Chapter 202 :

Episode 39 : Victor (4)

"Huff.. Huff.. Mya.." Noelle panted to catch her breath. 

Although she couldn't hear whether or not her words were coming out correctly, she kept on talking without fail.

"I know you wanted a fight where we don't use 'that' power.."

"..Elle?" Mya's eyes looked stunned and cried out despite knowing Noelle didn't have her skill on.

"..I just don't want to lose in front of my dad.."

"..I can somewhat understand how that feels." 

Noelle smiled. "Even if it's a match, I'll give it my all!"

FLARE!!

The end of Noelle's words sparks the beginning of her awakening where her body was submerged by the strange light coming from the accessory which is a bow on her hair.

Before the system message could even appear and before Mya could even begin to respond to Noelle, she witnessed Noelle in a different appearance. 

..No, it was as if Noelle had been upgraded from an ice princess to an ice angel.

There wasn't a need to describe it since it was unfathomable to anyone within viewpoint. The same goes for Mya who had already seen Noelle in this form.

In front of Mya, she found Noelle, unfolding her lips and speaking in confidence as if Noelle knew what Mya was going to say.

"Go for it.." 

Although hesitant, Mya exhaled a little before etching a grin to Noelle. "Okay!"

The start of Mya's transformation where her amulet emerged with a brilliant light, masked away her body before unveiling Mya from a florist to the daughter of mother nature herself.

* ( Just.. cringe.. —Author. )

Yet again, Mya's newer appearance was indescribable where words can't speak of the truth better than the sight itself.

It was unbelievable and unprecedented enough to bring a shock to the people who were watching from above, excluding JoonChul and his comrades.

..There was one who felt proud mixed with a tiny rage. 

"Woah! They actually used it! So cool! And then, there's me.. I couldn't give it a go though. Ahh, so frustrating!!" Noel cheered before grumbling.

Apart from Noel, Louis and Alaine transparently expressed their bewilderment on their faces as their mouths were left opened.

Rustling..

Leaving alone the shocked people, the judges looked on without a flinch nor a break, they were observing closely and were doing an analysis between Mya and Noelle.

‘Whoever beats who will be a good comrade to have.’ JoonChul smiled.

Flutter!

Moments later, the silence didn't subside as both Noelle and Mya stood with their eyes peeled. 

Nothing broke the silence minus the breathing and the heart beating of the two ladies.

The moment the spectators shut their eyes normally, was when Noelle and Mya charged at each other with their hands being engulfed with ice and nature.

BANG!!!

Hands in the form of a blade, Mya forcibly clashed the nature blade straight at Noelle's frost blade while sparks flew and blades trembled like there were no tomorrow.

The atmosphere couldn't handle the sheer might of the two contestants as they clashed and clashed again, swaying and swinging multiple times.

In that moment, anyone could tell that this battle was way ahead of the previous matches enough to blow one's mind away by the raw strength emitted out of this single fight.

Unused to blades, Mya was clumsy in her ways of close hand-to-hand combat, but it seemed that it's not the case. 

CLINK! CLINGGG!!

By and by as the blades of nature emerged with a clash to the frost blade whereas branches upon branches had arisen from the back of Mya.

Yet, no mere branches were able to prevent Noelle's frost tails that were slicing and dicing its way through Mya's defenses.

Seconds passed by with an eruption of attacks from the middle of the battle, showcasing a ray of unforseen attacks from left and right where no eyes could see it all.

..Except JoonChul and his comrades, of course.

BANGGG!!

Because Noelle and Mya borrowed the power of a dragon, it was no doubt impossible for mere mortals to witness the scene unless they had experiences and great comprehension.

‘Excellent.’ 

On that note, Frostina laid her glance upon Noelle who had made tiny pieces of ripple of sweat freezed to ice, making them unnoticeable for a sneak attack.

‘Fufufu, she's doing good on her own.’

On the other hand, Mirai watched as her student used the blade to her advantage despite being less better than Noelle's combat abilities.

‘A little longer..’ Mya thought as if she was planning for something to end this fight.

CLING!

With a swing, Noelle collided with Mya while their blades quiver immensely. And as it trembles, nature and ice crumble one by one.

Attacks resulted in a cancellation to each other's offenses which led to a situation where nature and ice reappear at the same rate as it disappears.

Nonetheless, there were attacks that prevailed while there were those that were hiding… 

WHOOSH!

In a blink of an eye, those ice flakes were up and about as it pierced with the speed of sound, startling Mya when her arm and legs barely dodged yet still sustained damages.

With cuts open for blood to bleed out, Mya immediately sensed her body freezing little by little, giving rise to frostbite onto every part of her body.

Without a doubt, Mya combated this by rubbing herbs on the open wounds which softened the cut and lessened the bleeding a bit.

Not enough to stop frostbite, but enough to recover from the herbs of the nature dragon's power.

FWOOSH!

In a mere fraction of a second, the wounds that were healing, were reopened again by the continuous attacks from Noelle.

No time was handed to Mya who had fallen quite deeply into the outcome of defeat as she evaded desperately and panted in cold breath.

Earlier, Mya was winning, but at this moment, she felt as if she would lose entirely to Noelle.

But..

"Now!" Mya exclaimed, signaling the beginning of her plans.

WOOOSHHH!!

———

Fwoosh!!!

"As expected." I mumbled while spectating a fight that lasted for a couple of hours.

When I saw how the match was going stale for the first half, I was elated after witnessing the girls using their full powers.

Mya with her nature and Noelle with her ice, it was a battle that could lean toward Noelle's favor.

Everyone should know that even a flower being dipped into liquid nitrogen could get it shattered into pieces.

It takes no second to realize that ice is stronger than nature. So does this fact justify Noelle's win in this match?

Not exactly.

"And the winner is!!!" I heard Raiden's shout signifying the end of this match.

With them depleting the power they borrowed from the dragons, their unique forms vanished.

At that point, I was already staring at a sight where a girl was on her knees as if the exhaustion had gotten to her while another girl stood victorious with her blade on the former's shoulder.

The one who was down, had a flower on her head as though its roots had penetrated into her head entirely.

‘It's triggering my father's instinct.’ I thought with a squint.

Judging from what I'm seeing, anyone can tell that the one kneeling down in defeat was Noelle while Mya stands upright yet tired.

The only possible reason as to why Mya would win, was because of the crucial factor of stamina and mana.

Noelle isn't the type to have that much mana, considering she fainted last time from having excessive MP being overused by Crystal, her familiar. 

Though, it wouldn't make sense for Noelle to lose when Mya may or may not have the same points put into her stats, right? 

It's an easy question to answer. 

Powers borrowed from the Nature Dragon, Amaranth, the sun is Mya's supplier where its sunshine can restore Mya's strength, stamina and mana at all times like a plant would.

Meaning the battle was over the moment it lasted longer than it should have. Noelle stands no chance when she doesn't have any skill better than Mya's.

 

Nevermind that, there was also that flower thing on Noelle's head. It was something that once appeared at the first ever boss battle.

Yes, it was the flower that controls people once it touches someone. So to see it being used in front of me, not as an attack directed at me and my allies, but as a weapon on our side.

"Mya Rose is the winner of this tournament! Let's give her a round of applause for overcoming the matches set in front of her!!" 

And like that, Raiden's cheer signaled the sounds of hand clapping for Mya, and I clapped for her as well.

"Well done." I said with a somewhat proud smile.

All and All, the matches and training, all of it was a good way to pass the time as well as checking everyone's strengths and weaknesses.

Currently, my comrades are going to check on Noelle while I went for Mya who was having a dumbfounded mixed with joy.

"Are you happy?" I asked Mya as I patted her shoulder.

Mya looked at me with a tired expression as if she couldn't believe the whole thing. 

"D-Did I really do it?" She answered, trembling a bit.

Knowing that Mya had no strength within her body to support herself anymore after the battle, I crouched down and stretched my arms like I was waiting for her to fall into my arms, acting like a cushion for her.

"Your body must be hurting right now, so let me pick you up." I spoke while Mya looked hesitant, or should I say teary?

One moment, Mya was fidgeting with her fingers in hesitation while another moment was when she couldn't glance at me properly.

However, it didn't take long when Mya walked toward me before embracing me tightly.

Not long after that, Mya began to cry as she gripped onto my back, surprising me a little before I could wrap my hands around her.

"I did great! I.. won! I won! Dad should be.. proud of me right?! Momma too..! I did it.. Mama, papa!" Mya shredded tears, calling out to her parents.

‘Right, she's still a child after all. A child that got caught up in this cruel system, was also separated from her dad.' I thought, patting Mya's back gently. 

‘She must be missing her dad this entire time.’

‘And since I'm sort of acting as her guardian, I should say something to her..’ I pondered for a few seconds.

Hearing Mya cry close to my ear, I finally spoke to her after a long but short consideration. "Proud isn't enough to describe how your parents would feel after seeing you become so strong."

‘Was what I said okay?’ I thought.

"Waah..!!" Mya was still crying, but I know she can hear me very well.

"What you did was none other than a memorable day for your parents."

"Mama..papa!! Waaahhh!!" 

I'm not sure for how long Mya will be crying, so I pondered. ‘This feels like deja Vu..’

Shortly after, Lucifer responded. ‘Master must be referring to Noelle.’

‘Hm, she did cry. Both Mya and Noelle cried. When did I become a pillow that receives tears?’

‘Master, this is not the time for a joke.’

‘Am I not allowed to make jokes when you make the most?’ My eyes narrowed.

Eventually, Frostina came forward. "My liege, I shall be taking Mya now." 

At that point, Frostina saw me holding onto Mya crying, and noticed that it would be difficult to remove Mya from me when she hasn't finished her crying session.

"I'll come back later, my liege." Then, Frostina left to take care of Noelle instead.

‘It's nice to have a comrade who understands the moment they see the situation.’ I grinned genuinely.

‘I wouldn't want a misunderstanding to happen from this.’ 

And with that, there's only one day left for this stage to finally end. My choice to leave four days after training was a wise decision.

Three days for the tournament, and the last is for everybody. No leader would be foolish enough to not allow a break for their teammates.

Luckily, I have prepared myself for tomorrow after three nights of gathering seafood and edible things on this island.

Hopefully, that's sufficient to satisfy everyone, not that I care except my comrades, of course.

‘Ah. There are also two special guests for the feast tomorrow. I wonder if those two will start a fight or not.’ 

As I thought that, I sneaked my gaze over to Etheldreda who didn't want to get in close range of the match earlier, and was hiding in the water without anyone noticing.

Well, it's natural my comrades noticed, but not the rest. 

"Anyways." I said with a grin.

A mermaid and a siren in one place, what a sight to witness yet again. Nothing good ever comes out of the two being in close proximity to each other.

But it will bring good entertainment to me.