Chapter 553 – Edina versus Claudia

Both fighters stared each other down from ten feet apart, with only Archbishop Patrice standing between them. The tension in the air was thicker than Thored's erect dick. Edina and Claudia were all smiles for very different reasons.

"I don't see how that sadomasochistic cunt Claudia wins. No matter how you slice it, Edina is winning this," Petyr said.

All three succubus sisters stared daggers at her. Alicia even squeezed the handle of one at her waist. Any other time, and Kanae would have thought Petyr uttered that just to piss them off. But she was with her this time. Claudia was strong. Strong enough to fight a lich? Not so much.

"You forget, high elf. Claudia possesses exactly the arsenal of skills necessary to defeat Edina. Lich or no, my sister will win," Alicia said with unwavering confidence.

"Sit back and shut up, Petyr." Daya stuck her tongue out.

"How about a wager? If Claudia defeats Edina, you let us fuck you. If Edina wins, then I'll let you kill me. One less succubus to pester you from now on." Hilde sneered.

Petyr clicked her tongue and didn't take the bet. That doubt was proof enough that she wasn't entirely confident about Edina's victory. Kanae only knew that Claudia was crowned a Bulwark, an extremely rare class whose durability was second to none.

"Go, Auntie!"

"Beat 'em up!"

It sounded like the kids had already picked their favorite to win this match though.

"Fighters, begin!" Archbishop Patrice shouted and flew out of the way.

Neither Edina nor Claudia jumped the gun to attack first like many of the other matches. The former Mistress of Pain still wielded her crop whip and paddle. As for the lich, she summoned forth an undead dreadmourn to ride atop on. Both the Pillar of the Damned and Scythe of Soul Reaping were already combined before the match had begun.

"Just so you know, Claudia. This ain't personal," Edina said.

"Ahh, we'll have a drink over it later. But when we toast, it's going to be to celebrate my win." Claudia smirked.

"Your win? Pfft. You won't even get past my undead. Legion of the Dead, come forth and serve your master!" She raised the staff high, and the brazier ignited ferociously.

A shower of cinders opened countless abyssal portals from which Edina's tireless army marched out. Someone uttered an audible 'ugh' two rows down. Kanae recognized her pointed ears.

"Dalu! Er… Ivory, you came to watch!" Kanae hollered.

"Amethyst." Ivory glanced over her shoulder and nodded. "I've found time in my busy work schedule. How are you feeling about your fellow succubus' chances down there? I can't imagine she will fare any better than me. Edina's pool of mana is fathomless. That's one of her greatest strengths. Sending an unending army to fight on her behest will wear down anyone." The elf shot a patronizing look at Petyr. "Anyone."

"Don't project your weakness on me." Petyr scoffed.

The massive undead army surrounded Claudia, much like the start of the fight between Edina and Ivory. This was the necromancer's way of gauging her opponent's strength. But they had fought together often enough to understand what the other was capable of.

"You really think your little cemetery is enough, Edinny? That's nowhere near enough pain. Project Agony!" Claudia spanked her own ass with the paddle, and the Legion exploded into bone dust. She pointed the crop whip in Edina's direction. "Bone brutes, death knights, undead dragons, monstrosities never before seen… Raise them all! Anything that can really hit me, bring it! I want the most exquisite agony you can deliver, to put me on the floor, made into a doddering mess, and beg for more. I want my ass to sting to the three hells and back. Spanked redder than my own skin!"

Alicia, Hilde, and Daya buried their faces into their hands.

"Why do you always have to bring your fetish into a fight?" Hilde groaned.

"You asked for it!" Edina leaped off the undead dreadmourn, flying high into the sky and carving open a giant rift. A necromantic miasma flowed from the portal, like a paradoxical mixture of mist and sludge. She landed back down on the surface as the claw of her undead dragon emerged from behind.

But it was the death knights that came out first. Death Knight Cantu marched through, leading six more in formation in two rows of three. Each and every one of them were heavily armored. They might not be wearing adamantine, but their heavy steel made them walking fortification. The dragon finally made it out and let loose a terrifying roar. A roiling sun of necrotic magic sat snug within its ribcage.

"That's more like it! I'm making it to the finals so Petyr can knock the shit out of me. Here I come!" Claudia launched herself into the elite undead.

"Idiot, that's not the plan we coached you on!" Alicia exclaimed.

"In the Mistress' name!" Death Knight Cantu overhead slammed his mace into Claudia. That hard head of hers stopped the weapon cold. The impact should have crushed anyone's head like a bat to watermelon. Not Claudia. Sustaining not so much as a trickle of blood, she lifted her head and smirked.

Claudia's paddle connected with Cantu. The blow sent him skidding backwards into the dragon on his heels. Two death knights performed a pincer-attack on her, their greatswords primed to cleave her in three. Smirking, braced her feet on the ground and took the attacks. One blade stopped against her left thigh and the other against her right hand.

"Not enough! It's still not enough! This isn't some pillow fight. If you ain't showering me in agony, then I'm gonna have to be the one to dole it out. Pain. Should. Hurt!" Claudia pushed the death knights off and pointed her crop whip at Edina. "Share Torment!"

"What?!" A magical rune appeared on Edina's chest. She brushed a hand over it to little effect.

Another death knight with a large maul smashed into the side of Claudia's head. She hardly budged. Edina, however, was knocked sideways like a doll thrown violently. The necromancer hit the ground, groaning and clutching the side of her head.

"Stop," Edina ordered.

Several death knights that were about to strike Claudia at the same time paused. Their weapons were mere inches away from connecting. Edina whistled sharply. They backed away, and the undead dragon loomed over Claudia with its jaws wide open. The necromantic energy in its chest surged up through the spine and expelled a breath of death.

"Haha! It's burning! This is what I'm talking about!" Claudia cackled.

"Oh, my gods… Why isn't Claudia moving away from it?!" Daya cried.

"I think we know why." Hilde folded her arms, having checked out of the fight already.

Claudia's skin blistered and steamed. The undead dragon's necrotic breath torched her flesh. The Share Torment skill being active on Edina did nothing. After all, a Lich was immune to necrotic magic damage. An undead couldn't possibly be hurt by the very thing that raised it.

When the breath finally stopped, the ball of energy inside the dragon had waned a lot. What was previously the size of a church bell had diminished to a basketball. Claudia remained on one knee, body smoking like a chimney during winter.

"There's more where that came from, too." Edina channeled the necromantic energies from the Pillar of the Damned into the dragon's chest, revitalizing its strength.

"Hehe…" Claudia lifted a finger.

"You're about to keel over, Claudia. Just surrender like Ivory did," the necromancer implored.

"No, I don't think I will. That one hurt… so you know what this means~" she said in a sing-songy manner.

"Your Share Torment took me by surprise at first, but as long as I hit you with necrotic damage, I won't get hurt."

Claudia smiled wide. She put her crop whip away and gripped the paddle with both hands. In a burst of speed and beat of her wings, she launched past death knights taking a swing at her. The dragon's claw crashed down hard on top of her, only for her to slip through the talons.

Edina didn't make it easy. With Clutch of the Lich Lord, giant skeletal arms burst out from the earth in an attempt to seize Claudia. She passed by them all, eyes glazed over in the fever of battle. Just as they were face to face with each other, Edina slammed her hands together. Clutch of the Lich Lord sandwiched Claudia flat—

Or so everyone thought. Claudia vaulted over the fingers and landed behind Edina.

"Your ass is mine! Reflect Damage!" Claudia swung the paddle into Edina's booty.

The clap that followed sent shockwaves through the stadium. It knocked Edina rocketing into the sky, hitting the barrier at the very top. A shimmer of energy rippled through the arena-wide shield.

"How? Even my Explosive Palm didn't hit Edina that hard!" Ivory gasped.

"That's because Reflect Damage takes all the pain Claudia suffered and converts it into her next attack. If she hit Edina that hard, then it means the undead dragon had hurt her just as badly," Alicia explained.

Kanae watched intently. Maybe Claudia did have what it took to win. But she thought that too soon. The shattered bones that littered the ground began to fly into the sky. Three of the seven death knights shattered, as did the undead dragon. Their pieces amalgamated on Edina, forming a terrifying skeletal monstrosity that descended slowly to the surface.

The lich had transformed into a chimera. A long spiked tail swung behind her centaur-like body encased in bones. The same necrotic sun roared within the ribcage that formed the chimera's body. A familiar miasma flowed from it and covered the ground. Fog of Death.

Claudia coughed up blood and licked her lips.

"Let's see you try and spank me again!" Edina roared, swinging her scythe and carving a trench into the earth.

"I'll show you how to inflict the most exquisite agony!" Claudia barreled ahead as undead rose from the ground to attack her. She pummeled through them all in her stampede until a death knight intercepted. When she sidestepped to dodge it, a large skeletal hand from Clutch of the Lich Lord erupted from the ground.

The paddle smashed it back into the soil, and Claudia jumped up the fingers to leap into flight. Edina's Scythe of Soul Reaping narrowly decapitated the succubus. She landed on the chimera monstrosity's back and was about to deliver another spank when undead slipped out from between the ribs.

"Didn't I tell you? A puny cemetery can't stop me! Project Agony!" Claudia spanked herself instead with the paddle.

The chimeric Edina howled. It was music to the former Mistress of Pain's ears. She squeezed her legs together and shuddered from what looked like an orgasm.

"Claudia, my kids are watching…" Kanae groaned into her hand.

Claudia's strike made brittle the chimera's skeletal structure. The otherwise sturdy dragon bones comprising the body cracked. Even the necrotic nucleus in its ribcage couldn't keep the form intact. As the chimera fell apart, the energies channeled up to the head.

Edina separated from the monstrosity as her lich form, flying right for Claudia. The blade of her scythe glowing with deadly purple miasma.

"That's it… Give it to me! Fortress!" Claudia tossed her paddle and prepared to grab the squirreling necromancer.

"Wait, that idiot is just going to take it?!" Alicia gasped.

"Why am I not surprised?" Hilde rolled her eyes.

"But Fortress is Claudia's most defensive skill! Maybe she can withstand it!" Daya was at the edge of her seat, biting on her nails.

Edina cut through Claudia's body. Rather, the blade phased past flesh. The succubus fell limp to the ground. A translucent shade clung to the Scythe of Soul Reaping, still thinly attached to the still body.

"No amount of defense is going to prevent your soul from being ripped out. Which is exactly what the Scythe of Soul Reaping does," Kanae said.

"What? Her SOUL?" Alicia fainted.

"Sister!" Daya and Hilde tried shaking her awake.

"And the winner is Edina Hackett!" Archbishop Patrice announced to fanfare and cheers.

Edina brought the blade back down to Claudia's body, letting the soul return. She snapped upright and felt up herself.

"Aw, you fucking clit tease. I thought that was actually going to cut me!" Claudia sulked.

"As if I was going to get through a body that might as well be made out of adamantine." Edina offered a hand to pull her up.

Just like that, Edina had advanced to the semi-finals.