Rise of the Devourer
Book 4: Chapter 22 — Tournament Pt. 9

When the third match of the second round was announced, the audience was still humming with excitement from Noah and Seraphina's amazing match. Noah sat back down in his chair, still feeling the effects of Wyrmblood's mending running through his body.

"Third match of round two. Neal Harth vs. Gareth Stormhammer!"

Noah felt uneasy again as Neal walked into the stadium with his usual calm confidence. Gareth, his opponent, was a classic Drakonian warrior. He was big and strong, disciplined, and carried a huge two-handed hammer that showed how strong he was.

The battle that came next was... disturbing.

Neal's chaos magic seemed to break the rules of reality much more than it did in his duel against Erwest. His wooden staff hit like a feather one moment and like a battering ram the next, often within the same combination. He moved in ways that hurt to watch. He would sometimes be in two locations at once, sometimes run forward while moving backward, and sometimes appeared to be a little outside of normal time flow.

Gareth fought bravely, and his hammer work showed years of training and a lot of expertise. But chaos magic didn't follow the principles that regular combat could use to fight back. Neal was somehow behind Gareth as he swung his hammer at him. Neal seemed closer when he tried to make space. Neal's powers changed basic properties in the middle of use when he tried to predict patterns.

The duel ended when Neal gently reached out and touched Gareth's hammer while it was swinging. This let it phase through its target without hurting it, while Neal's counter-strike hit with full force. The arena's safety mechanisms kicked in right away, sending the unconscious Drakonian to another place.

"Victory to Neal Harth !" the announcer said, but Noah could tell that the crowd's cheers weren't as loud as they could have been. Neal's skills were outstanding, but they made people feel uneasy in ways they couldn't quite explain.

"That's not normal chaos magic," Seraphina said quietly from next to Noah. Even after she had been eliminated, she went back to the viewing box to see the rest of the matches. "The theoretical framework doesn't fit with any of the known types of chaos magic."

Noah shook his head sadly. He was getting more and more suspicious of Neal, but there wasn't much he could do about it right now except get ready for the chance to face him in the semifinals.

The arena was rapidly set up for the last match of the second round, and Noah's focus sharpened as the announcement came.

"Last match of round two!" The Dragon-blooded warrior Vion Ashscale fights the Valkyrie Valeria Stormwind!

The crowd was immediately excited. Both boxers had great reputations and had shown a lot of skill in their past fights. This promised to be a great end to the day's tournament.

Vion came out of the tunnel with the predatory grace that Noah had seen grow since her development. She moved like she had a lot of power, with each step being careful and deliberate. But today she seemed different. Her armor seemed to glow with heat from inside, and Noah could swear he saw little flames dancing about her fingers.

Valeria's entrance was just as spectacular. The Valkyrie walked with the power of a god, and her war axe shone with golden light. Her crimson and gold armor only covered certain parts of her body, making her look like a celestial warrior ready for combat. But when she got to the middle of the arena, she showed her true self.

Golden wings burst out of her back. They weren't magical constructs; they were real divine manifestations that caught the light like spun metal. They weren't quite corporeal; they were somewhere between energy and substance. But their presence was real and awe-inspiring.

The two warriors walked up to each other to shake hands, and Noah was struck by how different they looked. Vion's limited might vs Valeria's divine light, dragonfire versus holy light, and evolution versus benediction.

"It's an honor to face you. May this fight be worthy of the gods' attention,” Valeria said.

"The honor is mine. I've been looking forward to seeing how I stack up against a real Valkyrie."

They split up and went to their starting points. As divine force began to build around Valeria's war axe, her wings expanded wide and golden light swirled around the weapon. Vion just stood there, but Noah could see heat waves starting to flicker over her body.

"Start!"

Both warriors moved at the same time, but instead of racing forward, their auras erupted outward and collided in the space between them. Golden divine energy and draconic fire fought each other in a battle of raw power that made the air crackle with electricity.

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Valeria was the first to strike, hitting the arena floor with her battle axe. The contact made the stone shatter and messed up Vion's balance, making the dragon-blooded fighter change her stance. Valeria didn't think twice before using her divine wings to jump into the air and bring her axe down in a deadly overhead attack.

Vion's sword appeared in her hands just in time to defend, but Valeria's blow was so strong that it knocked her to one knee. As dragonfire started to burn under Vion's skin, steam started to come out of her body.

"She's strong," Noah said, as he watched Valeria keep hitting her opponent hard.

But Vion was changing. When Valeria's axe came down again, Vion rolled to the side and hit her back with a rising slice that hit the Valkyrie in the ribs. Blood poured over the arena floor, yet instead of making Valeria weaker, the injury appeared to give her more energy.

"There it is," Seraphina said in a low voice. "Her avalanche is beginning."

"What about her?" Noah asked.

"Valeria gets stronger the more she fights," Seraphina said. "The more hurt she gets, the harder her hits get. It starts out sluggish, but if you let her get going...

Valeria's second hit was notably faster and harder than the last ones, as if to prove his point. Vion blocked, but the blow made her slide back over the floor of the arena.

"Your technique is good," Valeria said, as steam rose from her wounds as they started to heal. "But you're being too defensive in your fight."

The Valkyrie's aura grew stronger, and red energy mixed with the golden light as she really started to use her strength. Her battle axe moved like it was weightless, and each hit generated waves of pressure that broke the floor of the arena.

But Vion had been holding back as well.

From her back came wings of pure dragonfire. These were not the golden energy of divine manifestation, but real flames formed like wings that pulsed with draconic force. The heat they gave out made the air around Vion look like a mirage.

"Dragonfire wings," Seraphina said. "I've never seen anything like that before."

The aerial battle that came next was amazing. Valeria's golden wings flew her into the air with angelic grace, while Vion's flame wings pushed her along with raw draconic might. They fought in the air, with the battle axe hitting the sword and sending showers of sparks and divine light down to the ground.

But Valeria's avalanche was getting bigger. With each exchange, her blows got stronger and her movements got faster. Vion was being forced back by the Valkyrie's attack, which was getting stronger and stronger, even with her dragonfire wings.

"She needs to do something. Valeria is only going to get stronger."

That's when Vion showed what she could really do.

She didn't strive to match Valeria's growing might; instead, she adjusted her plans completely. Her dragonfire wings opened wide, and all of a sudden, the floor of the stadium was covered in controlled flames. Not uncontrolled dragonfire, but streams that Vion could control like they were parts of her body.

Valeria was fighting not only Vion, but also the arena itself. Streams of dragonfire rose to meet her diving strikes, making her stop attacking or risk being burned. The ground was Vion's territory, and any surface might be used as a weapon.

Valeria wasn't done, though. As her avalanche reached its climax, her heavenly power became stronger. The golden light around her was so bright that it hurt to look at it. Her war axe turned into a weapon of pure divine energy, and each blow was strong enough to break stone.

The finish came as both competitors put everything they had into one last fight.

Valeria put all of her strength into one powerful blow and dove through the flames with her axe glowing like a falling star. Vion faced her head-on, and her blade was surrounded by dragonfire that was so hot it burned white.

The impact sent both fighters falling to the ground in a burst of divine light and fire. When the energies cleared, they were locked together, weapons crossed, but Vion had gotten herself on top, which gave her an advantage.

Valeria's golden wings flickered and then disappeared as her power ran out. Vion's dragonfire wings, on the other hand, kept burning continuously. The tip of Vion's sword was so near to Valeria's throat that she could feel the heat.

"Give in," Vion murmured softly.

When Valeria looked up at her, she saw something in Vion's eyes that made her grin with real respect.

"I give up," she said firmly. "Well fought, daughter of the dragon. That power of yours... it's still getting stronger, isn't it?

When the safety barricades came down, the audience cheered loudly. Both fighters had pushed themselves to the limit, putting on a show of aerial warfare and mastery of the elements that would be remembered for years.

Vion helped Valeria get up, and the Northern Valkyrie talked softly so that only people nearby could hear.

"So that… is the new Great Race," she said, shaking her head. “Seriously, what have you become?"

Vion's smile was hard to read. "I'm still working on that myself."

Noah looked at Vion with new interest and excitement when both boxers came back to the viewing areas. Her dragonfire wings, her ability to control fire in her territory, and her stronger body all showed that she was still growing in power and still figuring out what it could do.

In the semifinals, he would confront Neal's reality-bending chaos magic, and Vion would fight Thessa from the previous Drakonian duel. If they both won their following fights, the finals would be a battle between her growing draconic powers and his spatial-void magic.

Noah had never wanted to win a tournament final more than he did now.

"Great match," he commented as Vion sat down. He noticed that even though she had won, she looked like she had been pushed harder than in her last fight.

"Thanks," she said, and Noah could see she was breathing a little harder than she let on. "Valeria's capacity to cause an avalanche is scary once it starts. If I hadn't been able to dominate the battlefield...

"But you did," Aurelia said. "That authority over the territory was amazing. I've never seen fire magic used in that way before.

Vion nodded, but Noah could tell that she was already thinking about the next round. She knew, just like him, that the competition was only going to get tougher.

The second round was over, and the semifinals were next. There were four fighters left, and each had shown that they could do amazing things. Tomorrow would decide who would play in the tournament's final match.