The girl laughed above, spinning her umbrella as her energy spread like black mist.
It slithered around her like a hungry snake, wrapping her in darkness.
She raised her umbrella high and pointed it down toward Bel.
"You resist my authority," she said, voice light. "And you can land a hit on me. That means one thing... you’re not just some lucky snack."
Dark marks crept across her skin like living tattoos, glowing faintly as they wrapped her limbs.
She spun her umbrella once more, balancing it delicately on one shoulder.
"You’re a general too."
Bel didn’t reply. He simply raised his hand, shaking it loose to warm up for round two. His eyes glinted.
The girl flicked her umbrella open with a snap, then held it out like she was about to serve tea.
"Ah, how rare," she purred. "A fresh, unseasoned meal with so much flavor! A bit hard, a little spicy... but oh, so promising."
She twirled the umbrella once more, slower this time, then pointed it at Bel like a knife.
"But you seem a bit... raw. Let me cook you just a little more."
Her aura exploded.
A storm of black energy flooded from her like a wave, swallowing the air, the cold, and the sound. The land trembled.
Bel didn’t hesitate.
He stomped the ground.
[Abyssal Pressure]
A surge of red wind burst from his body. His aura blazed like wildfire, crashing against the darkness like colliding storms.
The impact shook the field.
Lyraen and Cassandra screamed as they turned to run, but the shockwave caught them.
They were thrown through the air like leaves in a storm, landing hard but conscious.
The battlefield was now chaos.
The girl vanished again.
Then reappeared, spinning in midair. Her umbrella opened wide.
She swung it with grace, dark waves shot forward like blades of wind. Bel dodged left, then right, then jumped, blasting forward with fire.
A torrent of flames burst from his claws, igniting the air around him, but the girl just smiled inside.
She spun again and opened her umbrella like a shield.
The fire vanished.
Gone. Not blocked, completely erased.
A ball of swirling blur spun just in front of the umbrella, eating the flames like a bottomless hole.
Bel narrowed his eyes.
She reappeared again. Another spell. Another trick. More dancing. More magic.
He struck with a blazing kick.
She vanished, a little too late, but any contact with him was enough.
[BURN]
A red flare ignited across her arm. For a second, her expression twisted
"Ghhk—!"
But then her eyes glowed, swirling black and violet. The burn faded as if it had never existed.
"Ohooo~" she cooed, her voice thrilled. "You’re full of little surprises!"
Bel landed hard, exhaling sharply. His HP ticked down and then began to crawl back up.
[HP: 1,142 / 1,850 → 1,170 / 1,850 → 1,198 / 1,850]
He regenerated too, but slower. His eyes tracked her, each move, each twitch, each shimmer.
He adjusted. He adapted.
He slashed.
[POISON]
A clean cut along her thigh.
She hissed again, this time sharper.
"Tsk—!"
The poison bubbled into her veins, but then, again, the same shimmer, the same devouring haze. The venom dissolved like smoke in the rain.
Her grin returned, wider than before.
"Try another one, general. I’m starting to enjoy this meal~"
Bel didn’t flinch.
The battlefield was breaking apart.
Flames crackled across the ground, spreading like wildfire. There was barely any snow visible, and just as the fire stretched wide, darkness rolled in like a tide.
It swallowed the heat. It devoured the light.
The clash of fire and nullification warped the land itself, red heat fighting black void.
Bel and the girl danced through the chaos.
He charged forward, fist burning, striking hard.
She slid back, deflecting with her umbrella, teleporting, twisting, casting new spells that vanished and reappeared like shadows.
They were in a stalemate.
He had more power.
She had tricks.
He was faster.
She healed quicker.
And more than anything..
[HP: 1,198 / 1,850 → 1,169 / 1,850 → 1,125 / 1,850]
Bel could feel it.
His body was burning out, maybe not to an alarming state, but considering no one had the upper hand, there was no saying when this battle would stop, so his biggest threat was resurfacing: His draconic form.
He didn’t know how long he could keep it up before running out of stamina.
They clashed again, a brilliant explosion of fire and void.
The impact sent shockwaves across the field as they spun through the air, locked in motion, neither backing down, arm against umbrella, breath against breath.
Their eyes met, locked, searching, burning.
Her umbrella tilted lazily to the side, she leaned in, then, just a breath away from his nose, she bit the air, her teeth snapping with a soft click.
She grinned wider.
Bel’s fist exploded with pressure as he shoved her back.
He gritted his teeth.
He was done.
Done with tricks.
Done with games.
He knew his power, he knew his limits, and he refused to be looked down on by someone he could reach.
His aura burst again, red flames licking the air.
His iris gleamed, glowing red over black eyes.
A new sensation rose in him.
Not just fury, something else.
....
A memory slowly awakened from nowhere, a feeling he suddenly learned to manifest.
The girl froze for the first time.
She felt it.
DEATH
Bel raised his arms, crossing them above his head. The girl’s umbrella snapped open, pointing toward him.
She braced herself.
[ABYSSAL FLAME]
Bel roared.
A vortex of fire exploded around him.
It started as a fierce red, pure, overwhelming. The blaze crackled and roared like a storm, swallowing the battlefield in a curtain of heat.
Waves of fire pulsed outward, distorting the air, turning the sky a furious crimson. The flames spread and thickened, deepening into a darker red, then into violet, a furious purple storm that reached higher and higher.
The winds howled. The ground trembled. The very light seemed to be consumed.
Then it all shifted.
From the heart of the blaze, a color colder than flame emerged—blue.
Not soft or soothing, but sharp and absolute.
A piercing, deadly blue burst forth, rocketing into the heavens like a blade through night.
The sky split, and everything burned.