Muda

A powerful explosion sent the kutsero flying in the air, the soldiers of Kruule that are escorting the Kalesa were startled.

"What the?!"

"The Kalesa!"

Before long, the high commander jumped out of the burning wreckage, unscathed, same with Lyrica who went to the other side of the road.

"High commander! Are you okay?"

One of the soldiers nervously asked the smiling high commander who gave him no response. Right after that moment, they see the girl they were trying to escort to the capital city of Kruule standing far from them and looking at them with a serious gaze.

"L-Lyrica...!"

"D-Don't let her escape!"

The soldiers instinctively pulled out their weapons, albeit they were hesitating. However, the high commander stood before them and said:

"Don't worry, she's not running."

The black-armored knights are left confused by Gilberto's words. However, what he said was right, Lyrica is not going anywhere.

"Not until you kill me, isn't that right?"

No words came out of the girl's mouth, only the unsettling whistle of the wind that permeate the road could be heard. However, from the look in Gilberto and Lyrica's eyes, the soldiers realized that they shouldn't get involved with whatever comes next. At that moment, the girl pointed her left index finger towards the high commander and shoots fire with the shape that almost look like that of a bullet. The fire bullet is not as fast as that of a sting of a Wither Bee, as such, the high commander easily intercepted it with his massive long sword.

A burst of mocking laughter came from the high commander.

"You don't seriously think that you can defeat me with that kind of attack."

Again, Lyrica did not say anything. She remained silent while firing a few more fire bullets.

Gilberto's excitement at the thought of fighting Lyrica one on one soon disappeared as he blocked the fire bullets with his long sword.

"Here I thought I found someone who can fight me head-on with my full strength... But it looks like you and the others escaping from the Guardian Snake is nothing but a mere work of luck." He mouthed as put his long sword back on its sheath hanging on his back. "My fists are more than enough for you."

The high commander takes a stance, preparing to dash. In response to his action, Lyrica charges a bigger fireball with both hands. But then...

"Liksi."

Gilberto's sudden dash left a strong burst of wind that pushes the soldiers away. Before Lyrica could throw her fireball at him, the high commander's right fist punches through it. She tries to defend herself with both hands, only to get flung into the distance. However, the high commander's attacks did not stop there.

"Tch...!"

Right as she was trying to maintain her balance, Gilberto appeared with his fist only a couple of meters away from her face. Lyrica, however, still managed to avoid the high commander's punch before quickly distancing herself from him.

"He's fast, probably a bit faster than the Mother Bee, and he's not even taking off that heavy armor, unlike Roberto."

A trail of blood came spilling out of her face where Gilberto's fist grazed her.

"To think that an elemental magic user like you possess agility that allows you to barely avoid my punches, I guess escaping the Guardian Snake wasn't all about luck, huh. But..."

The high commander leaps forward with incredible speed, aiming to hit Lyrica once more with his big and heavy fists.

"If all you can do is dodge and rely on your elemental magic, then you're no match to a body enhancer like me!"

The high commander readies his right fist as he gets threateningly close to the girl. But despite this, Lyrica just stood there as if she fully intended to catch his punch with her face.

"You talk too much."

"Huh?"

Lyrica had spoken at last, but instead of running and trying to avoid the high commander as he expected for an elemental magic user, the girl goes straight at him, showing the palm of her right hand before his eyes. As soon as he locked his gaze on Lyrica's hand, a blinding light struck Gilberto.

"Wha–! Light?!"

The girl gets under the high commander before dragging him head first down to the surface.

Crash!

Rrummble!!

Lyrica went to try and hit Gilberto from behind, only for the high commander who have his guard up to intercept her by kicking her right in her stomach.

"Ack–!"

The girl got violently pushed away, Lyrica couldn't breathe for a second due to the counter she received. She then backs away further and maintained a wide distance from him.

"You can also use light magic...?" Gilberto uttered in horror. "It's not that impossible to manifest more than one elemental magic, but for you to manifest light magic... Now I have a reason why I have to kill you right here."

As soon as those words spilled from the high commander's lips, the look in his eyes changed. That's when Lyrica realized that Gilberto is about to take their battle seriously to kill her no matter the cost.

Once again, Gilberto used his Liksi and dashes forth to Lyrica. The girl stretched one of her hands forward in an attempt to disorient the high commander like the first time, however...

"That won't work anymore!"

To Lyrica's surprise, the high commander maneuvers with great speed and immediately gets behind the girl. She retracts her hand and faces the high commander as soon as she could, raising her guard just before his fist hits her.

Pow!

"Keh...!"

Lyrica finds herself being dragged with her feet on the ground. Before long, the girl shoved the high commander away, but Gilberto would only come after her endlessly, forcing her to defend restlessly.

The soldiers watching the fight who are secretly rooting for Lyrica could not help but feel worried every time the high commander strikes. Even though she can defend herself well, they can tell his punches are no joke. They can feel the impact as if they were the ones receiving them.

However, the kutsero realized something the others did not. Despite being overwhelmed by Gilberto and his heavy fists, the same glint from when she was staring down with the high commander inside the Kalesa has yet to disappear from her charcoal eyes. Seeing this begs a question in the kutsero's mind:

'What is she planning? What is she going to do?'

Lyrica found an opening after Gilberto's long barrage of attacks, she then tried to fight back and threw a few punches. But it was all for naught as not a single one of her punches managed to land on the high commander.

"You may have the agility, but I can tell you don't have much experience with hand-to-hand combat."

"Tch!"

Lyrica saw Gilberto open one of his hands and then grabbing her left wrist as she missed a punch. Right at that moment...

Whip!

"...!"

Pow!

"Gwa–!"

A back roundhouse kick hits Lyrica below her right ear.

Crash!!

The soldiers and the kutsero are left speechless as the girl falls to the ground. For a couple of seconds that she got disoriented after receiving such a powerful strike, the high commander stood before her to land a finishing blow with one of his feet. Lyrica rolls out of the way after regaining her composure and gets into safety.

Stomp!

Grab!

"Huh?"

"Raagh!"

Although it was an underhanded move, Lyrica finally managed to land a kick to the high commander after throwing dirt into his eyes.

"Damn you!"

Lyrica used the chance to create distance from Gilberto, the view from her right eye soon turn red as the blood from the wound she got after that roundhouse kick just started flowing down.

Once again, they look down at each other as if waiting for one another to make a move. Lyrica wiped off the blood running down her face with the back of her right hand.

"You should probably use your sword now." She mouthed rather nonchalantly.

The high commander scoffed at her in reply.

"There's no need for you to tell me that," Gilberto added as he pulls his massive long sword behind his back. "I will finish you with one strike."

No matter how calm she may seem despite the disadvantage she's in, no matter how many elemental magic abilities she may possess, an elemental magic user can never win in close combat against a body enhancement magic user. It is a known fact in the world of Alteria. However, unbeknownst to the high commander, Lyrica is not just an elemental magic user.

"Lakas! Liksi!" Gilberto's body as well as his long sword started glowing with light. "With this, I shall end your life with one strike!"

The high commander dashes forth, while contrary to him, Lyrica remained standing in the same spot, albeit she clenched her left hand to form a fist. After reaching a certain distance, Gilberto leaps forward, taking a stance to hack down Lyrica into two. But in that same moment, without him knowing, Lyrica's headphones begin to utter words.

[Now Playing: Fierock]

Lyrica glows with red light, leaving the high commander confused. But at the same time the red light disappeared into the girl's body, Gilberto also disregarded what it was about. And that's where it went downhill for him.

Gilberto faked his attempt to hack down Lyrica from head to toe.

"Die!"

While in mid-air, he took another stance and swung his long sword towards Lyrica horizontally.

Clamoring!

What happened after that shocked the watchers to the core, for what they had witnessed was not Lyrica getting her head lopped off of her body, but instead her right hand catching the blade in the blink of an eye.

"What?!"

"You're right, there's no need for me to tell you that." She mouthed as she pulls the sword along with the high commander closer to her, her eyes gazing at Gilberto's menacingly. "After all..."

Ttooom!

"Ugwah–!"

Lyrica threw a powerful left punch right in the high commander's gut, causing his armor to shatter in pieces.

"... Your sword is useless."