Shinto wasn't much of a fighter when it came to brute strength. Sure, he was stronger than the average man, but when compared to people like Akatsuke or even Akari when bolstered by her mana, he couldn't contend.
However, that didn't mean he wouldn't win in a fight.
He was a strategic fighter, one who used the environment to his advantage.
He believed this so much that he convinced himself that he only lost to Akari because of circumstances he couldn't change or predict.
How could he know that Akari was able to use her mana even with the mana sealing bracelet on?
Hell, he didn't even know that Akari was a mage til that tournament.
But why did he believe in these thoughts so adamantly?
It was simply because a hero never loses!
Shinto spread his arms out, sludge shooting out and surrounding him, Sylvia, Ranni, and Ken, creating a dome around them.
This dome erased the possibility of retreat.
"Nice Shinto! Now get in there!"
"Real funny. I have to maintain this space, don't worry, I'll still be helping," Shinto smirked as he placed a hand into the walls of the dome, the sludge beginning to writhe with life. "Just, in my own way."
"So it's just up to the two of us for the most part?" Sylvia asked as flames began to circle her, dancing with as much energy as the girl had herself.
"Yeah, let's… let's do this," Ranni said quietly. Her usual enthusiasm was gone, and her gaze seemed to be elsewhere, as if she weren't talking to just Sylvia.
Her soul weapon flickered into existence, a katana made purely of wood forming in her hand. The guard formed itself into a bloody red carnation, with the rest of the blade being as blunt as usual, whilst still retaining the shape of a katana.
"Hm? That's different…"
Sylvia's eyes locked onto the divine flower on Ranni's soul weapon.
The last time she had seen it, when Rain had summoned it in Ranni's place, it had been a pure white sword. It was the incarnation of beauty, but now, the sword was blood red.
However, she wasn't a complete idiot. She knew that something was up with Ranni by this point, whether it was split personalities or something else altogether. But even with this knowledge, it was still an intriguing change.
While she was curious as to why it changed, now wasn't the time to ask. Instead, she encouraged Ranni, cheerfully saying, "Go on Ranni, me and Shinto will back you up!"
The girl nodded, her eyes somber as she ran forward towards the warden, finally finding something to give her attention to.
Their eyes locked onto each other, yet not a trace of animosity could be felt between the two, yet Ranni swung her sword with no hesitation.
The strike was avoided with ease, but the air in front of him became tangible. The warden could see the air itself bending, his eyes narrowing at Ranni's display of control.
A sphere left his hand, headed straight towards her abdomen.
Of course, Shinto would not allow that sphere to even touch Ranni.
The dome shook for a moment, a small piece latching onto her back from behind and pulling her away.
Even while getting pulled, Ranni's eyes did not leave the warden's.
The sphere, once touching the ground, exploded into transparent ropes, with Ranni's eyes slightly softening at the sight.
"You still hold me in your heart, even now?"
She halted herself, her legs digging into the ground to counteract Shinto's pull.
Once she came to a complete stop, three fireballs flew past her head, all three headed towards a single entity.
*Howl!!!*
Wind roared around Ken, a barrier forming around him. The flames all fizzled before completely missing their target. While they weren't destroyed, the currents of the wind were able to successfully knock them off course.
"Tsk, how annoying…"
Sylvia muttered as she readied another spell, switching from the fire element to the ice element.
Ranni ran toward Ken once more, dozens of strikes being released in moments, each slice opening the path to another.
Ken avoided each one, knowing the nature of her soul weapon. With each miss, the air around them became more and more solid, bending with each strike. Although she hadn't hit flesh, she also technically never missed.
With each swing, the space Ken was able to move in narrowed. The way she attacked him denied the possibility of fighting back.
If he were to try to knock her away, the solidified, bent air would act as a shield, leaving him open for an attack. If he kept backing away, he'd eventually bump into Shinto's barrier, which would likely immobilize him on contact.
However, even in this situation, the warden's expression had barely changed. Many thoughts ran through his mind, but one stuck out to him.
'Since it's Ranni… I could likely take at least one hit.'
He was sorely mistaken.
He had slightly relaxed at this thought, leading to his left arm being struck by Ranni. The arm bulged inward, yet no blood was shed.
At this sight, he noticed that he lost all feeling in his arm. He couldn't even make his fingers twitch anymore.
Ranni continued her assault, striking his left leg next.
Ken gritted his teeth, his mana exploding outward. Wind pushed Ranni off the ground, with her light body flying away. It wasn't just Ranni who was blown away, but shards of ice created by Sylvia as well.
"Again?!"
Sylvia cried out in annoyance.
She could hear Shinto snicker behind her as the sludge caught Ranni before she could hit the ground, throwing her back at Ken.
Before she could reach him, Ken had already casted another spell. Wind pressed down on Ranni, mimicking the effects of increased gravity. Ranni grunted as she struggled to get up.
Whilst he maintained the spell, he threw three spheres toward Sylvia. The orbs pulsed with energy, an obvious sign of an impending explosion.
Her eyes widened in surprise, but quickly turned into a grin. She opened her arms, accepting whatever was next to come.
*Booom!*
Three explosions simultaneously went off, with the sharp metallic smell of lightning filling the dome.
Ranni looked back in horror, expecting to see Sylvia's mangled body. But instead, her ears were assaulted by a hearty laugh.
"Ahaha! Another victory for me!"
The smoke cleared to reveal Sylvia standing in the same spot, a transparent barrier surrounding her as she ran out of the smoke, unscathed. Above her head, her soul weapon floated with a brilliant light.
The emerald orb, Sylvia's orb, had now been dangerously low on her side, signifying just how many bets she's won already.
What was her reward this time?
It was intuition.
Before now, she could never create a barrier made of mana, as she never decided to learn.
But the knowledge from her soul weapon made it child's play.
Her mana flared outward, encompassing the entire dome as she grinned with delight.
Her intuition continued to help, running dozens of amazing ideas through her brain at a time.
Thanks to Shinto giving the dome no exit points, her mana could be safely contained with no leakage. In a sense, this dome could act like the inside of her body, a mana container.
Her creative mind continued to run wild as she arrived at this thought and immediately put it to the test.
Shards of ice appeared all around them, with each tip being pointed at Ken.
With the dome acting as her container, she could now manifest her spells wherever her mana touched, which was everywhere.
Ranni got up as the wind dissipated, Ken putting more attention into defense now than offense. He absentmindedly cracked the fingers on his right hand, his left side still immobile, a nervous habit he created.
The longer the fight went on, the more dangerous these kids became.
Such thoughts ran shivers up his spine.
Without any warning, the shards shot towards Ken.
His eyes narrowed as he began to shoot them with the gun in his right hand, and shoot blades of wind from his left side. Whilst he couldn't physically move his left side, the mana coursing through it remained undeterred. It seemed as if Ranni decided not to tangle his mana veins.
He couldn't truly understand how, but Ranni's fighting style, a non lethal way of incapacitating enemies, along with her soul weapon, forced even the mightiest of beings to stay wary.
It had been so long since he saw her fight that he forgot this fact.
While Rain was more aggressive, striking with all of her might with every swing, Ranni was more dangerous. If she could get over her fear of blood and strike in more vital spots, such as the head… then…
Just the thought caused his right hand to tremble.
He continued to defend himself as he carefully backed away.
In between shots, he could see Ranni crouched low, preparing to resume her assault.
Before she could take control once more, he propelled himself forward with a burst of wind.
The shards of ice that hadn't yet been destroyed struck the spot he had once been in, ultimately missing their target.
Slyvia immediately switched spells. Noting how difficult it was to hit the warden.
If she couldn't hit him with a precise spell,
'Then I'll just have to hit the entire area!'
Water bubbled around her hands, with her whispering an incantation.
Ken shot lightning towards her, prompting Ranni to abandon her previous plan and strike the path of the lightning with her sword.
The lightning stopped in its tracks, and Ranni slightly tilted the blade upwards. The lightning began to bend, with the streak's trajectory quickly curving upwards.
'Even now, he refuses to harm me…'
Ranni thought as she protected Sylvia, her eyes wavering slightly.
The top of the dome was penetrated by the attack, but quickly closed before too much of Sylvia's mana could be released.
Ranni's hands shook, her fingers singed, but her eyes were locked onto the warden's body, which had not stopped moving forward even after shooting at Sylvia.
That was when she realized.
He hadn't been targeting Sylvia, but the one who had the most control of the field til now.
"Shinto! Look out!"
Ranni cried out as the warden raised his right hand, holding his gun that was already charged with lightning infused mana.
Shinto had been halfway submerged into the wall, helping out wherever he could, but now he had been in the most danger.
*Bang, Bang, Bang!*
Three shots fired off.
Both forearms were pierced and his cheek was grazed. Shinto grit his teeth, the strength in his arms leaving him.
Yet even with this, he did not deactivate his soul weapon.
Instead, he willed it to grab Ken.
Sludge grabbed the warden's boots and slung him towards Ranni.
The warden grunted in pain. One leg was already broken, and the other was disabled by Ranni's soul weapon. This throw caused him unimaginable pain, yet even then, he refused to let pain consume his thoughts.
Ranni readied her sword, swinging towards his side at the perfect moment.
*Swoosh!*
The sword hit nothing, simply solidifying and bending the air the warden was in moments ago. Ken had used his wind magic to alter his trajectory, narrowly dodging the attack.
However, Ranni did hesitate in following up. Chasing him down, she began to swing her sword, each strike directed at a non lethal spot.
Swing after swing, Ken dodged, glancing towards Sylvia every once in a while, noting that she had still been chanting her spell.
Her eyes had been closed, leaving her defenseless. But Ken had no opportunity to act on this, with Ranni's constant pressure and Shinto's absolute defense.
A thrust struck Ken's right hand, rendering it useless as Ken kicked Ranni at the same moment.
'Right, this isn't Rain. This is Ranni. I… cannot allow her to land any more hits.'
His gun dropped to the ground, the warden being unable to hold it any longer. Instead of relying on his body, which was slowly but surely being rendered useless, he began to tap into his soul weapon once more.
This gun, though simply a mold, had been something he made himself. Thanks to this, he could control the gun as if it were a body part of his own.
The gun he usually held himself began to levitate next to him.
With his body being so damaged and his mana reserves below half, he knew that he couldn't drag this out.
Ranni had already begun to run towards him once more.
Ken's eyes laid upon Ranni, and time seemed to slow for him. He couldn't allow her to keep slowly disabling his body. At this rate, he wouldn't be able to come out alive.
Yet at the same time, he couldn't bring himself to hurt her… he couldn't hurt his little sister.
However…
'My duty… is to win.'
Ken raised his gun and made a compromise in his mind.
*Bang, Bang!*
Ranni's eyes widened in shock, immediately tumbling onto the ground as the gun stayed pointed towards her. He had shot both of her legs. This was the compromise he arrived at in his mind.
He would not kill his sister.
He would simply create a situation where she was unable to fight, just as he tried in the beginning of this fiasco.
Ranni laid on the ground, groaning in pain as she avoided looking at her legs. She was so afraid to look that she didn't even put pressure on the wounds. Blood slowly leaked out of her body as she closed her eyes, her breath labored.
While the shots weren't fatal, she hadn't expected him to actually use the gun on her. If she had expected it, she likely could have deflected it, but his sudden change in how he decided to deal with her caught her off guard.
Her eyes watered up for a moment, many thoughts running through her head as Rain tried to calm her down.
She could hear Rain's worried voice call out, Rain begging Ranni to let her take control and rest. But Ranni drowned her voice out, her mind wandering through the memories she's had with everyone she's met, especially with the warden.
But before further action could be taken, the sludge from the dome scooped Ranni up and pulled her away.
'That should be enough for her, now for the other girl.'
Ken limped forward, with his broken right leg being the only leg he could control, he was forced to put more weight on it than he wished.
But he had no choice.
Ranni disabled his left leg and arm, along with his right hand. It didn't seem like he could regain feeling anytime soon, so he had to make due with what he had now.
It seemed as if the muscles and veins were bent out of shape. Trying to use the disabled parts of his body like this would likely render them untreatable.
Regret filled his eyes, wishing he could do a better job at keeping Ranni out of the fight, but that regret quickly dissipated, turning into determination to finish this fight.
His gun pointed itself towards Sylvia, and sludge rushed in from above, attempting to grab the gun.
A wind barrier quickly enveloped Ken, protecting both him and his weapon.
"You have done more than enough, boy."
The gun changed targets, now aiming at Shinto, whose arms were held up by his soul weapon.
The dome shifted, closing in as Shinto gave a weak smirk.
'Is he shrinking the dome?'
Ken's gun faltered for a moment before locking back in on Shinto.
Shinto coughed out, "You took way too long, sorry, but this is our victory."
Ken's eyes quickly turned to Sylvia, whose eyes had finally opened.
With a calm expression, Sylvia finished her chant.
"Wrath of the Sea God!"
The dome never shrank. It didn't expand either. Shinto simply moved the dome. Why? It was to put Sylvia in the center of it all.
The mana that filled the dome began to tremble. And Sylvia, who had now been in the center of the dome, became the vortex of a whirlpool.
Water filled the dome, and Shinto pulled himself and Ranni out.
Violent waves crashed against the walls, and Shinto did his very best to maintain its shape.
The warden was taken away by the current. The current was impossible to fight against and Sylvia made sure he couldn't use magic to escape.
Lightning magic was useless, as it would only shock him and his opponent. His wind magic could not maintain itself inside of the whirlpool and he couldn't do anything with his earth magic.
The whirlpool strengthened itself , the waves becoming so strong that it felt solid. No, Sylvia had infused ice magic into this high level spell.
Her eyes shined with the intuition her soul weapon gave her. Shards of ice being mixed into the whirlpool as she watched the warden get continuously shredded by the attack.
The scales over her head began to flicker, Sylvia holding her side as she tried her best to maintain the spell.
While she hadn't been hurt at all, the strain of using her soul weapon for so long was finally catching up with her.
But if she released her soul weapon, all of the benefits she had amassed so far would fade with it, including the mana fueling the current spell.
She couldn't let her soul weapon be dismissed until she was sure of victory…
Yet, her body couldn't meet her mind's expectations.
Her eyes began to bleed as the scales faded away. Her vision wavered as she stumbled inside the vortex.
The whirlpool immediately died down, and Sylvia was doused in water.
Water filled her lungs as she tried to find where the warden was, but instead, she saw someone falling from an opening in the dome.
A girl with black hair, holding a wooden sword, had been falling out of the sky. Her legs had been pierced, so Shinto was obviously the one behind this, but to think that he could throw her so accurately.
Ranni descended, her eyes closed and her sword drawn back.
She had placed all of her trust into shinto, who was peeking from the opening in the roof, and swung her sword.
The warden looked upwards, finally reaching the surface of the flood, only to be met with the blade of Ranni.
His soul weapon flickered to life one last time, the gloves on his hands tightening in anticipation.
*Crack!*
Ranni's swing bent the skull of Ken, the brain itself bending as well. Everything inside of his brain had bent under Ranni's soul weapon, unnaturally so. It was in that moment where the warden's mind went silent.
The warden of Sylvanna's prison, had drawn his last breath.