"Got a new catalyst?"
Elaine asked, watching me ignite and extinguish Bloodfire with apparent ease as we rode down the elevator.
The catalyst attached between my shoulder blades felt like an extension of my body.
A second brain that allowed me to create codes at a rate vastly superior to anything I had managed before.
I looked ahead, watching the numbers on the elevator display change.
"How deep are we going?" I asked, glancing at Elaine.
"Quite deep," she replied with a shrug. "We don't want any tremors or ardor surges to inconvenience the Crown District."
"A vast underground training facility right under the Crystal Palace," I remarked.
Elaine nodded.
"Capable of withstanding the power of Mom, the most powerful Coder in the Kingdom and one of the most powerful in the world."
"What about His Majesty?" I asked, suddenly curious.
A laugh escaped her.
"We're going to need a place the size of the Kingdom for Dad to even do a light spar."
She turned to me.
"By himself."
"The only ones who can withstand a spar with him are Merlin and the rest of the Crowns," she stated as we felt the elevator begin to slow.
She let out a deep breath and slipped a ring onto her finger. It looked perfectly ordinary except for the faintly pulsing circuit pattern etched across its surface.
"Your catalyst?" I asked, unable to take my gaze from its ethereal glow.
Elaine nodded.
"The Hecate CR40 Dual series. The perfect catalyst for Coders like me."
"Dual series," I noted. "For your two strands."
"Ignis and Aqua," she said, giving me a smile. "I'm quite blessed, aren't I?"
Before I could respond, the elevator doors opened.
Elaine stepped out, adjusting her hoodie.
I followed her.
And stopped in my tracks.
The sparring area before me was easily larger than the largest training facility in the Shield.
Pale blue walls surrounded the enormous chamber, with thin blue lines of runes running across their surfaces. The markings indicated that the same space-bending code used within the Shield had been applied to the room.
The padded floor beneath my feet was soft enough to absorb impacts, yet firm enough to provide a stable footing.
Evenly spaced outlines in the walls revealed the positions of hidden storage rooms and other facilities.
I glanced upward.
A continuous observation deck stretched around the upper perimeter of the chamber, overlooking the entire sparring court.
And it was occupied.
"Alright, everyone!"
Iris's excited voice rang through invisible speakers, her words crisp and clear as spring water.
"Anyone wanna place bets?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder at Guinevere, Morgan, and Gawain, who understandably had concerned expressions on their faces.
Phoebe, Uriel, and Alisax stood on the other side of the observation deck. Uriel in particular watched with unmistakable interest.
"No one is betting anything, Iris," Guinevere's stern voice sounded through the speakers as well.
"Bugger," Iris muttered.
She turned back toward the court. "Anyway. Everyone knows the context of this duel and its rules, so I'm not bothering to repeat them."
I couldn't help but smile as I listened to her.
Never change, Iris. Never change.
Gazing ahead, I faced Elaine, standing casually with her hands in the pockets of her hoodie, a calm smile on her face.
"Shall we start?" she asked.
I glanced up at the observation deck and gave Iris a nod.
She grinned and mouthed, Good luck.
"You two may begin."
Iris's words didn't even end before I was right in front of Elaine.
Let's see what you can do, sister.
One of the Fangs materialized in my grip, and I swung upwards.
Only to be deflected in a cascade of sparks.
Immediately, a surge of heat slapped me in the face as bright golden flames filled my vision.
Boosting my body with ardor and blood acceleration, in the next instant, I jumped back several feet just as blazing pillars of golden fire surrounded Elaine, the flames roaring through the space I had occupied a heartbeat earlier.
I landed some meters away, my casual sneakers skidding across the padded floor.
The flames dwindled, their golden light fading into the air.
Elaine stood exactly where she had been, her hands still in her pockets. She hadn't even moved a finger.
I let out a low whistle. "An ardor barrier that clings close to your body, its ardor signature masked by yours."
I narrowed my gaze. "Incredible."
She tilted her head. "Not as incredible as your reflexes and observations."
Her eyes narrowed. "You immediately figured out the barrier. Amazing."
Several orbs of fire materialized around her, glowing like tiny stars. Their golden light danced across the sparring court as her sapphire eyes began to glow.
"My turn."
The orbs flared.
Golden beams of concentrated flames shot from them, streaking through the air like lasers. Each one curved towards me, tracking my movements.
I clicked my tongue and entered my Triquetra state.
I felt lighter as blood rushed through my veins, nourishing every cell in my body.
Ardor washed over my skin in a cool wave, reinforcing my physique.
And the world slowed to a crawl as Transcendence kicked in and my senses enhanced.
I calmly analyzed the golden beams approaching me at a crawling pace. I could see their paths unfolding in agonizing detail. My senses caught every shift in their trajectories, every subtle change in the air around them.
I felt a gentle hum on my back as my new catalyst calculated and arranged the sequence of my code in an instant.
{Haema: Bloodflare Lances}
Even in my Triquetra state, where the world itself had slowed down, the formation of numerous lances of Bloodfire was instantaneous.
I twisted between the incoming beams, let them streak past, and launched the lances toward Elaine.
I let out a shockwave and joined them, daggers in hand.
Elaine's smile faded.
Flaming spears erupted around her, intercepting the incoming lances. The collisions lit up the sparring court in bursts of crimson, gold, and black, filling the arena with the roar of flames and the crackle of colliding Ardor.
I slipped through the chaos like a ghost and reached her left side.
Streaming ardor over my dagger, I drove it toward her ribs.
Elaine's gaze snapped towards me.
A circular rune sequence appeared before my face.
Shit.
I instinctively shifted to the side as another pillar of golden flames roared just inches from my face.
I winced as the heat washed over my face.
But I didn't falter.
Planting my right foot to the ground, I pivoted behind her and immediately struck her in the right side.
Elaine couldn't avoid it.
Sparks exploded on impact.
The barrier held. It stopped the dagger from penetrating, but it couldn't completely dissipate the force behind the blow.
That was precisely what I had been counting on.
I wasn't trying to destroy her barrier. I was forcing it to deal with more kinetic energy than it could safely disperse.
And the force it couldn't dissipate had to go somewhere.
A cry of pain and surprise escaped Elaine as the remaining momentum transferred through the barrier and hurled her across the sparring court.
I shifted my stance, preparing to follow up with another attack.
Only to almost face-plant on the floor.
Something was wrapped around my ankle.
Something cold and wet.
I looked down.
A chain of water had wrapped itself around my ankle, shackling me to the floor.
Elaine had laid a trap for me the moment she was hit.
Looking ahead, I saw her smirk as a cushion of water stopped her from slamming into the wall.
Clever girl.
I released a pulse of ardor, dissolving the watery shackles, and rushed forward.
Blood erupted from my back, transforming into blood appendages tipped with serrated points of crystallized blood.
Distance is a Coder's greatest advantage. I needed to take it away from her.
In an instant, I was a few meters in front of Elaine. My crimson appendages curled toward her and pounced.
Suddenly, I felt a surge of ardor from Elaine, and my gaze narrowed.
Long, disembodied hands made of water materialized around Elaine, catching my blood tendrils in vice grips.
But my tendrils didn't thrash against their restraints. Instead, I aimed their serrated tips directly at her.
In a burst of Bloodfire, the tips detached from the tendrils and shot towards her.
Elaine's eyes widened, and she jumped out of the way just as the space she was standing on a few seconds ago was obliterated in multiple bursts of Bloodfire.
An audible gasp came through the speakers.
That was probably Guinevere.
I could already picture the scolding.
A shudder ran through my body.
One good thing had come out of it, though. The hands of water dissolved, freeing my tendrils.
Immediately, new serrated tips formed on my blood appendages, and they lunged at Elaine again.
She hastily cast a bubble of water around herself. It didn't stop the tendrils, only slowed their progression.
But that was enough for her.
She gazed at me with annoyance and panic flickering in her glowing blue eyes.
"Stay back!" she yelled, thrusting out a hand.
Just then, streams of water gathered around her, converging into a massive wave that rushed at me.
"Damnit," I swore and tried to jump back, but my tendrils were still stuck in her bubble.
I immediately dissolved them and reformed the blood, fusing the appendages into a pair of massive crimson wings.
I took to the air just as the wave crashed down.
Water swept across the sparring court like a flash flood, swallowing the floor beneath me.
Hovering over the sparring court, I looked down to see Elaine pointing at me with a finger gun.
Five flaming spheres composed of concentric circles appeared behind her.
Their golden cores flared like her eyes and unleashed a barrage of fire bullets.
Using Transcendence, I tracked their trajectories and narrowly avoided them, weaving through the barrage while blocking the shots I couldn't evade.
Unfortunately, these bullets kept on multiplying, and the rate of fire increased with every passing second.
I zipped over the court, avoiding and blocking the flaming bullets, trying to find an opening in this barrage.
Then two of the concentric orbs shifted strands.
Their golden cores changed, turning a deep azure, and powerful jets of water erupted from them, roaring towards me like firehoses on enhancing drugs.
Unlike the piercing bullets. These powerful torrents could knock me out of the sky.
So it was either get peppered by fiery bullets or get waterboarded by killer water jets.
Just fantastic.
I dropped towards the floor and landed with a splash, water reaching my ankles.
Folding my wings inward, I hardened them against Elaine's continuing assault.
I am in dangerous waters now, literally.
The flooded sparring court had become Elaine's domain. Every second, the water gave her more control over the battlefield while restricting my movement.
It wouldn't be long before she trapped me again.
I could feel her coming closer, her constant barrage of fire bullets and water jets getting stronger with each step.
Remaining in the defense, constantly regenerating my wings with crystallized blood, I came up with a crazy thought.
What if I could use the individual components of my ultimate code?
It was a ridiculous idea, but this wasn't the first time I created a new code during battle.
I had created Advent of the Scarlet Prince by combining multiple separate sequences into one.
If I could use one of them separately as an individual code…
I grinned. With my new catalyst, that will be quite easy.
Sensing Elaine's position, I pointed a finger forward, almost touching my wings.
I calculated the ardor required and fed it to my catalyst with my intent.
A tiny flame of Bloodfire flickered at my fingertip.
It flared, condensing into a marble-sized orb of crimson-black fire.
The orb transformed, and a crimson beam pierced through my reinforced wings without a sound.
{Haema: Scarlet Ray}
Immediately, the barrage of water and fire stopped, and I heard an audible gasp from Elaine's direction.
Unfurling my wings, I smiled at the sight before me.
A tiny hole pierced the surface of Elaine's water barrier. Wisps of steam curled from its edges.
Her form flickered as her barrier struggled to preserve its integrity, the crimson beam having punched through its defenses.
And through Elaine's shoulder.
She stared at me, shock written across her face.
I chuckled.
"Well. That bloody worked."