Chapter 182: Iris Vs Kol Mikel
Chapter 182: Iris Vs Kol Mikel
DAY 2
The sun hit the central arena floor like a hot hammer. It was early morning but the heat was already heavy.
Across the massive stadium, thousands of people filled the stone benches, shouting, cheering, and stomping their feet until the whole ground vibrated and dust rose in the air.
High up in the normal spectator seats, sat Isabel, Amira, Eira, and Emily. The stone benches were hard and hot under the sun.
Emily leaned over the stone railing, her hand shielding her eyes from the bright sky as she pointed down at the Aether Blessed Academy waiting area near the stage.
"Look down there," Emily said, her eyes fixed on a tall figure standing near the front of the enclosure. "It’s Lynx. Kira, Ava, Ophelia, and Lira are all right next to him. God, he looks so handsome. Even from up here."
Isabel kept her face completely calm. She did not look away from the main combat stage. Her arms were crossed. "Keep your eyes on the stage," she said, her voice quiet and steady.
"Lynx knows what is coming. The Void Academy students are wearing those obsidian rings. Things are going to get bloody today. We cannot get distracted." Yeah, Lynx told them.
Down on the arena floor, the air was thick with tension and sweat. The massive floating big screen above the center of the ring flickered with red light, replacing the names of the previou day fighters with the opening match of Day 2.
MATCH SIX: IRIS NIGHTGLOW - AETHER BLESSED ACADEMY VS. KOL MIKEL - AETHER BLESSED ACADEMY
The crowd roared as the red barrier surrounding the ring hummed to life. It rose thirty feet high and sealed the circle.
Inside the Aether enclosure, Kol Mikel stood up. He was one of Julian Frostborne’s main escorts, a tall, broad shouldered Year 4 student with a arrogant grin on his face and a thick neck. He stretched his arms, flexing his heavy muscles as he adjusted his deep blue academy uniform. He looked over at Julian, who was standing with his arms crossed, his ice blue eyes cold and distant.
"Take care of it quickly, Kol," Julian said without turning his head. "Show the crowd that Aether’s top Year 4s do not mess around, even if we are matched against our own school."
"Relax, Julian," Kol laughed, rolling his neck until his joints popped loud. "Iris is fast, but she’s not going to be a problem for me. She relies too much on her wind speed. Once I pin her down with my heavy force, the fight is over. I will crush her in three minutes."
On the other side of the enclosure, Iris Nightglow stepped forward. Her sleek, waist length midnight black hair swayed against her back. Her striking silver eyes were completely clear, devoid of fear or excitement.
She did not say a word to Julian or Kol. She simply checked the fit of her blue uniform top, which hugged her lithe, slender frame and small waist, and walked down the stone steps toward the stage.
"Don’t hold back, Iris," Layla Solara called out from behind her, her long crimson hair gleaming in the sunlight. Her massive chest rose and fell as she let out a slow sigh. "The Void students are watching us. Show them what an S Rank Wind user can do. Do not let him touch you."
Iris gave a short, silent nod and stepped up onto the stone platform. Her boots made no sound.
The referee, a stern looking man wearing a gray professor’s robe, raised his hand into the air. "Match Six! Iris Nightglow versus Kol Mikel! Fighters, take your stances!"
Kol stepped into the center of the stage, his heavy boots making a loud thud against the hard rock.
Kol possessed an A Rank Dual Affinity in Fire and Earth. He combined the heavy weight of stone with the explosive heat of flames to crush his opponents under brute force.
Iris stood thirty feet away, her posture loose, her silver eyes locked onto Kol’s chest.
"Begin!" the referee shouted, dropping his arm and leaping backward off the stage.
Kol acted immediately. He slammed his right foot onto the stone floor, his mana flaring up in a bright, reddish yellow aura around his body.
Earth mana surged beneath his boots while his Fire affinity ignited around his fists, coating his hands in roaring orange flames.
"Let’s see you dodge this, Iris!" Kol roared, thrusting his right fist straight forward.
A heavy wall of dense rock shards wrapped in scorching flames blasted across the stage.
The ground beneath the attack cracked, spraying small bits of burning stone into the air as the flaming earth strike surged directly toward Iris with enough force to crush a normal Year 3 chest.
Iris did not panic. The moment Kol’s muscle twitched, her S-Rank Wind Affinity ignited inside her mana circuits. She activated her blessing. Nightwind Step.
Instantly, the natural air resistance around her body was completely erased. The wind itself pulled her. To the crowd, it did not even look like she ran or dodged.
One second she was standing in the path of the flaming stone blast, and the next second, her body turned into a blurry, dark shadow that slipped around the side of the blazing explosion by inches.
BOOM!
Kol’s flaming earth strike slammed into the edge of the protective barrier behind her, causing the red energy wall to ripple and hum loudly as scorched rock rained down.
"Too slow," Iris’s voice whispered right behind Kol’s left ear.
Kol’s eyes widened in sheer shock. He didn’t even hear her footsteps. He didn’t smell her presence. The air pressure behind him hadn’t even shifted. Her Wind comprehension was too deep.
Panicking, Kol swung his left elbow backward, coating his skin in a thick layer of dense Earth affinity reinforced with fire to blow her away. But his elbow struck empty air.
Iris had already shifted her weight on her toes, sliding around his turning body like a gust of night wind.
Her silver eyes glowed with razor-sharp focus. She pulled her right hand back, concentrating her S Rank Wind mana into the very tips of her fingers until the air around her hand hissed like an angry nest of snakes.
She drove her open palm straight into Kol’s exposed ribs.
BANG!
A blast of compressed, high speed wind erupted from her palm directly into Kol’s side.
Kol let out a sharp gasp as the sheer air pressure tore through his burning earth shroud, cracking two of his ribs and lifting his heavy, six foot frame entirely off the stone floor. Blood flew from his mouth.
Kol crashed onto the ground, rolling three times before digging his fingers into the hard stone to stop his momentum.
Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, staining his blue collar. His side was already turning purple, his flames flickering out.
"Damn it!" Kol cursed, staggering back to his feet. His face was flushed with embarrassment and anger. He could hear the students in the stands gasping, and he knew Julian was watching. "You think you’re the only one who can hit hard?!"
Kol slammed both hands together in front of his chest. His Earth and Fire mana flared violently, spreading out from his body in a twenty foot circle.
He erupted a ring of magma heated stone pillars from the floor, trying to trap Iris inside a furnace of burning rock so she couldn’t use her wind movement.
The ground around them shattered into glowing red pebbles as the heat pressed down. The air inside the circle became scorching hot.
In the high spectator stands, Eira leaned forward, her dark eyes wide. "Is she trapped? The heat looks so intense down there! He is burning the whole stage!"
"No," Amira said calmly, leaning her chin on her hand. "This Iris girl isn’t just fast. Her understanding of wind affinity is on a completely different level than his. She reads the air currents, he just burns the ground."
Inside the fiery field, Kol grinned through his teeth, blood trickling down his chin as he pushed his dual affinity to the limit. "Got you. Now try moving. Try your little wind tricks in this heat."
Iris stood inside the trap, but her body didn’t bend. Her midnight black hair swayed gently, untouched by the intense heat.
Because her wind affinity was at S Rank, and her understanding of her affinity was high, it allowed her to slightly read the exact lines of rising air and heat inside Kol’s blast.
Instead of fighting against his force, she let her wind mana blend directly into his thermal updrafts, riding his own heat waves like water.
"Your affinity understanding is too rigid, Kol," Iris said softly. "You think strength is just pushing hard with fire and rock. That is why you will never beat me or any of my friends, no matter how hard Julian and you guys try."
Iris took a single step forward. Her Nightwind Step activated again, breaking through the hot air without a single millisecond of delay. She vanished into a black blur.
Kol’s eyes bulged. He tried to pull his hands up to protect his face with earth armor, but he was far too slow.
Iris appeared directly in front of him, her silver eyes staring coldly into his. She delivered a rapid, four strike combination of open palm wind strikes, left shoulder, right rib, chest, and throat.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! BANG!
Each strike sent a jet of razor sharp wind deep into Kol’s internal system, causing devastating damages.
The final blow to his chest detonated with a loud air pop, blasting Kol backward across the stage.
Kol flew fifty feet through the air, crashing brutally against the stone floor outside the ring. He bounced twice, his body going completely limp, and slid to a stop right near the feet of the panicked tournament medics.
He was bloody, his chest bruised dark purple, his mouth full of blood, completely unconscious.
The whole fight had taken under three minutes.
The referee raised his hand toward the stage.
"MATCH SIX VICTOR: IRIS NIGHTGLOW FROM AETHER BLESSED ACADEMY!"
The Aether section erupted into cheers, while Julian Frostborne gritted his teeth in silence, his fists clenching so hard his knuckles turned white.
Iris didn’t celebrate. She simply turned her back, her waist length black hair fluttering in the breeze, and walked calmly back toward Lynx and Queen Eleanor’s squad.