Cassian walked away, shoulders relaxed, convinced the fight was over.
'Victory is mine.'
That's what she thought until something felt… off.
"Why is the barrier still up?" she muttered under her breath, her brows furrowing.
"He's literally frozen in place. This duel should be over."
Her instincts flared, warning her, and she turned on her heel only to lock eyes with Cedric.
A cold shiver ran down her spine, not from her own ice, but from the unsettling grin on his face.
Suddenly, something coiled around her ankle.
"What—?!"
She staggered, looking down just in time to see a twisting vine of water—no, not just water.
It was tinged dark red, blood.
"Hahahaha... you fool." Cedric's voice was hoarse, filled with manic amusement.
His body shook violently as the ice trapping him shattered, his wounds bleeding profusely but instead of falling limp, his blood moved.
Cassian's eyes widened.
"Impossible."
The crimson liquid curled around him, spiraling like tendrils, weaving into a suit of armor, a second skin that pulsed with raw mana. Liquid steel.
He's controlling his own blood?
Cedric took a shuddering breath, every inch of him screaming in pain, but his grin remained.
"You have no idea how much this shit hurts," he growled, voice laced with both agony and exhilaration.
This Was his Trump Card.
His mana infused blood slithered around the arena, spreading like veins, laced with such potent energy that he could manipulate it down to its molecular structure by using His Blessing.
Then, with both hands, he clenched his fingers.
The entire frozen arena quaked.
"Break."
BOOM!
The battlefield exploded in a shockwave of shattered ice, the force tearing through the ground as Cedric's blood formed weapons sliced through the air like whips.
Cassian's stance broke for the first time, her footing thrown off as shards of ice and mana filled blood surged toward her.
For the first time in this fight
she felt real danger.
"YOU'RE INSANE!!" Cassian shouted, her voice carrying over the crumbling battlefield.
The arena shattered beneath us, fragments of frozen stone and blood-infused water swirling in a chaotic storm.
My control had reached its peak splitting my blood between both hands, I let the flow guide me.
Tentacles of blood surged from my wounds, twisting and writhing like living creatures.
I launched myself from one collapsing platform to another, my blood latching onto the debris, keeping me from plummeting into the ground below.
With a flick of my wrist, I reached into my coat and hurled several vials glass containers filled with my own blood, stored and refined over two years of preparation.
Cassian's eyes narrowed.
In a split-second movement, she swung her sword slicing through every single vial like they were nothing.
'Shit… she's fast.'
But speed alone isn't enough.
The moment my blood spilled into the air, I stretched my hand forward connecting with it instantly.
The moment she touched my blood, she had already lost.
Thick, twisting tendrils lunged toward her, seeking to bind her limbs.
Cassian reacted instinctively she threw her sword away and thrust her palm to the ground, mana surging.
Frost exploded beneath her feet, forming an icy pillar that launched her into the air standing There.
Right now, she isn't fighting the same Cedric as before.
She's fighting a monster out of a horror movie.
My body was barely holding together wounds split across my flesh, my limbs trembling, and my vision blurring from blood loss.
My eyes cried blood, the crimson tears streaking down my face as if my very soul was leaking out.
And yet I refused to fall.
"IT HURTS!!" I screamed, my voice ragged, filled with agony that tore through every nerve in my body.
But even as my body screamed for me to stop I wouldn't.
I couldn't.
'I want to stop this pain… but I don't want to lose. I refuse to lose to this commoner. I will win. No matter what.'
The blood tentacles coiled around me, acting as my legs, my arms, my very will made manifest.
I knew the barrier would activate if I was about to die from blood loss or if I was on the verge of being crippled beyond repair.
But until that moment came
'I WOULD KEEP FIGHTING.'
'Shit… if I had more mana, I could probably use my blessing to its full extent… but when I went to the training room earlier, I felt drained, like my mana had been sapped somehow.'
Cassian grinned despite the situation, realizing something was off but before she could dwell on it, Cedric was already moving.
He leaped from block to block, darting through the air like a spider, his movements erratic yet calculated.
Every time she thought she had a moment to breathe, he was already there—a relentless nightmare of blood and desperation.
Her pillar barely lasted ten seconds before it was shattered.
'Whirl and howl, skies obey! Winds unleash, sweep away {Gust Wind!}'
Cassian launched the spell toward the ground, the sudden burst of wind propelling her upward, bouncing her off the debris like a leaf caught in a storm.
But just as she landed, something latched onto her ankle tight, cold, suffocating.
'Blood.'
A vine of crimson wrapped around her, dragging her downward.
She gritted her teeth, preparing to cast another spell.
but her vision swam.
'Damn it… why do I feel… dizzy Now??'
Before she could react, the blood around her surged.
Cedric's trembling hand lifted, his fingers twisting like a puppet master pulling invisible strings.
The blood condensed, shaped itself became a massive hand.
And then.
SLAM!!
Her body crashed into the ground, the impact sending cracks through the stone beneath her.
The breath ripped from her lungs, her limbs refusing to move.
Above her, Cedric collapsed.
All at once, the blood he had manipulated splattered to the ground, pooling around him in thick, dark puddles.
The barrier flickered then vanished.
A heavy silence filled the arena.
Mister Daimon's voice rang out.
"The winner of the duel Cedric Von Helmut."
Cassian lay on the shattered ground, her body aching, her breath ragged.
The world around her felt distant, as if she were sinking into a deep abyss.
'How… how could I lose?'
She had been stronger. Faster. More skilled. This duel should have been hers.
And yet—
Her fingers trembled as she clenched the dirt beneath her.
'It was my arrogance… I should have ended it faster… I played with him, thinking I had the advantage. I let my pride blind me.'
A bitter laugh almost escaped her lips, but instead, she felt something else.
Tears.
A single drop rolled down her cheek, burning with frustration, humiliation, and something she refused to name.
She had fought with everything she had—but it wasn't enough.
'Father… I lost.'
Her vision blurred.
Her body, already drained, finally gave in.
With a quiet gasp, Cassian collapsed.
The last thing she heard before everything faded was the distant murmur of the crowd and the sound of her own failure ringing in her ears.
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