CHAPTER 71: LILA VS ROSANA (FEATURING: EXPLOSION! )

As already anticipated, Rosana would accept the duel, and Lila’s cautious steps approach her opposite side in the Training Ground.

The Heiress’s red eyes observed Lila’s, amused and unfaltering, her fingers clicking at the air in a quiet anticipation.

Mel was already seated on a conjured chair, enjoying popcorn, a small gift from Ed during one of her visits.

Her authoritative voice boomed in the silence. "Come to think of it, I never even asked for your name properly."

Lila blinked as she summoned her stave, the blue crystal shimmering against her emerald eyes as she glanced at Rosana. "Is there a need to?"

"Hearing it from someone else is different from hearing it directly from the recipient. And a Duel’s rule should be respected amongst opponents eying the same prize."

Rosana threw away the sword, allowing it to disspaite into smoke. "Mel was my prey, and you were my rival. It would only be fitting if we declare to each other our names for this challenge."

Lila’s brows twitched in irritation, respectful, yet annoyed by the Heiress’s bold claim as her rival.

Leveling her stave in-between her vision for a stance, she glared at Rosana. "Lila Vexara, Heima Village."

The Heiress held her chin and gave an approving nod. "Rosana Winterscourge. From the Northern Dukedom, where a lone Dragon led."

One name was called without weight, the other laced with pride and honour.

Steady emerald eyes met relaxed crimson gaze, as a grin began to curl up on Rosana’s face.

Then, the Heiress lunged forward, her booted steps leaving a small dent in the wood.

"Snow Globe."

A pre-emptive cast by Lila, as Heiress summoned a waraxe with tremendous speed and swung wide at her neck.

Thunk!

The Heiress frowned as her waraxe struck a strange, solid-blue barrier - perfectly spherical, unmoving.

Yet, to her surprise, the sharpened edge began to sink in, parting it like paper - until it exploded outward like an avalanche unleashed.

On instinct, the Heiress’s body folded into herself, eyes squinting against the snow dust kicked up by the blast, before a faint blue from Lila’s stave flared among the mist.

"Glacial Blast."

A deafening crack split the air as the burst hurled her backward, boots skidding across the wooden floor in a desperate bid for balance.

She slammed her axe into the ground mid-slide, the embedded blade biting deep, before halting her momentum just short of the edge.

With a mocking grin, she examined herself, now covered in snow and ice.

If she hadn’t folded her body at the last second, she was certain her hands would’ve frozen from the blast’s icy proximity.

Taking a deep breath, she muttered towards the expressionless Lila. "Quite a fierce puppy you are, aren’t you?"

Lila’s emerald eyes cast a clinical gaze upon the Heiress, her stance relaxed as she desummoned her waraxe.

Despite the snow covering her body, the earlier attack hadn’t even grazed Rosana.

"Are you suggesting I would hesitate?" Lila’s hand tensed around her stave, still raised against the Heiress. "I thought you’d treat me as an equal."

Rosana shook her head. "I don’t treat others as above or below me. Only whether they deserve my attention."

"How selfish," the Witch of Envy said, lips curling into a frown. "Mel’s attention was more than enough."

Mel froze mid-bite, lips parted and cheeks flushed a faint red from Lila’s words.

With a fluttered heart, she wished no more to rush out at the battle to pamper Lila now, but not before the Heiress teased Lila herself.

"Oh~?"

The observant red gaze darted at Lila’s collar, before tapping her own neck. "Yeah. I can be reasoned with that."

Lila’s brows furrowed deeper together, confused.

Then, memory of last night surged back, as her face flushed a deep pink that mirrored Mel’s hair.

"Ah-ah..."

But the Heiress wasn’t one to waste theatrics as she bolted, nearing the panicked Lila before summoning a broadsword.

She swiped at the air, then stopped mid-swing.

Grinning, she probed. "Too focused for your own good?"

Behind a familiar snow-veiled barrier, Lila scowled at Rosana, though her ears were tinged red. "And you? Resorting to dirty tactics now?"

The Heiress shrugged as she jumped a step back, her feet tapping gracefully on the ground.

She flashed a grin. "Try me, little puppy."

Lila glanced one final time at the snow-covered yet relaxed Heiress, eyes narrowed in quiet contemplation.

Glacial Shatterstorm, her most potent attack, might have the firepower she needed.

But Rosana was a half-dragoness with a strengthened resilience.

That meant she’d have to take a risk.

Sensing a sudden cautiousness, Rosana immediately threw the broadsword against Lila, hoping to break her tricky barrier.

Yet with a flick of her stave, Lila threw a Glacial Blast that froze the spinning broadsword mid-air.

As the sword began its descent, Rosana wasted no time: She dashed forward in a blur.

Lila, too, acted without hesitation, as she lifted her stave for a Long Chant.

Images of ancient tragedies she had read in old tomes surged through her mind.

Empathies she didn’t know she possessed stirred deep within, blooming as her eyes closed and her voice rose.

"Frozen flames, howling frost, may my path be guided."

In a stillness welcomed by this simple chant, a chilly breeze swirled around Lila.

The Heiress hurled a javelin, striking the Snow Globe, which popped and exploded.

"Lanterns of foreboding. Solemnity of the forgotten. Strays of the forlorn."

Clank. The frozen sword fell. Snow dust from the blast drifted away, revealing a giant snow orb floating above Lila.

"May all be condensed in a frosty silence."

Frosty winds converged toward the orb, which pulsed with a powerful rhythm, casting an eerie silence.

Mel’s eyes sparkled with excitement as she hurried to summon a Shield Bug.

Lila’s chant, unheard in the game until now, was born from tireless study and the wordless resolve to grow stronger for Mel.

"Through ice-bound breaths and shattered stars, I submit to thee."

Rosana’s eyes widened as she materialized her warhammer, swinging fiercely at the unprotected Lila.

Then, in an unspoken tranquility, the orb exploded.

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