After Nyima and Sarah left and the water drained, Aria and I entered the ring.

I had only seen a bit of her in action in the games. She was swift, but it would take more than speed to break past my fire walls.

Great Flame, stay out of this. I wish to do this using my natural power, like Wanikiya and Nahimana.

There was no response. Not that she was as talkative as her husband.

"Begin the eighth match!" Marina yelled.

Aria wasted no time, jumping away and raining down pillars of light down on me.

I held my arms up and fired crimson flames at them, flinging them into the barrier.

My eyes widened as the hilt of Aria's swords hit me in the stomach, flinging me back.

I clicked my tongue. Should've raised my wall of flame while pushing those beams away.

Aria jumped back and fired another laser at me. I ducked and shot flames at her. "Ignis Draco Maxima!" I yelled.

Aria's eyes widened as the flames turned golden.

She formed a steel shield and ducked. Red simmering liquid dripped across the white tiled floor. Only a few black chunks of metal remained.

"Trying to kill me or something?" Aria asked as she pressed the dull side of her blade against my neck.

So quick. She's faster than the triplets.

A blast of light struck my neck, sending me tumbling to the ground.

I gritted my teeth and melted the ground. This was annoying! At this rate, I would end up like Arima!

Aria jumped back. "Such heat..."

I spun around and threw a fireball at her.

She ducked and dashed at me. Darts made up of light formed between her fingers. The projectiles swept through the air like arrows with a flick of her hand.

I raised my hand. Flames erupted from the ground like water had in Orion's fight against Aya.

Aria raised her hands into the air and fired off more light projectiles.

I closed the flames over me. My eyes widened as the darts tore past my firewall.

She was strong. Maybe as powerful as Nahimana when serious.

I let out a growl and thrust my hands into the air. The flames turned into a giant fireball. The sphere of fire exploded, raining multiple bullets of flame all around me.

Aria swiftly dodged all of them. She even made sure to take to the air to avoid the molten lava forming where each missed bullet struck.

She smiled and threw a silver sword with a feathered hilt at me.

I sidestepped it. My arm ached even though it had missed!

I gasped as I saw metal feathers stuck to my arm. So, they weren't some over-the-top decoration.

I jumped as Aria appeared in front of me. I punched her, but my hand went right through her. It was an afterimage or a hologram.

Once more, I found myself tumbling to the floor as Aria elbowed me on the back, close to the neck.

I clenched my hands. Cold steel touched my back as I tried to stand up.

Aria smiled victoriously. "Give up while you still can. I don't wish to provoke your spirit like my fellow Shard of Light did with your friend."

"My friend?" My eyes widened as I realized she meant Wanikiya. That meant Ulissis was like her, Tahoma, Yanyu, Kun, Rhys, and Nahimana.

She giggled. "Seems you understood." Her smile vanished. "No hard feelings, but this ends here."

"No, it doesn't!" I yelled, swinging my arm behind me.

Aria jumped and formed another shield, blocking the fireball I threw with my swatting.

I pushed myself up. "You should learn to finish the fight instead of choosing to ramble with your opponent. If this were a fight to the death, it might've cost you dearly."

Aria nodded her head. "True, but if this were a fight to the death, you would've died earlier when I first had my knife against your neck."

I gulped. She had a point there. I'd failed to protect it, and not just once, but twice.

Flames formed around my neck, adorning it like a scarf. Hopefully, that would shield me against further attacks like that, at least long enough for me to counter.

Aria flew around in circles, leaving behind multiple afterimages. My eyes shifted back and forth, deciphering which Aria was the real one among the sea of fakes.

The Aria legion raised their swords; feathers once again adorned their hilts.

I raised the temperature of my flames and formed a fire barrier that could guard me on all sides.

Beams of light broke through the flames, striking me down.

I collapsed to the floor in pain. Her light magic was more robust than any I'd seen. If she had participated in last year's event, she would've won.

Giving up already, Zelde?

My eyes widened. This voice, it was The Great Flame.

I tried to push myself up, but a beam of light pushed me back down.

You and the other hosts are a pathetic bunch. If only you would let me take control of you, we could have this girl begging for mercy. Don't make the same error that the prince and the shadow guard girl made. At least accept my strength, don't reject it. Unleash my power, and victory shall be granted to you.

"No! Not after what you did last year. Because of you, people got burned badly. I'm lucky that no one actually died in that horrific event."

Aria gasped. Light bent around me, forming a cage.

I thought that asking nicely would make things simpler, but it appears I was wrong. You leave me with no choice but to do things the hard way.

Fire erupted from my mouth as crimson lines ran throughout my body.

"Stop!" I managed to get out. "I don't want to be your puppet again!"

"It's not about what you want, but about what I want," she said, her voice coming out of my lips this time.

I gritted my teeth. This timing sucked. Wanikiya still had yet to awaken. He was the only one who could stop me. Maybe even he couldn't since his spirit had his 'blessing' from him.

"Zelde!" a voice called out.

I looked up and saw Wanikiya running toward us. Ulissis, Nahimana, and Arima followed close behind. The latter two had returned to the nurse's office following their defeats.

"Wanikiya," I said, pushing myself up. The red markings vanished.

What? How are you resisting me?

"Shut your pie hole! No one controls me, not even a vengeful goddess like yourself."

She snickered in my head. That's what you think. You and the others will soon beg for our aid. Just you wait and see...

I smirked. "We'll see about that..." I said as my chin touched the floor. Wanikiya's cries echoed as everything went dark.

It seemed that I wasn't as strong as I had thought.

***

I woke up in a nurse's office. How long had it been since the battle ended? Was the first round now over? Wanikiya slept in the bed next to mine.

Hadn't he woken up? Maybe he was still exhausted, so he went back to sleep. He had resorted to using crutches after all. Hopefully, that was it. The ice had covered his feet when Great Glacier took over. For all I knew, he could've damaged Wanikiya's legs.

Nahimana glanced at me and smiled slightly as soon as she saw I was awake.

"Aria sure curb-stomped you out there."

I lowered my head.

"Don't let her words get you down," Arima said, walking in with a cup of what seemed to be coffee. "I barely held up much better against Vermeil."

"It seems the mighty have fallen," Nahimana mumbled. "Iah, you two, and me. An likely has too, but he has more of an excuse."

My eyes shifted to the television. Adela and Xue's swords clashed. Flames and ice poured out of them. Each girl dashed around in the air, seeking an opening against the other.

Each girl glared at the other and jumped back as a giant hole formed from the resulting shockwave.

"Woah," Ulissis said, eyes wide.

"You're going to have to fight one of them next," Arima muttered.

Ulissis laughed nervously. "I sure have my work cut out for me, huh?" He crossed his arms. "Not sure how I'll handle their sword skills. Close combat seems foolish. And unless I'm exhausted, I can't use my light magic."

"So that's how it works," Nahimana said, glancing over at him.

Aria's words echoed in my head. "Are you really a shard of light?" I asked.

Ulissis glanced uncomfortably toward Nahimana. As if unsure what to say.

Nahimana crossed her legs and narrowed her eyes at me. "How do you know that?"

"Aria told me in a roundabout way."

Nahimana sighed. "Aria and Kun sure do let things slip a lot. Going to have to give them a good talking to after this."

"So, it's true," Arima said. She glanced at her friend. "Why hadn't you told me?"

Ulissis frowned. "I... I'm not sure what to say." He lowered his head and snickered. "Though, given my family is full of chosen ones, it shouldn't be shocking."

"You said you had divine blood to Wanikiya. What was that about?" I asked, sitting up.

Ulissis stared at his hands. "I'm a descendant of the gods of this world and Zionia. My paternal grandmother's paternal grandparents are the creators of this world. While her maternal grandparents are the creators of Zionia"

"Right, you did say something about being related to the Angel of Light, meaning you're related to Takehaya," I whispered.

"Yeah, the first Magus Maximus and the son of the creators.

Then that made his paternal grandmother the cousin of Iah.

We gasped as the entire building shook.

The camera zoomed out of the battle to reveal a dome covered in dust.

"Those two are insane," I said, gripping my blankets.

"If you had used the usual amount of spirit power you use, your battle with Aria would've gone like this," Nahimana said, scoffing.

The dust gradually cleared to show Adela and Xue both on one knee. Each one gripped their sword. An indigo aura covered Xue's jian while a crimson aura covered Adela's macuahuitl.

Xue had her eyes closed, as was the norm for her. She remained still and jumped back as soon as Adela dashed forward, avoiding the resulting flame arc.

"What was that?" I asked, leaning forward.

"Huh?" Ulissis said.

"Xue moved as if she knew what was coming. Then again, her instincts do tend to be pretty incredible when in battle."

"Yeah, she said something about being able to sense her opponents during her battle with An last year. It's part of her fighting style," Arima said.

Nahimana chuckled. "She is better at feeling incoming threats even when they're in the air than Kun, who is an actual wind mage."

"How rude," Kun said as he stomped into the room. Behind him were Hikaru and Yen.

"Oh, surprised that you're here. Thought you would go see your beloved Sarah first," Nahimana said, giggling.

Kun's face reddened. "W-what's with that tone? "I'm going to go check up on her." He turned around and ran past his sister and best friend.

"Kun! Wait up! You'll get lost!" Hika yelled, chasing after him.

"Someone is in denial," Yen said, smirking.

"You aren't one to talk, Yen," Nahimana said, laughing.

Yen grumbled. "Want me to fight you again?"

"Don't taunt her or she'll unleash the power of her spirits on you," I said.

Yen averted her gaze. "Whatever."

I sighed. Why was she so proud? Though, not like I was any better. I still denied my feelings for Wanikiya.

My eyes returned to the television again. Adela had surrounded Xue with leaves on all sides, reminiscent of what Aria had done in our match.

"It's over," Yen said, stepping forward.

I watched as some frost spread up the leaves.

"No, not yet. Xue can still win this," I said, smirking. One shouldn't have counted that girl out until the match was over. Aya learned that lesson the hard way last year.

**Solar Note: Hope you enjoyed the chapter ^^. Thoughts on the battle? Predictions for Xue vs. Adela and An vs. Hal?**