Distance

Flare and Weiss pushed each other using their weapons and lunged at each other again. This time, their weapons clash and evade each other, but Weiss quickly turns around and swings his great sword, aiming for Flare's back. Flare turns around and dodges the attack with her sword, but Weiss's barrage of attacks from his great sword and dagger forces her to get out of range. A rapier is not meant to receive countless attacks since it is less durable than a double-edged sword. She jumps backward and lunges forward to deal damage to Weiss. Weiss blocks the stab and parries it before attempting to land a counter-attack. However, Flare instantly rolls back, away from Weiss's reach. She thought she managed to escape his attack, but…Flare noticed that she was wrong when she saw Weiss dashing toward her. 

"A straight-forward attack?" she asks herself, preparing for a frontal block. 

Suddenly, Weiss dives next to her while at the same time stabbing his jagged dagger into the floor. Ember sparks sprayed around the ring before the dagger finally pierced sturdily into the ground. This motion baffled Flare, leaving her confounded by the erratic movements of Weiss's attack and her back wide open for an attack. The instant the dagger is planted into the floor, Weiss utilizes the sturdy dagger as a wedge and slides in a counterclockwise, circular motion with his great sword in his right hand. The steel plates on both sides of his boots allowed him to slide in that motion without tripping from friction between his leather boots and the solid, rocky floor of the ring. 

Flare could barely follow his erratic movement and quickly used the short sword to block the massive swing. Both blades collide, but Flare is pushed backward and stumbles to the ground due to the momentum of the enormous great sword battling her thin, short sword. Despite that, the block did sprain her index and middle finger. She avoided getting a direct hit but caught slight damage due to the snag. The spectators, the referee, and the commentator are captivated by his attack manner. The commentator dropped his jaw in awe and said nothing since the battle started. 

 Weiss lunges forward with his sword, sliding towards her before attempting to stab Flare. Flare dodges to the side and attacks him with her sword, but Weiss quickly plants the dagger into the ground, stopping himself from sliding, and dodges the attack upwards with his sword. Flare's body is left wide open, and Weiss kicks her directly in the stomach. She has blasted backward away from him, and Weiss prepares for another attack by observing her. When Flare stands back up after taking damage from his kick, Weiss's eyes open in frustration and, again, thrown off. He pauses as Flare takes short breaths before continuing any further attacks. 

"Don't get your hopes up, even if your abilities are multiplied by your short training with Boyd; it doesn't close the gap between our fighting abilities at the least," Weiss warns Flare, pointing his sword at her. 

However, Flare's mind is lingering elsewhere. 

"…A steel dagger cannot pierce through solid, rocky terrain, regardless of quality. Yet, that motion he did, using the dagger as a wedge in his attack…That would mean…" 

"I see…" Flare utters, catching his attention. 

"A subsidiary in the Control principle. You channeled your energy and shrouded it to your dagger, strengthening it enough to stab through the floor and act like a wedge. You used controlling your energy for offense and strengthening your blades," Flare deduced. 

"…I see; it seems you have grown slightly, Captain," Weiss acknowledges her progress. 

"But it won't be enough."

Weiss instantly dashes towards Flare and attacks. He stabs straight at Flare's chest, but luckily, Flare manages to dodge it by rolling to the side. She instantly lunges forward and stabs Weiss's back, aiming directly at the tendons between the shoulder and the back. Her combined weapon acted as a spear, and her rapier managed to pierce into his skin, but Weiss quickly ducked away, forcefully removing the piercing blade. When he raised his sword, he realized his arm felt weak. 

"Impressive…"

"That's one, at least three to go before I render that arm useless," Flare states, pointing her rapier at him. 

Flare lunges at Weiss, and he feints a kick. She took the bait, and Weiss instantly spun clockwise and axe kicked Flare's head. Flare slips sideways, falling straight to the floor. She quickly rolled to the side once she saw Weiss jump upwards to land an attack. He slams the sword to the ground, creating a small smoke screen. Flare swiftly attempts to stab another tendon, but Weiss sees through and sweeps her leg. Flare loses her balance but quickly regains it to prevent herself from tripping. However, Weiss uses the momentum of his sweep to plant his dagger into the floor. He spins once before pulling the blade out of the ground and dashes straight towards Flare. Flare rolls away, but Weiss quickly plants his dagger and rotates counterclockwise in an attempt to hit her with his great sword. Again, Flare sees through that and rolls forward above Weiss's swing. 

However, this does not stop him from attacking. Using the dagger as a wedge, he spins clockwise and swings his great sword at Flare again. The princess blocks this attack with her weapon and is pushed backward again to its force, but the attacks do not end there. His third continuous attack leads to a jump flip. Flare quickly rolls away to the side, evading Weiss's overhead smash. She promptly dashed towards him and switched her weapon usage from the rapier to the short sword. She slashed Weiss's shoulder, but the man quickly rolled away before she could land a hit. 

"His mobility is something else, thanks to this flat terrain…" 

"Wait…"

"Flat terrain…" Flare wonders. 

"…Yes, that might have what it takes…"

While she is wondering, Weiss also decides to take a breather. 

"It seems you've performed slightly perfectly in blocking my attacks. You've trained in Strength and Control then and mastered the basics, along with bits from the advance…," Weiss exclaims. 

"…And you're just being nice. For some reason, you're turning this into a battle of attrition," Flare responds.

"How'd you come to that?"

"You're not tired, probably because you haven't used much of your energy, and this is the first break you used. I've taken more than one break to catch my breath."

"You're playing nice, Weiss," Flare smirks. 

"Huh, well, this is all the energy I need to beat you and get you out of my way, Captain. There's no use in expending my entire energy for this," Weiss responds confidently. 

"Well, you are unprepared for this then," Flare states, slightly activating her circuits.

Her golden circuits are a bit faded, enough to prevent the crowd from recognizing it but bright enough for Weiss to notice. Instantly, she struck the floor, creating dust clouds throughout the entire arena and walls, slabs of stones and boulders made from the very earth underneath them—the cloud of dust blocked Weiss's sight. With the advent of rocks, Weiss was caught off guard by the sudden use of her magical abilities. After a few seconds, he realized something was off. 

"A smoke screen?"

"Wait…"

"…I can't sense her energy at all..." Weiss thought in his head. 

"Damn it! The old man taught her more tricks!" he curses, preparing for an attack. 

Before he noticed it, Flare suddenly emerged behind him from the cloud of dust, prepared to attack with her rapier. She quickly attempts to slash Weiss's joints between his arm and his elbow. However, Weiss managed to detect her presence at the last minute, but he failed to block or dodge the attack. The rapier managed to pierce through his skin and successfully wounded his joint. Despite that, Weiss instantly jumps backward, forcefully removing the blade from his arm. 

"Tch…not too deep to render it useless," Flare clicks her tongue. 

"You reacted instantly. I'm guessing you noticed the slight shift inside the dust," Flare states, looking at the wounded Weiss. 

"I am impressed, Captain. I didn't think you knew how to conceal your presence," Weiss praises her.

...

"Woah, you really taught her all the basics, old man," Jojo exclaims to Boyd. 

"Naturally, I crammed everything in that head of hers regarding the basics, including how to use Control to conceal one's presence," Boyd avowed. 

"It's creative of her to use the cloud of dust as a smoke screen. Flare is just amazing," Marcia states in awe. 

"Still, what kind of fighters have you trained here, Boyd," Solaris demurred. 

"…I taught the two of them to end the fight with just one attack, but regardless, their fighting methods are different," Boyd utters. 

"Weiss is more of a combatant with reach. From the start, he had strategized, bargained, and analyzed ways to strike that one blow to defeat Flare entirely."

"Flare, on the other hand, is more flexible with her attack. She uses her body to nimbly move around her opponent, searching for that strike that will lead to victory."

"…You're not worried by all this?" Marcia asks. 

"No. I'm not."

"You are not getting a 'number one dad award,'" Jojo teases Boyd. 

"Wait…I heard that term before…" Boyd bumbles. 

"Mmm…Mmm…"

"Where oh where…?"

"For a person who trained two formidable fighters, the man's inattentive," Solaris murmurs. 

Elania, Hawke, Pearl, Roland, and Treyton observe the fight on the above balcony. Pearl and Treyton looked at it half-heartedly while Elania, Hawke, and Roland were watching, focused. Roland is smiling for some reason, amazed to see something. Hawke is just surprised by Weiss's swordplay. Elania, on the other hand, looked at it as if she found it troubling. 

"…I know I've seen that swordplay before; when was it…" she mutters.

"…In just a few weeks, both of them have grown so much, I barely recognize them," Roland murmurs. 

"But they still have so much to learn…"

"Why must unripe people be so enticing?" he smiles sadistically.

Despite all their talk, all of them resumed watching the fight. 

…..

Once the dust cleared, Weiss realized what Flare had done to the ring. She created a forest of large and small rocks surrounding the ring. The referee is now finding it hard to re-enter the ring to observe the fight, and so is the commentator, who could not see anything from his position underneath the ring. 

"…Wh-what an intense exchange between our two contenders!"

"I couldn't sneak a single word during their exchange…" 

Weiss looked around and, again, noticed that Flare's presence had disappeared. 

"I see. You are impeding me while concealing your presence at the same time. Smart…"

Concurrently, Flare, hiding behind a large rock, presses her hand against it and uses wind magic to blast it toward Weiss. Weiss instantly pulls more energy from his circuits and strengthens himself. Instead of avoiding the boulder, he smashes through by striking the boulder with his enhanced sword. A shower of small rocks hit the ground, revealing Flare next to a rock as large as she is. Weiss instantly lands and plants his dagger into the ground, hastily attempting to do another spin attack. However, when he is about to finish his spin, he accidentally hits the rock instead of Flare. This gives Flare an opening, but instead of stabbing him with her rapier, she enhances the strength of her leg and kicks his left temple. Weiss barely managed to transfer his energy to defend his head. The kick fractured his left temporal bone, barely leaving him to use his left eye. 

"That kick looks like the princess is trying to kill him," Solaris comments, shocked. 

Boyd remains silent and continues watching. 

"Amazing, Jane's strategy to change the entire field works well!"

"It's also to prevent your annoying darting attack," Flare adds. 

"Interesting, you changed the very flat field into an irregular to ground to prevent me from using that attack pattern. Not that it matters, but good try anyway," Weiss alleged. 

"Really, because that is NOT what happened," Flare huffed. 

"No. Though that action did not work, your second one did. Using a forest of rocks is a bright move; now you did block my movements," he chuckles. 

"However…"

He sheathes the dagger back into its leather sheath on his waist. 

"I can still use my sword like this," Weiss states as he grips the sword's grip with his two hands. 

"…Did you know that a sword's more powerful if you swing it with both hands instead of one, Captain Flare?" Weiss adds, gripping his great sword with two hands. 

In an instant, there is no one standing in front of Flare. There is only a mild gush of wind and dust but no Weiss. 

"He disappeared?" 

"No…"

"Above me!"

Flare quickly looks up and sees Weiss diving down with his sword, aiming for a plunge attack. Flare immediately dashes forward out of the way, leaving Weiss slamming the blade onto the floor. She swiftly twists the combined hilts and transforms her Ikazuchi. Her Ploy Weapon, which she previously used as a twin-blade, is separated into two. She is currently dual-wielding a rapier and an eastern short sword. She steps forward and attacks using her saber, but Weiss blocks it again with his great-sword's fuller. He spins his blade to knock Flare off balance and slashes the air. Flare barely dodged it by ducking downwards before lunging towards him again. She thrust her sword forward, aiming for Weiss's left eye, but he quickly turned his head sideways. The thrust managed to scratch his skin, but it left Flare's front body wide open.

"…It ends here, Captain," Weiss murmurs. 

Flare managed to hear it. At that moment, time felt like it had come to a standstill. She could see nothing surrounding her, only his ragged breath and her own. 

"So, please, Princess, let me go…"

Weiss is looking at her, smiling, with blood flowing on his left cheek. Flare's eyes are fixed on him, shocked to see his expression, but at the same time…could not do anything. 

"Stop getting in my way!" 

He spins and twists his body sideways to enough force and momentum to thrust and kick Flare's lower jaw. The power behind that kick pushes Flare upwards into the air. Weiss leaps towards her and kicks her again two times in the middle of her chest, launching her further upwards in an attempt to knock her out unconscious permanently. Weiss landed on the ground and leaped forward. He is aiming for Flare's landing spot to finish his combination attack. However, while Flare is crashing down, a golden light suddenly irradiates the arena. The clouds suddenly turned dark, and she could hear crackling thunderstorms inside the grey clouds. The area turned darker, but the pristine, golden orb of light illuminates the audience, the Underworld King, and the contenders watching the match. 

"You…stupid, idiot!" Weiss groans, charging towards her crashing point. 

"That figure, knowing she cannot win, knowing that it is meaningless, yet remaining defiant all the same…" 

Weiss shakes his head, losing the thought of doubt inside his mind. 

"Flare Edwen's battle ends here!" Weiss announces, practically yelling at Flare.

Flare's golden circuits activate, and her eyes are still fixed on Weiss despite crashing down uncontrollably. 

"…I'll drag you back, even if it means losing an arm!" Flare declares, electricity crackling on her right palm. 

Inches before Flare crashes onto the ground, her body faces Weiss, and her hand that generates electricity is pointing at him. Weiss also immediately activates his circuits. Golden-colored lights merged with green-colored lights, coming from Weiss's magical circuits. He draws out the magical energy he had stored from the beginning of the fight, focusing it between offense and defense. Flare is determined to stop Weiss from getting his vengeance, as shown by her facial expression as she charges the electricity to maximum power. 

"What a horrible thing…"

"DIE!"

He tries to shake his thoughts off, blocking any doubt from entering his head, but…

"…"

Weiss is looking at Flare, prepared to kick her at full power. Although he has his sword in his right hand, he cannot use it for some reason. Or rather, he does not want to use it. Instead of rage, his face shows an expression entirely different from before. His face shows…anguish. 

"Damn it…"

"I'm being made to look into an old mirror…"

"Perhaps there was such a man once, wasn't there?" 

Suddenly, a lightning bolt struck Flare's hand, multiplying the amount of power in her hands. The massive energy intake is too much for Flare to handle. Her right arm begins to crack, and her gauntlets slowly melt on her arm, but the energy output remains on her hand. 

"Get in close, and give it everything I have!" Flare declares inside her head. 

Weiss quickly raises his left arm and covers his face. Before Flare could use her power, his leg reached her first and blasted her out of the ring. Despite that, while she is blasted away mid-air, her eyes are still fixed on him. Her vision is blurring due to the force of the kick and the fact that she is regurgitating blood. Her eyes were slowly closing, but she forced them open. With all her will, she pushes her eyes to open. Despite that, her left eye slowly closes…

"This is enough…" she says. 

Her right eye is slightly open. Enough to squint, but her vision is still blurry.

"I've given everything I have, Uncle Boyd…" 

"I hope this is enough…"

Suddenly, a rush of adrenaline bursts into her system. Instantly, her vision came back, and her right eye shot open. Weiss managed to detect the sudden outburst of energy and quickly used his sword as a shield. He places his left arm behind, acting as a support. He also took off his coat and wrapped it around his head. 

"TAKE THIS, LEONARD WEISS!" Flare shouts. 

Immediately, she blasts the mighty thunderbolt from her hand towards Weiss. At the same time, the force of the blast from her hand also adds immense kickback. She is blasted backward faster, and her body slams into the wall at the inner end of the arena, just underneath the spectator's stand. 

Simultaneously, Weiss plants his sword into the ground, using it as a shield. He uses the environment, his magical energy, and his whole body to protect himself and withstand the attack. Milliseconds after that, the large thunderbolt hits his sword and his entire body. Weiss managed to block the attack with his sword, preventing the energy from hitting the spectators behind him. Despite that, he could not stop the side splashes from reaching his skin and the ring. 

"AH!" 

Weiss cries in pain as the electric energy burns his coat, arm, and five right fingers holding the hilt. He managed to deflect most of the lightning to the sky with all his might. However, he could not deflect a small pocket of it. The slight residue of lightning blasted him out of the ring, along with his sword, still in his hand. His coat is smoked, along with the entire right side of his inner shirt. 

"…W-Weiss is out of bounds and knocked out unconscious!"

The commentator turns his head to the other side despite still being shaky. 

"…J-J-Jane…Jane Doe…"

"…Princess Flare is also knocked out unconscious!"

 * * * * *

 "D-did you see that gold light?" 

"…Look at that immense power!"

"Gold circuits?"

"Didn't King Edwen have golden circuits?"

"…I thought she was dead!" Pearl suddenly took interest. 

Roland smiles while the others are still trying to make sense of what just happened. 

"Huh…she blew her cover in the end," Solaris grumbles. 

"…It was a fun fight, wasn't it?" Jojo exclaims, looking before him, only to realize that Boyd and Marcia have gone. 

"Eh?"

In mere seconds after the battle ended in a stalemate, rumors, innuendos, remarks, everywhere conversation is about the discovery of the 'deceased' Princess Flare Edwen, who was rumored to be dead months ago. After seeing the immense power and possibly bountiful reward of her capture, crowds of spectators and contenders rushed towards her unconscious body to make her their trophy until;

"Krak!"

"…"

Suddenly, all the people who were rushing towards her, all 500 of them, tripped on the ground, knocked out unconscious. The rest of the audience, who stayed in their seats, were shocked by this sudden turn of events. Some of them stood up, trying to get a better view of what was happening, while some of the rest dropped into the arena, trying to get their hands on Flare's unconscious body, only to end up in the same fate. 

"…W-What in the world is happening?" the commentator mumbles, shaking. 

Amidst the piles of unconscious bodies, Boyd came out from the shadows, along with Marcia by his side. He casually steps over the bodies before reaching Flare. Then, Boyd carries Flare in his arms and approaches her weapon. He signals Marcia to take the gun. After that, he, again, casually steps over the unconscious bodies until he reaches Weiss. Without looking around, he saddles Weiss on his two shoulders and instructs Marcia to carry Weiss's great sword. Unable to take the heavy blade, Marcia drags it on the ground as they exit through the front entrance, where Pearl, Hawke, Treyton, and Roland are blocking their way out. 

Boyd casually walks until he is three meters in front of him before stopping. The two unconscious bodies were still in his security. Marcia quickly hides behind him. 

"…"

"…Move, you're standing in the way," Boyd spoke, looking directly at their eyes, one by one. 

"…"

Treyton tried to speak, but before he could, Hawke stepped forward.

"Why?" he utters a single word. 

Boyd's eyes focused on him. 

"…Because they are MY students," Boyd answers without even batting an eye. 

Despite his apathetic attitude, for some reason, none of the contenders standing behind him dared to make a move, not even to shoot an arrow. The five of them continue to block his way until Hawke instructs them to give way. 

"What? Why? For all we know, he could be the…," Treyton protested but turned silent when Elania gave him an angry stare. 

However, he continues to protest until Roland steps forward and supports Hawke's decision. Willing or not, Boyd is given passage out of the arena along with his two students and Marcia. 

"I was surprised you didn't strike him down, considering you were the one who was the most interested in getting here first," Elania voiced, confused by his decision. 

"…I was captivated. I finally found a ripe fruit to play with, but his concern for his students is exquisite. Thus, it caught my eyes," Roland smiles. 

"…Is it?"

"It is indeed. To find a worthy opponent is a rare thing. If he is not in his peak form, it would be a waste to kill him. He can also consider this a debt, right, Mr. Boyd?" Roland turns his head, hollering for Boyd. 

The armored man stopped. He glances at Roland.

"…Settle things here, jester. Then, we'll see," Boyd answers before continuing his walk with Marcia. 

At the same time, tens of contenders are tailing him from behind, trying to find an opening to take Flare from his arms. Noticing this, Boyd and Marcia take a sharp right into an alley just outside the arena. However, when the contenders arrived to corner him, he, Marcia, and the unconscious contenders he was carrying had already disappeared. 

"…Elania," Hawke calls. 

"Got it," Elania nods, understanding Hawke's sentence before he finishes it. 

"I'll call Sylvia to help you. In the meantime, Treyton and Pearl, you two investigate the other contenders. Leave him and his students to Elania."

"Roland, you…do whatever it is that you do. As I recall, you still have two matches, right?" Hawke suggests. 

Roland manically grins and walks away. 

"…Mr. Hawke, King Owen would like to see you now…"