The Moonlight Swordsman

"You don't deserve to fight against my young master, you filthy woman," The giant man said.

The giant mage brought his hefty fists up and brought them crashing down with the fury of a meteor. The impact exploded outward in a shockwave that fractured the tiled floor. 

When the ground gave way beneath Seraphine's feet, she tripped. As sharp objects smashed into her, she raised one arm to protect her face.

She looked up through the dust cloud and saw the giant making more shockwaves that were breaking up the floor like it was water.

Seraphine found it hard to stay on her feet as the tremors continued.

*THUD* *THUD* *THUD*

He kept trying to knock her over with concussive blasts, increasing the intensity with each resounding thud.

She spun and twisted while holding her spear tightly. But the ongoing assault kept her off balance and unable to mount a counterattack.

Trying to regain her composure, Seraphine shook her head.

When she looked up again, the giant mage loomed directly overhead, his colossal fist plunging down like a meteor.

On reflex, Seraphine raised her ice-encased spear to parry the attack.

The giant's sledgehammer punch collided with an earth-shattering BOOM that fractured her icy shield instantly.

The force threw Seraphine through the air backward. She flew through the obsidian wall like a rocket, hitting and breaking the wall, and she flew outside of the citadel with a hail of rocks.

She slid across the floor of the flying platform until she hit a far spire with a painful crunch.

Seraphine cried out in pain, clutching her spear in a white-knuckled grip.

Around her, lightning arced wildly, drawn to the tall spires.

Tendrils of electricity reached for her as she struggled to rise. Her entire body screamed in protest. 

"THE FIRST VICTIM FINALLY EXPERIENCED THE BATTLEFIELD LIGHTNINGGG..." Meanwhile, Shoka's voice boomed, and the crowd cheered as they watched the intense fight going on.

"Is that all you gottttttt, let me, the giant 'Broksy' give you some lessons." The giant mage's voice boomed.

The giant's weak legs didn't stop him from launching himself into the skies with incredible force.

He rocketed through the air directly at Seraphine, his massive frame blocking out the flickering lightning behind him.

Seraphine sprang to her feet, her spear clenched tightly in her grip. Still dazed from the last blow, she tried to blink away the dark spots in her vision.

Broksy descended rapidly, his foot raised, to stomp her into oblivion.

With no time to spare, Seraphine dove and rolled out of the way. Broksy foot shattered the surface on which she had stood only seconds before.

The opportunity presented itself, and Seraphine brandished her spear. 

Water whipped forth, lashing around the giant's spindly legs before freezing solid. Coils of ice froze quickly, immobilizing his feet.

Seraphine didn't waste her chance and charged, spear gleaming with icy force and targeted at his chest.

Her spear was about to pierce the giant's chest when Broksy abruptly clapped his enormous hands together.

*CLAP*

The colossal shockwave that erupted outward was like a physical wall slamming into her.

It threw Seraphine backwards, and her spear went flying. She tumbled helplessly and disoriented through the air once again. 

The ice that had been wrapping around the giant's legs cracked and exploded with the sound of a loud crack. 

Seraphine skidded on the platform; all the wind knocked from her lungs. Her body screamed in agony as she fought valiantly to bring her head up.

Is this guy purely a strength-based mage?" she thought, spitting some blood from her mouth.

Seraphine watched her spear arcing back to her side, carried on waves of water. Slowly, almost hypnotically, the weapon turned and reached out to her. 

The look of predatory enjoyment grew across his face as the Broksy came crashing closer. 

It was like a hunter playing with his prey.

Broksy attempted to attack Seraphine, but he froze. 

Behind her, massive waves were rising, cresting, and crashing with a deafening roar. As they split, the water froze into towering spikes of ice, bristling from the ground like crystal spears.

Seraphine swung her spear upward, and the spikes responded by separating and launching themselves at Broksy.

As the lethal ice spikes sped at him, the giant mage stomped his feet. He avoided the deadly bullets with astonishing dexterity, weaving and dodging between them. 

The spikes that got through his defenses met his pile-driving fists, shattering into glittering shards.

With a flurry of mighty swings, Broksy crushed every frosty spike that came within range. However, the barrage of attacks continued without letup. 

The ice spikes intensified, bombarding the giant in a relentless fusillade.

They peppered his body like bullets from a machine gun, beyond counting. Broksy's hands became two jackhammers as he fought back desperately.

He plunged his knuckles into the onslaught, punch after earth-shattering punch. His arms were a blur as he tried to keep up with the rapid succession of impacts.

"NOT YET, NOT YET, NOT YETTTTTT," Broksy shouted.

Even as the hail of ice spikes grew heavier, Broksy amazingly began to advance in the face of it.

He was getting closer to Seraphine through the barrage of frozen fragments with each resounding step.

Though the spikes tore viciously into his body, he swung his arms relentlessly, smashing a path with sheer force of will.

Rivulets of blood streamed from hundreds of wounds, turning his body crimson. Any other mage would have collapsed long ago under the merciless icy rain. But Broksy continued his agonizing march, eyes burning with defiance.

Broksy's fists cleaved through empty air as the ice spike onslaught abruptly ceased. In his state of shock, he failed to notice that Seraphine had disappeared into the icy mayhem.

Before he could recover, a flash of blue entered his peripheral vision. 

Seraphine came skating across icy waves, having closed the distance in the blink of an eye. 

Her crystal spear sparkled as she expertly aimed it at the giant's torso.

Broksy's reflexes were too slow to counterattack or defend.

The only thing he could do was watch as Seraphine, using her speed to drive the spear deep into his left side, slashed at him mercilessly. Blood spurted out of his back as it tore through his skin and internal organs.

Seraphine's icy gaze met the giant's shocked expression. She twisted the spear and released it with a blast of bloody ice.

Broksy, mortally wounded, fell to his knees with a cry and vanished into the particles that took him out of the dimension. He was the first one to get eliminated in the team battle.

Seraphine's chest heaved as she tried to steady her breath.

She collapsed to her knees in the middle of the continuing lightning strikes, exhausted from the fight and desperate for a break.

She took several deep breaths before assessing the situation. The citadel platform was ravaged, large chunks smashed away where Broksy had unleashed his titanic strength.

In the distance, a tempest raged, thunder and lightning tearing at the dark skies.

I should head back and join others," she thought.

Meanwhile, on the inside of the citadel,

*Booom* *Booom* *Booom* *Booom* 

Within the citadel walls, chaos reigned. 

A maelstrom of shimmering spears flooded the air as Kelvin showered down relentless attacks. 

Zareena and Daisy frantically wove and twisted, narrowly avoiding the projectiles. The spears shrieked past Zareena's cheek, slicing through her robes.

She dove for cover behind a shattered column, just as several blows caused the stone to shatter. Zareena clenched her teeth and gestured, sending a swarm of golden leaf daggers to deflect the incoming attack.

"We need to find a way to reach him, Daisy," she shouted.

"I can create a chance for you, princess, but we still don't know where the remaining mage is," Daisy shouted back from another side.

"Hahaha, you both really think you can even get past my attacks," Kelvin replied.

"Don't worry about that Daisy, create a chance for me and leave the rest to me," However, Zareena didn't pay attention to Kelvin and replied back to Daisy.

"Well, before facing Aizel, let me warm up by beating you both," Kelvin replied with a smile.

Quickly revealing herself from hiding with her bow at the ready, Daisy dispatched the oncoming volley of spears with ease.

She skillfully gathered the energy of the wind and fashioned it into two arrows with their own unique characteristics. 

She dove for cover behind a column and let fly with both arrows at Kelvin, who was floating in the air.

"Hmph, do you think these weak arrows can even faze me," Kelvin said, after seeing the arrows flying toward him.

Kelvin conjured a sizable shield from the air, but in an unexpected turn, the arrows altered their trajectory—one veering to the right, the other to the left, skillfully bypassing the protective barrier.

Rather than homing in on Kelvin, the arrows opted for a detour, retracing their path and veering slightly farther from him.

The unexpected maneuver left him bewildered.

"What is she trying to do," He thought.