Chapter 26 - Sera vs Kira

Instantly Sera's body was reinforced with mana, and with a burst of speed she leapt forward meeting Kira at the centre of the arena. Just like she had for hours this morning Sera's sword flew from her waist towards her target. However Kira instantly proved that she was better than an inanimate dummy as her obsidian black dagger quickly intercepted Excalibur. Kira's second dagger came swinging towards Sera's head however, it never made it to its target instead crashing into her gold gauntlet. Not giving Kira a second to react Sera launched a knee into her stomach and then twisted her body transforming the knee into a strong kick that launched Kira back. The second her foot landed back on the ground, she charged towards Kira.

If Sera wanted to have any chance at winning this she needed to maintain her momentum against Kira and not give her a single moment to adapt to her fighting style. All the stories Sera had heard, praised Kira Tepish on her ability to adapt to any opponent, learning to counter every move they made during the match. Sera was just hoping they were exaggerated otherwise she doubted she had much of a chance.

Excalibur sliced through the air as it swiftly raced towards Kira's head. However, with rapid movement the Urali princess immobilised the sword in between her two daggers and then delivered a sharp kick into the centre of Sera's chest, sending her reeling back. Ignoring the pain Sera took a deep breath and charged straight back into the fight. The two princesses became a whirlwind of slashes as they rapidly danced around the arena, the echoes of their blades colliding, engulfed the entire coliseum.

With every strike Sera launched or defended her confidence grew and she cared less and less about the fact that half a million people were watching them. That didn't matter anymore, her only goal was to win. As they continued to trade blows Sera quickly began to realise she had an obvious advantage over Kira in this fight. The princess of Uralis was an assassin, unlike Sera her style wasn't designed for prolonged head on battles and their fight was starting to show it. Sera was starting to overwhelm Kira with her superior swordsmanship, forcing Kira back with every strike and countering any slash or thrust directed her way. She was winning. Sera attempted to deliver the finishing blow however, in that moment it seemed she'd jumped to conclusions too soon.

Suddenly Kira's mana surged, and her physicality grew with it. She leapt at Sera covering the distance between them in a single jump. Her obsidian dagger sliced through the air at such speeds it looked like a black blur. Sera was able to raise her sword in time to block the dagger, however, wasn't prepared for the attack's force. She was launched off her feet and sent crashing across the grey brick floor. Instantly Kira was hovering above Sera, a black dagger aimed straight at her throat. Increasing the mana infusing her body Sera jumped back up to her feet just in time to intercept Kira's attack. The dagger still felt heavy against Excalibur, but Sera knew she could handle it.

Once again they went at each other every collision making the air around them tremble.

Every few strikes, Sera felt like she had the advantage, but then Kira would raise her power to compensate for the difference in skill, forcing Sera to do the same in order to not be defeated. Sera doubted she'd beat Kira in a contest of strength nor in a contest of endurance, if the battle continued like this she was practically guaranteed to lose. Sera needed to come with a plan and fast.

She coated her blade in silver mana. She swiftly swung her blade at Kira, who crossed her daggers to block the attack but clearly wasn't prepared for the power behind Excalibur. Her arms trembled and legs almost buckled. Not wanting to waste the opportunity Sera swung again and again and again, every attack was blocked by Kira, but each one shook her body, and it was clear they were wearing her down. Sera struck Kira again and watched as her arms began to fail under Excalibur's force and her guard drop. Refusing to waste this opening, Sera flooded her body and Excalibur with as much mana as she could muster. The silver sword split the air as soared towards Kira's neck. Sera didn't need to worry about killing her as fleet admiral Triania said he'd step in if it got too dangerous.

'I can win' Sera told herself as her blade was inches away from Kira's neck. However, that is when it all went wrong.

Everything happened in less than a second. Kira's blood red eyes suddenly lit up and a thin glowing crimson aura that flowed like blood, faintly coated her skin. Then Kira vanished. Excalibur tore through the air where Kira once was the force of the attack almost pulling Sera off her feet.

'How did she just? -'. Sera scanned her the arena, Kira was nowhere to be found.

'Has she gone invisible?'. Suddenly there was a searing and sharp pain in her back, and she was launched across the arena. Sera jabbed Excalibur into the floor forcing herself to a stop and spun around. No one was there. Instantly she saw a red glow in corner of her eye.

'Not invisible just fast'. She tried to spin towards it with her sword raised but was too late. Something hit her stomach hard, lifting her off the ground and not even a second later an immense force painfully struck her right shoulder, almost dislocating it. Sera was sent flying, and her grip gave out resulting in Excalibur flying across the arena. She slammed down into the floor over ten metres away from where she was struck, completely shattering the grey brick on impact.

'How is she so fast?' Sera questioned baffled. With gritted teeth she forced her body to push past the pain and stand back up. Looking up Kira had finally decided to show herself again. Standing above Excalibur, the glowing blood like aura still flowed around her body and her glowing iris's stared ominously at Sera like they'd finally found their prey. Sera then finally figured out what was happening, Kira had activated her magic technique, or at least an aspect of it.

"Looks like I finally got you to fight me properly" Sera said remembering their conversation earlier.

Kira flashed a terrifying smile "Let's see if you can still get me to go all out". Instantly Sera materialized Excalibur into her hand which caught Kira off guard as she watched the blade vanish from beneath her. Sera tried to take control of the battle and made the first move dashing across the arena and covering Excalibur in a thick silver armour. She swung the blade with as much speed and power as she could muster but it turned out to be pointless. Kira's arm moved so fast it was as if it'd teleported, her dagger jumped from her waist to intercept the blade in an instant, completely stopping it in its tracks. Sera pushed against the dagger, but it was no use it was like trying to push over a steel wall. Kira clearly didn't have that issue, as with a casual flick she easily deflected Excalibur back with such force the sword almost ragged Sera off balance. Kira's leg then turned into a crimson blur as it struck Sera's chest faster than she could register, it happened so fast she didn't even feel the pain until she struck the grey brick floor. Gritting her teeth, tightening her grip and forcing the pain down she charged again. Once again her strike was blocked, and she was smacked away. Blood dripped from her nose and gums, but Sera just wiped it away with her sleeve and leapt back towards Kira just to be winded and sent flying. She then attacked again and again and again every time she was struck away. She tried attacking Kira from every angle but every single time without moving from that spot Kira blocked her attack and countered. On her last attempt Kira had kicked her in the chest with so much force all the air left her body and the attack delivered a pain so strong the immense amount of adrenaline flowing through her couldn't subdue it. Sera was left keeled over leaning on her sword gasping for air. Kira made no attempt to finish her off and instead remained motionless. The entire audience had grown deathly silent as they watched Sera get beaten helplessly around the arena.

'Should I just give up?' Sera wondered. Even if she activated her technique and forced Kira to go all out she doubted she still had any chance at winning. This wasn't the fight she planned or wanted to have but maybe she should just call it and stop embarrassing herself, family and country.

She forced herself up right and prepared to announce her defeat when she heard something the distance.

"Come on Sera!" a girl shouted. Sera turned towards the voice and saw Lucina standing up.

"Don't give in now!" she shouted again. Instantly others started to stand up with Lucina and began cheering Sera on. Eri, Ike, Arthur all stood up and then all of Lewis's friends. Seconds later all the kids at the orphanage started cheering and even Emily Jager and her friends joined in. Sera stared amazed as she watched their cheering spread through the entire Elysian sector, thousands of people all cheering her on.

"Go all out!" Kate Lock jumped from her seat and yelled. Sera glanced at every cheering face, each one reinvigorating her will to fight. What was she thinking she wondered, how could she even think of letting the fight end like this.

"What was it you said" Sera stated glancing at Kira, drawing her attention away from the Elysian stands, "Let's give them the best show they've ever seen". Sera looked back at the stands directly at Lewis. He stood up from his seat and with a large smile he nodded. Instantly Sera activated her magic technique.