55 Class B-1's Top Monsters
Contrary to the battle with Thean, the ranking battle was conducted at an officialized arena.
It was located in an area of the school that Nova hadn't even explored yet- the center.
Located in the middle of the area was a huge arena that is used to settle large disputes and huge fights.
In the surrounding area were smaller arenas, and surrounding that area was the Genesis Academy buildings, with windows where all the 4 years of students could watch.
Standing in one of those smaller arenas was Nova and Anastasia.
He stood there with a conflicted look on his face.
『...If I win, you have to do as I say.』[Anastasia]
『...What do you mean by do as you say?』[Nova]
She conjured her rapier and got ready.
『...』[Anastasia]
Before he could say anything, a staff member from the school stepped onto the stage.
He looked like a stereotypical gentleman with a monocle and top hat, as well as a cane.
『Morning, you two. You may call me professor Hayton. I will be refereeing your match. The conditions for a loss are that the other can no longer fight, they surrender, or that an attack I must dispel is about to hit the other. Please keep the fight on the stage, as exiting the stage willingly means your loss. Otherwise, return to the stage should you be blown off.』[Professor Hayton]
Nova looked at him, before reluctantly summoning his weapon.
Professor Hayton nodded at Nova and hopped off the stage.
He took a moment to affirm the two's statuses, before nodding to himself.
『Very well. Then, let's begin!』[Professor Hayton]
He clapped his hands and Anastasia jumped at Nova.
The moment her rapier met his sword, a force that did not befit the thin blade was exerted on his sword.
「What?! It feels like she hit my sword with a hammer!」[Nova]
His sword flew up, but he held on to it.
「My mana shield!」[Nova]
He raised his shield up just as a flurry of fast hits attacked it.
「How can she hit so hard, yet so fast?!」[Nova]
Immediately after she hit the shield she was blown back a couple of feet by Nova's "repulsion" modifier.
「That buys me some time!」[Nova]
As that thought came to mind, he heard a crack and saw a large piece of his shield fall off his body.
The referee's eyes widened a bit once he saw this.
『Oh? A mana shield? Quite advanced for his age.』[Professor Hayton]
Nova quickly diverted some mana toward repairing the shield.
It quickly began to regenerate, but Anastasia didn't let up at all.
She immediately tried to go for the spot she just damaged, but Nova blocked it with his sword while supporting the blade with his other hand.
The moment she made impact with his sword, his sword was pushed back and her rapier landed on his shield, which resulted in her being flung back a few feet again.
Nova raised his blade toward her, but it quickly crumbled apart in his hands.
『You're kidding!』[Nova]
Without any choice left, he formed a stance and prepared for her to attack.
As expected, she came and attacked again.
This time, he coated his hand in a mana shield and grabbed the thin blade with his left hand.
『Oho. Quite risky, no?』[Professor Hayton]
Immediately after grabbing it, he began to focus mana in his right arm in preparation for a True Gale.
It seemed that Anastasia noticed this, as she quickly gave Nova a straight kick to the body, but it was intercepted by the shield.
「Huh?! Why would she kick the shield?!」[Nova]
『Hoho. This girl isn't half bad either.』[Professor Hayton]
Immediately after she kicked, Nova felt a strong force pull on the rapier, then she kept kicking.
「...No way! She's using my shield against me!」[Nova]
Each time she kicked his shield, the "repulsion" effect on his shield threatened to pull the rapier from his grasp.
「...But.. I can use this to my advantage!」[Nova]
He was slowly losing his grip, but his right arm was primed for True Gale.
Anastasia noticed this and was jumped up in the air and kicked Nova with both of her feet.
『Goodness. What are they doing..?』[Professor Hayton]
『Impact Form: True Gale!』[Nova]
『Chronostasia!』[Anastasia]
He thrust his fingers forward, but suddenly, Anastasia disappeared and dodged it.
『Huh?! Impossible!』[Professor Hayton]
He was already ready to have stopped Nova's attack and rescue Anastasia.
Afterward, a sharp piercing force cut through the arena and ripped a line through the middle of it.
『What?!』[Professor Hayton]
Nova was a bit drained of energy, but immediately threw the rapier he was holding onto out of the area.
He met eyes with Anastasia, who was just out of the range of his attack.
She seemed to also be a bit out of energy.
「It seems that she also spent a great deal of mana with her ability. But… just what does that ability do?!」[Nova]
He decided that it made her faster, which gave her the edge against Reagan and the speed to dodge his attack.
『Blessed Flame Rebirth!』[Nova]
His blue flames covered Anastasia, which caused her to give a briefly confused look.
『...?』[Anastasia]
She formed another rapier to attack Nova, but found that the weapon had trouble forming and slowly melted.
『Chronostasia.』[Anastasia]
She appeared in front of him and attacked him with enough force to send both of them flying out of the arena, with her flying from the "repulsion" effect of Nova's shield.
「WHAT?!」[Nova]
He landed on extremely hard magic-reinforced brick and bounced several times.
Anastasia stuck her melting rapier into the ground before it broke and she bounced a few times as well.
The referee began to get worked up.
「Goodness! Which one of them are still good to go?!」[Professor Hayton]
Much to his surprise, they both stood up after a while.
「Damn… it. That hurt really badly!」[Nova]
He had scrapes and bruises all over him, and his shield was completely obliterated.
「I was wrong about her ability, one hundred percent! If she could still make herself faster with my ability on… then!」[Nova]
He slowly climbed back up on the stage and so did she.
Once they both made their way onto the stage, the referee let them restart the battle.
『...Go ahead and start again.』[Professor Hayton]
『Blessed Flame Rebirth!』[Nova]
This time, Nova was engulfed by blue flames as he prepared his stance.
