Chapter 97
Axel and I stood on opposite ends of the field, but we were far from alone. Every duel held in the IMA naturally attracted curious onlookers, but Alma had brought a huge number of her personal army to encircle and observe this particular fight. On the one hand, it added a great deal of pressure to an otherwise inconsequential duel. On the other hand, because of the crowd, Axel didn’t notice that Lily was nowhere to be seen.
Lily spoke with telepathy magic. She had slipped inside my shadow before I returned to the field.
In addition, I had used the remaining vials of visceranid venom and was under the influence of multiple holy spells, courtesy of Bubblin. I was cautious not to let any of these effects show on the outside, but this somewhat limited the number of spells Bubblin could employ.
For example, I would have liked to have to help cushion Axel’s blows, but the visual effect of that spell caused a golden aura to engulf the subject’s body. And so the active spells I was able to employ subtly included and of course, .
For the most part, this all just helped to lessen the divide between my and Axel’s physical abilities. But and in particular were the most important, as without them, my senses would struggle to keep up with the massive speed boost. Moving faster than light doesn't matter if you can't see the wall approaching.
As for the visceranid venom, I found that by circulating it with , I could focus its effects on specific parts of the body, intensifying the effect. It was also theoretically possible to extend the duration by preventing my body from trying to filter and excrete the toxin, but that wasn’t needed for just one duel.
Lily’s laughter rang inside my head.
She wasn’t totally wrong about that, but that didn’t change the fact that I still viewed the fight as ultimately meaningless. I just had to do enough to impress Alma so that she wouldn’t relegate me to minor busywork for the duration of her command. I can't rack up achievements and renown by being the laundry guy.
“What do we think, men?”
Alma called my attention as she addressed the crowd.
“These two fresh out of their diapers, have called , their Imperial Highness, to witness their playground brawl. Surely, they aren’t so stupid as to think their flailing will be enough to impress the Obsidian Reavers?”
The men raised their fists as one and roared at the mention of their order’s name.
“But who knows? Maybe they have the makings of greatness hiding behind their milk-breath?”
Their proud roar transitioned into derisive laughter.
Axel did little to hide his scowl, but I let it all wash over me without reacting. This was clearly some kind of hazing ritual of theirs, and falling for the provocation was exactly what they wanted.
Alma’s eyes met mine, but contrary to my expectation, she didn’t seem pleased that I was resisting her taunt.
“Hmph. A traitorous lunatic and an emotionally stunted child. is what my father put into my service? Am I perhaps being punished?”
The laughter grew. I found it odd that even the knights were openly laughing at what could be viewed as a derisive comment towards the Emperor. Maybe the Obsidian Reavers just didn’t care for such things.
“Whatever. Let their efforts be witnessed by men, so that they dare not shame themselves with a sub-par performance.”
I felt like that last part was directly aimed at me. Had she already guessed that I wasn’t invested in this whole thing?
Alma sat down among her men, not bothering to set up any kind of special seat to differentiate her from the rest.
“Oh, right. Any special rules you two want to add?”
We had already told her about the condition that the loser has to teach the winner something, so I shook my head.
“I’ve got some.”
Axel called out proudly.
“No surrender allowed. And no rounds. We keep going until one of us is unable to continue.”
Lily giggled.
“Rex, do you accept?”
Alma, now sitting up straight and visibly more invested, demanded an answer.
“No.”
My blunt response caused the crowd to boo me, and Alma slumped back with visible disgust.
I didn't care. I just had to prove my strength, but there was no need to let Axel pummel me to near-death.
“One moment.”
Axel signalled to Alma and ran over to speak with me. Contrary to my expectations, he didn't look as annoyed as I thought he'd be.
He pulled me in as if we were sharing a conspiratorial huddle and spoke jovially. However, his words were anything but pleasant.
“Don't give me some half-hearted crap, I want to fight the Rex who immolates himself to win. Agree to these terms, or I'll start throwing down with this lot.”
He nodded at the gathered knights.
“And I won't stop until I've killed as many as possible.”
He grinned widely at me.
“...So? You'll die too.”
I called his bluff.
“Maybe. But how many will die before me? Maybe I'll get away and present their heads as a peace offering to Soleo. Maybe I'll just feed them information from the inside. Maybe I'll tear apart those goblins of yours. There are a lot of ways to screw you over.”
Axel’s grip tightened. His unblinking stare acted as a silent assurance that he was serious.
“Why go this far?”
I clenched my jaw and glared back at him.
“You know what I want—a fight. Try to kill me, I want to face you at your best. Use whatever method you want, I'll take it all on.”
He suddenly let go and slapped my shoulder before slowly walking back to his position.
Lily had once told me that she could read the emotions of anyone whose name she knew. I wouldn't put it past her to lie about this to mess with me, but I chose to trust her.
And the main reason was that my own intuition agreed with hers. Axel Lionheart was a wild beast and always had been. Violence was his leisure activity, and death was his playground.
He was also my friend, and one I understood well. We had sparred numerous times, but only fought seriously once. I knew he wanted to relive that feeling with me, but I still tried to deny his wishes. He wanted so badly to fight me without restraint that he was prepared to make an enemy of everyone present if he were dismissed.
I straightened up and drew my axe. Tiara, sensing my emotions, shifted into her combat form, and I addressed Alma.
“I agree to the terms.”
Axel chuckled and took a deep breath as he looked up at the stars. And then, he suddenly lowered into a readied stance and faced me with nothing but battle in his mind.
“Hmph. Glad you found your spine.”
Alma stood back up.
“In the name of Alma Drachenskrone, I acknowledge the legitimacy of this duel. Combatants… Begin!”
I reacted as quickly as a coiled snake and released a precise burst of compressed water from my index finger.
But Axel was as fast as lightning and came in hot while running beneath the stream.
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I acknowledged that he was already too close for me to play the ranged game and charged forward to meet him.
He came in low, but I went lower still and caught him by the waist. The hammer that was Axel’s elbow struck me hard on the back, but with active, I pushed through and lifted him off the ground.
He twisted his body just before I slammed him down to soften the blow, and he immediately reversed our positions.
He had me pinned, but I kept my guard up long enough for Tiara to bite his throat and drag him away.
His activated almost instinctively to defend himself, but that trick no longer impressed me.
I ran in and mounted Tiara, using my axe to hack at Axel’s arms and prevent him from throwing her off.
Then, we climbed.
Tiara teleported us all upwards, then shifted back to her smaller form as I linked and teleported even further up. We repeated the process several times, constantly trading places and shifting forms so Axel never had a chance to grasp either one of us.
But even so, his reflexes were inhuman, and more than once did his lightning-wreathed fingertips scrape against my flesh, leaving scorch marks behind.
We travelled 50 meters into the air before Tia and I pushed ourselves off from Axel’s chest and left him to plummet.
Using Kipper's water jets, I shot directly down at his rapidly descending body. This both hastened his landing and slowed my own, all while carving away at his armour.
I even used to alter the temperature, turning my streams into a scalding torrent of boiling water.
It was a violent, merciless barrage of attacks that had no place in a reasonable duel.
But my opponent was far from reasonable himself.
He landed with a hefty crash, cratering the ground, but he landed flat on his feet as if the impact on his knees was nothing worth noting. He then immediately leapt upwards and was suddenly right in front of my face.
He pummelled me mercilessly in mid-air. Thanks to I was able to maintain my spatial awareness and hook his wrist with my axe, forcing him to fight with one arm temporarily disabled.
But whether that fact ever registered in his mind, I did not know. His free hand seized my throat and flung my body violently downwards.
I fused with Tiara and landed harmlessly, light as a feather, and like Axel before me, I did not hesitate to prepare a counter.
The crowd were already in an uproar, but only my fight had meaning in that moment, and so their cheers and shouts were reduced to a low drone.
Lily directed me, and I conjured a great spear of darkness, holding it like a javelin. For extra firepower, I linked to Soot to push my muscles to their limit and pelted the weapon with all my might.
It was immediately apparent that it had veered off course, but that was why I brought my co-pilot.
The spear homed in on Axel, who should have been helpless in the air. But that man was never truly helpless.
He punched the air repeatedly with such force that cracks of thunder were being produced, and his body was thrown backwards to avoid my spear.
Finally, he landed and charged me once more. And once more, I met him head-on. But this time I only intended to hold him down.
His burned me as I made contact, but still I would not relax my grip.
The spear was still following, and now he could not evade.
It collided with his back and exploded into a burst of shadowy flame. It had the same appearance as ink bleeding into water, and the shadows engulfed us.
My vision was blocked, but I felt Axel strike my side and flee from the damage he was sustaining in this position.
That was the wrong move. He should have forced me out as well.
Lily continued to manipulate the shadows while adding her own mana to them. Those same shadows coiled all around my body, staining my already dark fur into a blackness so absolute that no light could illuminate me.
Shadow Scales.”
Lily delighted in her creation, and even I took a moment to appreciate her work.
“
Something impossibly fast and terrifyingly powerful struck my shoulder, knocking me out of my trance.
I knew it by its name, but it was only after being the target that I understood how devastating the attack really was.
The shadows were dismissed at the impact point, and my shoulder bones were fractured. Still, it failed to draw blood from me.
I shot back with another water jet and was surprised to see the shadows coiling around it.
“
I ignored Lily’s pondering and assessed the damage output on this unexpected dual attack.
The shadows leapt outward and latched to Axel as he attempted to evade, and when that was not needed, they acted like a drill to further pierce through his hardy shell.
He was already bleeding all over, but his grin—and his aggression—only grew more intense.
Something too fast and transparent to track hit me square in the head, then a dozen more followed up on my limbs. I could not understand where I was being attacked from or how to avoid it, and while it wasn't doing any damage, the impact still disrupted my aim.
Again, my attempt at using distance was foiled. I could focus on speed, but no matter how fast I was, I could never evade invisible attacks.
And so, I shifted gears.
I teleported right above Axel and swung for his throat. His armour had become weakened to the point that I was surprisingly able to draw a small trickle of blood.
He snapped around and gripped both wrists before reeling back to deliver a headbutt.
He pulled back with blood pouring from his forehead and a look of confusion. His hands were no longer large enough to wrap around my arms, as my size had tripled in the blink of an eye.
“Eh? Where fire pig?”
Bubblin went ignored, for his question was easily answered.
Axel no longer faced a feline/human cross-breed. What he looked upon instead was hard to define at all.
Wreathed in shadow and flame, a chimeric being had been born. The heat radiating out from me had already drawn sweat from the unstoppable Axel. My claws and hooves were carved from the starry sky and given murderous, solid form.
My first attempt at a tri-fusion had succeeded.
Soot's fury, Tiara’s playfulness, and my focus. Three souls were difficult to manage properly, but with my recent improvements, I found it manageable. In fact, I no longer felt Soot's emotions dominating my own in the slightest.
Axel's ecstatic laughter in the face of an unknown monster caused a ripple of frightened whispers.
But we did not pause to talk. Our heads collided again, this time as a mutual attack.
I felt nothing but a dull touch, while Axel was forced onto his knee. I raised my hoof without hesitation and brought it down on his head.
He swayed back to avoid, and yet, to everyone's confusion, the attack still connected.
Had they no sense? Tiara was still a part of me, so of course, I could still abruptly shift my position to compensate for an evasive target.
Calling it a teleportation wasn't wrong, but it was technically called . Another ability of the phantasmal panther. It was a micro-teleportation that was great for deceptive attacks.
With this in my arsenal, even Axel would struggle to trade blows with me.
My world spun, and I felt the security of a solid footing leave me. It took a moment to understand that some kind of immense force had tossed me into the air once more.
I looked down and saw my own severed tail on the ground, and my body was covered in fine cuts.
Axel stood up slowly from where I trampled him and used his own blood to slick back his hair.
The wild grin was gone. He looked at me with a deadly serious expression, his eyes wide open and jaw locked in determination.
His was gone too, but it had been replaced by something new.
“
Lily’s voice came through with clear astonishment.
“
Her explanation filled in some gaps, but it ultimately didn’t matter to me. Even I could feel the raw power emanating from him.
His shirt had been burned away, revealing that his skeleton was glowing so brightly that it became visible through the skin. His eyes no longer just shone; they had become entirely consumed with a crackling white light that seemed to be creeping further outwards along his face. It was as though the terrible power he contained inside his body was forcing its way outward.
I landed with a heavy thud, and we both spared a moment to size one another up.
Axel’s body lowered ever so slightly—and then vanished. I felt a presence at my flank and swung without looking, relying entirely on predatorial instinct.
My claws wrapped around his fist, hooking in and scraping against bone.
His fist produced a shockwave that scorched my fur and completely blew away my shadowy defence.
My breath produced a steam so hot that the grass around us was converted into barren ground.
His movements were so violent and rapid that the wind he conjured sent rocks flying into the crowd.
It was close, but I was winning. Gradually, Axel’s fervent flurry of fists relented as my claws raked across his torso time and again to spatter the ground with his blood. My size and weight both misled him into the false belief that I would be a slow-moving target.
He had misread me, but so too had I misunderstood his intention in forcing me into a fist fight.
“
He had been charging his most deadly attack within his torso while trading blows, and as he finished his preparation, he suddenly leapt backward and held both arms straight out at me.
I could to safety, but he had positioned himself so that if I moved, it would put Alma in the path of destruction.
Maybe she would be fine, given the firepower she herself displayed, but even if his attack did nothing, he would surely face severe punishment.
And so I braced myself.
I felt a faint presence dart away from behind, and I knew Lily had bailed.
White lightning exploded outward towards me, though all I could see was a blinding flash of light. Just like real lightning, the attack collided with my body seconds before the deafening bang resounded across the campus.
I used my claws and tusks to absorb the brunt of the attack as they were my strongest tools. But they only held firm for a second before shattering into fragments. Axel’s blast powered through unabated and tore a chunk through my shoulder, leaving my left arm dangling by a thread.
Such an outcome was the best I could hope for, considering I could only redirect by a few centimetres.
Alma was yelling something, but I disregarded her.
Neither Axel nor I had pushed ourselves this far before. We were growing in the midst of our battle. There was no room for anyone else to distract me.
I tore off my loose arm. It was only a distraction.
I raised my axe and plunged it into the ground.
“
From the head of the axe, a web of runes formed in a circle on the ground.
Axel was still catching his breath after his attack and could only watch on as a crimson inferno burst from the ground and twisted into the shape of a dragon’s head.
This was the strongest fire spirit I could call upon with my current power. It opened its maw wide, and the field was set ablaze just from the radiant heat that was summoned as the spirit readied its breath.
Axel took a sharp breath and prepared to move, but I had already appeared behind him. I grabbed him by the head and forced him down, locking us both in place.
I stared up at the molten orb of flame and waited. This was it. This was as far as I could go. If this was not enough to force Axel to surrender, then my loss was guaranteed.
But he continued to thrash and strike out at me. Not out of desperation, but an eagerness to push us both even further beyond our limits.
The flames intensified, and the spirit reeled back to deliver my gift to Axel.
Only for it to be snuffed out.
Axel looked just as confused as I was, but we soon understood.
A beam of silver light struck me, and I was blown down to the ground.
A second struck Axel as he stood and roared in anger at the interference.
He landed next to me, clearly unconscious, but with a face still contorted in outrage.
I looked up to see Alma Drachenskrone. She was floating in the air, some kind of shining silver sigil hovering behind her like a grand angelic halo. In her hand was an intricately made rifle, its barrel smoking from recent usage.
The observers no doubt thought she was delivering her judgment on the two unruly subjects, but I could see her face clearly.
She wore a wild grin, almost identical to the one Axel bore earlier.
“Isolde. Tend to them.”
Those were her only words, and while I did not lose consciousness, I simply fell back and allowed myself to be taken care of.
