The Duel

Katrina sat in front of a mirror with her hair being brushed by her mother, Layla. Layla noticed Katrina's mood and sighed as she continued to gently brush her hair.

"Are you nervous?" Layla asked Katrina.

"M… maybe…" Katrina responded to her mother. Layla paused and smiled, patting the top of Katrina's head.

"It's ok to be nervous. I was nervous once when I met your father. Though, that is nothing related to the kind of nervousness you are experiencing right now."

"I don't know… I don't know if I beat him in a duel."

Katrina was referring to Deroc who she had to duel to decide her fate: Be married into the Margo family or obtain freedom from them.

Even though she had a week to prepare and train, she just couldn't stop fearing Deroc after the display from days ago.

Of course, that display was a brawl between Deroc and Nero. The fight was completely one-sided after Deroc had shown his Altima.

Katrina had recognized Nero's strength to be far superior to hers after his display of strength but after witnessing his defeat, she was sure that she could definitely not defeat Deroc.

It wasn't her fault that her confidence was so low though. She tends to be the shy one and never talks back disrespectfully. Her past trauma and the powers she was given placed a heavy burden on her shoulders.

Only her family members were able to comfort her and keep her mind off of those thoughts but now it wasn't just her family that could comfort her, it was her newly made friends as well, though one is currently still missing.

"Mother," Katrina began. "When will grandpa be home?"

Layla's thoughts hesitated before she wore a light smile.

"Your grandfather will return soon. He just has a lot of work on his hands right now."

"I see…"

The truth was, her grandfather Francis was bedridden with a rare incurable disease. Of course, Katrina hasn't found out as no one has told her and with the help from Celestia, his presence was completely erased despite being located in the house. This has been going on for almost a year now, but it will eventually be time when the truth will be revealed.

Layla who was drowning in thoughts right now was interrupted when Katrina pulled her sleeve.

"Yes, Katrina?"

"I… I want to brush your wings." Katrina said, staring at Layla's large, pure-white wings.

Layla chuckled as she allowed her daughter to do as she pleased.

After a few minutes, Celestia entered the room. Layla greeted her as she entered, but Katrina's smile turned upside down.

"Is… it time?" Katrina muttered towards Celestia.

"Yes, it's almost high noon, so we should get going," She replied.

Katrina nodded hesitantly before turning to her mother.

"Are you sure you won't be coming?" She asked.

"I wish I could, sweetie, but I have important business to take care of."

"Okay…" Katrina would then turn to Celestia and follow her out the door.

As they arrived at the courtyard, Kiyomi, Ravyn, and Akane stood there.

"You three want to come along?" Celestia asked them.

"Well, we have nothing else to do. I also want to support Katrina in her battle," Akane announced.

After the sudden disappearance of Nero, the three girls could only train but the thought of Nero interfered. It was because he vanished while he was still gravely injured. The girls were also injured too, but none of their injuries were grave besides Kiyomi's.

"I guess so… If only Nero didn't disappear…" Celestia frowned before shaking her head, her face gradually becoming red.

"Anyway, hang onto my shoulder."

Everyone surrounded Celestia and placed their hands on her shoulder. Katrina looked down before she turned to her mother.

"Good luck!" Layla said, waving her hand. Katrina smiled in response before Celestia activated Black Magic, the group disappearing afterward.

Layla sighed, and after a few seconds, she looked up in the air to spot a man descending onto the ground.

"There you are…"

***

The five appeared in the middle of Albion, the abandoned Colosseum. Sitting in the bleachers were Deroc who was sitting in a lax manner, and his grandfather.

Deroc looked at the group before spotting Katrina. A smile crossed his face as he jumped down from the bleachers and onto the field.

"Katrina!" He yelled, getting the group's attention, specifically Katrina's.

The group turned towards Deroc and greeted him with irritated expressions, some with almost infuriating looks.

Celestia turned to the three to calm them down but even she was angered as well. After all, the man they were angry at did beat Nero in a duel, though it was obvious who was going to win in the latter half.

Despite wanting to be angry on Nero's behalf, she had to keep her cool.

"You three go to the bleachers. I must initiate the duel. You will get in her way."

The three girls nodded to Celestia before turning to get onto the bleachers.

Katrina bowed hesitantly to Deroc before getting into a stance. Deroc sighed and spoke.

"Katrina, please think about it again. I don't want to hurt you. You know you are weak so instead of resisting, we can solve this peacefully. What do you say?" Deroc spoke softly in a tone that is meant to charm his targets but his words were quite distrustful.

Despite hearing his words, Katrina did not yield. With all of her confidence, she shook her head.

"No, I will fight for my freedom."

The smile on Deroc's face quickly faded away as he sighed, drawing his sword.

"So be it."

Celestia looked at the two before raising her hands.

"Ready?"

Katrina gripped her sword handle and began to breathe in slowly. She began to empty her mind of thoughts and focus only on attacking Deroc.

These past days, she has been training hard to prepare for her duel against Deroc. Today, she will see how far she has gone and she only has one attempt.

Katrina closed her eyes and exhaled before Celestia dropped her hand, signaling the beginning of the duel.

Deroc dashed forward and swung his sword horizontally but Katrina managed to dodge. He swung it several more times before stepping back. Katrina had managed to dodge all of them.

Noticing the change in her stance, Deroc got cautious and gripped his sword with both his hands. In all his life training and practicing, he has never seen someone move in a strange and refined manner.

'Could it be she has already mastered Stellar…?' Deroc thought as he ran towards Katrina.

Swinging his sword multiple times, all he seemed to hit was air. It wasn't until he was struck in the stomach before getting uppercut away.

Deroc stumbled on his back before placing his hand over his stomach.

'Such force! Is this the strength of Stellar?' Deroc thought to himself, inspecting the new glow around Katrina.

'What are you doing fool!?' A voice shouted in his head.

'Grandfather?'

'Hurry and end this! What are you playing around for!? Is this what you've learned during your training!?'

'There is no need for me to rush. There is no way she could've possibly mastered the use of Stellar, even if she is an angel.'

'Fool! Mastered or not, you will not be able to catch up to her. The only way is Altima, so get to it!'

'Shut up, geezer!' Deroc suddenly shouted in his mind before turning to his grandfather to glare at him.

'True, Stellar is something I haven't faced, but I have faced similar. If it is true that she hasn't mastered it, then I still have the upper hand. If things don't go the way I want them to go, then I will go Altima.'

His grandfather looked him in the eyes before sighing shaking his head.

'Soon, your pride will be the end of you.' His grandfather said towards Deroc telepathically.

Despite the warning, Deroc scoffed and rolled his eyes before returning his attention to Katrina.

"Katrina, I give you one last chance. I do not want to scar that beautiful face of yours." Deroc said, attempting to reason with Katrina but instead, she sent a ball of divine energy at him which he evaded.

"Tch, stubborn girl," Deroc growled before he was covered in bright light.

When the light dispersed, Deroc had entered his Altima and charged towards Katrina.

"It seems you've given me no choice!"

Katrina who had entered her Stellar phase quickly regained her consciousness and drew her sword, morphing into her Altima instantly.

Their swords clashed and a massive shockwave emitted throughout the colosseum, shaking it. Celestia who was watching from bleachers quickly set up a barrier in order to limit the shockwave from damaging the rest of the colosseum, then she shrank it so it only covered up the main field.

As the two crossed swords, Katrina attempted to enter Stellar once again, this time in her Altima form. However, as soon as she closed her eyes, Deroc jumped back and appeared behind before slashing his sword. Katrina quickly turned around and launched a shockwave towards him.

Deroc blocked it and as he was flung back by the sudden force, feathers shot out from his armor and headed straight for Katrina. She quickly deflected the feathers but she was unable to block some of them, thus she was struck in the arms.

After she shrugged the pain aside, she quickly twirled around and barraged Deroc who had appeared behind her. Deroc waited till there was an opening and once he found that opening, he stepped to the side and slammed his leg into Katrina.

Katrina yelped in pain as she flew and stumbled onto the ground. Due to the pain, she exited her Altima.

"No... damn it." Katrina said, attempting to get on her legs.

Deroc walked up to her and shook his head as he rose his sword.

"I told you, this could've been settled peacefully but you didn't listen. For that, I will punish you."

A sadistic smile slowly crossed Deroc's face as he stared at Katrina. Katrina glared at him before he cackled, plunging the edge of his sword towards Katrina's arm.

"IT'S OVER!!"

BANG!!

Suddenly, before he was able to strike Katrina, his right hand was penetrated with red, violent energy.

Deroc stumbled back and dropped his sword before glancing at the hole in his hand. Deroc turned to see who had fired the attack, but he was then bombarded with blue arrow-like projectiles. The blue projectiles penetrating his arms.

Deroc clenched his teeth as he fell to the ground and stared at the blue projectiles in his arm. He was suddenly forced out of his Altima and he felt his energy being drained until the projectiles faded away.

"Wha... what the-?"

Deroc was bewildered as to what had just happened. Everyone looked around until they spotted a man floating in the sky.

"Is that-?" Celestia's jaw dropped as she looked up at the man before staring at the giant hole in her barrier.

"No!!" Deroc's grandfather yelled as he glared up at the man.

Kiyomi, Ravyn, and Akane smiled as they noticed who the man floating in the sky was. Katrina shifted her head upwards to also look.

"Bastard..." Deroc growled, looking up at the man who stared back at him.

The man, Nero, looked down at them with a strange glow in his eyes. The blank expression on his face slowly shifted into a smile.

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