Chapter 498 – Artificer Face-Off

As Viona introduced the first challenger by presenting Tishnera’s adventuring rank and a few of her achievements with the audience, the dwarf in question shared one last nod with Asterios before both of them turned around and increased the distance between them. When the presentation ended, they paused and faced each other once more. The spectators thumped a tense rhythm with their legs, filling the arena with an expectant atmosphere.

Tishnera reached up and dragged the goggles from her lush hair down onto their proper spot over her eyes. Asterios didn’t miss the flash of green lines in those lenses, squinting curiously. He had no doubt they were enchanted in some way, perhaps aiding the wearer with some additional information regarding her opponent or the battle as it gradually progressed. With a flick of her wrists, she produced an intriguing, slightly oversized dagger seemingly out of thin air, then unlatched one of her gadgets from her arsenal strapped over her protected chest.

Considering her preparation for a moment, Asterios decided on his own approach.

Extending his sword arm to the side, he let crimson flames roll down his elbow until they materialized his prized Spellslinger greatsword. Giving it a few effortless spins, he triggered the pressurized release system and popped the slotted sigils out with a sharp whizz. Catching the tokens from the air, he pocketed them and made a show of replacing the recovered ones with a new set within a single slick swipe. Nodding approvingly at his work, he hoisted the giant blade onto his shoulder and met his opponent’s gaze.

“What in the name of gods known and unknown is that?” Tishnera cursed under her breath.

“Just a small upgrade since the last time I showed you my main weapon.” Asterios chuckled amusedly. “Don’t worry. It functions the same way. I don’t plan to clobber you to death with its flat side. I just figured out that we could have a proper spell showdown as both of us are artifact wielders.”

She inhaled sharply. “You got another Spellslinger? It’s so big!”

“That’s what they keep saying.” He smirked, making her blush a tad and growl back at him. “Now, let’s not bore the spectators any longer. If you are not going to come to me, I’ll gladly bring some fun to you!”

Crouching down, Asterios activated one of the crystal sigils, and yellow helixes of energy traveled from his sword down onto his legs. He triggered Mountain Pass a second later and pushed himself off the ground. Those who blinked at that moment could have easily missed him soaring into the air with his weapon high above his head, already glowing with the activation of another spell.

Tishnera’s face was full of disbelief as she gazed up while shielding her eyes from the sun. But, while surprised, she definitely didn’t freeze in place like some amateur. She had way more experience fighting against capable enemies from her countless dungeon runs. And thus, even with her attention directed elsewhere, her body moved with practiced motions.

Her finger tapped the tip of her dagger’s pommel, and the weapon suddenly whistled. The blade detached from the handle, shooting to the side, where it stabbed into the ground a safe distance from the upcoming clash. Another tap, and her figure was pulled away just as two strikes of lightning hit her previous position, followed by Ast’s sword. He smirked happily while watching her catch her balance, glad the fight wasn’t over just like that, then heard a crack beneath him.

Peering down, Asterios spotted an egg-shaped object with a cut through the middle. Each half was turning in opposite directions, releasing a ticking noise. His pupils narrowed slightly, and he hastily shielded himself with his weapon just before a second crack was released from the mysterious device, and it exploded.

A cloud of freezing mist swallowed Asterios whole, covering him in white frost as he launched himself backwards, plopping out of the snowy sphere of icy death. The audience let out a few gasps, then laughed when he sneezed a little. With a single wave of heat from within his core, he melted the fluffy layer covering his front in a flash.

Something exploded above their heads with a quiet pop, and he found Tishnera lowering her arm, a wrist launcher attached to it. At first look, nothing really happened from that projectile detonating besides the appearance of a small sparkling cloud, but Asterios knew better than that.

She had set something up.

The next attack was aimed right at him, the crosshair standing upright from the back of her hand directed at his distant figure. Her small frame was thrown back from the force of the shot, and a metal orb came flying towards Asterios. After crossing half of the distance separating them, it split into four even parts and revealed itself as a contraption resembling a bolas. The connected chains spun horizontally as they threatened to entangle their target.

Putting his blade in their path, Asterios caught the bindings on his sword.

However, that proved to be a mistake.

He released a strained groan when the heavy pieces at the ends of the metal ropes buzzed into life and unexpectedly zapped him with a powerful electrical current. Lightning surged through his weapon, his body, and into the ground, locking him up in place. His opponent was already preparing a follow-up, hoping to capitalize on his stunned state.

But this much pain wasn’t anything Asterios hadn’t gotten used to during his eventful life. Surprising the audience and his attacker, he fought against his restricted muscles and caught the chained wires with his fingers. Grimacing slightly, he tugged at them a few times, then started turning around faster and faster. Achieving the desired rotational speed, he yanked the bolas one last time and swung his sword like a bat, launching the loosened equipment back to the sender.

Tishnera yelped in surprise and dropped to the ground, dodging the spinning projectile by a hair’s breadth. When she peeked ahead, Asterios was already in the middle of activating a new spell, a blue glow covering the length of his blade. She hopped to her feet just as he stabbed it into the bricks beneath them… only to slip up and land on her back.

Dazed and confused, she peered to the side and realized that she lay on top of a puddle of perfectly polished ice, which must have come from Ast’s earlier technique. Then, she sensed the tremors traveling through the floor and awkwardly sat up. The one she was supposed to defeat, according to the wishes of her contractors, was currently guiding a growing stone boulder around himself with the flat side of his blade.

When the rock’s diameter passed his height, Asterios met Tishnera’s gaze and smirked at the fallen girl. She frantically flipped onto her hands and knees to attempt an escape, but he sent the rolling sphere of demise right at her, which caused the ground to shake and interfere with her panicked efforts. As the last desperate measure, she pulled the pin on some cylinder on her bandolier, which released a blinding flash that forced everyone to cover their eyes for a second.

Without anything to stop the incoming danger, the boulder smashed into the dwarf lady.

Or so it should have.

On the contrary, as Asterios blinked the light away, he found no trace of his quarry in its path. The ball of hardened earth slammed into the side of the arena, which resulted in a water-like ripple to crawl up over it, revealing the pretty much invisible protective barrier separating the battle from the spectators.

Obviously, no one was going to risk a stray spell or technique injuring the audience, so the organizers employed a few tricks that ensured everyone’s safety without diminishing their experience.

Ast’s attention was drawn back to the battleground when Tishnera’s silhouette appeared at the edge of his vision.

Then, so did another one.

And another one.

And another.

In just a few seconds, he was surrounded by copies of the skilled dwarf adventurer, who had somehow escaped the peril of her recent situation, a fierce grin on her small lips. Throwing a fast look at the site of the prevented accident, Asterios spotted shattered fragments of something he had first assumed was a leftover piece of Tishnera’s gear. Now, however, he felt like that hadn’t been left there during her escape.

The explosion in the air from before might have had something to do with it.

“You have never been in that spot, have you?” He chuckled to himself, roaming his eyes over the Tishneras surrounding him. “I have to admit, acting like my spell affected you while it wasn’t even close to your true position is an impressive move.”

She clicked her tongue. “You are far too observant for your own good.”

Asterios shook his head. He had a feeling that if he employed the help of his enhanced sight, he would be able to pinpoint the actual body in a blink. But he was willing to play along and figure out the trick on his own. It was not only more fun that way but also provided more entertainment to the onlookers. They might have enjoyed him stomping every challenger sent his way within the first few moves, but a slight struggle would be much more engaging in the long run.

Before he could fully investigate the matter, the Tishneras began moving. They all ran in a circle, spreading out and creating varying distances between their relative spots. Every clone mirrored the main body’s actions, though, and he watched them crouch down to plant something flat on the bricks. Picking a copy at random, Asterios released one of the spent sigils and slotted another one. With a powerful swing, he sent an arc of condensed wind towards his target.

As expected, it passed through without any effect.

“Illusions, huh? Or something alike.” He mused, rubbing his chin. “That means you rely on the off-chance that I don’t hit the real you while you are busy springing another trap. Unfortunately, I don’t intend to test these ghosts of yours one by one.”

Replacing another token, Asterios raised his Spellslinger above his head. A bright orange inferno burst out of the socket, quickly eating up the entire blade. The flames rolled off it, then moved on their own, swirling around the weapon and its wielder, forming a spinning pillar. The column grew in size until it turned into a fiery cyclone. If not for the protective barrier, which was now flickering faintly, the intense heat and whipping air currents would undoubtedly cause some people a burn or two.

Finally, gathering his technique long enough, Asterios swung the sword down, and the firestorm burst outwards, rushing towards the edges of the arena. It swallowed the battleground whole before licking at its walls, turning the battlefield into an ocean of relentless fire.

A few seconds later, the spell receded, revealing the charred market grounds. The Tishneras were all kneeling, each touching some artifact that emitted a shield made of water before them. Some of the clones seemed to flicker. Two or three appeared to be gone for good. But, the most noticeable thing about those was… that almost all of them looked somewhat smaller.

The real body must have come to the same realization as they all gazed into the sky with wide eyes like one man. Asterios did too and saw something up there. A fist-sized artifact was tied to a miniature hot air balloon that was kept in the air by a small flame coming from the upper part of the interesting device. Its glassy sides glinted in the sunlight as it spun around.

“So that’s your trick.” Asterios tilted his head, then directed his attention to one of the flickering ladies, noticing an easy-to-miss triangular badge skittering over the ground like a flat bug. “Not an illusion but a mirrored projection. Amazing.”

“Shit!” Tishnera threw herself into a run, knowing that the jig was up.

He slotted a white token with a quick whizz of the pressurized release, and the shape of butterfly wings sprouted from his back. They fluttered adorably, then lifted him in a spiral. Arriving at the height of the floating balloon, Asterios sliced through it and the apparatus attached below. Immediately, the fakes disappeared, leaving only the true Tishnera behind.

Utilizing the wings until the end, he descended on the sole target like a comet falling from the sky. She watched his approach over her shoulder, still valiantly scrambling to finish the technique she had put all her chances on. In her hurry, she stumbled over her legs and fell forward, a plate-sized object escaping her grasp. With visible effort, she dragged herself forward with one last desperate pull, her palm slamming into the dish that danced like a dropped coin.

A pulse of spiritual energy shot out of the circular artifact, and a ball-topped telescopic rod unfurled from within it, releasing a metallic click. All at once, five more of such pylons popped up where she had previously set them down, thrumming with whatever spell or technique they were storing.

Moments before Ast’s arrival, Tishnera flipped onto her back and reached towards her chest.

Staring right into his approaching, gleaming eyes, she flicked a switch at her belt.

And the world froze, the edge of Ast’s greatsword stopping a finger away from her nose.

Laughter bubbled out of Tishnera as she let herself lifelessly flop onto the ground.

To be precise, it wasn’t the entire world that had stopped. Only the fragment of it that had been caught in her erected barrier, including most of her attacker. Save for half of his blade that poked out of it. The spectators gazed upon the unmoving figure of Asterios, locked in mid-air and mid-swing at the very edge of the purplish spiritual wall announcing the border of the paused zone.

One second later, and he would have flown out of its range.

It was too close for comfort, and Tishnera knew it. She tilted her head to glance at her right leg. Down from her ankle, her foot was on the other side too. And that meant she was held in place by the array just as he was. Only a little bit less restrained.

But, even if not perfect, a win was a wi—

“Woah. This is quite a potent stasis field.” The sound of Ast’s voice caused her to shoot straight up, and she almost slammed her forehead into the sharp edge of his greatsword out of her own volition. “You aren’t an A-rank without a reason.”

“How?!” Tishnera tried to instinctively crawl back, only to grunt in pain as she almost sprained her frozen ankle.

He was looking at her with a gentle smile, making her shudder.

“You’ve fought well.” Asterios sighed, intense amounts of spiritual energy wafting off his frame. “And if this were any other day, I would have given you the victory as you have bested my self-inflicted limitations. But unfortunately, I can’t afford to lose today. My apologies for that. I’ll at least reimburse you for these pylons.”

“Wha—”

His eyes flashed with ferocious red, and his entire body seized up with extreme contractions. Dark crimson aura seeped down from his unmoving frame, increasing the pressure in the air by at least tenfold. She suddenly felt so suffocated that it wouldn’t be stupid to assume that the stasis zone had somehow expanded to envelop her too.

But no, that wasn’t it.

The six telescopic pylons shot off colorful sparks as they struggled under the assault of Ast’s seemingly unending flow of mana. His spiritual energy was stretching the array to its limits, bringing it to the verge of bursting. Bit by bit, the miniature towers bent outwards, leaning more and more towards the ground like an overstrained wooden stick.

Until they burst into metallic fragments, snapping like some cheap twigs.

The restriction was lifted, and Tishnera screamed as Ast’s blade descended onto her with all its retained momentum. Gasps filled the audience as the floor shook from the force of the impact, the result of the clash obscured by a cloud of dust raised around the sparring duo.

It didn’t take long for it to disperse, revealing the sword deeply embedded in the decorative bricks, right by the head of the prone dwarf girl. Her shoulder, where it almost connected, pulsed with reddish light, the ripples resembling those of the cerulean barrier covering the spectators.

She knew what that meant. They had been briefed by their assigned guides for the event. The scarlet hue announced a prevented fatal strike, that would have otherwise killed her on the spot if not stopped by the safety measure introduced by the organizers. She had laughed at those unnecessary steps at first, but now she finally understood that they weren’t afraid of their little lord getting accidentally hurt during these public games.

No, it was to save them from him unintentionally striking them down like some annoying fly.

“I have lost,” Tishnera admitted with a resigned groan, letting her head hit the bricks once more.

Cheers erupted all around them, and Asterios offered her a hand. “Good fight. No wonder Suanori trusted you with the dungeons back then.”

“I have a feeling that you’ve been playing with me this entire time.” She accepted it respectfully and sat up. “I should have run in the opposite direction as fast as I could the moment I heard your name leave the lips of my contractor. I don’t know why I believed there was no way it was the same person. How in hell did you become a king of your own nation?”

“It’s a long story.” He laughed warmly. “I’ll gladly fill you in after we are done with the main event.”

“Sure.” Tishnera accepted his help to stand up, the crowd still roaring Ast’s name. “I can’t wait to hear what insane shit you’ve been up to since the raid.”

“You have no idea.” Asterios patted her on the back. “By the way, do I have the pleasure of beating your partner to a pulp too?”

Her cheeks colored a tad as she glanced aside. “No. Darlick knew from the start who we were against and rejected the offer. We even bet on who would be right in the end. Though, it would have been great if I weren’t the only one ending up embarrassed in front of thousands. That dumb oaf.”

“You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of.” He escorted his opponent to the entry gate. “Most of the people here have seen me fight multiple times. They know this entire thing is pretty much rigged in my favor. You’ve held out well. Your performance will be remembered positively.”

“If you say so.” She smiled daintily. “Good luck, then. To whoever you face next, that is.”

They laughed together, and Tishnera left to be checked on by the medical team. As the gate closed again, Asterios turned his gaze to the sky, meeting Viona’s gaze as she perched on the edge of her stage, swinging her crossed legs enchantingly.

“One challenger down, three more to go,” the bard announced. “What do you think, everyone? Should we give our great lord a moment to rest, or is he going straight into his next battle?”

Rolling his eyes, Asterios sighed heavily. He knew what the answer to that question would be.

“Another! Another! Another!” the crowd chanted.

The announcer glanced down at him with a totally-not-fake apologetic smile. “You’ve heard your subjects, My Lord. Release the second representative!”

“Release?” Asterios frowned at her choice of words.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Roaring laughter silenced the audience as someone flew into the arena from above.

The mysterious figure slammed into the ground in front of Asterios with the force of an avalanche, creating a small crater in their wake.

That certainly would need some fixing after the festivities.

Pink-skinned fingers appeared over the edge of the created crevice, followed by a pair of vertical horns of a slightly darker shade, and the rest of the body just as rosy as the hand. The man, whose gender was now obvious thanks to his perfectly chiselled and unobstructed chest put on full display and oiled up to the extreme, hoisted himself out of the hole and landed on his feet, putting his fists against the sides of his black pants. Tribal tattoos ran all over his exposed torso and arms, a thin tail ending up in a spade swished behind his back, and a pair of demonic wings adorned his back.

But the most striking detail was the black leather mask completely covering his head and face, leaving holes only for horns, eyes, mouth, and ears.

“Proud Dragon! I have come to claim your throne! And maybe steal all your mates if that isn’t motivating enough, ahahahahahaha!” he exclaimed haughtily in the voice Asterios could never misplace.

What the fuck was he doing here?!