The training ground still humd with the echoes of the last battle. Elreth and Azalea had returned to the sidelines, both slightly bruised but grinning, their fight fresh in everyone’s minds. The air was heavy with lingering heat and the sll of charred sand.
But the next match promised sothing even more dramatic.
"Lux versus Blake," Adam announced, his voice carrying a spark of excitent.
At once, the tension shifted. Everyone’s eyes moved toward the two young n—one shining, the other shadowed.
Lux stepped forward first, his silver hair catching the sunlight, his silver eyes calm and unwavering. He carried himself like the heir of the Leclair family: confident, refined, and disciplined. His aura pulsed faintly around him, threads of radiant light flickering like stars across his form, prana dancing around him.
Blake, by contrast, rose with a reluctant groan, scratching the back of his neck as if this whole ordeal was the greatest inconvenience of his life. His purple hair fell untidily over his purple eyes, which were half-lidded with boredom. But as he stepped into the ring, the air thickened, shadows curling at his feet like eager serpents.
"Do we really have to?" Blake muttered.
Lux smirked faintly. "If you’d trained properly instead of locking yourself in your room all the ti, maybe you wouldn’t have to be dragged here."
A few chuckles echoed from the sidelines. Even Nero allowed himself a small grin. Elreth’s orange eyes burned with anticipation, while Khione remained stoic, her ice-blue gaze narrowing ever so slightly at the sight of the clash to co.
Blake exhaled a long sigh, then straightened, rolling his shoulders. "Fine. Don’t cry when I break your light, you weirdo."
Lux said nothing, but the faint golden glow around his body intensified.
The referee—a servant of the Leclair estate who had been standing silently at the side—raised his hand. "Begin!"
The ground trembled at once.
Blake raised his hand lazily, and from the shadows around him, black skeletons clawed their way free. Their bones were jagged, their sockets burning with crimson fla, their bodies cloaked in writhing darkness. One after another, they erged, until half a dozen stood in a ragged line, their bony fingers clutching rusted weapons.
Lux answered not with words but with action. His body flared with brilliance, the glow exploding outward in a halo of radiance. His muscles tensed, his form sharpened, and in a burst of golden light, the Saint Chaos Body awakened. Glimring gauntlets of light solidified around his hands and forearms, intricate runes carved into the glowing armor. His very presence seed to chase back the shadows, making the skeletons hiss as their bones smoked faintly.
"You’ll regret dragging out of my comfortable chair," Blake muttered, snapping his fingers. The skeletons surged forward, shadows wrapping around them, strengthening their forms.
Lux t them head-on. With one step, the ground cracked beneath his heel. He blurred forward, his fist glowing like a miniature sun, and punched straight through the first skeleton. Bone shattered like glass under the sheer force, the fragnts dissolving into smoke. He spun, his other fist smashing into the ribcage of another, sending it flying across the ring before it disintegrated.
The others sward, blades slashing, claws reaching. Lux ducked, blocked, and countered, each movent smooth, precise, efficient. His golden fists were blurs, breaking bones and dispersing shadows with every strike.
But Blake wasn’t idle. His eyes narrowed slightly, a lazy grin tugging at his lips. He lifted his hand, and the shadows beneath Lux thickened like tar.
"Fall."
Lux’s feet sank for a mont, the shadows dragging at him, trying to chain him in place. From the darkness, jagged spikes erupted upward, aiming to impale him.
Lux’s body shone. Golden light erupted around his legs, shattering the dark bind. He leapt high into the air, flipping effortlessly as the spikes pierced only empty space. He landed lightly, light gathering around his fists again.
Blake chuckled softly. "Not bad. Guess you’re not just all shine."
"Neither are you," Lux replied calmly, his gauntlets burning brighter.
The duel escalated.
Blake spread his arms, shadows rippling outward in waves. The arena dimd as if the sun itself had been smothered. Dozens of skeletal figures rose this ti, their bodies denser, darker, their weapons sharper.
Lux responded by letting his Saint Chaos Body shine in full force. His entire form was now radiant, his fists glowing like molten gold. He charged forward, light trailing behind him like cots.
The clash was furious. Skeletons sward from all sides, but Lux t them with unyielding force. Each strike of his fists shattered not just bone but the shadows binding them, the impact echoing like thunderclaps across the field. His movents were fluid, his body moving with both power and elegance, honed through relentless discipline.
Blake, however, manipulated the field from a distance. His shadows struck like serpents, darting up from the ground, lashing out from blind spots. His crimson eyes glead as he leaned on his hand, as though bored, but every move was calculated, every trap laid with subtle precision.
"Co on, Lux," he drawled. "Shine brighter. Or I’ll swallow you whole."
Lux growled softly, his eyes narrowing. Then his body blurred, speed and strength fusing as he punched through three skeletons at once, his fists leaving streaks of golden light.
The remaining shadows sward him like a tidal wave, consuming his form. For a mont, it looked as if Blake had won—Lux’s body was completely engulfed in darkness.
But then—
Light exploded.
With a roar, Lux burst free, golden radiance erupting from his entire body, scattering the shadows like mist before the dawn. The shockwave tore through the skeletons, reducing them all to dust in an instant.
Blake’s grin faded slightly. His crimson eyes sharpened. "Tch. So you do have bite."
The duel shifted into its climax.
Lux charged forward, his gauntlets blazing, each punch heavy enough to shake the ground. Blake t him not with brute force but with cunning. He raised his hand, shadows condensing into massive skeletal arms that lashed out like titans, their claws swiping.
Light and darkness collided. Lux’s fists slamd into the skeletal limbs, shattering them apart. Blake summoned more, each darker and denser than the last, but Lux punched through them all, step by step closing the distance.
The ground cracked beneath their power. The air trembled with the clash of Laws.
Finally, Lux was upon him. His fist cocked back, golden energy spiraling around it like a blazing star.
Blake’s expression hardened, his shadows rising to form a massive black shield in front of him, layers upon layers of bone and darkness condensed into a single wall.
The two forces t.
Light against darkness.
Lux roared, his punch slamming into the shield. For a mont, the world seed to hold its breath. Cracks spread across the black wall, shadows writhing desperately to hold.
Then the shield shattered.
The golden fist broke through, the light exploding outward. Blake was thrown back, his body skidding across the ground until he rolled to a stop. The shadows dispersed, the skeletons gone.
Silence fell.
Blake lay on his back, staring up at the sky, his chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. Then he let out a sharp laugh.
"Heh... guess you win, Little Saint."
Lux stood in the center of the ring, his gauntlets flickering before dissolving, leaving only his sweat-dampened fists. He exhaled slowly, his expression calm, but his eyes carried pride.
Adam raised his hand. "Winner: Lux Leclair."
The sidelines erupted with mixed reactions. Adam grinned wide, impressed. Elreth smirked knowingly, arms crossed. Azalea clicked her tongue but couldn’t hide the admiration in her gaze. Nero’s eyes lingered on Lux, thoughtful. Khione, as always, said nothing, but her faint nod spoke volus.
Lux extended his hand toward Blake. "You fought well."
Blake sighed, taking it reluctantly. "Yeah, yeah. Don’t let it get to your head."
But in his purple eyes, for a fleeting mont, there was respect.
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