Dawn greeted the Sect with a golden light, the sun casting a warm glow over the mountain. Disciples gathered in the arena as they traded Spirit Stones, weapons, and other items, betting on who the final two would be. Although they didn't know what the Semi-finals would entail, that was the fun of betting!
The semi-finalists also emerged, walking through the Sect with a steady gait as they made their way to the edge of the arena.
Aelina's figure suddenly appeared in the center of the arena, her gaze passing over the eager faces of the crowd. She inwardly smiled, glad that they were having as good a time as she was.
'Too bad it's almost over.' She thought, shaking her head. Once the Prime Disciple(Mira) was chosen, the Sect's trajectory would shift. No more sitting around passively. No more waiting.
She was going to bet everything on this generation of disciples. Just having Mira wasn't enough for her. If she could, she wanted hundreds of Mira's who could literally take the world by storm!
'That's why, before the other powers realize what's going on and come to check it out, we have to hit them hard and fast.' A dangerous aura churned within her, but she immediately calmed down.
Aelina wasn't naive enough to think that the other continents, especially the Central one, would remain oblivious to the Western Continent's rise in power. People, even more so cultivators, are naturally greedy but also power-hungry.
If the other outer continents sense something unusual, they'll come crawling over here and possibly even attack them in search of whatever treasure gave them so much strength. Meanwhile, the Central Continent may just send someone to wipe out all the talented disciples to keep the status quo.
After all, it wouldn't be the first time something like this happened.
'It's good that they can enjoy themselves because after today, rest will be a luxury.' She thought with a wicked grin.
"My disciples, welcome to the final day of the competition," Aelina began, her voice silencing everything within the vicinity. "Our semi-finalists have shown exceptional prowess and unwavering spirit. But today, they face a trial unlike any other."
She paused, letting her words hang in the air for a moment. "Mira, Rayna, Nova, Seraphina – step forth!"
The four women stepped into the arena, forming a line in the center of the arena.
"The semi-finals will not be as you expect," Aelina continued, her eyes gleaming like a sly fox. "Today, you will not fight alone but alongside each other in teams."
A murmur rose from the crowd as they didn't expect this kind of twist.
"Mira and Rayna, you will be on one team," Aelina announced.
"And Nova, Seraphina, you will be the other," she finished, the arena quaking with the force of the audience's excitement. "The winning team will fight each other in the finals!"
The competitors exchanged brief looks. Mira and Rayna shared a nod, but there was an unspoken wariness in their gazes.
On the other hand, Nova and Seraphina were cursing Aelina and her ancestors for creating such an unfair lineup. If Mira and Rayna were separate, it wouldn't matter, but with the two together, they were basically unstoppable!
Mira was basically an unkillable cockroach with almost no weaknesses. Save for them possibly having slightly more raw power, she was the ultimate warrior. To add onto that, they couldn't get hit by Rayna, or else they'd lose their only advantage!
'Tch! Stupid fucking Sect Master! She clearly wants Rayna and Mira in the finals!' They both thought before they glanced at one another.
'I'm not losing!' Nova's eyes burned like two suns as she sent Seraphina a Sound Transmission. 'Screw Rayna and fuck Mira; those two talented assholes! I'll die before they win! Let's show the Sect Master that we're not out of the running!'
'Good, because I was thinking the same thing!' Seraphina sent back. For the first time in a long time, she was angry, mostly at the Sect Master, but also at herself for not trying harder. Maybe if she had put in more effort or cared about her future more, she wouldn't have been delegated to third place by the Sect Master.
Aelina raised her hands, and the commotion settled into a simmering silence. She smirked, seeing the intense glares from Nova and Seraphina, but paid them no mind.
"The rules are simple," she stated. "Defeat is declared when one team concedes or is unable to fight."
The four women moved into position, dividing the arena into two sides. Mira and Rayna stood on one side, both of them understanding the complexities of this battle. It wasn't just about winning, it was about doing so while giving as little information as possible.
If they knew each other's trump cards, they could plan for that, making their own fight much more difficult.
On the other hand, Nova and Seraphina are incredibly powerful in their own right. Withholding any secret techniques might bring about their downfall if they're not careful.
What should they reveal, and what shouldn't they? What do they need to win? Those were the questions running through their minds.
Opposite them, Nova and Seraphina stood ready to go all out. The finals meant nothing to them. They could work that out later. All that mattered right now was defeating Mira and Rayna.
"May the best team win! Begin!" Aelina's command was the spark that ignited the clash.
Nova and Seraphina immediately unleashed a torrent of power. The ground beneath their feet cracked, a spider-web of force radiating outwards as they launched themselves at their foes. Each step they took left a heavy imprint on the stone beneath.
Mira's indifferent gaze locked onto Nova and Seraphina. With a flick of her wrist, the air temperature plummeted, manifesting the [Frozen Terrain Change] beneath their feet, attempting to encase her opponents' movements in a tomb of frost.
Nova and Seraphina just snorted, with the former sending out a wave of Black Flames, melting all the nearby ice and allowing Serphina to control it, but that's not what Mira was after.
The entire arena was soon encased in a thick layer of ice, one that was under her complete control.
Nova countered Mira's control with raw power. The Black Flames devoured the cold, creating pockets of heat against the Frozen Terrain. She wouldn't allow Mira to gain control so easily.
As the ice field advanced and receded like a creeping frost, Rayna's form blurred. Her eyes, sharp as an eagle's, focused on the minute shifts in her opponents' stances.
She maneuvered around Nova's black flames and darted after perhaps the more annoying of the two to deal with: Seraphina.
Her twin daggers were hidden within the folds of her shadows as she invoked the Lesser Shadow Basilisk blood within her veins. Her eyes turned into slits as wherever she looked began to turn into a gray stone.
The arena shook as Nova shifted into her draconic humanoid form. Black scales covered her body as large Dragon Wings and a heavy Dragon tail popped out of her back.
She unleashed a devastating roar, sending waves of Qi that cracked the ice and stone around her. Then, with a swing of her spear, she yelled, "[Ouroboros Blaze]!" and a torrent of black flames was released that sought to consume all in its path.
Seraphina responded in tandem. With a sweep of her sword, she summoned a downpour, with the arena floor quickly morphing into a stormy ocean with her technique, [Leviathan's Oceanic Dome].
This was the final technique she used against the Shadowfangs, but she deemed it necessary to use it now.
The water surged, and the metallic dome rose as she defended herself while taking control of the situation.
Mira smirked and responded in kind, casting [Paragon Blizzard Obliteration]. A storm of Absolute Ice, interwoven with the essence of creation and destruction, engulfed the fiery and watery maelstroms.
Meanwhile, her tails used and summoned the [100 Glacial Warriors] technique. Immediately, icy golems, each armed with a different elemental power from her tails, marched forth.
"[Eclipsed Sphere Spear Shot]!" Nova yelled while thrusting her spear, aiming for Mira's heart with beams of black flames.
But Rayna was there, intercepting with a burst of her deadly poison that turned the very air it touched into a corrosive haze.
Seraphina's [Leviathan's Maelstrom] swirled as the battle raged, clashing against Mira's warriors.
But Mira's [Ice Titan's Fortress] rose like a bastion amidst the chaos, defending her minions from any random attacks.
Mira prepared her [Calamity's Embrace] within its confines, channeling the terrifying power of darkness, yin magma, and yin lightning to create a cataclysmic explosion.
However, she knew that the two would move to stop her, so she made plans to buy time,
With her newfound mastery of illusions and charm, she wove a [Mirage Dance] around herself and her warriors, leaving Nova and Seraphina striking at phantoms.
With a draconic snarl, Nova roared, "[Ouroboros Ascension]!"
A spiral of dark flames rose from the ground, reducing everything it touched to ash. However, that was just the beginning. These flames consumed everything they burned, adding to its power as they quickly spread, eating up all of Mira's illusory and real warriors.
Unfortunately, Mira just smirked and raised her hand inside her little ice bastion. '[Calamity's Embrace].' She whispered before everything went dark.
