520 A Clash Of Titans, Forever Remembered!

Wrock lightly jumped, balancing on the ball of his feet. A warmup introduced to the warriors of his clan at a very young age. Those chosen by the Phoenix would later learn that this was an early form of placing a foundation. A dance to further spur the Spirit within them.

{Arising of the Phoenix: Gifted Flame Waltz}!

A dance of Spirit and Wielder, further synchronizing their movements. Which each passing action their blows grow swifter, more accurate, and more powerful! Spirit began to flow into his senses, sharpening them further. This was truly Wrock's current peak!

Three small feathers formed around Wrock's wrist, they were blended together like a bracelet and hovered half an inch from his skin. This was duplicated to both his arms. Wrock continued the {Gifted Flame Waltz}, increasing his synchronization with his Spirit.

Merin rubbed her chin, "Hmm."

Gripping her sword with both hands she leaned into a stance, the pressure released by it intensifying. Yet Wrock's dance remained unfazed! His palms swerved back and forth, dragging some who watched it into a trance. Just with his gentle motions he was tugging at the space, making his figure turn slightly warped.

[Dash]!

Merin dashed across the Arena at a blinding speed, slowing behind Wrock she sliced through space and aimed to cut him in half!

Wham-!

Wrock kicked behind him and landed a blow on her stomach. She winced and her swing halted for just a moment! Wrock slightly jumped and spun retracting his leg and performed a reverse roundhouse kick. Merin's blade flickered as she blocked the blow, but the force behind it was already greater than what she was used to!

It knocked her off her feet and caused her to glide across the arena, she landed lightly with her fur cape flapping from the wind. Wrock landed on his foot and gently jumped once before flickering towards her. Azure flame whipped into a cyclone as spun towards her, gaining momentum with each kick!

{Spirit of the Phoenix: Samsara}!

Reaching where Merin landed he released a powerful finisher, Spirit condensing at his foot. A wave of Azure flame shot forth temporarily hiding him!

{Spirit of the Phoenix: Nirvana}!

Dodging his kick by ducking Merin simultaneously swung upwards in a diagonal angle. Her sword made contact and formed a clean cut across Wrock's already injured stomach! Pushing against the air with Spirit he flipped backwards and cauterized the wound. Merin didn't let such a prime opportunity go to waste, closing the distance she swung downwards with an incredible amount of strength and technique!

[Heavy Downwards Slash]!

Wrock bounced and flickered slightly, Merin's swing passed by harmlessly as he positioned his body to dodge by a hair. A bit of Sword Intent released and sliced into his ribs, but the wound was far from fatal. As Merin halted her swing to a stop Wrock released a counter attack, Spirit condensing at his fist as he swung upwards!

{Spirit of the Phoenix: Guidance Towards the Heavens}!

Merin leaned back but she wasn't fast enough! The fist clipped her chin and exploded into Azure flame! Twisting her blade she caused a cyclone of air to push away the flame from harming her, but the blow still caused some serious damage! It knocked her skywards and almost made her flip uncontrollably!

Mana swirled as she halted her movements, positioning her sword to her side she inhaled sharply. The feeling of Intent, if she could just enhance that further she could properly utilize it in her techniques! She just needed to sharpen it. . . !

[Sword Intent: World Split]!

She swung her sword against the air, the moment her swing ended she felt her entire body tense up from the effort. A helpless laugh escaped from her lips, "I might've been too reckless!"

KRCK. . .

BOOOOOM-!!

A hasty defense was put up by Wrock, he couldn't tell just how large this attack was to properly dodge. Thus his only viable option was to attempt and block it! Spirit condensed and almost immediately Wrock felt an incredible weight slam into him. Even with his massive amount of strength he couldn't fight against it! His knees buckled and the ground of the Arena shattered!

Spirit flickered and faded. Merin floated to the ground, gripping her arm she felt her breath become labored. The ground beneath her was no longer even, the chunks it was reduced to varied in size but provided no solid footing.

"I can't believe he was able to fight this much. I haven't been pushed this hard in so long."

WHOOOOM-!

Azure sparks began to form in the air, the entire world took on a shade of blue. Like a pair of tinted sunglasses was put over their eyes. Merin felt a shiver go down her spine, but a grin formed on her face, "You still stand!"

A figure twitched as they stood, the pieces of the Arena floor began to rise with him. Wrock was soon revealed. A glowing wound that started at the top of his right shoulder that traveled all the way down to the middle of his left thigh was the first thing to catch many eyes. He wobbled back but moved a foot to steady himself.

A flickering image of an Azure Phoenix constantly appeared, its eyes staring deep into the soul of whoever dared to look at it. Wrock's hands tightened into a fist, the image of a Phoenix on his back glowing brighter.

His Spirit was dwindling, withstanding that last attack tore a lot of his supply. Moreover the wound he received was fatal. He was only postponing his death utilizing Spirit. The moment he ran out. . . death would follow. His current amount of Spirit would buy him at most thirty seconds! However he knew that amount of time would be far from enough, so he would shorten it greatly in return for even more strength!

A final push! This was it! Every single fiber, every drop of Spirit, every remaining strand of his fighting will would be spent!

Merin could feel it! The raging flames that Wrock mustered! It was awing! She only wanted to respond in kind!

'If you do that you won't last long.'

"Neither can he, so let's put everything into this final moment!"

The diamond located on Peerless Edge sparkled, and the center of Merin's chestpiece sparkled in response. A white flash washed over Merin further enhancing the armor provided by Synced Nexus. A helmet formed on her head, hiding her face from any light. The gray plate armor turned far more detailed, upon closer inspection it looked like it was made by thousands of tiny swords welded together. With her presence Sword Intent began to leak, it began to warp the space around her simply by existing.

The floating bracelets Wrock had shrunk around his wrists and made contact with his skin. A series of patterns began to spread across his torso and arms. It looked like a large tattoo, pictures of Phoenixes in various positions, wings, talons, beaks, and feathers decorated his body. The patters paused at his neck along with leaving an inch of clear space around the Phoenix on his back.

The Arena was now mostly floating, large chunks still hovered in the air in the presence of two great warriors. Simply by standing there they released a pressure that made many of the Second Stages watching feel weak. Some in the Third Stage felt inferior. Yet not a single person wanted to miss what was going to happen!

A fraction of a second passed. . .

The two vanished, if you were to blink it would look like they were replaced by a series of lines. Thick trails of Azure and Gray spiderwebbed across the Arena! Sparks of blue and orange formed at each connecting point of the two trails. They bounced off the floating parts of the Arena, the lines growing in intensity.

One second had passed! Those of lower strength strained their eyes to even glimpse at what was happening! Everyone held their breath, not daring to interrupt such a critical point!

PANG~!

The two lines bounced off each other, a sudden change in the direction they were going! For a second it revealed the two fighters! Wrock was covered in various wounds, each cauterized. Merin's armor was dented and cracked in various places, blood dripping from some of the cracks.

Halting in the air they then dashed forward and clashed, each time their blows connected it caused them to bounce off again! For those watching it looked like to lines of color desperately clashing, the constant back and forth caused a firework show of sparks!

Two seconds! Both ends were far from top shape! Their blows lacked the deadly precision, their arms and hands grew sore. Yet still they fought, pushing every last ounce of energy out of their bodies!

Spirit and Sword Intent grew in amount, flames scattered and the already destroyed Arena was being cut into even more pieces. Occasionally a flickering flame would land and explode, making the poor Arena crumble.

Wrock's patterns flashed, a clear sign of his Spirit output wavering. Merin's armor began to fall apart, revealing the wounded skin underneath. Wrock punched forward towards her head and she dodged. Wrock's fist smashed part of her helmet, revealing the glowing eyes of Merin. They weren't glowing in a literal sense, rather they were glowing of joy.

This truly was one of the best battles she's had since she reached the peak! If only it was of a higher Stage! How much more could she have improved then?

Three seconds! That was all Wrock could buy! He had to end things now! Blocking a blow from Merin the two bounced back from the force! Merin felt her legs falter as she tried to leap back into action, it seemed she reached her limit too!

Spirit ignited! Large Azure flames expanded to cover a third of the Arena's size! It morphed and formed the shape of a Phoenix, this time it wasn't some trick of the eye! A Phoenix made of pure azure flame! Merin placed the sword next to her and tightened her grip, Sword Intent flashed and the Arena behind her was cut into tiny pieces. Each piece was almost a complete cube, it's size no greater than a thumb.

The Phoenix let out a cry and Wrock launched forward! The patterns on his chest began to flicker, the Phoenix on his face and back starting to fade! Merin forced herself to move, a final clash! She needed to respond appropriately!

SHIIING~

BOOOOOM-!!

For Wrock and Merin the two charged towards each other. Wrock executed a flying kick, Spirit propelling him forward, the shape of the Phoenix following his movements. Merin swung diagonally towards him, space being cut by a fine line, almost impossible to view by eye. As their two moves clashed a massive explosion of Spirit covered the Arena!

For the audience they watched as the Arena was destroyed by Wrock's flame, and as the space seemed to slide apart. The thin cut Merin created spanned the entire Arena and made it into two separate pieces. These two pieces began to slide against each other for a few seconds before the World Law began to repair it.

As the flames fell it revealed the two warriors. Wrock was nearly split into four pieces, the wound on his chest no longer being held together via spirit, and another one having just formed across it. The two formed an X shape and seemed to cut through his entire torso. No one was sure how Wrock hadn't fallen apart just yet.

For Merin. . . her armor flashed and exploded into tiny shards. A large chunk of her stomach was gone, only azure embers lingered around the wound. Wrock's kick had landed! She hovered a hand over the wound, but its size was larger than what she could cover.

She smiled weakly, "What a. . . fantastic fight you put up Wrock! I'll remember that name. . . !"

The two fell simultaneously, their still bodies caused an unnatural silence to fill the audience. It felt unreal, as if what they just watched had never happened. Was it purely their imagination? Had that just happened?

Humive felt his arms drop, "It's. . . a tie. . . ! He fought the Sword Saint to a tie!"

Horrow slowly stood from his seat, he couldn't believe his eyes, "A tie. . . ? Wrock actually managed to fight to a tie. . . ?"

The realization flooded across the audience. Their cheers deafening! Someone actually managed to fight the Sword Saint to a tie! Such a fight they got to witness!

A tie! It ended in a tie! A fight all who witnessed would forever remember! This one fight would spark a qualitative change in The Gated Arena! Those who watched gained more insight than they could properly use! This was also the beginning of a new titan in The Gated Arena. One who's name would be remembered despite only being Second Stage. Someone who was viewed with respect and awe!

The Azure Phoenix, Wrock!