In the center of the arena, Angie stood clad in a form-fitting, silver-white battle armor that accentuated her lithe, powerful physique. A few stray strands of hair clung to her smooth, expressionless forehead.
Fidelle struck first, just as she had against Tartaglia, opening with her bow and arrows.
Against Angie, Fidelle couldn't afford the slightest carelessness. Within a second of raising her bow, over a dozen Electro-imbued arrows streaked toward Angie's vital points and potential escape routes.
After firing the volley, Fidelle drew back the longbow with all her might. The bowstring hummed and trembled, gathering terrifying Electro energy.
Angie extended her right hand, and a glacial blue longsword materialized slowly, from hilt to blade.
The blade seemed sculpted from the core of millennia-old ice, crystal-clear and radiating an eerie blue light. Visible tendrils of freezing mist streamed from the blade's edge, condensing into fine ice crystals at her feet. Even the alloy surface of the arena was frosted over with a layer of white rime.
Angie gripped the hilt just as the arrows struck. Instead of swinging the sword, she extended her left hand, conjuring a wall of ice in mid-air before her.
The arrows slammed into the ice wall but failed to penetrate it.
Almost the instant those arrows lost their effectiveness, Fidelle's fiercely charged arrow pierced the air, colliding violently with the Ice Shield Angie had conjured.
Boom—!
The potent Thunderbolts instantly vaporized a portion of the ice, and the explosive force completely obscured Angie's figure.
Whirr—! A white sword beam sliced through the obscuring mist, appearing before Fidelle's eyes in an instant.
Fidelle swiftly dodged aside without hesitation. The mechanical structure at the center of the Adjudicator - Type Zero bow arm clicked sharply, splitting the longbow in half.
Grasping one half in each hand, the bow arms rapidly reconfigured and extended, propelled by the transformation mechanism, and energy blades humming with high-frequency vibrations sprang into existence.
Cardinal Fission Arm Blades!
Angie surged out of the steam, her sword slashing at Fidelle with movements that were clean, precise, and impossibly swift.
Fidelle matched her blow for blow, parrying Angie's strikes again and again with her dual blades.
But mere defense wasn't Fidelle's style. She relentlessly sought openings to strike back, but each attempt was blocked by Angie's unwavering guard.
In that instant, the two warriors seemed to fall into perfect synchronicity, their battle morphing into a clash of martial skills. The Elemental Energy clinging to their weapons was minimal, leaving only their figures to dominate the stage.
-
On the Main Observation Deck, Zhongli nodded slightly.
He could see that both fighters possessed exceptional fundamental skills, likely the most outstanding among the younger generation he knew.
Liyue once had someone like that too...
He slowly sipped his tea, his gaze shifting to Mu Qingxu, who stood on the observation deck, watching the battle on the arena below with a mixture of excitement and nervousness.
Her talent rivaled that of her sister.
Tartaglia stood at the edge of the observation deck, craning his neck to get a better view.
-
On the arena, both fighters seemed to realize that their martial skills alone couldn't break the stalemate. They tacitly resumed their clash of Elemental Energy.
Each strike from Fidelle's blades crackled with blinding Electro energy. The moment this energy touched the tip of Angie's sword, it was forcibly frozen by an overwhelming wave of extreme cold, then shattered into fragments by the shockwaves resonating through the blade.
Frozen lightning shards and ice crystals exploded outward in a dazzling spray!
Angie's counter-strike sent Fidelle flying. She quickly regained her balance, allowing herself to slide across the ground.
Once stabilized, Fidelle's eyes narrowed, and the Electro Element Vision on her body blazed to life. She transformed into a purple streak of ground-hugging lightning, instantly covering half the arena!
Her twin blades crossed, emitting a piercing shriek as they tore through the air. She unleashed a ferocious, unparalleled cross-slash aimed at Angie's midsection.
Faced with this deadly, close-range lightning barrage, ice crystals erupted beneath Angie's feet. She slid backward half a step at an impossible angle, gliding as if on an icy surface.
Simultaneously, her sword moved with her, arcing upward in a crescent-shaped arc of ice-blue light!
Clang! Chiang—!
The Cardinal Fission Arm Blades clashed violently against the ice sword, the ear-splitting metallic screech accompanied by explosive bursts of Electro energy and showers of icy shards!
Fidelle's savage power was deftly redirected by Angie's precise force deflection technique. Her blades sliced through empty air, leaving two deep gashes in the Geo Crystal-reinforced arena floor.
Angie's Cryo-infused blade grazed Fidelle's cheek, leaving a shallow, bloody scratch on her cold, elegant face.
Fidelle's expression turned grave as she glanced at Angie, whose composure remained unchanged. With a fluid motion, she combined her twin blades into a massive battleaxe.
The double-bladed, purple battleaxe looked every inch the perfect two-handed weapon, yet Fidelle wielded it effortlessly with one hand.
With a suppressed roar, her berserker rage fully ignited. Ignoring the freezing threat, she swung the axe, unleashing a Mechanical Thunderstorm.
The thunderstorm surged forward, Fidelle hot on its heels.
Angie abandoned her earlier nonchalance. Channeling Ice Elemental Power, she condensed a colossal Claymore in mid-air. The blade, easily over ten meters long, radiated chilling energy and an overwhelming sense of sharpness.
Riding the vaporized moisture from the Thunderstorm, Angie hovered in the air and swung her Claymore downward, the massive blade hurtling toward Fidelle.
Fidelle halted her advance. Watching the Claymore shatter the thunderstorm, she gripped her battleaxe tightly and swung it upward in a sweeping arc. A colossal, axe-shaped phantom, far more powerful than the preceding thunderstorm, hurtled toward the descending Claymore.
BOOM!
The clash of their titanic energies erupted in a cataclysmic explosion. Shards of ice and billowing steam obscured all vision, plunging the stands into an uncharacteristic hush.
-
Lumine and Paimon stared intently at the center of the arena, desperate to see the final outcome.
On the Main Observation Deck, Ningguang's gaze was grave. This power... it's almost beyond human limits. In Liyue, the new generation of mortals no longer possesses such combat prowess...
As the Tianquan of Liyue, this scene stirred deep anxieties in Ningguang about the nation's future.
Tartaglia's eyes were filled with concern, but beneath that, a faint excitement and elation flickered.
The thrill of raw power, the yearning for such strength, and the unyielding pride for his sister!
This is my sister, Tartaglia's sister—and she is this formidable!
-
Player World
[I saw it—the Ice Element ultimately overwhelmed the Electro Element. Fidelle must have lost.]
[No worries, she's already incredibly strong!]
[Wow! This power is way stronger than when she fought Tartaglia!]
[Fidelle wasn't giving it her all when she fought Childe, but even at her full strength, she still can't beat Angie? Tsk tsk, is Angie really that strong?!]
[That ice-blue longsword is so cool!]
[Too bad Angie has a Pure Soul and can't be added to the gacha pool. Otherwise, I'd whale for her like crazy!]
[Who with a Pure Soul isn't popular? I bet any of them would be a guaranteed hit in the gacha!]