16 Chapter 16: Defea

Damn right it was. I was aware of Cecilia's legendary reputation – her reputation as the Invincible Goddess of War wasn't for nothing – but having a firsthand experience of fighting her up close was another story altogether.

"Your summoned beasts may be powerful, but they are not invincible," Cecilia declared, her eyes flashing fiercely and defiantly. "I'll show you that it can be defeated."

"I don't doubt that," I muttered. "But my Vermillion Phoenix not going to make it easy for you."

"Go all out. I don't care. The result won't change." Cecilia tightened her grip on her sword and conjured more petals around her blade. "I will still defeat your summoned beast."

Vermillion Phoenix evidently understood her sentence, for it reacted furiously. Summoning a massive amount of flames, it unleashed torrent after torrent of fire at Cecilia. Within seconds, the entire space above the stage was bathed in a sea of fire. If I hadn't been protected by Vermillion Phoenix's enchantment, even by just breathing the scorching air, I would have scalded my lungs and destroyed myself.

The blistering environment must be much worse for Cecilia, yet she endured it stoically, her expression not changing at all. Her protective magical aura must be really potent, to be able to withstand such a lethal environment.

Right now she was dodging Vermillion Phoenix's attacks skillfully, jumping from one petal to another. Her movements weren't perfect – she might be extremely close to Albert Alain's speed, but she was just slightly slower than him. Several streams of flames caught her and burned away her protective aura before she could reform it, leaving terrifying burns on her usually pale flesh.

Despite visibly suffering such horrendous injuries, Cecilia's expression never changed. It was almost as if she couldn't feel pain. I knew better – Cecilia twitched or winced ever so slightly whenever she was caught by the flames, but it was testament to her self-control and iron discipline that she never shrieked in pain or devolved into a full grimace.

However, Cecilia remained undaunted. She launched another of those powerful flower attacks that she did earlier. Having worked previously, Cecilia had no reason to not try it again. Unfortunately for her, Vermillion Phoenix had wised up to her attacks.

This time, instead of countering her strike with another huge inferno, Vermillion Phoenix chose to avoid a direct clash and flew above to evade her. As Cecilia shot past where Vermillion Phoenix was hovering seconds ago, my summoned beast whirled around in midair and blasted her from behind with a ferocious torrent of flames.

"Ugh!"

This was the first time I heard a cry of pain. Cecilia actually stumbled as she was engulfed in the furious flames, and she forcibly cut her way out. Despite breaking out of the attack, she fell to her knees upon a gathering cloud of petals, her body smoldering.

Even so, she did not falter. Gritting her teeth, she stabbed her sword into her cloud of petals and cast a new spell when Vermillion Phoenix doubled back and exploited the opportunity to attack her when she was down.

"Wooden Willow Wall!"

A wall of wood sprang to life between Cecilia and Vermillion Phoenix, breaking up the wave of fire that washed toward her. It didn't last very long, with the flames ravenously consuming it and reducing it to ash, but that was more than enough time for Cecilia to evade and dodge elsewhere.

"Bamboo Cage!"

Swinging her sword, Cecilia released a new technique. A gigantic wooden cage materialized around Vermilion Phoenix, trapping it from all sides. It almost resembled a giant birdcage, which was kind of fitting given how Vermillion Phoenix was…you know, a gigantic bird.

However, such a flimsy cage couldn't entrap Vermilion Phoenix for long. Flexing its wings, Vermillion Phoenix burst into flames and burned the cage into cinders. Smacking the bits of blazing wood away, Vermillion Phoenix sought to fly once more.

But Cecilia never aimed to trap Vermillion Phoenix for long. She only intended to delay it long enough for her to cast her next spell.

"Splinter Cannon!"

Like the notorious Dark Eldar, or Drukhari as they called themselves now, Cecilia now wielded a massive rotary cannon that spun rapidly. I didn't know if she transformed her sword into that new Splinter Cannon or not, but in any case it didn't matter. Lifting it up, Cecilia aimed her current weapon at Vermillion Phoenix, rotating barrels spitting a hail of deadly splinter rounds at hypersonic speeds with a terrifying shriek.

"You've got to be kidding me," I muttered under my breath.

With the barbed projectiles moving at such incredible speeds, even Vermillion Phoenix was not able to avoid them. Of course, it didn't try and instead conjured an enormous firewall that incinerated the majority of the deadly rounds.

Unfortunately enough of them got through to deal excruciating agony to the majestic beast. The Vermillion Phoenix screeched as the splinter rounds burrowed their way past its fiery feathers, latching on and injecting potent toxins into its system.

Fortunately, as a celestial guardian beast, Vermillion Phoenix's system was far too advanced for such toxins to take effect. Even so, such toxins mattered as they slowed its movements down a notch and caused its magical energy to be sluggish, making it more difficult for the summoned monster to cast its fire spells.

As insignificant as these toxins may seem at first, they had a snowball effect that could swing the battle in Cecilia's favor.

Acknowledging the threat that Cecilia posed, the enraged Vermillion Phoenix swiftly retaliated, baking the entire space with what seemed like plasma. Cecilia quickly reacted by enclosing herself within a Willow Wood Fortification, but even that sturdy-looking defense didn't last very long against Vermillion Phoenix's fury.

The Crowley Academy representatives' captain crashed down from her blazing fortification, her body fuming. She hit the ground and coughed once, but she forced herself to her feet. I watched from a distance, admiring her tenacity and sheer grit.

She truly was the strongest opponent I had ever faced. Even though I had basically fought in a hundred and three matches, I could say for sure that she was more powerful than any of the previous students.

With the exception of Doug Daniels. For some reason, I could intuitively tell that Doug was hiding his true strength. It was entirely possible that Doug was one of the rare geniuses who could fight on par with Cecilia, but I had heard that he already lost to her, or she would have already declared him as her boyfriend as per her vow.

And it was clear that she would defeat me if I didn't do something quick to reverse the situation.

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Cecilia glanced at me as she struggled to stand, and I half-expected her to charge at me. Taking out the summoner was a valid strategy, after all. If I fell, my Vermilion Phoenix would automatically vanish and it would be her victory.

So I tensed, waiting for her attack to come.

However, Cecilia didn't spare me a second glance. She was already jumping from petal to petal to engage Vermillion Phoenix in battle.

Elena also noticed her leader's choice and she frowned in disapproval.

"Why didn't Captain Cecilia just attack the summoner?" she asked. "If she knocked him out, it would have been her victory."

"That guy…Richard Huang, he's not as simple as he looks."

"Huh?" Elena stared at Doug, who had offered his opinion. He shrugged and returned her inquisitive gaze with a smile.

"While initially it may seem that Richard is weak in close combat, and isn't capable of anything other than summoning, the truth is that he seems pretty experienced in hand-to-hand melee. When I attacked him earlier, he dodged my strike."

"So what?" Elena demanded. "Were you expecting him to just stand there and let you hit him?"

"That's not what Doug means," Nick interrupted, irritated. "You know how fast and powerful Doug is. No ordinary person could have dodged that."

"For him to accomplish that…he's definitely no amateur," Doug agreed, his eyes gleaming mischievously. "He definitely has received some training in martial arts. Not the combat magic we are used to, but the old, ancient martial arts…"

"Huh? What are those?" Elena sounded confused. As she should be – with the advent magic, stuff like martial arts fell out of favor long ago. They had become obsolete, not when you could just strengthen your body with magic, or cast spells to attack.

"Never mind," Nick muttered impatiently.

"You just need to know that Cecilia is aware of that boy's fighting instincts. She knows that he'll be able to dodge at least her first attack, which would then leave her open to a devastating counterattack from his summoned beast." Doug then began to muse to himself. "It isn't perfect, but the beginning of the mind's eye is there. If he trains hard, he'll eventually become a terrifying opponent. A pity he isn't there yet, otherwise his ranking wouldn't be so low."

"He has to rely on someone to screw up and give him enough time to summon his magical beast in order to win," Louis agreed dryly as he glared in the direction of the infirmary where Hal Gunther lay. "Once people know his real strength, they won't give him the opportunity to summon his monster."

"Too bad it's too late for us."

Cecilia was dashing toward my Vermillion Phoenix again, and this time gigantic trees were rising from the ground. It was very different from Hal Gunther's Hunter Forest, and it was more of an enchantment than an actual Artificial Reality. Nonetheless, it was no less potent. I could see all the trees dissolving into millions of petals, which drowned the flames out in an ocean of flowers. They seemed to absorb the flames before shattering into yet more petals.

"Dance of the Spring Blossoms."

Cecilia swung her sword and directed the countless flowers at Vermillion Phoenix. Despite unleashing a vicious torrent of flames to burn away the petals, it watched in horror as the flowers sucked away the raging fires and fed upon them, only to split up into numerous petals and multiplying endlessly in this manner.

Then Cecilia directed the dense cloud of rainbow-colored flowers at Vermillion Phoenix, and this time it was the enormous monster's turn to be engulfed. A massive explosion rocked the stage, the petals scattering across the ground like falling snow and leaving marks in the ground. If I hadn't increased my protective magical aura, I would have been cut in several places too.

Vermillion Phoenix crashed heavily onto the stage, cut in thousands of places and bleeding profusely. Its crash caused a slight tremor, jolting not just me but also the spectators, who gaped at the fall of the majestic celestial guardian in shock. Vermillion Phoenix squawked weakly for one last time before it faded away.

Heaving heavily, Cecilia also landed on the ground. Straightening herself up, she pointed her sword at me, even though she was exhausted and terribly hurt.

"I told you I will defeat your summoned beast. You have lost."

"I have lost?" hearing that, I couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Cecilia narrowed her eyes. "What's so funny?"

"You," I replied. Suddenly, the space around me was filled with intense lightning, the devastating electricity scorching the ground and causing everyone within the space to feel numb. Grinning at the dumb look on Cecilia's face, I shrugged. "I never said that the Vermillion Phoenix was my only summoned beast."