5 minutes in.

“[Murakumogiri]!!!!!”

“Theïká Panoplía: Zodiac!!!!”

Crack!!!!!!!!!

Crack!!!!!!!!!

Crack!!!!!!!!!

The forest biome has long been destroyed, leaving only burned tree stumps and land. The force of their strikes sends shockwaves throughout the battlefield. Massive, deep cuts littered the forest biome.

'No matter how many years older he is still retains at the very most the skeleton of how Cirrus fights!' Ai thought as she is adapting to a whole new range of attacks from Elysium.

"Here." Elysium reached into his shadow and pulled out a longbow. "I haven't used the bow in my fights, so it's a a refreshing things!" He then kicked back.

"Your not gonna run away!!" Ai gave chase.

Elysium didn't even look where he was going as he took out arrows from his sleeves, notched them and fired.

Fsh! Fsh! Fsh! Fsh! Fsh! Fsh! Fsh! Fsh! Fsh!

Ai sliced and blocked them.

Swish-Clang-Swish-Clang-Swish-Clang-Clang-Clang-Swish!

Yet with each arrow fired the strength grew.

"Grr!!" Ai pressed forward.

"Nice!" Elysium cracked a smile. "Now lets see how you do long range!" With another powerful kick of the earth Elysium shot far away towards a mountainous biome. He also did not stop his barrage of arrows.

Fsh! Fsh! Fsh! Fsh! Fsh! Fsh! Fsh! Fsh! Fsh! Fsh! Fsh! Fsh! Fsh! Fsh! Fsh! Fsh! Fsh! Fsh!

Ai had to go by foot. She knew going through air only made her a bigger target with less mobility.

"Art's archery is better!!" Ai shouted running even faster, deciding to just dodge the arrows as best as she could and block where she could to save energy.

"Can't hear you!!" Elysium said growing the distance between him and Ai.

'Hah! A mountainous area! I can easily work within that!'

10 minutes in.

“Sing!!!!”

Crackle!!! Crackle!!!

Having moved onto the mountainous biome, Ai jumps from cliffside to cliffside to avoid Elysium’s thunder strikes.

'Those differences are so subtle yet so far from how he used to fight!'

"Come on!!" Elysium shouted as chains wrapped around various chunks of earth. "I'll give a boost to hack my neck!!"

He then tossed at Ai chunks of sliced and broken earth.

"I don't need help!! I cut your bow so your next on the chopping block!!"

The second Ai touched one of the thrown chunks she redirected it's flow. She used that chance to use it as a platform to dash towards Elysium.

Tap!!!

Tap!!!

Tap!!!

"Aiki huh!" Elysium noticed. "Those martial arts from that world truly are insane!" He flapped his armored wings and charged forth to meet Ai half-way.

With the speed these two were going their quickly clashed.

“Haaa!!!”

Clang!!!!!!!

She comes down with a powerful downward slash. Elysium redirects, causing Ai to head straight down.

Crackle!!!

Ai then spins like a Beyblade to redirect the stream of lightning until she manages to get some footing and jump her way up again.

"Well let me truly show you deadly!! <<Niten Ichi-ryuu: Redux>>!!"

20 minutes in.

“Huff!! Huff!! Huff!!” Ai catches her breath as, around her, the mountains are all cut up. Diagonal, vertical, and horizontal. "Grr!! Even that wasn't enough."

No matter what cut it was, it was as clean and sharp as their weapons.

“Maybe going another round wasn’t such a good idea, huh? Ai.” Elysium said it without a drop of sweat.

“I’ll Huff!! Huff!! Make sure to make you sweat after this!!” Her eyes focused on him and she kicked off the ground. “Haaaaaaah!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“I would like to see you try."

Elysium and Ai clash their blades once more, bringing the mountain down to its already cut-down state.

40 minutes in.

Whoosh!!

Whoosh!!

Upon the desert sand, Ai was covering it in her blood.

“Huff!! Huff!! Huff!!” Her body is littered with deep gashes and scratches.

She managed to not get any cuts on her that would affect her eyesight. Her magic has been able to slowly heal her, but it is far weaker in comparison to Elysium.

'I never realized how much of a threat he was with his armor.’ Thought Ai. ‘I can see why Evilus was so terrified of him enough to release ancient monsters. His armor is like what Artemis said—broken.’

She looked at Elysium in a different light for the first time.

“…” Elysium looks at the expanse of the sea of sand. “You know when you look at me like that, it hurts a bit, especially when we are in this particular biome.”

“I’m sorry, but fighting you seriously makes it hard for my view of you to not change.”

“I know, but I still have a trial to finish.” He swings his spear.

“!!”

Clang!!!!!!!

Ai blocks the strike. The strike pushes her a good chunk away from the force.

‘His power increased! The desert is the worst place for me to fight him. The ground is too soft for me to use my full strength. Elysium doesn’t have this limitation; he’s far too used to this environment.’

“Then let’s get back to killing each other, my love!" Ai kicked off from the sand and rushed towards Elysium.

“Yes… lets.” He said it softly before grinning. He swings his spear to knock up a large cloud of dust.

"That won't help you!!" Ai swung her swords as forcibly as she could.

FWHOOSH!!!

The cloud of dust and even the sands were blown away to reveal Elysium far back on top of his spear, balancing on the very tip of it.

"Say how about I make this experience more fun for the both of us?"

"Mm." Ai grunts in frustration. She gets back into stance, ready to move from what he had planned. "I know you are just making me lose my cool."

"Maybe. But—Put your lovin' hand out, baby♪! 'Cause I'm beggin'♪!" Elysium began to sing.

"No you don't!!"

 

Their fight continued in a blinding exchange of sparks. Elysium also kept singing to taunt Ai more.

"Riding high when I was king♪! I played it hard and fast, 'cause I had everything♪!"

Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!!

Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!! Clang!!!!

"Riding high when I was king♪! I played it hard and fast, 'cause I had everything♪!"

"How are you singing and matching me!!" Ai shouted.

Ai steadily made progress in understanding how Elysium fought, faints, tricks, afterimages, combos, hand-to-hand, unconventional movements, and attacks. Even after departing from Hecton, he still has that fighting style.

Blade clashes with blade.

Clang!!!! Crack!!!!

Cracks form on the earth from their fight.

Fwish!!

Skrrrt!!

They leave behind a trail of blood and sweat all across the desert sand; said blood belongs to Ai alone.

Ai's blade grows ever more before Elysium’s overwhelming spear.

The forest was burned and sliced down before them. The mountains were cleaved into chunks by their blades.

The desert was drizzled with Ai’s blood and Elysium’s sweat. Upon finally taking their fight to the snowy tundra, a god's blood finally dyed the snow red.

 

67 hours in.

"Saintlike behavior, a lifetime I prayed♪ I'm crucified for the holy dimension♪ Godlike ascension heavens away~♪" Elysium stopped singing. "Hah... This has lasted longer than I could ever imagined." He then held his hand out and opened his hand to let his fingers streach.

Whoosh!!!

Whoosh!!!

Before him stood a warrior caked in their own blood.

Drip! Drip!

“Huff!! Huff!! Huff!! Huff!!”

Ai holds Gram tightly, with several cracks in it.

On the very end, Gram was stained with a bit of red.

“Look at that.” Elysium disengages his armor and looks at the cut on the back of his finger to see that the cut has reached the bone, chipping it. “Amazing in fact.” He said it with a smile. “You managed to finally cut me.”

“Huff!! You didn’t Huff!! make Huff!!  it easy.” She said it with her eyes still trained on him. “Does Huff!! This marks the Huff!! Huff!! end of the trial?”

Elysium could see the sheer exhaustion on her face and body. The only part that didn’t show it was her eyes. They remain firm and determined.

“…Phlegethon.”

Bwoosh!!!

Coming down in a pillar of fire, melting away the snow, the spirit of the cinder meadows appeared.

“From what I have seen, Mother has completed the first requirement,” Phlegethon said.

“First requirement?” Ai said, loosening her guard.

“Yes, you have completed the Trial of the Body; two more are left.”

Ai looks at Elysium, who has already put away his spear.

A throne of earth emerges from the snow for him to sit on. His godly appearance returned.

“Fuuu~” He lets out a breath of relief. “Honestly, I can finally rest. I have been lying, saying you didn’t drain me of my stamina." His appearance returned to that of a god. “I guess having fought with Hecton and Fafnir for so long I grew accustomed to it. That and my years as a god had gotten a bit rusty in how I fight with mortal limitations."

"Then... our fight is over?”

“Yes.” Said Phlegethon. “By spilling the blood of a god, you have proven that your skills and abilities have reached the gods. Even if Father was holding back his power as a god, you still managed to cut him, as such you passed.” She walks over to Ai and holds out her hand. “Congratulations, mother.”

Ai's magic wears off, and her hair returns to normal. She extends her hand, and Phlegethon grabs her.

“Sorry, it seems my legs gave out from exhaustion!” she said while smiling at Phlegethon.

“Then maybe having a seat will do you some good.”

“Eh?”

“Hmph!” Phlegethon then tosses Ai over onto Elysium.

THUD!!

“Gah!!! Fuck my dick!”

“I’ll be going back to my layer, Father. Bwoosh!” She bows and disappears within her flame.

“Um… so now what?” Ai said on his lap.

“Now we get some sleep. Snap!”

He snapped his finger, and they returned to their room.

 

Up in the stands.

"Hmm... I must say our leader sure has a taste for powerful women.” Aries said. “Even her swordsmanship is a step and a leap from mine.”

“Hm yes. I think I even fell for her because of how she held herself and kept pressing on with such a determined will. Even in the most dire of states, her swordsmanship never wavered and, if anything, grew more refined and polished as the fight went on.” Scorpio said. "It is also nice to have heard my Lord's wonderful singing."

“Yeah. I can say for certain that our Lord’s spearmanship is his greatest strength. His swordsmanship is good, but it's a child’s play compared to hers.” Leo said. "Heh. I bet Virgo would have paid to hear him sing once more while fighting."

“A hero in her own right.” Pisces O said. “I am sure if Virgo were here, she would have been head over heels.”

“I feel like me and her will get along very well!” Pisces E said it with a smile on her face.

“Ah, this invigorated the warrior in me!" Cancer said. “Say Leo! Aries! Do you wish to spare a bit?"

“Hmm… I’ll take you up on it!” Leo said.

“Sure thing! I really got in the mood to fight!” Aries said.

“Then I’ll join in too!" said Pieces E.

“Then I will return to my station. Try not to hurt yourselves too much. Special privilege: Scorpio, location, second trial.”

She then quickly vanished.

The other knights began to spar down on the field.