Chapter 151: Chapter 221 – Champion’s Resolve

After his opponent entered the arena, Asterios couldn’t take his eyes off her. Compared to all the other Valkyrs and Valkyries the girls or other contestants had faced, the woman in front of him emanated a clear aura of an unwavering veteran.

Naturally, it didn’t mean that the earlier valkyrjas were complete amateurs or lacked proper training, but there was just something very different about the one in front of him. Her firm yet relaxed stance; the unusual colors of her armor; her mature, focused gaze; and just the air around her in general. Many cuts could be spotted over the visible areas of her heavily tanned skin.

Another thing Asterios felt was somehow different were her wings. At the first glance, nothing seemed amiss, but the more he looked at them, they gave off vibes that were hard to explain. Besides perhaps having a slightly colder, silvery to some extent shade, they were as magnificent as all the other wings he had seen, if not more. A few old scars decorated them in a bunch of areas, for some reason not yet healed or replaced by new feathers.

Keeping this weird feeling in his mind, he walked forward to greet his opponent before the battle. The woman headed for him almost at the exact same time, clearly aiming to exchange respects with him too. That part wasn’t obligatory for the duel but he was just completely sure that she would want to go through it for some reason.

After taking a few steps in silence, they stopped in front of each other. He had to raise his head a little, realizing that the winged woman was slightly taller than she'd seemed from the distance. Her body had an impressive, muscular build, though not over the top. She had clearly trained and kept herself in shape much harder than the other women.

The brawny Valkyrie smirked at him lightly. “So, you are the one Skodul told me about. I’m having great expectations for you, Outsider.”

Asterios smiled wryly in response. “It looks like you will be the one better informed about your opponent here. My name is Asterios.”

She chuckled strongly. “Do not worry. She didn’t reveal your secrets to me, nor did I ask. All I know is that you might finally give me a good fight. It’s been ages since I had a reason to join the War Games. As for my name, it’s Krev. Though, I’m pretty sure most of the people will recognize the alias Bloodrain instead.”

“It sounds like I’ll learn the origin of that nickname personally if I don’t take you seriously,” he replied and reached out.

“You better.” Krev showed a ferocious grin and grabbed his forearm. “If Skodul wasn’t exaggerating, I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of alias you receive after showing your skills during the War Games. That is if you can pass through me. And unfortunately, I’ve been told not to hold back and to prevent that from happening.”

Asterios raised a curious brow at her. “Now, that sounds like someone isn’t too happy about me being here.”

A powerful laugh escaped the Valkyrie’s throat. “If you win, I’ll let you know.”

“Are you sure? Won’t that put you in trouble? Or, can’t I just invoke some right to investigate you under the suspicion that you are receiving help from the outside?”

“Try it. I wonder who our people will believe in this situation. An unknown outsider who doesn’t even have wings? Or the recurring champion of the arena known to crush her opponents with her pure strength?” Krev squeezed his forearm with more force. “As for trouble? I don’t care about any of that. I’m already an outcast. I’m not part of any unit. I live to fight strong opponents. And if someone tells me that I can do so by agreeing to a few simple conditions? I’m in.”

Squeezing her arm while borrowing some of his draconic strength too, Asterios chuckled lightly. “I’ll do my best to entertain you then, Krev.”

They shook hands while holding each other’s powerful gaze. Finally breaking the hold after a few long seconds, they nodded at each other respectfully and began heading back to their starting positions. Asterios turned around at his spot and furrowed his brows.

“No weapons?” he asked loud enough for Krev to hear him clearly.

“I have everything that I need on myself,” the winged woman replied with a fierce grin. “Feel free to use anything as long as it’s your own power or ability.”

The oozing confidence denied the possibility of Krev’s words being just a simple provocation. He knew that she wasn’t underestimating him either. Whatever her thing was, she had no need for anything else besides her body, as it seemed. 

Asterios wasn’t going to let his guard down against her. He considered borrowing a thing or two from his companions since Summoning Magic was technically his own ability, but he decided to rely on his draconic side and the tools he had available at hand. Therefore, he unsheathed his artifact sword first, slotting a helpful token inside his Spellslinger after.

Both contestants took a deep breath and he let the scorching hot energy course through his entire body. The organs he focused the most on were his brain and heart. The less condensed mana enhanced his muscles but Asterios didn’t push them to their limits from the very beginning.

The announcer started the match and Krev shot forward almost immediately. Asterios expected her to be strong but the sudden burst of speed still surprised him at least a little. It wasn’t anything he couldn’t dodge so he aimed to parry the incoming thrust or punch with his sword while leaving a shallow wound on the attacker.

But, his eyes widened when the charging woman arrived in his range. Instead of throwing an attack with her legs or arms, Krev planted her feet hard on the ground and spun her body. Asterios barely managed to reposition his sword to block the unexpected slash coming right at his face.

A loud screech of metal traveled through the arena alongside bright sparks as Krev’s right silvery wing collided with Ast’s purplish blade. The tips of the sharp feathers grazed his cheek, leaving a red line over it as he jumped back to increase the distance between them. A chuckle reached his ears.

“Impressive. People who aren’t aware of my abilities are usually taken out with the first strike.” Krev flapped her wings a few times, which seemed slightly darker than before. “At least now I know that you weren’t given any information about me beforehand. Councilor Bryn either holds immense trust in your strength, or something stopped her from warning you in time.”

Asterios smiled. Considering the fact that they could communicate mentally, it seemed that Bryn had chosen to keep playing fair even if others didn’t have such inhibitions. He respected that, of course. She'd kept herself as neutral as possible from the very beginning while she could have very well supported him to make it easier to win the entire War Games. 

In the end, their desired result was to earn the people’s respect and attention. No one said anything about doing it fair and square. She was the one who knew his real power and that was what mattered the most for her plans. Since she would lead the operation, she only needed the soldiers to follow her, not necessarily to know every small detail.

Yet, she still hadn’t picked the easy way out.

“I told you.” Asterios assumed a new stance with his sword aimed ahead. “I’ll do my best to entertain you. After that, I’ll have to defeat you and move on. There are quite a few fights ahead of me so I can’t waste too much time here, can I?”

“That’s how it should be.” The Valkyrie smiled. “Let’s have some fun!”

Prepared this time, Asterios parried another wing strike without much trouble. Krev still moved extremely fast and her swings held incredible might, though. It was quite unbelievable to think that those truly were feathers attached to her wings. Every hit felt like he was getting smacked with a greatsword if not worse. She was able to use her wings both to enhance her movements and to attack, fluidly linking every action together.

While he repelled the unending assault of spins and pirouettes with his artifact sword, Asterios took a closer look at Krev with his Draconic Sight. He had checked her out before the bout began but hadn't really found the sight of his opponent being able to circulate mana through her entire body and the wings that important. All the valkyrjas could do that.

But, the woman in front of him was different. The circuits in her wings were much more complex and emanated a different type of spiritual energy from the inner ones. The difference was sublime but still noticeable after a more in-depth look. Each feather was part of the entire formation instead of being just expendable pieces she could shed at any moment. For some reason, they could attain the toughness and sharpness of the finest steel while remaining as light as ever.

Seeing that her approach wasn’t giving any fruit besides a bunch of tiny cuts on Ast’s clothes, which disappeared in a flash as his spiritual armor regenerated, Krev decided to change her strategy. Flapping both wings at the same time, she sent a powerful burst of wind at Asterios while pushing herself away from him as the violent air assaulted his face.

Not wanting to let her get back into the offensive, Asterios fed enough scorching energy to the blade to quickly condense it over the fiery edge and lunged after Krev. The ferocious wind cut his clothes some more as he passed through the chaotic corridor and thrust his sword forward in hopes of penetrating his opponent's wing in case she chose to block with it.

Unfortunately, the warrior woman was not just strong but also smart and experienced. Instead of taking the stab head-on, Krev surrounded her entire figure with her wings creating a cocoon, and threw herself into a spinning motion. Ast’s blade scraped over the moving feathers, and while it did create a noticeable cut in them, it quickly bounced away, thrown aside by the rotational force.

Still spinning, she expanded her wings and Asterios had to step away to not get slashed. That gave Krev just enough time to fly up into the air and find a good spot under the top barrier. Her battle prowess proved to be real as she instinctively positioned herself right in front of the sun to inconvenience her opponent's vision even more.

“That was close.” She laughed from above. “You have sharp senses. But, I wonder how you will deal with your lack of aerial maneuverability. And this.”

Asterios saw her spread her wings as wide as possible and a silvery glimmer passed all over her feathers, from top to bottom. He noticed the change in the flow of her mana and instantly realized what was going to happen.

A moment later, tens of sharp, silvery daggers detached from Krev’s wings and soared toward him. The alias Bloodrain came to his mind. If all those feathers swirled around his entire body, his blood would certainly rain from the sky after they returned to their owner. No matter how much armor a person had, such an insane number of flying weapons just had to find a spot to cut after being given enough time to circle the target.

He had no way of dodging the swarm of blades, but thankfully, the spell he had prepared for a different strategy would still work in his current situation. To some extent, at least.

Asterios hastily infused the Spellslinger with the necessary amounts of mana and drew the black blade out. Before Krev’s attack reached him, he stabbed the tip into the ground at his feet and a deep blue glow flashed from the inserted crystal.

Immediately, the metal floor turned from golden to almost silver as strong frost covered its surface. Ice erupted from the whitish patch and crackled loudly as it expanded up and up, consuming Ast’s body which stood in its way. Right when the first feathers arrived up close, the last bits of ice covered his head with a thick, tough layer.

A wave of clinking noise echoed through the arena as tens of sharp daggers pierced into the clear obstruction. The feathers bore about halfway into the see-through ice, thankfully not reaching far enough to injure Asterios, who had ended up frozen solid with his armblade stuck in the ground. A weak, bluish tint covered his entire figure.

Krev descended to the arena and landed in front of him. She tapped on the chilly surface emitting a faint, white mist with her knuckles, confirming that it wasn’t just any ice.

“Smart way to block my feathers. If not for the fact that you lost.” She shook her head.

Crouching down, she brought herself lower to take a glance at Ast’s face since it was aimed partially at the floor, following his extended arm. She smiled while tapping on the ice some more.

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“But hey, this move prevented a lot of injuries. People rarely challenge me since my attacks can easily break the protective barrie—”

She paused and furrowed her brows. For a moment, it looked like something appeared over Ast’s neck. She squinted her eyes to try and see better through the slightly disruptive ice.

Suddenly, Ast’s eye snapped towards her and Krev flinched involuntarily. Cold sweat poured over her back in an instant as his crimson irises bore into her also red eyes.

Then, they started glowing.

“Wha—”

After a single loud crack, the ice pillar burst into pieces. The force of the explosion threw Krev away as bits of jagged ice sliced her skin in many places. Some chunks hit her as hard as an empowered fist and she grunted heavily. Protecting her eyes, she looked ahead at the source of the sudden eruption.

Dark crimson flames slowly dissipated around Ast’s body. Countless scales of the same color covered the visible skin on his fingers, wrists, forearms, and also neck, chin, and partially his cheeks. Draconic wings spread to the sides behind his back and their sight made Krev’s eyes go wide.

“It would be boring to end it this soon.” Asterios chuckled and smirked at her. “Now, I can fly too, so shall we dance?”

Without waiting for an answer, he flapped his ominous, leathery wings and soared into the air. Reaching satisfactory height, he reached into the depths of his second source and allowed himself to let a different mana flow out and mix with his draconic energy. Amber-crimson helixes slowly materialized along his arms extended to the sides with a small orb in each of his palms.

The very moment Krev launched herself into the air too, sensing something troublesome coming, he slapped his hands together in his front and numerous little magic circles appeared behind his back, creating a huge wall of slowly rotating spiritual arrays. The instant the last one joined in, they all shot thick beams of pure, orange-red fire. 

All the flaming lines headed for Krev and a few of them grazed her skin and armor, leaving deep, sizzling gashes wherever they struck before she shielded herself with her wings once more. Beginning to spin in the air, she focused on deflecting the continuous attacks which turned, bent, and changed directions freely, clearly homing onto the Valkyrie.

Unfortunately, the longer she did that, the more bruised her feathers became. They quickly grew darker and darker, losing their silvery shine which instead was replaced by an ugly, gray shade. Faint smoke kept escaping from between them and it was clear that the situation didn’t look good. Ast’s barrage didn’t seem to end either so in the battle of attrition, he was certain to come out as the victor.

But, Krev wouldn’t surrender just like that, without even trying.

Gathering more mana in her wings for a few long seconds, she came to a stop and sent a vicious surge of wind toward Asterios, launching a bunch of undamaged feathers alongside it. The combination managed to throw some of Ast’s beams off their path and deflected a bunch of others.

Not wanting to miss that brief chance to close the distance separating them, she looked ahead to lock onto Asterios and rush forward.

Only to freeze in confusion.

The wall of arrays still kept sending sporadic lasers at her with its creator nowhere in sight. Something flashed slightly higher above her and Krev raised her gaze just in time to see Asterios descending onto her while holding a massive greatsword of the same amber-crimson flames, bringing it down right onto her head.

She acted instinctively and crossed her wings in front of herself. The blade smashed into them with enough force to send her flying toward the ground. Her back crashed into the tough metal floor, creating a sizable dent in it, and she bounced off to roll away, smoke coming off her entire wings.

Yet, Krev hastily collected herself and took a defensive position while breathing heavily. Both of her wings had now a single deep gash boring almost completely through them in a diagonal line. The damaged feathers still sizzled and smoldered with glowing red edges.

Asterios landed a distance away from her and folded his wings behind his back; the giant, enhanced artifact blade in his right hand. 

She chuckled wryly with a fierce smile. “It’s been a while since someone gave me this much trouble. It will take weeks for me to recover.”

“I aim to please,” he replied with a warm smile.

“Since I’m already a wreck, it won’t change much if I go all out. Try not to die, kid.”

“Bring it on, granny.”

Krev laughed heartily and the atmosphere around her changed in an instant. Her wings suddenly glowed with silver light, emitting rays of the same color in all directions. Her eyes switched to gray too as she spread her wings to the sides and then aimed the tips ahead while lowering her stance.

Asterios began filling his sword with more mixed energy too, preparing to launch a counter-offensive. Tongues of amber-crimson flames licked the air around his enlarged blade as it shimmered mesmerizingly. He gripped the hilt with two hands and moved lower on his legs too.

After shooting one last smile at him through the gaps in her wings, Krev pushed herself forward and gained incredible speed with each step. Asterios observed her warily, expecting her to be hiding something behind that obstruction.

But, yet again, she completely misled him.

During the fifth step, reaching the middle of the arena, Krev’s powerful shout reached his ears and she threw herself into a spinning motion, surging forward twice as fast as before. She became a person-sized drill with countless little feathers sticking out of its blurry surface like small blades. A cloud of released feathers flew around her too, creating an unbelievably scary image as bright sparks danced over the metal ground while she and her blades scratched over it while spinning.

Asterios had only a moment to swing his weapon before she bore into his body and shredded him out of existence. He didn’t waver, focusing deeply, and sliced through the air in front of him with a growl. The heated air shimmered in his swing’s trail and a sharp, violent arc of condensed flames soared forward with a loud hum.

It collided with Krev and a strong spiritual impact shook the arena as the two forces fought against each other. A flash of blinding light burst from the point where they connected and a myriad of sparks flew up into the air. Ast’s unyielding arc ricocheted to the side and sliced through the metal wall, crashing into another behind it, which was part of the big coliseum. Thankfully, it was thick enough to absorb the hit, but not without throwing the majority of people sitting above it off their benches and seats.

Krev was slammed into the ground right after the collisions and lost control of her technique, tumbling forward at high speed. She smashed into Asterios who caught her deliberately and slid to the back over his feet for a few meters. Thick smoke rose from her figure as he held her in his arms.

He quickly knelt down and laid Krev on the ground. To his surprise, she was still conscious and smiling at him widely. She groaned lightly and rested her arm over her forehead, taking a deep breath and letting out a strained chuckle.

“How is it?” she asked, meeting Ast’s eyes.

Asterios moved his gaze to the side after spotting a bigger source of gray smoke. About one-third of Krev’s left wing had been cleanly sliced off and its edge kept shimmering red with some faint flames flickering here and there.

A snort caught his attention and he glanced at the winged woman’s face.

“Your expression looks like you are seeing a dead person.” She grinned.

“Will you be fine?” he asked.

“It will take a few more weeks to recover from that. I’ll wear any leftover scars with pride. And, if this is my cue to retire, I’ll gladly do so too. Imagine how many people will sigh in relief knowing that I’m out for good.”

“That would be a huge waste. You are truly something else.”

“You would be the only one thinking like that.” She laughed openly. “Now go. I want to experience the treatment of a loser for once in my career. I will find you before tomorrow’s matches. Good fight.”

Asterios nodded while exchanging a firm handshake with Krev. “Good fight.”

She sighed again and closed her eyes so he stood up and headed for the exit. The healers were already on the move, though they didn’t seem as eager to get their job done as before. He made a mental note to check on Krev later. If she really had as bad reputation as she had made it sound like, who knew what would happen?

 

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