Boom.
Katalina created a windshield in front of her as she looked up only for it to be met with a huge kinetic force generated by Tuan's attack. The windshield held on for a few moments. But that didn't prevent the shocks of impact from reaching the surroundings and eventually the ground on which the female close combat expert stood.
A distinct crater was formed with Katalina standing in the middle of it. When the dust settled she saw Tuan standing on top of her solidified windshield with a pair of swords in either hand.
Katalina's hand that she had used to support her windshield felt a bit heavy. Some of the pressure that Tuan's attack had generated found a way to affect her arm.
'Mo… monster!'
Katalina commented in her mind. But her actions didn't make it seem that she was overwhelmed by Tuan. She didn't get flustered and raised her other hand before speaking up.
"If you think that your mindless aggression can scare me, think again."
A bunch of wind element spikes grew from the shield and tried to attack Tuan only to see that it was his afterimage that they had struck. Katalina spread her mana sense and realized what she needed to do.
Clank!
A distinct metallic sound rang in the surroundings as Katalina's rapier was met with one of Tuan's swords. With his other weapon, the fire-element ranker tried to strike at his opponent's neck. There was no hesitation in his attack.
Suddenly, some more wind spikes grew from the ground itself and acted as a block in Tuan's attack path.
Tuan's other sword was met with the trunk of the wind spike that was broader from the bottom. By the time he ran his fire-element mana through his weapon and sliced through the block, Katalina retreated to a safe distance.
"Katalina is it? That was a smart move and use of spells. Mind listening to my advice?"
Tuan didn't approach Katalina immediately. After gripping his swords firmly, he lowered them in a relaxed manner before looking at the female close combat expert.
"What is it?"
While increasing her vigilance against Tuan, Katalina responded. The latter chuckled before speaking up.
"You said mindless aggression doesn't scare you, right? To be honest, that's exactly what a sane person should be scared of.
You don't realize how liberating it feels to experience 'mindless aggression'. One can get addicted. I know I can.
Hahahaha!
Then again, I get addicted to my vices easily. So there's nothing new about it. Hehehe!"
Katalina now truly believed Tuan's wife had hurt him on such a level that it had affected him as her husband and ranker as well. There were cases of rankers achieving extraordinary feats after suffering through tragedies after all.
His progressing further in his fire element attainment wouldn't come as a shock to anyone after knowing about his life experiences. That's because the way of the element was dependent on the ranker's emotions.
But that also meant that Tuan was mentally unstable during this period. He was talking about things that partially did make sense. But then he would wander off on a different tangent, making Katalina feel like she was hearing something random.
Katalina regretted engaging with such a time bomb this early in the competition. She also realized what Tuan was trying to say with his speech after looking him in the eyes. He was warning her that all his moves would resemble kamikaze attacks.
But it was too late. The die had already been cast. She couldn't back down and lose her image. That's because Katalina was sure that her fight with Tuan was going to be aired outside. They were possibly the only two fools who would engage with each other so soon.
Katalina took a deep breath and decided that it was her time to take the initiative. Untamed aggression is better handled with tamed aggression after all.
Katalina encircled Tuan using her movement spell and executed wind-blade slashes at him from all directions. This made Tuan jump in the air to avoid the flying blades without breaking a sweat. But Katalina had anticipated his exit strategy and was ready for his move.
Hoot!
A guttural mana beast sound was released in the surroundings as a large white owl was seen approaching Eren from above the skies. It agitated so much air with his flight that it created a wind pressure. The beast was a wind-element entity.
The beast's body was made of wind-element mana. It had a combined wingspan of about 6 meters. It had sharp black claws that were visible amid his porcelain white feathers. Its sharp blue eyes were locked on Tuan as he flew in his direction without any care in the world. It was as if Tuan was eager to be clawed by the bird.
'Heh! The lass relies on her beast contract spell. Normally, I would try to escape and deal with the rest of her traps. Too bad, I got to act my part.'
Tuan thought to himself and cast his go-to spell.
Katalina was preparing to meet with Tuan from the side with her wind blades ready to be released at a moment's notice. But to her surprise and delight, she found that Tuan didn't change his trajectory. He set out on his way to confront the contract beast.
But soon her expression turned grimacey. That's because she saw Tuan using his fire snakes as a lasso to grip her beast's legs just above its claws. He then used it as a hanger to swing away from his previous position.
Tuan was swung high in the air as a result of his creative use of the fire snakes. He was at a height that was unattainable with his movement-spell-powered jump. So he decided to make full use of it.
"Fire Wings!"
Before the beast could figure out what had happened to its prey, the unwise owl felt a strong force colliding against its back. All it could do was cry in pain as it approached the ground without any control over its flight.
