Chapter 73: Nox

  Claire closed her eyes as she exhaled. Her ponytail swayed under the gentle breeze. Warm sunlight. The scent of grass in the air. For a moment, her body relaxed. She was in decent condition. Except for her right arm.

  She clenched her right hand into a fist. A dull ache ran up her arm to her shoulder.

  “Haa.” She sighed. The injuries had not fully healed. It wasn’t painful, but she needed to watch out during the battle in case it failed her at an important moment.

  “Begin.”

  At that moment, Tidus announced the start of the duel and flew up.

  Her eyes snapped open, and the wind around her picked up.

  “Wind God’s Fury!”

  Claire’s eyes began shining with a gray light, and lines emerged from her skin. She decided to go all out from the start. Her feet left the ground as she floated into the air. A raging gale formed around her.

  Channeling her arcane power, she cast a spell. For the first time, a fiery, red barrier encircled her. She did not take any chances against Nox. He would try something underhanded.

  On the other end of the platform, Nox scoffed at her transformation.

  “Do you think you’re the only one with a special ability?”

  Starting from his fingertips and toes, a black, liquid-like substance climbed up his body. It covered him completely, until it engulfed even his head. His features could no longer be discerned, but two white lights shone from where his eyes had been.

  “Shadow Form.”

  Even after coating his entire body, the transformation was not over. His fingers extended into claws, and the dark fluid rippled out from beneath his feet, forming a circle a few feet in radius around him.

  “Oh, look at that! Claire is already using her special ability. I guess she’s planning on throwing everything she has from the start! But wait, what’s this? Nox is transforming as well. What is that ability? Alan, do you know what he’s using?” Wesley commented calmly, without expressing too much excitement. It was the last match of the tournament. He needed to look professional for at least this duel.

  Beside him, Alan had settled down considerably compared to earlier. His face was still red, and his breathing rough, but he was now composed enough to say a few words. Upon Wesley’s urging, he reluctantly placed his hand atop the crystal orb.

  “That ability is most likely the same type as Claire’s.”

  “Gasp!” Wesley drew in a large breath of air. “You mean… He’s also got an innate physique?”

  Alan rolled his bloodshot eyes at Wesley and then looked back down at the arena. He had to place all his focus on just fixing his line of sight on the platform, instead of on the boy standing next to it. “Yes, I believe so. I can’t say which physique it is, but it looks like it is related to the shadow element.”

  “Oh no! Since shadow is already his specialty, it must boost his strength even further! Who knew he had another trump card like this up his sleeve!”

  Claire was also taken aback by Nox’s transformation. However, she brushed it off quite quickly. Regardless of what tactics or hidden cards he throws at her, she just needed to beat him. She also had a trump card of her own to rely on, if need be.

  “Go!” She screeched as she swung her arms at Nox, shooting blades of wind directly toward him.

  In response, Nox clawed at the air, each long finger sending out a thorny projectile. They clashed mid-air, and neither side managed to take advantage. After several seconds, both attacks collapsed and vanished. No explosion. No shockwave. Just silence, as if nothing had happened.

  “Looks like we’re evenly matched! Now, show me what other tricks you have, before I beat you! You didn’t use them all against your friend, did you?” Nox cackled from within the shadow form. There was no mouth, so the voice emerging from within made everyone feel unsettled. He did not resemble a human.

  Claire’s expression only grew increasingly cold at his taunts. She was no longer the Claire he had faced weeks ago. His words did not affect her anymore. The surroundings dimmed and fell away. Only Nox remained.

  “What’s taking you so long? If you’re not going to make a move, I will!” Nox pointed both of his arms into the sky. “Shadow Beads!”

  Countless black balls, only the size of an orange each, emerged from his palms and soared into the sky. Alerted by his actions, Claire moved to evade the incoming attack, but stopped with furrowed brows.

  What’s this? A mistake?

  The Shadow Beads were not aimed at her. They flew through the air in a chaotic rush, moving in every direction except toward her. But she soon realized what he was doing. As more and more balls appeared, a shape finally began to form. It was a sphere. And she was at its center.

  “Hah!” Claire yelled as she began spinning in place with her arms extended. The surrounding winds accelerated until a vortex had formed around her. Then, after a moment longer, it turned into a true tornado. The size and speed only grew as time went on, the outer ring beginning to touch the edges of the sphere.

  To her surprise, the wind slipped right through without an issue. It was as though the round cage was not really there.

  “That’s not going to work. You’re finished now! Shadow Confinement!” Nox brought his hands together and cupped them, forming a sphere.

  The last few beads found the remaining holes, blocking out the light completely. The sphere sealed shut.

  Claire slowed down and stopped spinning. The gale continued to rage around her, but it did nothing against the sphere. Thankfully, her flame barrier remained around her, and it lit up the inside. She could only see inky blackness in every direction.

  What should I do? My wind can’t touch it… Perhaps… Fire?

  She began chanting, upon which numerous balls of searing flames flickered into life above her. It was a Flame Barrage. Before she could finish casting her spell, a thick black spike shot out from the darkness in front of her, piercing into her barrier. It did not manage to puncture it and dissipated into motes of black and was absorbed by the sphere.

  A second spike erupted from below. Then a third. Then a fourth. Her barrier had been riddled with cracks. One more strike would shatter it.

  This isn’t good.

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  A fifth spike stabbed out from behind her and impaled the barrier, shattering it. Upon breaking apart, the barrier exploded and took the spike with it.

  She was undefended now, but she had finished casting her spell.

  “Flame Barrage!”

  Usually, this spell was used offensively. This time, Claire controlled the large Fireballs to rotate around her. Not just horizontally and vertically, but at an angle as well. They spun around her fast enough that it blasted apart any more incoming spikes.

  Good. That worked. Now what? How do I get out of here?

  Her mind raced through every possible plan. However, nothing she came up with seemed viable. Funnily enough, in a corner of her mind, Damon’s face popped up. He was always calculating like this, usually a step ahead. She needed to channel her inner Damon.

  A thought suddenly occurred to her. Perhaps she was overthinking it. Maybe what she needed wasn’t an intricate strategy, nor was it brute force. The answer seemed so close, it tickled the border of her mind.

  Then she remembered.

  The wind. It went through, without resistance!

  Damon watched with concern as Claire became trapped within the Shadow Confinement. He closed his eyes, his Mindsense extending toward her. Soon, he could see what was happening inside. His frown disappeared, and he nodded in approval.

  That’s good, Claire. Great use of your spell. But how are you going to get out of there? Why aren’t you using Dawn’s Edge? I can help you.

  With his jaws clenched hard, he could only watch her at the moment. Unless Claire herself decided to throw out his sword, he couldn’t reach it through her storage pouch.

  There’s no way out! Come on, Claire. Just rely on me!

  Damon couldn’t see any option apart from using it. It would be able to puncture the cage and perhaps end the match in one fell swoop. But then, his expression changed. His eyes popped open as he stared up at the dark sphere.

  What… Are you doing?

  After the tornado disappeared, Nox walked closer to the enormous black sphere hovering in the sky as he continuously cast Shadow Spikes at Claire. With every step he took, the dark substance beneath him expanded in front, leaving a trail of tar-like liquid. It roiled, as though it was bubbling.

  The two white lanterns that were his eyes stared intently at the floating sphere, as though he could see through it. These eyes narrowed, and then he abruptly zipped backward.

  Fiery orbs emerged from the bottom of the Shadow Confinement, completely ignoring the dark border. Within the center of these spiralling flames was Claire, now enclosed by a thick layer of rotating wind. Shadow Spikes continued to erupt from the border of the sphere, even after she escaped, but most did not make it through the Fireballs. The few that did broke down within the wind barrier.

  “Heh.” Claire scoffed at the retreating Nox. “Did you think that would trap me? Now, it’s my turn. Have a taste of this!”

  Her spiralling wind barrier expanded until it came into contact with the Flame Barrage. Upon exposure, the two fused and developed into a fiery tempest. The scorching heat radiating from the blazing vortex sucked all the moisture out of the surrounding atmosphere, blowing arid air into the audience stands.

  The flaming storm stopped proliferating and began forming a funnel toward Nox.

  He retreated to the edge of the platform and put his palms together before stomping onto the ground. The pitch black substance at his feet boiled over before rising into a wave to meet the incoming fire tornado.

  A large explosion occurred when they collided, spraying the dark liquid in every direction. The flame vortex gained the upper hand after momentarily being stopped by the gushing wave. However, a strange transformation transpired. The crimson flames darkened as black spread through them like rot.

  Claire frowned. What’s happening now? Is that black liquid somehow… Corrupting my flames? How is that possible?

  She cut off the flow of wind funneling into the tornado before the darkness reached her. All the flames within the tornado were quickly inundated by the black hue and dissipated alongside the gale.

  “Is that all you’ve got?” Nox cackled. Then he glided along the darkened ground so quickly that he arrived directly below Claire in a heartbeat.

  He punched up with a hand, and several thick columns of darkness shot up toward her. In less than a second, it smashed into her fiery vortex barrier. It did not explode, and instead began inching along the border of the barrier, trying to enclose her in another cage of shadows.

  Claire did not sit still as she watched the darkness corrode her barrier. She didn’t understand how his shadows corrupted her flames. She only knew she had to stop it before it reached her. She shoved her arms forward, causing the vortex to drill through the shadow pillars and down toward Nox while she flew backward herself.

  As she retreated, she swung her arms down, sending another volley of wind blades toward him. Suddenly, a wave of pain erupted from her right arm, causing her to stop her attacks. She could still move it, but not for long. Gritting her teeth, she withdrew Dawn’s Edge from her storage pouch and grasped it tightly in her right hand.

  He’s a lot stronger than I expected. He’s been holding back the entire tournament. If I were at my peak, I might be able to beat him with my own strength. But… That wouldn’t be enough anyway. I didn’t want to use this, but… I’ll have to rely on you just this once, Damon.

  Damon instantly felt his connection to Dawn’s Edge being restored and looked up to see the shiny golden sword with subtle black hues.

  Finally. Let’s do this, Claire!

  He had been surprised when Claire had rushed at the border of the Shadow Confinement, as he thought she was just trying to brute force it. Unexpectedly, it seemed he was mistaken. She had seen through the sphere faster than he had. It was immaterial. Even the name was misleading. Technically, it never trapped her. It was a device for Nox to use his shadow spells from, not an actual cage. That was just part of the ruse.

  He was quite impressed. It wasn’t that he looked down on Claire. He was just overly confident in his own mind. This actually made him evaluate himself. Was it pride? Arrogance? He had assumed he was smarter than his peers. That assumption was wrong. Walking the mind path did not make him the most intelligent or the most knowledgeable. He still had a long way to go.

  But now that Claire had taken out Dawn’s Edge, he knew it was time to focus back on the match at hand. One swift blow was all that was needed to take out Nox. With its incredible sharpness and hardness, along with the ‘sever’ rune engraved, it shouldn’t have a problem piercing through his defenses.

  Claire looked down at Nox, who had just destroyed the last of the wind blades she had shot at him. Their gazes met, and even though his current form didn’t have a mouth, she could somehow tell he was smirking at her.

  “Let’s finish this.”

  She spoke out loud. As she did so, she briefly glanced toward Damon standing outside the stage. He responded with a subtle nod.

  Having received his signal, she spun in the air, gathering a new tempest. This time, it was solely wind. The currents converged upon her, rapidly forming a dense storm.

  “Hahaha! I like it! I’ll stop playing around and finish you off, then!”

  Below, Nox seemed to think the words were directed toward him. He pointed down at the stage covered in ink, upon which it began retracting toward him. It seeped into his body, and he grew larger the more he absorbed.

  By the time he had gathered all the black substance, he stood at double his normal height and claws the length of an arm extended from his fingers. He crouched, either bracing himself or preparing to pounce.

  Claire also finished her preparations. A hurricane had formed around her, the winds so powerful that her robes flitted in the draft, and her ponytail had come loose. She dove toward Nox as her hair whipped against her back. The surrounding squall spiraled around the dagger’s tip, forming a colossal drill of air.

  She reached him in a second. Nox jumped to the side to avoid the tip of the drill and swiped at her side. His claws stabbed through the storm, but became mired in the dense wind. He did not stop. He swung his other hand as well.

  Claire turned around after passing Nox and threw Dawn’s Edge at him. Right after, she flew back to avoid his attack. To her dismay, he evaded the sword by swiftly gliding to the side.

  The long black blades cut through the last layers of the hurricane and closed in on her. The bracers of her wrists activated, and the full five layers of verdant barriers materialized in front of her.

  The claws tore through the barriers one by one, until four had been perforated. Right before it slashed through the last one, it suddenly retracted. The golden sword had made an abrupt turn and darted toward Nox’s back.

  “Wait, this is…”

  Nox exclaimed as he glanced back at the flying sword. He didn’t have the time to evade this time. But suddenly, he threw out his hand at the incoming blade. It halted mid-flight, as though frozen in space.

  At the side of the stage, Damon’s eyes widened as he took in a sharp intake of air. His control over Dawn’s Edge had been interrupted by something. It was not a barrier. Not a spell. Nor was it metal manipulation. No. It was something both foreign and deeply familiar.

  That… That is Telekinesis!

  Boom!

  Nox's big reveal!

  Claire, he's been hiding his true powers for this match.

  Tournament Arc is coming to a close, along with the end of Volume 1!