The Banquet of Zion - Pt. 3

Max took his gloves out and with a flick of his wrist, a trail of water emerged out of thin air, directing it towards the cut on his cheeks.

The cut on his cheek slowly disappeared as he healed it instantaneously with his light water magic. He then took his sword out and immediately stepped on his blade, breaking it away from the hilt.

Focused on the sapphire gem engraved on its hilt, it started to glow a bright blue as a new blade made of cold hard ice formed out of it.

"Oh? I see someone has been learning new tricks," Reyna teases,

"You know I've always been a better student than you," Max reciprocates.

"Amuse me then!" Reyna's blade emanated a scarlet red, her power radiating through her body.

"Round two begins. You may now use your elemental powers." the referee instructed.

A second horn is blown to start the next round.

This time, Max charges at full strength while Reyna matches his speed to crash into each other in a collision course.

But as Reyna aimed to return Max's strike, the ice blade turned into water in a split second and passed through her's.

Reyna realized his real attack, an army of icicles suspended in midair ready to pierce her while her body's momentum gave weight, increasing the effectiveness of the attack.

In a last-minute attempt, she manifested a fire suit to cover her, but it was too late as some of the icicles made way to pierce her in multiple parts of her body.

Even with multiple cuts throughout her body, Reyna still managed to break her fall by landing on the palm of her hand and creating a typhoon of fire with her legs.

Max countered this by engulfing himself with water to protect his body from the blast, he could still feel the heat from her immense amount of power.

Reyna stood back up, her hair now fallen on her shoulders as a result of Max's attack. Despite looking beaten, she smirked in excitement. The boy who was introduced to her for almost all her life as her rival stood in front of her tall and strong, she decided that she never realized how much he had grown.

"Your best attack yet!" She exclaimed her backhanded compliment.

Max shook his head, irritated.

"Nice reflexes. Although it won't save you a second time."

"Ha! As if there will be one."

She gets into her battle stance, ready to charge at maximum speed - the tip of her sword aimed at his torso. Her eyes were flaming red now, tunnel-visioned at her target. Her ankles twisted as she ran after him, entirely beaming with a golden aura.

In a single movement, she took a deep breath and delivered an onslaught of attacks on her opponent.

Max had no choice but to match every strike, visibly struggling to keep up. His stance wavers and falls under the pressure of her sword.

'Insanity,' he thought, pressed down under the weight of Reyna and her attack.

Barely holding her sword off his chest, with a final push he was able to gather up his leftover energy to catapult her into the distance.

"You're a psychopath," Max says, gritting his teeth.

"We both know you lack one thing, Blackwell," She says, "Stamina!"

She ran toward him again without giving him a moment to rest. Her legs propelled her up towards the sky leaving a trail of golden light - Falling like a comet towards Max.

The crowd is watching on the edge of their seats, truly a terrifying sight for anyone to witness.

She attacked with the full power she could exert onto the sword, Max readied himself as he manifested a slew of water to minimize the impact. As their swords met, BOOM!

The arena's walls cracked with the overwhelming amount of power surge. A cloud of smoke fills the space, concealing the winner of the match. As the smoke fades away, a figure stands in the distance as the crowd stays silent to see who has won.

Three blows of the horn marked the end of the intense match.

"GLORY TO THE SUN!" one shouted, and indeed it was Reyna Helianthus who was the last person standing. Max is seen on the ground unconscious, and the crowd goes WILD.

"My my….how brutal has this tradition gotten? You raised quite a brutish daughter, Aldrich, but of course, you have to make do when you don't have a son," Queen Blackwell slyly smiles as her disguised insult hits King Helianthus.

The King could only laugh at her commentary, brushing her off. He stood up to announce his daughter's victory.

"That concludes the Summer Solstice Banquet! This year is won again by my daughter, the Crown Princess of Helios, Reyna Celia Helianthus!"

Reyna raised her hand in a fist to accept her triumph, but after a few seconds her body gave away and she fell onto the ground next to Max, seeing his face seconds upon losing consciousness.