The current raced down Frovian’s tongue. Frovian’s Amphibious Physiology reacted instantly. He secreted a non-conductive mucus layer through his Slick Skin, insulating himself from the shock, and used the tongue to yank Maddy toward him.
"Earth Elent: Mud Armor!"
As Maddy flew toward him, Frovian’s fist encased itself in compressed, diamond hard mud.
BOOM!
Maddy blocked with a light shield, but the Earth Density Manipulation made Frovian’s punch feel like a mountain slamming into solid stone. Her feet skidded across the gym floor, smoke curling from the friction.
On the sidelines, Dyralfa’s tail whipped against the floor, her pride stung by his skill.
"I can’t deny it... he’s actually good. Hmp! That arrogant little frog really can back up his mouth with skill!"
Arach’s six eyes tracked Frovian with surgical precision.
"He’s not just reacting to Mother’s attacks—he’s predicting her mana buildup before she even strikes. His strategic ceiling... is frightening."
Maddy stood up, her aura turning a violent violet.
"You really are a piece of work, Frovian! Exactly what I expected the mont I granted you all those elental traits..."
Frovian’s amber eyes glead with fanatic intensity, his amphibian form quivering with pure exhilaration.
"Mother...! You... you understand ! You’ve forged from the essence of perfection itself!"
Maddy pressed a hand to her forehead, her aura flickering with a mix of amusent and calculation.
"Right... you’re perfect, almost too perfect, in fact. Over the top. I need to end this before you beco... unmanageable."
She drew upon her Fire Elent—this ti not from her stomach, but from her hands, which glowed molten red as flas licked along her palms. Frovian stood unflinching, every scale gleaming in anticipation.
"Fla Cannonball!"
She launched a dense, scorching sphere of heat. Frovian’s eyes tracked it with unwavering focus.
"Now, a fire attack!"
With a flick of his will, he manipulated the terrain, raising a stone wall and imdiately infusing it with Water Elent to super chill the surface.
The Fla Cannonball struck, and the sudden thermal shock shattered the wall into a storm of jagged shrapnel. Using a gust of Air Elent, Frovian redirected the deadly fragnts straight toward Maddy.
Maddy laughed, slicing through the shrapnel with a manifested light blade.
"Even while you’re busy admiring , your reflexes are razor-sharp! You were already positioned for my attack—calculating the trajectory before I even moved. You’re reading the battlefield like a book, Frovian!"
Frovian landed gracefully, his Grounded Stability keeping him perfectly poised.
"I told you, Mother. Only the absolute best is fit to serve a creator of your magnitude. And I... am the best."
Maddy chuckled, a playful glint in her eyes
"I’d love to spend all day sparring with ’the best,’ Frovian. But honestly? I’m starting to sll the kitchen. I’m ready for a feast.
In the blink of an eye, Maddy vanished. Before Frovian’s hyper calculating mind could even register the shift, she was standing inches from his face. The sheer speed of light left him paralyzed with shock.
"What!? How did you—"
He tried to spring backward, but the floor betrayed him. The solid stone turned into a hungry maw, shifting violently to swallow his legs and pinning him in a tight, unyielding earthen trap.
"PITFALL!"
Maddy’s voice rang through the gym as her massive Greatsword materialized in her grip. She hoisted it high, the blade gleaming with a terrifying, heavy light. Frovian’s arrogant smirk didn’t just fade, it shattered into a mask of pure, existential horror.
"Oh... no..."
Frovian’s brilliant, calculating mind finally ground to a halt. For the first ti since his birth, the math didn’t add up, and the logic failed him.
"Did Mother... not like ? Is this how my fate ends? Before I could even truly prove my worth? Maybe I did sothing wrong... maybe I was too arrogant, or my performance was simply... unsatisfactory."
The heavy weight of perceived failure crushed his spirit. He slumped into the earthen pit, his sophisticated posture collapsing as he closed his eyes, surrendering to the inevitable.
"All right... take , Mother. I am ready. If I am to perish, there is no better way than by your hands. To be ended by the epito of perfection... it is the only death I will accept."
The blade whistled through the air, stopping just inches above his head. The gust of wind from the swing ruffled his hair.
"Very good, Frovian. You’ve shown exactly who you are. You admitted defeat when you were cornered, and that honesty... that is what makes you the best."
Frovian opened his eyes, trembling. The realization hit him harder than the sword would have.
"Y-you were just playing with this whole ti. You could have ended this in a heartbeat... but you chose to spend your ti watching . You let show off. You truly are... the very best Mother."
Maddy stepped back, lowering the greatsword as its light slowly dimd. She studied him quietly, the playful glint fading into sothing more thoughtful.
She had seen it clearly. When he closed his eyes... Frovian hadn’t been bluffing. He had truly been ready to die. Not out of fear. Not out of desperation. But out of acceptance.
And that alone told her everything she needed to know about him. Maddy exhaled softly.
"He really ant it... He was ready to die for without hesitation."
But as she began to relax—A faint sensation brushed against the back of her mind.
Her brow twitched. Sothing above her.
A subtle shift of mana rippled across the ceiling of the arena. To anyone else it would have gone unnoticed, but Maddy’s senses were far too sharp.
Very slowly, Maddy lifted her gaze toward the ceiling of the arena. The obsidian mineral surface had subtly shifted. It was simply... waiting. Perfectly aligned with her head. For a mont, Maddy just stared. Then her grin slowly returned.
"Oh ho..."
Below her, Frovian’s eyes were still closed, his body motionless within the pitfall trap. Down in the pitfall trap, Frovian finally opened one eye.
Despite his body being completely immobilized, the faintest proud smile crept onto his lips. Even when he had accepted death... his mind had never stopped moving.
The blade above her head wasn’t an attack ant to kill her. It was his final play. A last calculation prepared in case she chose to strike him down.
If he died... the blade would fall. And they would fall together.
Frovian let out a soft, satisfied breath.
"Even in defeat... I wished to offer you one final challenge, Mother."
Maddy chuckled, shaking her head as she looked back down at him.
"You ridiculous child."
With a lazy flick of her fingers, the massive blade of condensed stone dissolved back into harmless dust along the ceiling.
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