In the stadium, the crowd's noise was booming louder than before. The 23 other members of Ri and Madeleine's battle royale each found an edge piece to stand on. With the platform being so large, there was hundreds of meters of space between Madeline and Ri, and therefore them and the two of them.
Madeleine was silent. She didn't know why but this girl in front of her was clearly powerful, but at the same time, she also had endless amounts of bloodlust aimed toward her.
'Did I take out one of your friends? I could care less.' Madeleine's own anger was boiling and being targeted for such a petty reason when she had gone out of her way to not severely injure anyone was pissing her off all the more.
Flames of violet began to coat her dress, and yet it somehow didn't singe it at all. In fact, the Spiritual level treasure began to resonate with Madeleine's flames, seemingly dancing along with the flicks and flares of purple.
Ri began to walk forward, brandishing her sword in her hand. Her hair was a jet black and her tails were just the same. All ten of them whipped violently in the air, sending shockwaves of void will with their every movement.
Although Ri was angry, she remained cautious. If this really was someone who could hurt Dyon, then she was without a doubt powerful. However, Ri had risen to a point in that past two months where there was little doubt that she at the very least rivaled Dyon before his saint soul buff. And, even if she didn't, Ri was not the type to back down from a fight.
"Why did you do it?" Ri's voice came out in a growl. It was bestial and commanding. She had to know why they had been targeted. What was the purpose?
Madeleine's frown only deepened at this questioning. She couldn't speak, how was she meant to answer a question. Especially when the question itself pissed her off. Why did she do what? Wasn't it her job as a contestant to fight? Was she supposed to let others win? What was wrong with this girl?
Seeing Madeleine's scowl, Ri's anger deepened. But, she decided to try one more time. Something about this felt off to her.
"Are you aware of who my husband is?"
Ri probed with another question. If this girl answered no, then Ri could settle on the idea of this having been a ploy of some kind. She had already asked Eli whether or not Dyon knew a purple hair and eyed beauty, and Eli had answered no, but there were a myriad of other possibilities. Even Ri's hair color changed depending on her form, could she really make a conclusion based on something like that?
But, Ri never got her answer.
Madeleine was fed up. 'At least you husband is here!'
Something in her snapped as the words raged through her mind.
She had no one to lean on. Her sister had died. Her parents weren't as supportive as they should be. This was the day, after two years, that she was supposed to finally see her husband, and yet all she got was being locked down and practically under arrest, all while she had to watch helplessly as he was slandered. And now this girl was mad at her for simply winning her bracket? What kind of bullshit was this?
Madeleine flashed forward, her flames coating her palms as she executed a fanning technique.
Brilliant peacock feathers sprouted from her back, coloring the skies with beautiful greens and golds, but especially purples.
This was the first of legacy techniques Madeleine had gained from Amethyst. It was usually a technique for males, but it had been adapted by Amethyst to circulate a different pathway and complement yin.
'Peacock Queen's first feather, delicate palm!'
Ri's eyes flashed in anger. "Ice petal's dance, first petal: ice rain!"
Her sword flashed forward, a magnificent lily of ice appearing behind her.
The clash was beyond words.
A tempest of flames and ice raged through the arena under the erupting crowd.
The beauty of peacock's feathers shimmered under the oppressive cold, rebuffing it with its own intense flames.
Ri's ice petals rained down shards of ice coated with sword will, wanting to tear through everything in its path, but instead being engulfed by a massive wall of purple fire.
Blinding northern lights colored the skies above the arena as sword met palm, neither giving way.
Madeleine's deep purple eyes held a deep seeded anger as she stared into Ri's blue-silver slits before they both leaped backwards.
There was no moment of rest and there was no room for talking.
Ri's ice petals continued to rain from the skies, attacking Madeleine's peacock feathers as they manifested.
Shocking booms resonated through the skies as the stones and metals that made up the arena were torn away – melting in the heat before being frozen over, just to melt once again.
Madeleine's heart burned with rage as her palms flashed outwards again and again. She was no longer holding back, but she felt as though her attack potency was being sucked away by the mysterious black will of her opponent.
Ri's void will flashed with her every step, her tails shooting beams of ice at Madeleine's forming feathers, stopping their attacks midstream.
Neither woman backed down, it was a clash for the ages and the audience could only watch with baited breath.
'Not enough.' Both thought these words at the same time, unleashing their God Constitutions in unison.
Ri's manifestation bloomed, a dark and sleek Kitsune forming in the air as a crown of radiating gold and jewels fell perfectly into the gem on its forehead.
A black gold energy began to drip from Ri as tattoos of gold raced across her tails. Even her jet black hair became coated with the ethereal aura.
Madeleine, though, lost out in no way.
Her constitution bloomed, radiating out unmatched purity as crystalline lights began to rain down around her.
The crowd's cheering became a hushed silence. Two otherworldly beauties faced each other. Was a title amongst just the six beauties enough? Did that give these girls their due?
One was dark and bestial. She was petite, but her curves and figure were nothing less than perfect. Her long black hair waved in the air, contrasting her gentle-looking light blue dress.
The other was light and heavenly. She was the taller of the two, but her body filled her in flawlessly. Her chest was ample, and her hips were wide. Her purple hair, matted in twinkling flames, gave her an ethereal feel…
They were both goddesses that descended from the skies.
