On the far side of the arena, the air churned violently where Lia fought against Selene's shadow. Their battlefield looked nothing like the others. One half was filled with spiraling green currents sharp enough to carve stone, while the other glowed with flickering dark red-orange runes—pulsing, exploding, clashing. It was a storm of wind blades slamming against condensed arcane symbols, two completely different magics colliding again and again.

Selene's shadow lifted her staff with perfect calm, amber crystal shining with a corrupted hue. Then her dark runes flared—circles folding into circles, shifting into a layered spell structure faster than most mages could even think.

"Rune Magic — Second Circle: Multi Rune Spears."

Dark red-orange runes burst outward, rotating rapidly before transforming into sharp-edged spears of pure rune energy. They hovered in the air with a low hum, their tips vibrating with lethal intent.

Before Lia could react, the shadow cast again—another glowing pattern forming beneath her feet.

"Rune Magic — Third Circle: Runic Shield."

Flickering barriers formed around the shadow-Selene, runic walls shifting and reinforcing in perfect rhythm. It was a fortress of moving symbols, both offense and defense layered seamlessly.

The spears surged forward like a crimson storm.

Lia's grip tightened around her sleek straight-edged chokutō. Green wind aura ignited around her blade, sharp and focused. She took a single step—

and time seemed to ripple around her.

With dizzying speed, she swung.

Her blade blurred, leaving behind crescents of shimmering green light. One by one, the rune spears were sliced through—each cut clean, each fragment dissolving into glittering motes of orange mana. Lia's slashes carved the air itself, sending bursts of wind spiraling outward as she advanced.

But the shadow wasn't idle.

As soon as the spears shattered, dark runes shimmered again, overlapping like a blooming flower. A second wave of spear-runes formed instantly, and the runic shield shifted positions, blocking off every angle.

Lia's eyes narrowed.

"Persistent, aren't you?"

The wind around her flared as she dashed again, slicing down the next cluster of spears mid-flight. Each impact scattered wind and runes violently across the arena, leaving trails of green and orange colliding in midair. The sound was a constant, rapid-fire mix of magical detonations and cutting wind.

The shadow-Selene stood unmoving, unfazed, her expression identical to Selene's focused calm—

but colder.

Sharper.

Unblinking.

Lia leapt back as a dozen rune spears flew past her cheek and shoulder, grazing lightly enough to sting.

She exhaled.

This was harder than she thought.

Selene's fighting style was difficult even for experienced mages…

and Lia wasn't fighting Selene.

She was fighting a version of Selene that had

no hesitation,

no exhaustion,

no emotional missteps.

A perfect, efficient mage.

But she wasn't going to lose.

Wind gathered at her feet, coiling upward like a tightening vortex.

"I'm not done yet."

She dashed forward again—

right into the heart of the rune storm.

Lia inhaled sharply, her chest rising with controlled determination as the green aura around her flared brighter—sharper—almost wild. The wind coiled tightly around her legs, spiraling upward like living blades of air, and in the next instant her entire form blurred.

Her figure vanished from sight.

"Wind Butterfly: Zephyr Dash!"

A streak of sharp green wind ripped across the arena, too fast for the eye to follow. The air cracked with each afterimage she left behind, her movement fluid and unpredictable. Before Selene's shadow could reorient her runic shield, Lia appeared directly in front of her—blade thrusting forward like a shooting star.

The sword shone, wrapped in a fierce spiraling gale.

"Wind Butterfly: Gale Pierce!"

With the momentum of Zephyr Dash behind her, Lia drove the glowing blade forward. The fragile front layer of Selene-shadow's runic shield shattered instantly beneath the piercing force—runes scattering like broken glass.

The blade kept going, aimed straight for Selene's shadow's stomach—

The shadow's eyes widened.

But the strike stopped.

A deeper, darker glow suddenly flared around her torso—a second barrier that revealed itself only at the last possible moment. A concentrated, dense shield of dark reddish-orange runes shimmered to life, blocking the fatal thrust inches before impact.

Lia's eyes widened.

"A second shield…?"

Selene's shadow lifted her chin slightly, confidence flickering in her cold gaze. She had anticipated that Lia's speed would break the first barrier—and had prepared a hidden rune layer close to her body. A precaution real Selene might've used if she were wary.

Lia ripped her blade free, the remnants of the shattered runic shield dissolving around her. She didn't hesitate—not even for a second. She blurred again.

"Wind Butterfly: Zephyr Dash!"

Her form dissolved into a streak of green.

She circled Selene's shadow at impossible speed, wind spraying in every direction.

Her sword flashed.

"Wind Butterfly: Butterfly Slash!"

From every angle, from every shifting point in her circling path, Lia unleashed slashes of compressed wind—sharp green arcs cutting through the air in a relentless storm. The slashes converged, striking Selene's shadow from dozens of directions.

For any normal mage, it would've been impossible to track.

But Selene's shadow was not normal.

The amber crystal atop her staff glowed deep red-orange. A complex rune structure blazed into being above her head, layers folding and collapsing inward into a single massive sigil.

"Rune Magic — Fourth Circle: Pulse Seal."

The rune flashed.

And then—

It pulled.

Every single wind slash Lia launched was absorbed at one tiny, focused point just above Selene's shadow. The rune drank the wind energy whole, compressing it into a single volatile core.

Lia's breath caught in her throat.

"What…?"

The Pulse Seal detonated.

A massive shockwave blasted outward, shimmering with both wind and rune energy. Lia barely had time to grind her sword into the ground, her boots screeching across the reflective floor as she leaned into the gale. The wind tore at her clothes and hair, pushing her back meters at a time.

Her muscles burned from the strain.

The floor cracked beneath her feet.

And still the pulse raged.

When it finally faded, Lia staggered back, panting. Her sword trembled slightly in her grip, not from fear—

but from the sheer force she had to resist.

She glanced at Selene's shadow, still standing calmly within the remains of her runic formation.

Lia swallowed hard.

"I had no idea Selene was this strong…" she muttered, voice tight.

Of course—the shadows were exactly as strong as their originals.

She took a long, steadying breath, lowering her stance again as green aura surged once more around her limbs.

"Alright…" she whispered, eyes sharpening.

"Let's do this."

Lia steadied her breath, gripping her sword as the wind coiled tightly around her body. Her usual sharp green aura flickered—

and then shifted.

A radiant, vibrant pink began to bloom within the wind.

Soft at first—like petals caught in a breeze—

then sharper, brighter, alive.

Wind burst outward in a spiraling flare as pink butterflies of pure energy fluttered around her form. Their wings were edged with razor-thin wind currents, slicing tiny scars into the ground beneath her feet.

Selene's shadow paused.

She felt it.

The shift.

The rising pressure.

Her opponent's sudden leap in power.

And Lia felt something too—

the deep concentrated mana gathering inside Selene's shadow like a forming storm.

The air trembled.

A grand runic array ignited beneath Selene's shadow—massive, intricate, glowing with dark red-orange brilliance. The very sight of it sent a shiver through the arena.

Selene, fighting Lia's shadow in the distance, saw it too.

Her heart lurched.

"LIA!! THAT SPELL WILL END YOU! DESTROY THE GRAND RUNE—NOW!"

Lia didn't respond with fear.

She only narrowed her eyes.

Her pink wind aura flared again—

fiercer, sharper—

and she whispered under her breath:

"I need… to build momentum."

Professor Zane's words echoed in her memories:

"Your strength is not static. It grows with motion.

Momentum—build it, and your attacks will carry power far beyond their limit."

So she moved.

She began circling the arena—slow at first, then faster, then impossibly fast.

Each rotation carved glowing trails of pink wind behind her.

Each step spawned more wind phantoms—ghostly silhouettes of herself flickering in the storm.

Pink butterflies fluttered in the vortex, carried by the rising gale.

A swirling tempest took form—

alive

hungry

unstoppable.

Meanwhile, Selene's shadow completed her spell.

"Rune Magic — Fifth Circle: Celestial Binding Array."

The grand rune erupted in light.

From its blazing lines, ethereal chains burst out—massive, incandescent, dripping with searing heat.

They lashed across the arena like divine whips, tearing the floor, ripping through wind, reaching for Lia's storm.

Selene shouted again, voice cracking with urgency:

"LIA! QUICKLY!!"

Lia didn't break her momentum.

She didn't hesitate.

She didn't falter.

Pink wind whipped violently around her, tearing her sleeves, cutting her skin. Ethereal chains struck the storm—explosions of light cracking through the wind vortex. Each strike drew blood, slicing across her arms, her legs, her cheek.

But Lia kept running.

Kept building.

Kept growing.

This was her magic—

her path—

her freedom.

And then:

"WIND BUTTERFLY—TEMPEST PHANTOM WEAVE!!!"

The world exploded into motion.

The storm erupted forward—

a hurricane of pink and silver.

Hundreds of wind phantoms surged around her, each an echo of her movement, each carrying lethal wind blades. The storm spun so violently that even the arena walls shook.

Selene's shadow hastily formed multiple layers of defensive runes:

Rune Magic — Fourth Circle: Multi Runic Shield!!

Ten shields.

Twenty.

A fortress.

It didn't matter.

The storm hit like a divine hammer.

SHRRAAAAK—!!!

The runic shields shattered like fragile glass.

Wind phantoms crashed inward, slicing through every barrier.

Ethereal butterflies burst against the dark runes in bright pink flares.

And within that collapsing storm—

Lia appeared.

One single streak of pure pink wind.

Her sword thrust forward—

silent

perfect

unavoidable.

It pierced straight through Selene's shadow's chest.

Wind blades spiraled outward on impact, slicing through the shadow in a cyclone of cuts. The Celestial Binding Array cracked—

fractured—

and shattered.

The entire spell collapsed.

BOOOOOM—!!!

A massive explosion engulfed the arena in light.

Wind and rune energy collided in a storm of blazing destruction, shaking the entire battlefield. A hurricane of pink wind tore through the air, scattering the last remnants of the grand rune.

When the light finally faded—

Lia stood at the center of the destruction.

Her sword buried in the ground.

Clothes torn.

Arms and legs covered in dozens of cuts.

Pink aura flickering weakly around her like dying embers.

She exhaled sharply.

Once.

Twice.

"Done…"

A small, tired smile touched her lips—

and then her knees buckled.

Lia collapsed forward, hitting the ground with a soft thud.

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