Myrris spun in the air and unleashed a rain of compressed liquid blades. Enrico pierced through the first line with a burst of speed, dodged the second by mere centimeters, and appeared before her wrapped in concentrated flames, ready for another charged impact.
"What do you think about the battle happening below?"
Lowering herself by a few centimeters from the strike, she managed to evade. Using an explosion of water at her feet, her leg shot upward at high speed toward Enrico's head.
"Boring. Both are just using raw power without technique, taking advantage of the massive magic they have."
Grabbing her leg, he spun in place and hurled her in the opposite direction. Creating his bow, he fired piercing fire arrows without using the Lúmen'Thyr arrows yet.
"That's because usually those who think like us either have little mana and need to think—but for them, it must be fun."
The arrows split into dozens, flying toward Myrris. Seeing them descending toward her, she took a step back.
"Maybe you're right, but even so, it's boring… Water Barrier."
Raising her hand, a barrier formed in front of her. All the arrows turned to vapor upon contact. Aiming once more, this time using a Lúmen'Thyr arrow, he fused it with his ego bow's ability. Ash merged with the arrow, forming something denser yet perfectly light and heavy at the same time.
'Lúmen'Thyr Arrow — double damage.'
The darkened surface glowed from within, incandescent lines running through the Lúmen'Thyr like veins ready to burst. The enhancement allowed it to deal multiplied damage—currently up to double.
Sensing danger, the water barrier around her began to spin—not just as a shield, but as a compressive vortex. The pressure increased, condensing the water into successive layers.
"Multiple condensed barrier."
Releasing the string, the arrow sliced through the air at high speed. The impact did not instantly generate vapor. First came resistance. Then a sharp crack. The water fractured in thin lines before being pierced.
"Tsk."
Myrris twisted her body at the last second, but the arrow grazed her shoulder, drawing blood and tearing part of her liquid armor. The subsequent explosion behind her hurled both in opposite directions, the ground splitting under the shockwave.
"Double damage really is a good find for me, even if I still get hit by the impact…"
Stopping midair, Enrico assessed the damage. Being knocked back during a fight could be dangerous if the opponent endured the arrow, so it was better to fire it from farther away. Myrris appeared behind him with a blade of water in hand, surprising him slightly. It seemed she had used the moisture scattered in the air to move between droplets.
"Got you."
"Elemental Clone."
He could do something similar. Creating a fire clone behind her, he switched places with it. The water blade sliced his clone in half while he kicked the back of her head, sending her downward. Before he could breathe, a water whip coiled around his waist, dragging him down as well.
"Crimson Shell."
As he was pulled back, Enrico activated his Crimson Shell. This time it covered his entire right leg, part of his left foot, both arms, half his chest, and began covering half his face.
"Crimson Eyes."
His eyes turned red as he activated them, allowing him to see through the air where his fire magic was being extinguished—behind him, a water spear was forming as he was dragged.
'That whip is strong.'
The water whip wrapped around him had a strange resistance to fire. Realizing what that meant, he chose to trade wound for wound.
Pointing at Myrris, who had struck the ground, he fired another Lúmen'Thyr arrow infused with ash as before. But this time, to increase speed, he added fire at the arrow's base, causing a small explosion near his face when he released the string. Of course, he took care not to injure her with that—unlike what he did with the spear behind him.
"Gahh!"
"Aaahhh!"
The spear pierced Enrico's ribs, blood spilling onto the ground, while the arrow tore through Myrris's right chest, making her cough a large amount of blue blood.
"Water Heal."
'Deep Water Heal.'
Both placed their hands over their wounds, recovering from the blow. But one of them could not heal the damage—that was Myrris, due to Enrico's ego weapon ability. Biting her lip, she realized something was wrong as she saw Enrico's ribs healing rapidly.
'He healed himself? How? Damn it, I should've paid attention. Is there a fire spell capable of healing, or does he have a second affinity?'
His very bones regenerated at high speed. Besides his affinity being superior to normal water affinity, most circle six mages with water affinity could heal bones and even regrow severed limbs. Enrico had even offered to heal Liam's arm after reaching this level, since such procedures were normally extremely expensive.
"If I can't heal it, then I'll have to close the wound in a more painful way."
Myrris bit her lower lip harder, her eyes turning even bluer as the surrounding water began to vibrate unstably. Rising slowly, pressing her hand against the open wound, water from beneath the evaporated lake began returning from underground. Small currents emerged from cracks in the terrain, gathering around her. She decided to compensate for the failed healing differently.
"This is the first time I'm trying this."
If she couldn't close the wound, she would increase the pressure around it to stop the bleeding. Water condensed directly over her chest, creating brutal compression. The process was painful—but effective. The blood flow lessened. Seeing that, her opponent made an annoyed expression.
"I forgot you're a prodigy… I hate prodigies."
"Haha, the other two say the same thing."
Myrris smiled as she clenched her fist. The whip still bound to Enrico's waist transformed. It became thicker, heavier. The water hardened as if compressed thousands of times, increasing the pulling force.
'Instead of fast, clean attacks, she's switching to control and crushing. It's boring and fun at the same time.'
Realizing this, he prepared himself before something dangerous happened.
On the other side, the clash of pure power had ended, with Kharos being pushed into a small mountain in the distance.
"I won."
Valença was satisfied with her victory, but Kharos had accepted his defeat—so just as Myrris had thought, the fight would change from that point onward.
"Magic… Necroterra: Preservation."