The mont the instructor's hand fell, light exploded from Lucia's staff—searing beams lanced toward Zane like divine spears. The crowd gasped at the speed of her opening strike.
But Zane was gone.
A ripple in space, a flicker of movent—then silence.
Lucia narrowed her eyes, spinning in place, her aura blazing bright. She muttered."Figures."
She raised her staff and sent out a pulse of light—an area flare ant to reveal anything hiding in shadow. The beams flooded the arena with radiance, montarily forcing even the audience to shield their eyes.
A shape materialized behind her. Lucia turned fast—too fast for Zane to strike—but just enough for his boot to connect with her staff, sending it sliding a few ters away.
"You're fast," she said calmly, extending her hand. The staff quivered, then flew back to her grip like a loyal dog. "But I've danced with shadows before."
Zane didn't answer. He exhaled and focused. The End Blade humd at his side—not overpowering, but pulsing with potential.
Lucia didn't wait. She surged forward, and her light bent like blades—constructs forming mid-air into radiant weapons. Swords, daggers, and a spiraling whip of pure light lashed out toward him.
Zane ducked and weaved, warping short distances with Voidwalk. Each ti he appeared, a blade would chase him, singeing his jacket or grazing his cheek.
"She's reading my patterns," he muttered.
"She's using precognition light magic," Nyx's voice chid. "Unusual but deadly. It reads heat and light distortions to predict movent. A pain to deal with."
"Any advice?"
"Stop being predictable."
Zane's eyes glead. He reversed direction mid-warp and slid low, narrowly missing a radiant slash aid for his head. Then he vanished again, reappearing above Lucia in a spiral spin. He brought the End Blade down—not with brute force, but with a precise strike aid at her shoulder.
Lucia gasped and parried just in ti, but the force of the clash knocked her back a step.
The crowd was silent now, watching the tide shift.
Zane landed and rolled, readying another warp—but Lucia's eyes suddenly glead golden.
"I see it now," she whispered. "The pattern in your chaos."
She raised her staff high, and the entire arena lit up like a miniature sun.
"Radiant Bloom!"
A ring of searing light erupted around her, expanding outward in all directions. Zane's eyes widened—there was no escape through Voidwalk. Every path glared too bright to bend through.
And then—Lucia's voice rang out again, calm and cold:
"Final Judgent."
The crowd gasped.
Even the instructor stiffened.
That na... It was infamous. A forbidden technique from the House of Caeloria. The last ti it had been spoken in a trial, the opponent had nearly died before the magic formation barely saved them.
"Nyx—!"
"Now's your chance. Nullify."
Zane grit his teeth and slamd his palm into the stone floor. A black ripple erupted from him, devouring the light in a radius.
The Radiant Bloom dimd. Final Judgent—vanished.
Light shattered like broken glass.
Lucia's eyes widened in disbelief. "What...?"
Zane appeared right in front of her, eyes glowing faintly with swirling Void energy. His blade stopped just at her throat.
The silence stretched.
Then the instructor's voice rang out.
"Victory: Zane."
The arena erupted.
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