And with that, the fight was on.
Kiara's fingers danced over the strings of her harp, plucking a single note. The sound was sweet, almost hypnotic, but it carried a force that twisted the air itself. A visible shockwave rippled outward, surging toward Lyra with speed and power.
'Earth Wall.'
Lyra's response was immediate. The ground trembled as a five-meter-tall, two-meter-wide wall of solid earth erupted before her, acting as a sturdy shield. Kiara's sonic attack slammed into it with a concussive impact, sending cracks splintering across its surface as chunks of dirt and stone blasted outward. The wall held—barely—but Kiara wasn't finished.
Another flick of her fingers. Another note. The second shockwave struck the weakened structure, shattering it into a cloud of dust and debris. The explosion sent a gust of wind across the battlefield, but when the dust settled—
Lyra was gone.
Kiara's dark blue eyes narrowed as she swiftly scanned her surroundings. Left, right, above—nothing. A flicker of confusion crossed her gaze before realization set in.
A smirk curled on her lips. "Playing the mole against me? Not the most brilliant idea," she remarked, amusement lacing her voice.
She took a deep breath before opening her mouth.
"Doooo~"
The single note resonated, its eerie harmony vibrating through the air. But its effect wasn't limited to sound alone. The moment the note touched the ground, it spread in all directions, sinking deep into the earth and traveling across the battlefield.
Mikael, watching from the sidelines, raised an eyebrow. He had witnessed Kiara's abilities before, but never in direct combat like this. She wasn't simply playing music—she was weaponizing it, using sound as a force to pierce, disrupt, and manipulate the environment itself.
Then, the ground trembled.
A barely perceptible vibration pulsed through the arena, like the warning rumble before an earthquake. And in the next instant—
BOOM!
The earth beneath Kiara's feet exploded as Lyra shot upward, propelled by an earth-forged burst. She emerged with precision, her form a blur of movement as she hurled a newly formed 'Stone Javelin' straight at Kiara.
Kiara's fingers reacted faster than thought, plucking a rapid succession of notes, weaving a melody in an instant. As the javelin neared, the air around her shimmered with an invisible force—
'Harmonic Repulsion.'
A sonic burst exploded outward, distorting the space in front of her. The sheer force sent the stone javelin veering off course, the projectile whistling past her shoulder before embedding itself deep into the coliseum wall.
Lyra landed with effortless grace, her expression unreadable as she studied Kiara. But her very presence radiated intensity.
Around her, energy swirled—a mix of earth mana, water mana, and aura, intertwining in a way rarely seen. This was the culmination of her intellectual prowess, a triple-layered reinforcement combining her two elemental affinities and her newly acquired aura.
Her strategy was clear: a double mana cloak, one of earth and one of water, fused seamlessly with an aura cloak. The result? A layered defense that dramatically boosted her physical capabilities. But more importantly, her mana cloaks weren't merely for enhancement—they carried specific elemental properties that gave her an edge.
Mana cloaks were originally developed by a mage who sought to close the physical gap between warriors and spellcasters. While the results fell short of his ambitions, the research still bore fruit. A mana cloak functioned as an aura cloak's counterpart, replicating its effects for mages—albeit at a diminished level.
In raw power, a mana cloak was typically an entire major realm weaker than an aura cloak. A C rank mage employing a mana cloak would, at best, match a D rank warrior using his aura cloak. However, even that was a vast improvement over the usual frailty of mages, allowing them to momentarily hold their ground in melee combat.
But the true strength of mana cloaks lay in their elemental augmentation.
Lyra, demonstrating her mastery, had achieved the rare feat of layering two mana cloaks simultaneously. Her water mana cloak enhanced her, giving her the fluidity of water while boosting the potency of her water-based spells. Meanwhile, her earth mana cloak fortified her defense, giving her the durability of a heavily armored knight while empowering her earth-based magic.
On top of that, she had activated an aura cloak, adding another layer of reinforcement. Though her aura core was only at F-, making it the weakest of the three cloaks, it still provided a valuable boost. Compared to her C rank mana core, her aura capabilities were limited, but in combat, every advantage counted.
Kiara's gaze flickered with interest as she observed the swirling energies around Lyra. "Impressive," she admitted, her voice carrying genuine appreciation. She understood the difficulty of maintaining such a complex technique, let alone using it efficiently in battle.
Then, her expression shifted. She became serious.
Without hesitation, she activated her own aura cloak.
By all logic, Kiara, with her F- rank aura and mana core, should have been vastly inferior to Lyra, whose C rank mana core placed her leagues ahead in magical prowess. And yet—
That logic did not apply to Kiara.
While the gap in their mana core ranks was undeniable, Kiara wasn't relying solely on the mana core she had obtained upon acquiring the (Human Dirarnia Genius Variation) race. She also possessed the magical core from her previous existence as an AI, a unique advantage that no ordinary being could replicate. Combined with her Spirit stat, which had reached the absolute threshold of 2,000, the supposed disparity between them was dramatically narrowed—to the point where Kiara was only slightly disadvantaged.
And then, Kiara moved.
She launched forward, her speed eclipsing sound itself. If not for the special properties of the arena a resounding sonic boom would have appeared. The distance between her and Lyra vanished in an instant.
Lyra's eyes widened. She had accounted for Kiara's superior stats, but even she hadn't expected this level of raw speed. Yet, she wasn't unprepared.
'Earth Dome.'
With a swift command, the ground responded to her will. The earth beneath her trembled, shifting unnaturally before surging upward in thick layers. In the blink of an eye, a massive dome of solid stone engulfed her, sealing her within a protective shell just as Kiara opened her mouth to sing.
A powerful, high-frequency soundwave burst forth, an invisible force colliding against the stone barrier. Though cracks appeared across its surface, spider-webbing outward in response to the sonic attack, the dome held strong.
'Earth Spikes.'
The next moment, the cracked dome retaliated. Without warning, sharp spikes erupted outward, launching toward Kiara like jagged lances.
Kiara's eyes widened at the sudden counterattack, an instinctual sense of danger flaring within her. Her body tensed, and she instinctively moved backward, her reaction nearly instantaneous. Yet, despite her speed, she wasn't quite fast enough to evade them all.
One of the spikes grazed past her, its rough surface slicing deep into her left arm.
"AHH!" A sharp cry of pain escaped her lips as she felt the earth spike pierce her flesh. Warm blood trickled down her arm, staining the ground beneath her a deep crimson.
Lyra emerged from her Earth Dome, her expression flickering with concern as she saw the injury. "Sorry," she said as she approached quickly. "I thought you'd be able to evade it."
Although she knew the damage wasn't severe and that all injuries sustained in the arena would be fully healed once they left, she still felt a tinge of guilt. Regardless of the circumstances, she hadn't wanted to cause Kiara unnecessary pain.
Kiara, however, wasn't concerned about the pain in her arm. Instead, her gaze instinctively flickered toward the sidelines, where Mikael stood observing the fight. The moment their eyes met, she noticed the worry in his expression as he eyed her wound.
Not wanting him—or Lyra—to dwell on it, she raised her right arm dismissively. "Don't worry, this is just a minor injury!"
To prove her point, she inhaled deeply, mobilizing the magical energy within her core. The moment she activated her internal mana reserves, a soft blue glow enveloped her wounded arm. The radiant energy pulsed, knitting her torn flesh back together.
Within mere seconds, her arm was completely restored—pristine, without a single trace of the previous injury.
It was a subtle yet undeniable reminder that, despite her human-like appearance and mannerisms, Kiara wasn't human. Her body, while functioning similarly to theirs in many ways, still retained the advantages of her unique race as a Personal AI.
Her gaze met Lyra's once more, a mix of exasperation and warmth in her expression. "We can continue the spar," she stated firmly. "There was really no need to stop over something so trivial."
"Are you sure?" Lyra asked, eyeing her with slight skepticism.
Kiara simply nodded, confirming her readiness. Seeing this, Lyra turned back toward her Earth Dome, retreating into its safety as the stone structure sealed itself behind her once again.
Mikael, still acting as the referee, raised his hand before beginning a countdown.
"3…2…1… Start!"
'Water Wave.'
Almost immediately, a surge of water burst forth from the Earth Dome's front, cascading toward Kiara like a roaring tidal wave. The sheer force behind it made it seem like an unstoppable force, capable of sweeping away anything in its path.
Kiara's expression didn't waver.
'Harmonic Annihilation.'
Her fingers danced across the strings of her harp, plucking them with precision. The music resonated through the air, carrying an invisible force toward the oncoming wave. The harmonic energy struck the water head-on, creating ripples of disruption along its surface.
However, Lyra's magical prowess was not to be underestimated. Despite Kiara's attack, the wave remained largely unaffected, continuing its relentless charge toward her.
Realizing that her current approach wouldn't be enough, Kiara swiftly shifted her strategy. She leaped backward, avoiding direct impact as she intensified her playing. Her fingers moved faster, her melody sharpening in both speed and focus.
This time, rather than attacking the entire wave, she concentrated her sonic strikes on specific points within it. The targeted pressure caused a small opening to form within the massive surge of water.
Without hesitation, Kiara dashed forward, slipping through the gap she had created just as the water crashed down behind her, sealing the passage once more.
The moment her feet touched solid ground again, she felt it shift unnaturally beneath her. The earth softened, making her footing unstable.
'A trap—!'
Reacting instantly, Kiara pushed off with all her strength, launching herself into the air just as a series of jagged earth spikes erupted from the ground where she had stood moments before.
Still airborne, she strummed her harp once more.
'Harmonic Infiltration.'
A wave of invisible sonic energy pulsed outward, seemingly harmless as it washed over Lyra's Earth Dome. At first glance, it appeared to have done nothing. The stone barrier remained standing, its surface untouched.
But Kiara didn't waver. Her eyes remained locked onto the dome, waiting.
And then—
Cracks spread rapidly across its surface before the entire structure crumbled, collapsing into dust.
Revealed within the rubble was Lyra, kneeling on the ground with a faint trail of blood dripping from the corner of her lips.
Kiara's lips curled slightly. 'Got you.'
Harmonic Infiltration was one of Kiara's most specialized attacks—an ability that ignored external defenses and directly assaulted an opponent's internal structure. Against heavily armored foes or defensive techniques like Lyra's, it was the perfect counter.
The moment the attack struck, Lyra's body tensed, her expression momentarily freezing in shock. Unlike traditional magical or physical strikes, which could be blocked, absorbed, or redirected, this attack bypassed all external barriers entirely. The layers of earth forming her dome, her natural defenses —none of it mattered. The sound waves resonated within her body, slipping past all resistance to strike her internal organs directly.
A sharp pain flared in her chest as the disruptive frequencies wreaked havoc inside her. Her triple-layered cloaks, absorbed much of the damage. But even with that, the attack was far from harmless. The force of the internal shock left her disoriented, the pain radiating through her body like a tremor. A metallic taste filled her mouth, and she instinctively coughed, a thin trail of blood escaping from her lips.
For a brief moment, her concentration wavered. And that moment was all it took.
Her Earth Dome, which had stood firm against Kiara's previous onslaughts, suddenly trembled before collapsing entirely. The massive stone structure crumbled into dust, leaving her exposed in the open arena.
Kiara's eyes flashed with sharp intent.
This was her chance.
Without hesitation, she surged forward, her body a blur of motion as she closed the remaining distance between them in an instant. Victory was within her grasp.
Author Note:
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