Chapter 267 – Zephiria v Halifax.

Chapter 267 – Zephiria v Halifax.

"Yes, Yes, Yes, Alight, Alright. I'll schedule a meeting later today, so don't worry about it until then. Just have everything ready for the assigned time. We have a strict schedule and our clients are already getting anxious with the deadline approaching." Yumi said as she stood in the special VIP booth overlooking the newly rebuilt arena while speaking to somebody on the phone. "Once things are in motion, you know our Lord will tolerate no failure, nor will I. There's far too much at risk here, so make sure that all of the targets are dealt with before the allotted time. Chloe will be joining you shortly, so please follow her directions once she gets to Seoul. Good luck." She hung up and moved back to her seat, her face showed that an inordinate amount of information was flickering through her mind as she sat back down.

"Do I even want to know why the cat will be in South Korea?" Kana had a bad feeling about Yumi's call.

{I doubt she's going on vacation or to get some authentic Korean Barbecue.} (Kana)

"No, and I can't tell you." Yumi gave a wry smile. "This operation is highly classified, so I can't discuss it with you, even if you are a Princess of Dumetor." She snickered. Kana never liked being called by that title.

"..." Kana glared at Yumi, unable or unwilling to retort. She was actually considered as such due to Akagi creating laws on such things, though it was little more than an honorary title at this point in time.

{Princess...} (Kana)

"I swear, Kana's never going to get over that!" Mika laughed. "I think she's trying her hardest to purge that notion from her mind!" She enjoyed picking at her over her Princess status, much to Kana's displeasure.

"I don't know about that." Naomi mused. "She already has the Royal attitude via Scary Kana, so I think she's getting into her role."

"Keep it up, and Scary Kana will become my full-time." Kana grumbled.

"Yesss. Yesss! Embrace your dark side! Allow the hate to flow through you!" Alice snickered. "Join me as the Evil Princess you were always meant to be! Together we can rule the world as Aunt and Niece!"

{I have many things I could comment about you being an Evil Princess, but they would probably have Onee-chan breathing down my neck, so let's not... Also... DON'T CALL ME YOUR AUNT! IT MAKES ME FEEL OLD!} (Kana)

"Can't I at least be the nice Princess that everyone loves?" Kana gave a defeated sigh.

"Impossible." (Mika x Naomi x Alice)

"I think you'll have to settle for being the Princess who acts nice on the outside but secretly has a torture dungeon in her basement." Mika laughed.

"I don't torture people!" Kana protested her claims.

"Oh? But I seem to recall you telling us a story about stabbing a kid with lead pencils in kindergarten." Naomi smirked as she gave a retelling of the incident in question.

"That's because he kept stealing my bocks! And I was like five!" Kana pouted.

{And I only stabbed him a few times! He was a big crybaby! It was only a little blood!} (Kana)

"At this rate, Kana might turn Hishya into her little pet that she 'punishes' for her own enjoyment." Yumi giggled, her comment causing Mika and Naomi to explode in laughter.

"Oh my god! I could totally see it! Hishya would be trained to carry a leash in her mouth when she wants to go outside, and Kana would have all kinds of instruments to inflict pain on her!" Mika was nearly doubled over in laughter as she imagined what kind of crazy things Kana would force the Dragon to do for her.

"What kind of perverted mind do you people have to think of these things?!?" Kana exclaimed.

{Hishya bit me when I even joked about a leash! She'd never let me take her out with a collar, let alone do anything like that! Besides, that stupid lizard is definitely more of a Sadist than I am!} (Kana)

"Why do you even know about that stuff anyway, Mika?" Kana asked about why the high school girl was aware of that stuff. "Don't tell me your girlfriends are into that stuff?!?"

{Or god forbid, SHE is!} (Kana)

"The internet is a fun place." Mika smiled, allowing Kana's imagination to fill in the gaps.

"Yes, Yes it is." Yumi nodded, knowing that she and Mika were kindred spirits in that department.

"Why are all of my friends perverts?" Kana groaned.

"Wait, are you including me?!?" Naomi protested being included with the two idiots.

"Yes. You are a pervert by proxy." Kana answered, rolling her eyes.

"That's not fair! My head isn't in the gutter like these two!" Naomi thought it was unfair that she was being lumped in.

"And yet you understood everything we were talking about." Mika said smugly.

"I..." Naomi looked away, embarrassed. "Fuck you all..."

"I rest my case." Kana rolled her eyes again. "But anyway, it looks like the last match is starting, so let's end this topic." She had no interest in talking about things like that with her friends in public or private.

{It's funny how hard Kana here tries to remain pure. Did she forget that I was with her during the trip to Tokyo where she bought all kinds of fun books?} (Mika)

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As Halifax and Zephiria took their positions at the center of the arena, they could feel the expectations and energy from the incredible amount of digital watchers. Hishya and Superbia's duel had captivated the world, and the number of views on the official Dumetor Channel had quickly climbed to one of the most viewed videos in human history.

With so much hype for the final battle before the Grand Finals tomorrow, both women were a bit nervous to have so much expectations placed upon them as they prepared for their bout. Though at the same time, knowing just how many people were watching them caused a swell of excitement within both.

"So, we have to compete with such a crazy headliner." Zephiria laughed quietly as she stood opposite her opponent. "I suppose we'll have to give the people a good show lest they start booing us in disappointment."

"Hishya and Superbia really did a crazy thing, didn't they?" Halifax sighed. "They should've restrained themselves a bit more. I've seen my fair share of battles that shook the very ground, but those tended to be of the world-ending kind, not in this kind of setting." Her own fights were typically of the latter variety.

{Those two really are idiots, aren't they? Though I must admit that it makes me even more excited to fight that Dragon. I wonder if she can handle it if I go all out? Perhaps I can even convince Akagi to let her transform for the big battle.} (Halifax)

"Now, let's end things!" Halifax struck at Zephiria, intending to do just enough damage to knock her out, but to her absolute shock, when her blade collided with Zephiria's chest, it bounced straight off.

*CLANG*

{WHAT?!?} Halifax was surprised, and Zephiria's face showed both relief and joy.

{Thank god for Invulnerability! Too bad I can't cast that again for a while, but hey, protection from one move, no matter the damage is pretty good!} Zephiria had placed this on herself while Halifax was busy in her cage, and taking advantage of Halifax's surprise, she extended her hands out before forming them into a cone just below Halifax's breastbone. "Maximize Magic! Prismatic Vista!" Zephiria cast one of her most powerful spells, blasting a rainbow of color that engulfed Halifax. Prismatic Vista was of the highest level of spells that a Mage could cast and was essentially a wall of energy with each different band of light giving a different effect ranging from damage the target to restraining and blinding those who touch it.

As the rainbow of doom blasted into the air, Zephiria took the opportunity to disengage and put some distance between herself and where she suspected Halifax would pop out.

{That spell would be enough to vaporize anyone else, but I have a feeling that this girl will probably get out alive.} (Zephiria)

"How's that?" Zephiria said through deep breaths. "I'd imagine even you don't like to taste the fucking rainbow!" She laughed but was struggling to breathe or stay standing. Using this many high-powered spells over and over again had dramatically drained her reserves, and despite her high amount of magic power, this battle was requiring her to use a lot more of it than she'd expected.

{I better take this chance and recover, even just a bit.} Zephira focused on her internal magical energy and added some of Akagi's power to it. It acted like a small booster and helped her recover at least a portion of her maximum amount of magic.

"Ugh..." Zephiria became dizzy and nauseous as some of her magical power returned. "Yeah... That still makes me sick." She nearly puked but managed to hold it in. Akagi's power was incredibly potent, but using it to essentially generate mana was not very kind to her body. Not to mention that she'd used some of it to amp up Prismatic Vista, which was also taking its toll on her.

"I have only myself to blame there. Your little attack got me good. I saw it coming, but it really was too quick for me to get out of the way." Halifax stepped out of the dust cloud that had kicked out after the rainbow disappeared. "And I'd imagine it was mostly because Akagi's power was involved."

"Oh shit..." Zephiria's eyes went wide as she looked at Halifax. "Are... Are you ok?" Halifax was missing her right arm as well as part of her shoulder and upper torso. Her hair was singed on that same side, and a good part of her face was burnt as well. "We... We really should get Akagi or something." Zephiria started panicking thinking that she'd fucked up big time, and even Kira thought that she was about to watch the Divine Blade perish.

{I THOUGHT SHE COULD HANDLE IT, I SWEAR!} (Zephiria)

As she watched Zephiria panic, Halifax laughed. "Ah, this?" She pointed to her missing arm. "Don't worry, I've seen worse." She shrugged with her other shoulder, and after taking a moment to readjust the flow of magic in her body, Halifax quickly regenerated and repaired all the damage she'd taken. However, this was not at zero cost, as repair of her magical body required a great deal of energy after that attack.

"Much better, but I think I'll miss the old arm." Halifax rotated her shoulder and flexed her newly formed fingers. "I suppose it will take a moment to break it in, but I've got you to help with that." She giggled.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!?" Zephiria screamed profanity at the top of her lungs, Kira doing the same. "HOW THE HELL CAN YOU REGENERATE FROM THAT?!? ARE YOU AKAGI?!?"

{THE FUCK?!? EVEN I COULDN'T GET REGEN THAT GOOD! WHY WON'T YOU STAY DOWN?!?} (Zephiria)

"As a funny picture that Akagi showed me once said." Halifax smiled. "I'm just built different."

{Akagi, you showed the otherworldly lady memes, and she used one on me... I feel like I just lost...} (Zephiria)

"Ok, well." Zephiria smacked her cheeks to refocus. "If you can regenerate from that, then I guess I don't need to worry about killing you anymore." She figured that she should stop holding back at this point.

“I mean, you're more than welcome to try." Halifax brushed her hair out of the way, and winked.

{Yeaaaaah. If Vista didn't KO her, and she just shrugged it off with regen, then there's really only one option left for me...} Zephiria took a deep breath and readied herself for Halifax's next move, but that would prove to be a fatal mistake.

"First Form of the Divine Blade: Fos. "Halifax began spinning her blade in a circle until it was moving so fast that Zephiria could hardly see it. Her eyes and hair turned stark white, and a moment later, she was gone, flashing forward at a speed so fast that only Akagi could see her move.

"H-Holy fuck..." Zephiria's entire body trembled. Halifax was frozen in mid-air, her blade just inches from plowing throw her chest. "I... I really didn't think it would work..." She gulped, but found her mouth dry from fear. "But it looks like it worked... Now to just get the fuck away from the scary faster-than-light lady and start work on my big attack." Zephiria scuttled away from the still-frozen Halifax, planning to take advantage of her opportunity and secure the win.

{This shit creeps me the fuck out no matter how many times I see it.} Zephiria looked around the arena, seeing the few spectators that were still visible similarly frozen. In fact, the only person who wasn't on pause was Akagi, who had a massive smirk on her face.

"Yeah, fucking Demon Lord and being immune to time-pausing magic." Zephiria grumbled about Akagi's ability to ignore such an effect. In FWO, there was a spell called Stop that was basically magic that paused time, at least according to its flavor text. Since that wasn't possible for obvious technical limitations, the in-game spell reduced the speed of nearby enemies to near zero and effectively made them sitting ducks. The only downside was that not only was Stop an extremely magic-intensive spell, but it would also drop if you attacked/harmed anyone while it was up. This was done to prevent you from exploiting it too hard, but Zephiria could use this opportunity to set up different spells and buffs.

"Alright." Zephiria moved far enough away to feel comfortable. "Now to just cast every fucking buff in the book and-" She paused, blood dripping from her mouth as Halifax's blade was rammed through her stomach.

"Good try, but that kind of stuff doesn't really work on me." Halifax smiled, her snow-white hair getting slightly stained with blood.

"H-How?!?" Zephiria collapsed forward, time returning to normal as she fell to the arena floor with a thud. "I...I stopped time!" She said, coughing up blood.

"And that would've worked too, if not for the fact that I'm a bit acquainted with that type of power." Halifax stuck out her tongue as her appearance reverted to normal.

"W-What are you?" Zephiria asked, barely conscious.

"Me? I'm just a simple adventurer, that's all." Halifax smiled, not wanting to give her the real answer.

"Y-Yeah right..." Zephiria passed out, and the match was called, with Akagi quickly moving Zephiria to get medical attention.

"Winner... Halifax!" A confused Kira called the match. From her perspective Halifax charged Zephiria only to take her down at a different part of the arena, so she had no idea what happened. "I suppose there's no need to do any more discussion. That blast of yours took away our audience.” The live feed was still down so it was pointless to do anything more in the meantime.

"Heh-Heh. Sorry about that." Halifax said as she nervously rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "I may have gotten a bit carried away."

{A bit?!?} (Kira)

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<Elariel POV>

"That was a massive release of power." Elariel stood alone in an all-white space with a massive red magic circle floating in front of her. She was performing the finishing touches on the portal that would take Enoris' Heroes to Earth and it was nearly time for them to go about their new mission. The other Gods had left this portion up to her, and the moment Halifax's Supernova went off, she knew that her 'daughter' was in some kind of intense battle.

"No, I just need to focus. It's nearly time for the Heroes to cross..." Elariel shook her head. “She'll be fine...”

{Halifax, what is going on in that other world that would warrant the use of such power? Were you unable to find allies? Did the Spirits attack you?} Elariel feared that her plan was doomed and that Halifax had failed. {Please, be safe...}