Chương 132: The Real Final Battle

Acrypha gripped her sword tightly enough to turn her knuckles white. She had faith in Ryland. Undoubtedly so. How could anyone not have faith in him after seeing how he had dealt with an actual Calamity of all things? But this wasn't Ryland facing off against a Guardian of Rhel. This was her. Acrypha on her own. Well, not necessarily on her own. She had Ryland's backing. This whole thing was Ryland's plan.

He would never leave her alone against a mage who was easily Primordial-ranked at the very least, if not Empyrean. There was no real reason for her to fear anything going on. Nevertheless, she couldn't stop herself from feeling a tiny, niggling doubt. Would she actually survive this? Because right now, the difference in strength between herself and her opponent meant that she might as well have stood against a Calamity." Don't be afraid." Ryland's voice murmured into her ear." I'm here." Right.

She had the best advantage anyone in all the Realms could ever lay claim to. Her victory should be a foregone conclusion. In theory.

"I will warn you just once, girl," the Guardian said, angry but calm.

"Surrender that silly key and I will only lodge a simple complaint at your academy and do nothing further. For I am capable of much worse." Acrypha threw the key at him, taking him by surprise. He must have been under the impression that he'd be forced to take the key from her. But the problem was that those shackles heavily restricted magic.

Much as Acrypha did want to humiliate the fellow after how he had blatantly interfered in Viren's match, she wasn't about to just attack him when he could barely defend himself. That wasn't what this was about. The whole business with the shackles was simply a means of dragging all of the Guardian's attention onto herself. And now, it was time for Acrypha to deliver the real lesson. So, Acrypha attacked.

The Guardian's eyes widened momentarily as soon as he saw her rushing at him with her sword bared, the gleam of the blade foretelling her deadly intent. His shackles came off with blinding speed, his magic rushing out at the same rapid pace, the kind only possible by a mage of supreme power." [Condensed Earthshine]." Her sword slashed in, but only met the sudden shimmering barrier cladding his form. It was like he was now covered by a sheen of pristine metal.

Acrypha jerked back as her sword was repelled with a shower of sparks. This was all her. Her own power driven by her own Inscriptions and strength, clanging ineffectually against the Guardian's barrier spell.

"Foolish girl," the Guardian said.

"What in all the Realms do you truly hope to accomplish here?"

"All I'm here to do," Acrypha said as her manasoul started pulsing within her, pumping out more and more mana.

"Is to ensure that you realize what a stupid decision it was to pick this fight."" I could not have said it better." The pride she felt in those words thrilled her. Behind Acrypha, a little rift popped open. No one stepped out. Nothing emerged from the rift. It was just a doorway for them. The presentation of the real challenge for Guardian Nesmel. Acrypha stepped through.

With how many times she had gone through Ryland's rifts by now, her body was more than acclimatized to the strange sensation of appearing in a vastly different place from before. Especially since her destination was merely a wide, rocky field, possibly somewhere else on Rhel that was simply remote enough so they'd have no interruptions. Moments later, Guardian Nesmel appeared. His face was clouded with anger.

"What sort of dire insult is this?" he said.

"Marionys Ryland is too afraid to appear himself, so he sends in a sacrificial lackey?"

"Hardly," Acrypha said. She herself was surprised at the unshakeable inflection in her words, at the sheer confidence she projected. Was having Ryland's backing really allowing her to stand before a possibly Empyrean-ranked mage with such impunity?

"Try to see it from the other side, Guardian. I'm here to teach you a lesson because Ryland doesn't need to." The words were hers, not Ryland's at all. But surprisingly, she wasn't intimidated by his strength. The doubts from earlier were starting to melt away. No longer was she daunted by his age or experience. Maybe her behaviour was turning into insane arrogance, but once she thought about it, this so-called Guardian wasn't that different from the bullies callously going after Viren.

So, treating him just as they came very naturally to her.

"I see." The Guardian's fury was a tightly-controlled thing, just as his magic was. He was on the verge of unleashing both.

"Then you will not come crying to me when you are utterly obliterated by the consequences of your choices and actions. It matters not what trick you're attempting or what assistance you've gathered. Your end will be swift and just." Acrypha brandished her sword. She'd be lying if she said her heart wasn't beating madly, but she was still in control. Her magic was hers to use. And she had backup that this stupid Guardian couldn't even begin to fathom.

With a motion as fast as the blink of an eye, the Guardian suddenly jumped back. Far back. Then his first spell shattered the area." [Collapsing World]," he incanted. The earth fractured. Cracks spiderwebbed across the ground with the speed of lightning, turning the entire battlefield into a sea of broken rocks jutting out here and there. If Ryland was incanting countering spells, she didn't hear them. Acrypha had started rushing towards her opponent, but she now hesitated as her footing was practically destroyed.

The ground bulged and broke, threatening to make her fall and bury her in debris. Then all the broken rocks immediately started rising straight up, taking her with them. Despite her alacrity, despite the rapid speed with which she had reacted, Acrypha still wasn't fast enough. The broken rocks entombed her before she had even managed to drag in a proper breath. This was the skill of an Empyrean-ranked mage. Someone she was supposed to actually beat. Panic clasped her heart as her world turned dark.

Air shut off, her lungs immediately clamping in protest inside her chest. She was buried alive, high up in the air to boot, unable to move a single muscle with how closely the broken rocks had been packed up against her. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. But it didn't last long. There was a reason she was confident about claiming victory." Hold on," Ryland said. A rift opened up exactly on her location, swallowing her and spitting her out right above her adversary.

For a brief moment, their eyes met. She read the surprise in his silvery irises, the taut lines of his face proclaiming that he hadn't expected her to survive that easily. Then she was slashing her sword down with no restraint. No hesitation. She couldn't afford it against an opponent like this. For just a moment, it appeared as though she'd manage it. Empowered by the magic Ryland was gifting her, it almost felt like her blade would slice through the transparent barrier shimmering over the Guardian.

"How did you even…?" Then the Guardian focused." [Compression Claw]." A curl of spiking metal burst out of the ground, stabbing up with a devastating motion. Just like all his other magic, this was fast as well. It was too quick for Acrypha to react in time. She wasn't even sure she'd have been able to deflect that curling spike properly with her sword. Turned out, she didn't need to. Just before the spike hit her, another one of Ryland's rifts made her disappear. She reappeared behind Nesmel.

Spatial sickness was a thing of the past.

Now, as soon as Acrypha was back in reality once more, she was already slashing her blade straight at the Guardian's back. He didn't turn around, but another spike of metal charged up to meet her. So, she just disappeared again. Then slashed to her right as she reappeared, only to vanish at yet another spike. This kept going. Acrypha did her best to centre herself in those moments of madness. Obviously, the rifts were entirely out of her control, so she was forced to go along with Ryland's decisions.

Her job was to keep a tight control over exactly what she could influence—namely, when and where she attacked. But even as she swung her sword to strike, even as she disappeared and reappeared constantly to evade the Guardian's counters, she was at times forced to defend as well. It was a surprisingly confidence-boosting revelation that she could deflect the blows from those spikes.

"Enough," the Guardian shouted." [Metal Eruption]!" Acrypha fully disappeared this time the instant that he had finished incanting the spell. It seemed Ryland knew exactly what the Guardian's magic was about to do and he had thus taken her away from danger immediately. When she reappeared atop that enormous block of floating rocks that Nesmel had tried to entomb her in, she fully understood why Ryland had decided to take her away. An explosion of metal had burst out with the Guardian as the epicentre.

Shards sized from tiny bullets to chunks big enough to dwarf her easily flew in every direction, most of them half-molten and smoking as they sailed through the air. A deluge of destructive rain struck everything, gouging out trenches in the ground and holes on the enormous sphere she stood on. As soon as the massive display of power was done, Acrypha got to the edge of the sphere and slashed at her opponent from a distance." [Wind Slash]."

Her Soul Glyph of Legacy flared in the spell circle before her blade, sending out a burning slash of compressed air at the Guardian far below. She didn't let the Soul Glyph's appearance faze her, nor the recollection that this spell technically belonged to her mother. Right now, she could only concentrate on winning. Her attack left no mark on the Guardian. Ryland either wasn't empowering it, or his defence was just that strong. The more important point was that he had countered." [Steel Storm]!"

he shouted. The metal flung out by his earlier spell, still flowing orange-hot, now began taking to the air and flying at her again. This wasn't a mindless blast like before. Now, they were targeting her very specifically." You have my full confidence, Acrypha," Ryland said. He wasn't lying. She could feel his faith in her, like wings that would allow her to take flight. It was empowering like no magic ever really could be. With a resolute growl, she jumped off and dove into the storm of broken metal aimed at her."

[Future Flight]!" Her summoned cloak fluttered behind her like a cape about to transform into wings. Magic rippled and shone through every thread and stitch, lighting up the Inscriptions that imbued her with more speed and dexterity than anyone of her age should ever have been able to handle. While she was airborne too. Acrypha shot through the flying metal like a falcon darting through the air towards its prey. The air rushed past her.

She was having a hard time believing that she was able to process the rapid series of stimuli well enough to actually read and decide where to move in real time. Maybe this was an enhancement from Ryland helping her cope. She had never moved this fast before. This level of speed was unprecedented for her. It also made her heart feel like it was soaring. Well, technically, it was soaring just then.

At times, she had to deflect some of the metal out of her way with her blade, but simply evading was good enough the vast majority of the time. And then she was right on her opponent yet again, her sword slashing in—"You won't come any further!" the Guardian cried out, his voice almost panicky now." [Molten Torrent]!" Acrypha didn't need to worry about the metal turning fully molten, exploding into a downpour of livid-hot liquid metal. She could count on Ryland to keep her safe.

It wasn't even likely that simple molten slag was going to get through the barriers he had cast on her. She just hadn't counted on the Guardian blasting out another spell right after [Molten Torrent]." [Inflamed Overburn]," he cast.

Acrypha was distracted by the spell's name, by the Soul Glyph of Burning that formed the Centreglyph of his spell circle. He had the same kind of magic as Viren. Then the heat from all around, from all the inconceivably hot liquid metal, gathered at one location right in front of his fist in a fraction of a second. The next instant, he had punched it outright. Acrypha's blade was a hairsbreadth away from hitting when the explosion sent her flying backwards.

The overheated shockwave should have vapourized her under normal circumstances, but she was fine. In fact, she was getting up a second later, her face set in a determined rictus. She was going to see this through, no matter what the Guardian sent against her. Easier said than done, considering he was now sending out a sea of molten metal and lava at her. She hadn't even heard the spell he had uttered. For a moment, Acrypha was almost awestruck. That tidal wave of heat was incredible." Fear not," Ryland said."

And believe in yourself." Acrypha took a quick breath before she was entirely overwhelmed by the huge wall of liquid heat. The very earth was melting away beneath, loosening her footing as the air was driven completely from the vicinity. Believe in herself. She had to believe in the power she could channel." [Wind Slash]!" she shouted. A downward slice of her sword extended out the compressed blade of power shooting forward like an energy beam.

Just as Ryland had indirectly predicted, it cut through the entire molten tide, parting it so that it flowed harmlessly on either side of Acrypha. Opening a direct pathway to her opponent." [Body Burst]!" she incanted next, her father's mighty spell turning her into a magical freak of nature. With two quick bounds lasting barely a blink, she was already in front of her target, her sword pulled back for another blow.

"I've had enough of you," the Guardian growled.

"Stupid little girl. [Inflamed Overburn]!" The same spell from before. The same little tactic where he drew all heat from the surroundings into a singular compressed point, before destabilizing it into a furious explosion with a punch. Except, this time, Ryland ate the explosion. Acrypha had mentally prepared herself to be thrown off her feet yet again, but instead, a rift popped up in front of her.

The entirety of the blast that should have struck her just went into that black tear in space edged with golden crackles. As the rift immediately disappeared, with Acrypha's momentum still going strong from the moment she had thrown herself forward, all she had before her was the wide-eyed Guardian. She stabbed forward with all her might, with all the memories of her parents' training fuelling that unstoppable blow. And with Ryland sending in his magic to enhance her strike.

Her sword flashed like a blade constructed from pure sunlight. The moment the tip of the sword punched through the Guardian's barrier—through an Empyrean -ranked mage's armour—a small detonation went off around the two of them. All the riotous magic, all the heat and metal and broken earth, they were all wiped away. The Guardian stared down to where Acrypha's sword had pierced about a fingerbreadth into his body. A tiny trickle of blood dripped down his torso.

"Impossible…" Acrypha growled. She was quite a bit shorter than the man, but her trained flexibility meant she was able to land a kick on his sternum regardless of their differences in height. There was enough power behind it, especially with his barrier broken, that he went sprawling back.

"Do you get it now, Guardian?" she asked, levelling her sword at his face.

"Who's the real victor here?" He kept his mouth shut and his glare intact just like the sore loser that he was. Acrypha sighed, shook her head, and started walking towards the distant rift that had led her to this location in the first place.

"I know," the Guardian said at her back.

"That the winner was neither of us." Acrypha stepped right up to the rift, turning back only when he finished speaking.

"Ha. Don't worry, Guardian. I wasn't here to prove myself strong enough to take on someone like you. I'm not that dumb."

"Then what…?"

"I just thought you deserved to be humiliated." Acrypha tutted. Right. She was dealing with a bully.

"Losing to a little girl… I wonder what everyone else will think…" As his eyes widened, she threw him a last, scathing look before stepping through and returning to the institute.