Nataliaâs ice spread across the volcanic platform like a living thing, frost climbing in fractals and geometric patterns that would make mathematicians weep with joy. The sudden temperature drop made the crowdâs collective gasp visible, twenty thousand plumes of white breath rising into the afternoon air.
Reyna moved immediately, her body blurring with the kind of speed that came from Olympic-level training since childhood. Lightning crackled around her hands as she summoned two marionettes on either side of Natalia, eight-foot-tall constructs of pure electricity that hummed with enough voltage to fry a grown man.
But Natalia had spent seventeen matches worth of footage learning Reynaâs patterns, cataloging every micro-expression and tactical preference. She knew Reyna defaulted to a defensive double-marionette formation when pressured from the left because it allowed her to reposition right while maintaining offensive capability.
So Natalia deliberately gave Reyna the opening she wanted.
Natalia threw a telekinetic spike toward Reynaâs left side, intentionally telegraphing the attack enough that any professional fighter could read it coming. Reyna responded exactly as predicted, manifesting a third marionette to intercept while she shifted right.
Which meant Skylarâs smoke already wrapped around Reynaâs throat before she finished the movement.
The Phantasm Smoke appeared from nowhere, indigo mist that smelled of clove cigarettes and bad decisions. Skylar solidified just enough to press a blade against Reynaâs carotid artery, the threat clear without being lethal.
"Got you," Skylar whispered, and her voice carried that flat, dangerous quality she used when she was genuinely serious about violence.
Reyna didnât panic like most people would when a knife kissed their throat. Instead she smiled, that wild grin that said sheâd been hoping for exactly this level of threat.
"Did you though?"
The marionette Reyna had created to block Nataliaâs decoy attack suddenly reversed direction, its electrical form compressing into a single point before exploding outward in a flash-bang burst of light and sound. Skylar yelped and dissolved back into smoke, her concentration shattered by the unexpected counterattack.
Reyna spun and launched a straight kick at where Skylar had been standing, her boot connecting with empty air as Skylar reformed three meters away, her face flushed and her violet eyes blazing with something between fury and grudging respect.
"Okay. That was good."
"Thanks. Been working on that one."
Kira materialized behind Natalia without warning, her Shadow Step ability allowing instantaneous movement through darkness. Her twin daggers carved toward Nataliaâs spine in a killing blow that wouldâve been illegal if it connected.
Nataliaâs telekinesis caught Kira mid-strike, invisible force wrapping around her wrists and yanking them sideways. The daggers carved harmless arcs through empty air while Natalia spun, frost spreading from her palms and climbing up Kiraâs arms.
"Not today."
Natalia slammed Kira into the platform hard enough to crack volcanic rock, then reinforced the ice forming around Kiraâs body. Within three seconds, the Shadow Dancer was encased from neck to ankles in crystalline blue ice, her daggers frozen to her palms.
One down.
The crowdâs roar became deafening, chanting Nataliaâs name with religious fervor. She felt Satoriâs presence through Sovereignâs Mandate, a warm pressure at the back of her mind that said he was watching and proud and probably also terrified.
Good. Let him worry.
Reynaâs smile widened into something genuinely predatory. "Nice. Kira, you good?"
The ice muffled Kiraâs response, though her middle finger raised clearly enough through the frozen prison.
"Sheâll live." Reyna summoned four new marionettes, surrounding herself in a crackling cage of electricity. "Just you and me now, Queen."
Skylar reformed beside Natalia, her breathing slightly elevated but her grip on her knives steady. "Plan?"
"Same as before. Make her angry."
"My specialty."
Skylar dissolved into smoke again, but this time she spread across the entire platform in a thick fog that obscured everything beyond armâs reach. The crowd noise became muted and distant, the volcanic heat dulled to a memory.
Natalia felt rather than saw Reynaâs confusion through the mist. The marionettes flickered, their electrical forms destabilizing slightly without clear targets to lock onto. Good. Confusion led to mistakes, and mistakes led to openings.
Natalia channeled power through the Cryo-Lich Ring and the new gloves Cel had given her, watching ice crystals form in the air itself. She pulled moisture from the atmosphere and shaped it into jagged spears that hung suspended in the fog like sleeping dragons.
Then she sent them flying toward where Reynaâs heat signature blazed through the mist.
Three ice spears converged from different angles, forcing Reyna to move or die. Reyna chose movement, her marionettes interposing themselves to block two of the attacks while she dodged the third with acrobatic grace that spoke of years of professional training.
But that dodge put her exactly where Natalia wanted her.
Skylar materialized directly behind Reyna, close enough to kiss, her blade pressed against Reynaâs spine. "Second timeâs the charm?"
Reynaâs elbow snapped backward faster than thought, catching Skylar square in the solar plexus. The Phantom Blade gasped and stumbled, her concentration breaking enough that the smoke dissipated entirely.
Sunlight flooded back across the platform, revealing Reyna standing in a defensive crouch with all four marionettes positioned around her like a fortress wall.
"Youâre good," Reyna admitted, her emerald eyes finding Skylarâs. "Better than your file suggested."
"Files lie." Skylar coughed, pressing one hand to her stomach where the elbow had connected. "Just like people."
"True." Reynaâs attention shifted to Natalia. "But I donât think your ice princess is lying about what she can do. I felt that cold. You almost flash-froze my marionettesâ energy signature."
Natalia stepped forward, the platformâs ice responding to her presence by thickening and spreading in concentric circles. "Almost doesnât count."
"Doesnât it?"
The temperature around Reyna spiked as lightning gathered around her body in a corona of crimson electricity. Her marionettes grew brighter, more solid, their forms condensing from vague humanoid shapes into actual defined musculature made of pure voltage.
Natalia recognized the technique from match seventeen, timestamp three minutes forty seconds. Reyna was transitioning from defensive positioning to overwhelming offensive assault, planning to end the fight through sheer destructive power before Natalia could freeze her constructs.
Which meant Natalia had approximately four seconds before Reyna unleashed hell.
Natalia reached for Skylar without looking, their hands finding each other through muscle memory developed over three weeks of training together. "Trust me?"
"No."
"Good. Do it anyway."
Natalia grabbed Skylarâs wrist and poured telekinetic energy directly into Skylarâs Aspect, channeling power the way Satori had taught her to share strength through their bond. Skylarâs Phantasm Smoke exploded outward with enough force to shake the entire platform, indigo mist flooding the arena in a wave that consumed everything.
But this time the smoke carried Nataliaâs ice within it, every particle of moisture freezing instantly and creating a fog of suspended ice crystals that refracted light in impossible ways.
The crowd couldnât see anything through the frozen mist. Neither could Reyna.
Her marionettes fired blindly, electrical bolts arcing through the fog in random directions as Reyna attempted to compensate for her sudden loss of visual information. Lightning struck the platform, the railings, even carved scorching lines across the volcanic rock itself.
But none of it found Natalia or Skylar, who moved through their own fog with the confidence of people whoâd planned for exactly this situation.
Natalia channeled everything through the Cryo-Lich Ring, feeling the artifact pulse with cold approval against her finger. She didnât target Reyna directly. Instead she went for the marionettes themselves, reaching out with telekinetic tendrils and grabbing hold of their electrical signatures.
The constructs resisted, their energy fighting against her grip with the force of a hurricane trying to tear free from invisible chains. But Natalia held on, gritting her teeth as sweat beaded on her forehead despite the freezing temperature. She channeled ice directly into the marionettesâ cores, watching frost spread through their crackling forms.
Electricity and ice fought for dominance, voltage versus absolute zero, chaos versus order.
Natalia won.
The marionettes froze solid, their electrical forms locked into crystalline stasis that turned them from active threats into beautiful statues of captured lightning. They shattered when Natalia released them, dissolving into sparkling particles that rained down across the frozen platform.
Reynaâs voice cut through the fog, sharp with genuine surprise. "What the hell?"
Natalia didnât answer. She dispersed the frozen mist with a gesture, revealing herself standing alone at the platformâs center with frost spreading from her boots in spiraling patterns. The Cryo-Lich Ring blazed with cold white light, her hairâs platinum streaks glowing in response to her emotional state.
Reyna stood ten meters away, breathing hard but grinning like this was the best fight sheâd had in months. Her crimson hair whipped around her face in a wind that shouldnât exist in an enclosed space, and her hands crackled with raw electrical power that made the air itself protest her existence.
"You froze my marionettes. My perfect, A-Rank marionettes that Iâve been developing for six years."
"They were fragile."
Reyna laughed, genuine and delighted and absolutely unhinged. "I like you. Shame I have to destroy you."
She summoned eight new marionettes in a formation that made Nataliaâs stomach drop. Not defensive positioning or offensive assault, but a tactical pattern designed to control space and deny movement. Each construct positioned itself at a critical angle, creating overlapping fields of fire that would electrocute anything trying to cross between them.
Reyna had learned from Nataliaâs counter and adapted immediately, her genius-level combat instincts finding the solution in real time.
This was what fighting an actual prodigy felt like, Natalia realized. Not someone like Julian who relied on breeding and equipment, but someone whoâd earned every scrap of their reputation through blood and talent and refusing to accept anything less than perfection.
Skylar appeared at Nataliaâs side, breathing hard from the earlier exertion. Her violet eyes tracked the marionette positions with professional assessment. "Thatâs bad."
"I noticed."
"Ideas?"
"Working on it."