The Moonlight Swordsman

The ongoing fight between Kelvin against Daisy and Zareena was taking quite an interesting turn.

Kelvin frowned as the arrows arced through the air, missing him completely.

He gestured almost lazily as he ordered a swarm of spears to intervene. In mid-air, the spears slashed the arrows into harmless pieces of wood.

Clearly just a distraction, he thought. His eyes searched the ground below the castle for signs of the real assault.

Once again, Daisy let loose a volley of arrows, doubling their number to four. 

Sharp and buzzing, the arrows flew through the air, dodging spears and shields. This time, Kelvin's defenses were rendered useless as the arrows broke through. 

Kelvin saw the arrows flying without stopping toward him. They drew near quickly, their sights set squarely on his hovering body.

His eyes narrowed as the arrows neared, spotting small containers affixed to each shaft. 

"This trick is getting old," he scoffed.

"I'd be a fool to fall for this again." With a derisive snort, he thrust out his palms, ready to blast away the obvious decoys. 

Kelvin encased himself in a shimmering shield with a bored wave of his palm. As the arrows approached him, the ethereal shields hardened into an impenetrable cocoon. 

The arrows ricocheted harmlessly against the façade as Kelvin crossed his arms.

His spears buzzed around like a swarm of hornets at the same moment. They resolutely cracked and shattered the incoming shafts as they savagely intercepted them. As they fell, the arrows' useless fragments clattered to the ground far below.

Kelvin smirked, sure that he was safe inside his shield shell. 

*WHIZZZ*

A shrill, high-pitched screech echoed across the air.

Kelvin tried to use his mana sense to locate the source, but it was already too late.

In a golden blur, an arrow rocketed through his cocoon, drilling cleanly through his magic shield barriers.

A whirlwind of golden leaves encircled the arrow and ground fiercely against the shield. Before Kelvin could react, it exploded out the other side and buried itself deep in his right shoulder.

Kelvin cried out, more from shock than pain, as the arrow shaft quivered. 

The cocoon remained broken as the leaves continued to crush around the opening. Kelvin reeled back and grabbed the jutting shaft from his shoulder, shock written all over his face. His defenses collapsed in an instant.

Zareena sped past Kelvin in an instant, bursting through the shattered shield. Golden leaf blades spun rapidly around her right hand, screaming through the air.

A look of alarm spread across Kelvin's face. 

Zareena slashed in a vicious arc, the golden blades cleaving cleanly through Kelvin's neck and the remaining shield fragments.

The decapitated head sprayed blood violently as it fell from the body. His stunned expression persisted for an additional heartbeat before his body disintegrated into particles and left the dimension. 

Yet another mage from the Theodora Kingdom has been defeated. 

Daisy stepped from behind the pillar, wiping sweat from her brow. But all at once, alarm bells started ringing in her mana senses. Zareena turned around, but not fast enough. 

Two women with rusty dual blades loomed behind Daisy in a flash. The twins cut viciously in unison before she could scream or defend herself.

In one rapid sweep, both swords found their targets and severed Daisy's head. Her stunned look shattered as her head fell from her shoulders.

Her body dispersed in the particles leaving the battlefield. Finally, Felgura Kingdom lost its first mage in the battle. 

Now there were 4 mages still in the battle from Felgura and 3 mages from the Theodora Kingdom.

Zareena stared in a little shock at the twins, their knives dripping crimson. 

"Damn it, I should have paid more attention to this," she thought.

She gathered her composure and cautiously raised her hands. The real fighting has just begun. 

"WHAT A BATTLE THIS IS GOING ONNNNNN," Shoka's voice boomed in the colosseum exciting the crowd even more.

Daisy finally made it to the balcony of her Kingdom and settled next to Hazel. 

"You did well, Daiys," Hazel said with a smile.

"Thank you, Hazel, but I could have done it more. I got careless after defeating one mage," Daisy replied with a weak smile.

"You should be more proud of yourself. Vespara has done a great job at training you," Aquarian interrupted and said.

Daisy smiled at him and nodded.

"I just hope we can win the battle," Hazel murmured.

Inside the dimension,

Zareena faced the two female mages head-on, but she was on her own. Hiding their faces with scarves, their slim frames were practically identical to one another.

Their one-of-a-kind selling point, however, was their ability to duplicate themselves seemingly at will.

Within the Citadel, the battleground felt eerily empty, with Zareena as the lone defender. With their copies growing all around them, the twins closed in on Zareena.

The clang of blades, a symphony of conflict, echoed through the once-hallowed halls.

Zareena's every move was met with a barrage of attacks from the relentless twins and their clones.

The golden blades of the leaves whirled around her like a cyclone, protecting her from the onslaught of the clones.

Suddenly, a smile graced Seraphine's face, and in the blink of an eye, an arctic wave erupted within the citadel.

Gliding effortlessly on the ice, Seraphine descended, her spear cleaving through the clones with precision.

The frozen assault was a show of organized mayhem. The ice, a crystalline force of nature, grew in predetermined patterns and engulfed the clones.

Seraphine, a master of her icy domain, navigated the frozen terrain with agility, her every move a dance of lethal elegance.

She descended onto the frozen clones, who stood immobile, making them easy targets. Her spear struck with swift and decisive intent. 

Each ice-encased clone broke beneath Seraphine's attack.

A wake of vanquished clones followed Seraphine's planned steps, their frozen bodies crumbling like brittle monuments.

"You made it on time," Zareena said.

Silently sliding over the ice and snow, Seraphine swiftly reached Zareena's side. "I can't spot Daisy; it means she has been defeated," she said.

"Yes, I was a little late to save her, but because of her, I was able to defeat an idiot," Zareena replied, wiping the sweat from her forehead.