"LUC'IA! LUC'IA! LUC'IA!"

The crowd roared with excitement, their cheers for Lucielle rising above the jeers aimed at Adrien.

Her heart pounded as she stood in the middle of the arena, horns glinting under the stage light.

Across from her, Adrien Chase stood with an air of indifference, unfazed by the boos and taunts hurled at him. His reputation as a cruel and powerful human was pretty much well- known, and he seemed to revel in the disdain.

'I don't know how much of this is an act. According to what Rey said, he's simply playing a role for his Dragon Lord sponsor, but... that doesn't mean I'll be exempt from harm if I'm not careful.'

At the moment she thought of this, Adrien met her eyes with a smirk, his stance casual, as if this fight was nothing more than a formality.

'Looks like he's calmed down a little now.'

He had been pretty upset that she injured him the last time, but all of that malice seemed to vanish alongside his wound.

'Well... here goes.' Lucielle took a deep breath, her eyes narrowing. She raised her hand, and the air around her began to hum with power. 'I should make the fight last as long as I can.'

"Let's see what you've got, dragon girl," Adrien called out, his voice dripping with mockery. "I hope you last longer than the others."

Without a word, Lucielle struck. She raised both arms as the ground beneath Adrien began to tremble. A surge of energy rippled through the arena as crimson flames erupted from the ground, spiraling toward him with incredible speed.

Adrien barely flinched. With a flick of his wrist, a shimmering barrier appeared around him, absorbing the flames effortlessly.

The crowd gasped, but Lucielle wasn't deterred. 'He's blocking again, just like I expected.* She didn't wait for his counter. Summoning her magic once more, Lucielle focused on the air around her, bending it to her will. The temperature dropped as freezing winds swept across the arena, forming jagged icicles that hovered menacingly above Adrien.

"Impressive," Adrien said, glancing up at the icicles as they sharpened to deadly points. "But you'll need more than fancy tricks to-"

He didn't get to finish.

Lucielle unleashed the icicles, sending them crashing down toward him. Adrien's eyes flashed as the ground around him shifted, and a wall of shadows rose from the earth, swallowing the icicles whole. The dark barrier cracked but held, absorbing the full brunt of her attack.

The crowd cheered for Lucielle's relentless offense, her control over elemental magic drawing admiration from her peers and seniors alike. It wasn't like she cared much for their support, but there was a slight desire to meet up with the expectations placed on her.

Still, despite the cheers, Lucielle knew Adrien was still holding back.

"You're better than I thought," Adrien admitted, his smirk widening. "But not good enough."

Before Lucielle could react, Adrien raised his hand, and the shadows around him turned into several tendrils of energy.

~WHOOSH!~

They launched at her with terrifying speed, cutting through the air. Lucielle's eyes widened, but she quickly raised a barrier of her own, a shimmering blue shield of magic.

The shadow spears crashed into her barrier, each impact rattling her bones. She gritted her teeth, pouring more energy into the shield, but she could feel the pressure mounting. Adrien wasn't playing around anymore.

'I need to change the tempo.'

With a swift movement, Lucielle dispelled her barrier and leaped backward, using her wings to propel herself out of range. Her mind raced as she assessed the situation. Adrien's energy attack was versatile, giving him both offense and defense. But she still had the advantage of range and precision.

Lucielle's fingers sparked with electricity as she gathered energy for her next spell. She focused on Adrien, waiting for the right moment.

When his tendrils surged forward again, she acted.

A blinding bolt of lightning shot from her fingertips, crackling through the air toward Adrien. He reacted quickly enough, swiftly erecting a barrier.

~ZZZTTZZ!~

The lightning struck his barrier, shattering it with a deafening crack, and a thin arc of electricity lashed out, grazing Adrien's shoulder.

"Huh...?" He stumbled back, surprise flashing across his face. The crowd roared in approval, sensing the shift in momentum.

'I couldn't completely get rid of it at this range, but it was enough to interfere with the barrier and allow my attack to connect.

Unfortunately, that did very little to damage Adrien.

In fact, the boy seemed perfectly fine.

Lucielle pressed her advantage. She conjured a torrent of fire, wind, and lightning, each element blending into a seamless storm of power that swept across the arena toward Adrien. He raised another powerful barrier, and this time again, it cracked under the relentless

assault.

Adrien's cocky smirk faltered as Lucielle's barrage pushed him further back.

"I see. You're interfering with the Mana, huh? I initially thought it was restricted to just Magic, but even Skills..." He leaked out a surprise smile. "Not bad."

'I've got him on the ropes.' Lucielle's heart soared with slight hope. 'Just a little more...'

She knew the gap between her and the Otherworlders-especially someone like Adrien-was quite large.

However, depending on her actions, wasn't it possible to gain a temporary upper hand?

As the dust from her attack settled, though, Adrien straightened, his expression hardening. The tendrils around him began to disperse, sending an incredible pulse with powerful

intensity.

~VUUUM!~

The air grew heavy with dark energy as he locked eyes with Lucielle, his playful demeanor

gone.

'Ah...'

"You've had your fun," he said coldly. "But playtime's over."

'... The Mana is too dense for me to cause Interference anymore!' Lucielle's thoughts echoed

in a panic.

Shadows erupted from beneath Adrien's feet, expanding rapidly and swallowing the ground around him. The inky blackness surged toward Lucielle like a tidal wave, its sheer size dwarfing anything she had thrown at him before.

Lucielle's eyes widened. 'I can't block that!'

With a flick of her wings, she shot into the air, narrowly avoiding the shadows as they crashed into the arena floor, obliterating everything in their path. The crowd gasped in awe, watching as Adrien's power tore through the battlefield like an unstoppable force.

Lucielle hovered above the arena, her mind racing.

Adrien's power was overwhelming. She hadn't underestimated just how much he was holding back, but there was still some moderation she expected from him.

'Still... I'm not entirely out of options.'.

She raised her hands high above her head, summoning a massive sphere of pure darkness. It crackled with energy, sucking everything around it as it grew larger by the second.

'Black Void!'

As Lucielle poured every ounce of power she had into it, the air around her shook and everything swirled around the black mass. At this point, the crowd fell silent, watching in awe as the orb expanded, its darkness rivaling the shadows that overwhelmed the arena. "Here goes!" With a determined shout, Lucielle hurled the sphere down toward Adrien.

It descended like a falling star, crackling with destructive energy. Adrien's eyes narrowed, and the shadows around him surged upward, forming a dome of impenetrable darkness. The sphere collided with Adrien's shadow dome, and for a moment, the entire arena was bathed in blinding darkness. The ground shook violently, and the air crackled with raw magic

as the two forces clashed.

However, thanks to the specific properties of Black Void, the darkness that Adrien offered

began to get sucked into the miniaturized black hole.

Lucielle hovered in the air, her breath coming in ragged gasps. She watched the dome below,

hoping that her attack had broken through.

'So far, Black Void has been pretty unstoppable, but... there are always exceptions.'

And right before her was one such exception.

-VWUUUUUUM!~

A much larger darkness-far stronger and bigger than her Black Void-suddenly rose from

beneath and consumed her Spell.

Then, everything imploded in the next second.

'So that was a bust too, huh?' She nearly sighed, a tired smile forming on her face.

Adrien stepped out from behind the dome, his attire perfectly in shape. He was unscathed,

perfectly calm too.

He looked up at Lucielle, his expression unreadable.

"You're good, honestly," he called out, his voice calm despite the destruction around him.

"But this is over."

Even she knew that at this point.

The crowd still cheered her on, chanting her name, urging her to continue. But Lucielle knew the truth. She couldn't win this fight-not without revealing everything.

Adrien lowered his hands, the shadows dissipating around him. Then, he began to release

something around himself.

'That is... Miasma!'

She could already tell where the fight was going from that sole observation. He was waiting

for her decision.

There was no point in continuing any further.

"I surrender," Lucielle declared, her voice steady as she descended to the damaged stage. She

met Adrien's gaze, a small smile on her face. "You win."

"Tch." Adrien clicked his tongue, retracting the corrupt energy at the next second.

For a moment, the crowd was silent.

What was going through their minds? Disappointment? Relief?

Their preferred champion didn't win, but at the very least she didn't suffer a crushing defeat.

That was more than enough to satisfy them. As such, they exploded in more cheers for

Lucielle as the referee entered the stage.

"The winner of this match... is Adrien Chase!"

*

*

Thanks for reading!

Looks like it remains the finale-Rey versus Adrien Chase.