The Fallen Prince

⋇- 39: The Fallen Prince -⋇

En moved sideways, evading the countless purple bubbles Shaula threw at him. He attempted to dash forward, slashing every bubble that targeted him. Having an idea of what his opponent was planning, he didn't allow the bubbles to grow in size to swallow him.

Even though the water the bubbles sprinkled in his eyes every time he slashed them, making it difficult to examine his opponent, En was able to see Shaula. It seemed as though she was distancing herself from her spot every time she threw multiple bubbles.

En summoned his element as he rushed towards his opponent, tightening his grip on his greatsword. The orange-red flames surrounded him like burning chains. The bubbles popped and evaporated before they could touch the hot orange-red chain.

With the annoying bubbles out of the way, he could focus on their master, who wouldn't stop summoning more of them and aiming them at him. En increased his speed and with another dash, he raised his blade. Knowing that they weren't allowed to take each other's life, he thought of two possibilities to end this match.

One, distract his cousin with this attack and slam her neck to knock her out. Two, cause an injury to force her to forfeit the battle. Both options sounded good and he hoped one of them would work as he already wanted to get over with this challenge.

His eyes widened, noticing that Shaula left all sides of her unguarded. The audience's gasps filled the silence as his blade traveled through the side of Shaula's tanned arm. A second later, her figure distorted and melted like ice under a hot sun.

"A water clone?" En frowned.

His eyes widened. Behind.

En turned around, blue flames covering his body as he summoned his red armor. Steel sounds sparked the atmosphere as the sharp tip of Shaula's spear met En's blade.

"Such a coward," said Shaula, laughing, "summoning your armor because you misjudged my first attack. As an experienced warrior, I thought you would have guessed that the first attack was only a distraction."

En deflected his opponent's weapon. "I must admit that that was a big mistake on my part. I wanted to get over with this match that I bit the bait."

"Excuses." Shaula shook her head, En could spot the small roundish horns hidden in Shaula's scarlet head. "So, will you be a man and remove that armor? It's embarrassing for a fully equipped man to fight a defenseless woman."

A quick chuckle escaped En's lips. "And risk being poisoned by you? or being burned with acid water? I'd rather embarrass myself preventing my loss with an armor on than losing a battle because of my pride."

As Shaula smiled, En readied his sword, watching the movement of his opponent's weapon carefully. Scorpio's spear was what worried him the most in this battle. With an option to activate deadly poison, En would lose in an instant as it would be needed for him to be rushed to the nearest hospital to avoid death.

Metallic sounds sparked the atmosphere again as Shaula attempted an attack. As she continuously swung her weapon to force En to drop his, En saw transparent, purple liquid surrounding Shaula's figure. He dodged another attack and saw a purple armored figure aim her weapon at him.

"Seems that today we will witness a battle between Guardians," said the voice in the background, its tone excited. "Ladies and gentlemen, history is being written in the Drageul Coliseum!"

Excited cheers rained in the arena as the two Guardians engaged themselves in a cycle of attacks and defense.

"In the end, you decided to summon your armor, too." En's blade met Shaula's spear again.

Shaula attempted to push her weapon on her opponent's blade. "I'm a nice person. I didn't want to embarrass you, so I summoned my armor."

"Is that so?" En chuckled. "Now I'll have a hard time defeating you. Guess I'll have to be serious now."