifting my head.

Seeing her guard slightly open, I immediately followed with a diagonal upward slash. But Elena quickly swung her sword to block it.

This turned into a contest of strength, but since my sword was positioned beneath Elena's, I was currently at a disadvantage.

Our faces were close, and she was smiling happily.

"This time won't be like before," Elena said, pressing her sword harder against mine. "I won't fall for your Reject Impact again!"

Even though you say that, I doubted that spell would work easily a second time, given I'd already used it on her before.

Elena would surely be extremely cautious now.

"I've got another surprise for you besides that spell, Elena," I said, launching a kick aimed at her head.

Elena blocked my kick with her left arm, her body pushed slightly sideways, breaking our clash of strength.

"Heee~ I'll gladly accept your surprise!" Elena shot back, charging at me again.

This was shaping up to be an exhausting match.

[Alisha PoV]

The match had been going for about two minutes now, and Raul and Elena were already trading blows.

Every time Princess Elena attacked with her sword, Raul was already ready to block and counter. But it wasn't just Raul — Princess Elena did the same, making their swordplay look more like a dance between lovers than a serious tournament match.

Princess Elena de Aragon...

I'd gathered information on her yesterday.

She wielded lightning-based Nature Mana, possessed extraordinary speed, and her swordsmanship had no rival at this academy.

She was also a student of one of the Grand Espada — Raymond de Chatelon, better known by the title "The White Knight."

That was because Count Raymond was famous for his pure swordsmanship, relying on no magic whatsoever.

Which meant Princess Elena's swordsmanship, even without magic, shouldn't be underestimated at all.

By my analysis, Leon could very well lose to her, even after neutralizing Princess Elena's magic entirely. Her pure swordsmanship alone was that dangerous.

They exchanged attacks again, and so far, Raul seemed able to keep pace with Princess Elena's swordplay.

He didn't have the same speed or strength as her swordsmanship, so why could he still keep up with her?

I had no idea — swordplay wasn't my area of expertise.

"Leon, do you think you could beat Raul using your Anti-magic?" I asked my loyal attendant.

"Of course," Leon answered confidently. "So far, I haven't seen any dangerous special ability from Raul de Garcia at all."

What Leon said was true — Raul de Garcia truly didn't seem to possess any particularly dangerous ability.

So then, how had he always managed to win his matches in this tournament, against opponents with far greater abilities than his own?

Against Emilia, he'd defeated her through a Trading Blow strategy, catching her off guard at the last moment and finishing her off.

Against Prince Vlad, he'd somehow uncovered the secret behind his blood ability, caught him off guard again, and delivered a fatal blow.

So far, he'd always won by relying on strategy and unraveling his enemies' abilities.

If we ever fought, would he be able to read my ability too, from just a single glance? Still, I'd make sure to secure his defeat before he ever had the chance to figure out my ability.

For now, let's see just how far your limits go, Raul de Garcia.

[Raul PoV]

Just as I'd expected, fighting Elena while she wielded a sword was far more difficult than our previous fight during the first-stage exam.

This time, Elena's legs began to glow, signaling she'd activated Accel magic. The blonde woman then charged toward me at speed and unleashed a powerful slash.

—Clang!

I blocked it, but the force of her momentum still pushed my body backward.

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"Let's finish the warm-up, Raul," Elena said, gripping her sword with both hands. "Time for the real fight."

This wasn't good — Elena had already settled into her signature stance. Which meant she was about to unleash her combo attacks, the kind that had always given me the most trouble.

"I've wanted to try attacking you with a new combo I've been developing," Elena said, smiling confidently. "I want to see whether you can dodge an attack I haven't shown anyone else yet."

"Oh, I'm truly honored to be taking your first time, Your Highness," I said, my words carrying a deliberately ambiguous, mocking tone.

Hearing my words, Elena looked slightly irritated.

I needed to focus — this was a twenty-hit combo. Both its speed and destructive power were extremely high.

"Here I come!"

Elena charged toward me again, the first phase: right, right, cross, horizontal, then left.

Recalling her attack pattern from the game, I began dodging and parrying the powerful, rapid slashes Elena unleashed against me.

Elena looked somewhat surprised I'd managed to perfectly block and dodge the first phase of her attack, but she immediately followed with the second phase.

Next came: left, right, thrust, vertical upward, then diagonal downward.

I managed to block and dodge the second phase of Elena's combo as well. This time, her expression turned serious, and she moved into the final phase of her attack.

This was the hardest part — ten rapid, consecutive strikes in this final phase.

Elena launched a series of slashes and rapid thrusts at my body. I struggled to dodge and parry, relying on my memory of this combo.

But surprisingly, this time Elena changed her attack pattern, different from what I remembered from the game, leaving several cuts across my body.

She then unleashed her final slash — I had no idea if she'd change the direction of this one too. I couldn't rely solely on my knowledge from the game to fight her anymore.

—Clang!

I managed to block it, but the force of her strike was so powerful it sent my body flying several meters backward.

"I can't believe you escaped that combo without a fatal wound," Elena said, looking shocked. "But I've finally learned a little something about your ability, Raul."

She'd noticed something? Was that why she'd changed her attack pattern from what appeared in the game?

"You could read every single one of my attacks, even though I've never shown them to anyone before," Elena said, staring at me sharply. "But the moment I deviated from my usual pattern, you suddenly struggled to read it."

I'd already suspected she'd figure it out — Elena's observational skill in combat truly couldn't be underestimated. From now on, I needed to focus more on actually reading her movements rather than relying on my knowledge from the game.

"So that's the reason you could read every one of your enemies' movements," Elena said, her body beginning to wrap in yellow lightning. "This time, I'm going to truly defeat you, Raul!"

Here it comes — Elena had activated one of her Profound Codexes, Almario del Relampago. Her speed would multiply several times over.

Elena then vanished from my sight. I had to guess where she'd reappear.

Suddenly, I sensed a foreign mana current to my left.

—Bam!

Before Elena could strike me, I threw a kick toward where she was about to appear, sending her tumbling to the ground instantly.

"Did you think you were the only one who could adapt to your enemy's ability?" I told her. "After using that ability on me three times now, did you really expect I wouldn't get used to dealing with it?"

Elena got back up, blood trickling from her mouth after taking my kick head-on.

She vanished again in a flash and reappeared behind me. I positioned my sword behind my head, and I heard the clang of metal colliding.

I then spun my body clockwise to launch a Spinning Kick at Elena's head. But she managed to block it with her arm.

Her body was pushed back slightly from absorbing my kick, and she leapt away to put distance between us.

But I wasn't about to let her vanish again. Activating Acceleration magic, I quickly pursued her and unleashed a vertical slash.

—Tang!

Elena blocked my attack with her sword, but I immediately kicked her chest, sending her flying backward again.

Elena got back up, her sword now wrapped in yellow lightning.

Lightning Blade, huh?

Elena vanished again and reappeared directly in front of me, unleashing a downward vertical slash, which I managed to block with my sword.

"Thunder Scatter!"

My body was sent flying as Elena suddenly triggered a spell, releasing an explosion of lightning from her body in every direction.

"Thunder Whip!"

Suddenly, I felt something wrap around my leg — Elena's lightning sword had transformed, extending into the shape of a whip.

She then swung my body toward the arena wall. Overwhelming pain surged through me as my body slammed into the concrete wall with tremendous force.

"It's not over yet!"

My body was lifted into the air again. Elena pulled her whip back, trying to slam me down onto the ground with brutal force. But I managed to cut through her lightning whip with my sword and land smoothly.

Still, I had no time to catch my breath — Elena suddenly appeared before me and unleashed a vertical strike.

—Tang!

I blocked her attack with my sword, and a crack appeared right through the middle of my blade from the force of Elena's strike.

It seemed this sword wouldn't survive much more of this woman's Lightning Blade attacks.

Elena unleashed another powerful horizontal slash at my body, but I managed to dodge by leaping backward.

"I won't let you get away!"

Elena appeared before me again and unleashed another powerful slash.

—Crack!

This time, my sword shattered into pieces, unable to withstand Elena's attack any longer.

"Waterfall Dance!"

Elena launched a combo attack against me, now that she knew I had no sword left to block with.

Struggling immensely, I tried to dodge slash after slash Elena unleashed at me.

Once her combo ended, I activated Temper magic on my leg and launched a kick at Elena.

—Bam!

She managed to block my kick, but her body was pushed back slightly from the impact.

After maintaining her enhanced state for so long, the lightning wrapped around Elena's body finally began to fade. Her breathing had grown ragged from exhaustion.

My condition was worse — after taking hit after hit from Elena, my body was covered in fresh blood and bruises.

Elena leapt backward, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly.

"Raul, I'm going to end this now," Elena said, her expression turning serious. "You won't be able to dodge my finishing attack."

She was going to use the AoE from her Profound Codex, huh?

It was true — I wouldn't be able to dodge it. This attack moved as fast as real lightning. My chances of evading it were only three to five percent at best.

—Wosshhh!

A powerful wind began sweeping through the arena, and Elena's body began emitting sparks of yellow lightning. She then raised her sword into the air, the surrounding lightning beginning to wrap around the blade gripped in both her hands.

"Lightning, my might... bring the thunder clouds close to me..."

A terrifying rumble of thunder began building, converging on Elena's sword. Right now, she looked every bit like a Goddess of Thunder, ready to hand down merciless judgment.

I needed to attempt Redirect, even if my chances of success were only ten percent. That chance was still far better than trying to dodge this attack outright.

"Shine through the dark... bring hope to the world..."

Extending my right hand, I readied myself to receive whatever attack Elena was about to unleash. If this failed, my journey through this tournament would end here.

Even if it succeeded, I'd still take a quarter of the spell's damage into my own body. Still, that was far better news than being obliterated by this spell entirely.

"Thunder Emperor... Dragon Thunder Damnation!"

Elena swung her lightning-wrapped sword, and a lightning dragon formed, streaking toward me at incredible speed.

Here it comes...

—Bzzztt...

Ughhh... my entire body screamed in pain as Elena's spell struck me. Still, I tried to control it, keeping the foreign mana entering my body stable, preventing it from running wild.

Stay calm...

Endure this pain, and balance the two manas now coexisting within my body.

Don't let them explode and destroy each other...

The lightning current from Elena's spell, now inside me, began flowing back out. I then tried to focus it into my right hand and redirect it back toward Elena.

The woman's eyes widened in shock, seeing me manage to contain her ultimate spell.

"Redirect Impact!"

The lightning current wrapped around my right hand shot toward Elena.

—Boom!

A massive explosion erupted as the spell struck Elena directly.

Smoke and dust obscured my view of Elena's body. I had no idea whether the redirected spell had been enough to defeat her.

My body and right hand were left blistered, still smoking, from the strain of redirecting Elena's ultimate spell.

I dropped to one knee, trying to steady my ragged breathing and rest for a moment.

Every part of my body ached...

It seemed I wasn't far from reaching the limit of the Limiter I wore.

Before long, the smoke and dust obscuring Elena's body finally cleared.

I saw Elena lying on the ground, her body covered in wounds, her uniform torn to shreds, and her sword apparently shattered, unable to withstand the force of her own spell redirected back at her.

But the match wasn't over yet. Elena began getting back up, her face clearly straining against overwhelming pain.

She then smiled at me. "Was that the surprise you mentioned?" Elena asked. "I have no idea what you just did, but I have to admit, I'm genuinely shocked you managed to redirect my spell."

Having used two Profound Codexes and several Nature Mana spells, it seemed Elena could no longer draw on any more elemental magic.

Elena readied her stance again, activating Accel and Temper simultaneously. It seemed she wouldn't give up until she'd truly defeated me.

I did the same, and we both charged toward each other.

—Bam!

My fist struck Elena's cheek, just as her fist struck my face at the same moment.

Both our bodies were sent flying from the simultaneous impact.

I got back up, and Elena did the same.

"Surrender, Raul," Elena said, her breathing ragged. "I'm going to win this duel between us this time!"

"If you want to win, you'll have to force me to surrender!"

We closed the distance between us again, this time simply trading blow after blow. Elena struck my solar plexus, and I countered with a kick aimed at her head.

We both began staggering from the wounds we'd taken. I started coughing up blood, while Elena's head was already bleeding.

I used Charging to tackle Elena's body. I ended up on top of her, but Elena quickly rolled to the side and climbed on top of me, reversing our positions.

—Bam! Bam! Bam!

She began pummeling my face. My vision started to blur, and I felt utterly exhausted.

Elena raised her hand, preparing to strike my face again.

—Bam!

But I pulled her head down with both hands and headbutted her nose with my forehead.

"Ahhh!"

Elena groaned in pain, clutching her nose.

I tried to flip our positions, but Elena quickly held me down. Both her hands pinned mine, leaving us locked together, neither able to move.

"Hey..."

In this position, Elena suddenly called out to me. She leaned her face closer to mine and smiled mischievously.

"Doesn't this position remind you of something?" Elena said, her voice weak.

The moment Elena's tongue had danced inside my mouth, searching for that red crystal — was that it?

Back then too, Elena had been on top of me, in nearly this exact same position.

"Too bad I don't have a reason to do that again this time," Elena said, her grip on my hands beginning to weaken.

Her body then collapsed onto my chest. Her head rested against my shoulder, her breathing growing faint — it seemed she'd reached her limit, just as I had.

My vision had also grown hazy. All I could feel now was the pain from my wounds, and the warmth of Elena's body resting in my arms.

"Ended in a draw again, huh...?" Elena murmured near my ear. "But that's fine — it just means I have another reason to enjoy fighting you again, Raul."

Before long, a red light began surrounding both our bodies. It signaled that both Elena and I had been eliminated from the tournament, here in the quarterfinals.