Overwhelming Firepower

While Lucen and Eisen were having their talk, it was nearing afternoon when a surprising match-up happened. The last ducal heir who hadn’t fought yet, Mireya, was about to take the stage, and her opponent was Raina Graven.

Not many remember Raina’s battle yesterday, as she was the first person to win, but it was also not that interesting a match compared to the dour ducal heirs and Eisen’s match.

’This time I will make everyone remember my name.’ Raina stepped onto the stage with a burning determination.

She had a longbow in her hand, a quiver of arrows ready at her waist. She was going to show everyone here that a commoner can fight and win against a ducal heir.

On the other hand, unlike her match yesterday, where she fought barehanded, this time Mireya had a staff in her hand. Her icy stare fixed on Raina.

The wind brushed gently across the stage, tugging at Raina’s cloak and hair. Her fingers tightened around the grip of her longbow, the polished wood firm beneath her touch. She drew a slow breath, eyes locked on the girl standing across from her.

Mireya stood poised, still as a porcelain doll. Her pale skin and violet hair gleamed softly under the sunlight, her amethyst eyes calm and distant, like she were studying Raina.

The air between them felt taut, ready to snap at any second. The bowstring in Raina’s hand trembled slightly from the tension in her arm, not from fear, but from restrained energy.

Across from her, Mireya’s hands rested lightly on her staff. Her posture was perfect, not a hint of aggression, yet her presence filled the space like a still lake that could swallow sound. Neither moved, waiting for that signal to start.

The referee glanced at both contestants, raising his hand.

Both their mana and aura leaked very subtly from their bodies, drawn from instinct rather than intent. Dust stirred at their feet.

”Begin!”

The second they heard the referee’s voice, the two girls made a move. In Raina’s eyes, there were now several Mireyas surrounding, but she knew from watching the match before that this was an illusion.

Mireya might deceive her eyes, but her other senses were able to help her. Raina shot an arrow that looked like an empty space in her eyes, but in actuality, Mireya was standing there.

Mireya deflected the arrow with her staff. The impact rang out like a sharp note, the arrow bouncing off an invisible ripple in the air before splintering to the side.

Raina’s expression didn’t waver. The moment the arrow deflected, she had already drawn another. Her gaze stayed fixed on the real Mireya, not the illusions flickering at the edges of her vision.

Even though she could not see with her eyes, she could sense it. The faint displacement of air, the nearly imperceptible sound of cloth brushing against skin, that was the real one.

As a hunter, her father taught her how to hunt down a beast even in the dark. One doesn’t need to just rely on sight to hunt. You need to smell, to listen, to feel the location of the prey.

Her breathing slowed. Each inhale and exhale sharpened her focus. Raina nocked the arrow, her fingers brushing the string lightly, not drawing yet, only feeling the rhythm of the air.

Every pull carried her father’s voice in her head: ”A true hunter doesn’t chase the prey; she lets the prey walk into her aim.”

The illusions flickered again, their outlines rippling like heat waves. But Raina didn’t look at them. Her ears caught the faintest shift, the sound of feet grazing the ground, half a step to the right.

’There!’

The string snapped. The arrow shot forward like a streak of silver light and once again met Mireya’s staff. This time, she was unable to deflect the arrow properly.

”I see... This level of illusion that only deceives sight won’t work on you.”

Mireya’s voice was soft, almost fascinated. Her tone carried no irritation, only quiet curiosity, like a child observing an unexpected result in an experiment.

Raina exhaled sharply, lowering her stance. ”So you’re admitting it won’t work, then are you going to yield?”

Mireya didn’t answer. She simply tilted her head, that same doll-like motion, quiet, curious. She then raised her staff again, her violet hair fluttering faintly with the movement. The illusions around her did not vanish this time; instead, they began to move.

Each Mireya took a different direction, circling Raina like reflections on disturbed water. Their steps made no sound, yet the faint flicker of their shadows betrayed the flow of mana around the stage.

Raina steadied her breath. She had already marked the real one. The faint pressure in the air around her feet gave it away. She fired again.

The arrow struck true, or so she thought. The shaft hit, but the real Mireya dispersed like mist.

The real Mireya was no longer in front of her. She was behind. The illusion hadn’t just multiplied; it had swapped places with her.

”So, you mix real and false positions...” Raina muttered under her breath, leaping backward and firing again. Her arrow cut through three illusions in a row, but none struck their mark.

Every time she blinked, Mireya’s figure blurred, her distance uncertain. Each illusion moved with identical timing, their robes fluttering exactly the same way.

’Her illusions still only affect my sight, but the way she’s using her illusions is affecting my thoughts. I can still sense which one is the real one, but because of that one miss, I’m becoming uncertain.’

Raina gritted her teeth. ’Fine, if my eyesight is becoming a demerit, then I don’t need it.’ Raina then closed her eyes.

Mireya, who was thinking of how to defeat Raina, was surprised to see the other party closing her eyes. ’I guess that is one way to not be affected by my illusions. Still, an archer who loses her sight... Can she still shoot?’

Raina inhaled deeply, letting the darkness behind her eyelids sharpen her other senses. The bow in her hand felt heavier now, not from weight, but from the pressure of focus.

Every faint vibration in the air, every shift in temperature, every sound, she began to read them like words on a page. Her fingers brushed the bowstring again, drawing it halfway.

Mireya stopped using illusions as it was a waste of mana at this point, seeing her opponent had closed her eyes. If she were a third-circle mage, she could have created illusions that would affect Raina’s sense of hearing as well, but she was not.

Still, that doesn’t mean she can’t recreate something similar. Illusion magic wasn’t only about making things appear; it was also about making the brain misread what was real.

Mireya tapped her staff lightly against the floor. Tap. Tap. The sound echoed unnaturally, splitting and bouncing from different directions.

Raina’s brows furrowed. Her breathing steadied again as she focused, but now the sound of footsteps was... Wrong.

They overlapped, faint but distinct, one from the left, one behind. The illusion wasn’t in her eyes anymore. It was in the environment.

Raina inhaled deeply. ’She’s making the sound bounce around the arena to trick me.’

Raina loosed an arrow to the right. It passed through nothing but air. Then, she twisted and fired to her left, again, nothing.

’I need to calm down. Since I can no longer trust either my sight or my hearing, I just need to focus on scent and feel.’

Raina stilled herself. The bowstring no longer creaked. The only sound was the faint rustle of her cloak against the wind.

Mireya watched in silence, eyes glimmering faintly with violet light. ’This person is really a good hunter.’

Out of nowhere, Raina suddenly shot at Mireya. The girl who was still analyzing Raina was surprised by the sudden attack, but was quick enough to dodge the arrow.

This time, Raina took out several arrows and fired them all at the same time. Seeing the incoming arrows, Mireya could not block or dodge, but still, she did not look panicked.

Mireya lifted her staff, and a wall of earth blocked the arrows. Raina, who heard her arrows hitting something similar to a wall, was confused.

”You were an excellent opponent. I was planning on only using illusion spells in this match, but you forced my hand. Can you please tell me your name?”

”Hmph, so you were going easy on me, as expected of an arrogant noble... My name is Raina Graven. Remember it well, ducal heir.”

”It’s not ducal heir, it’s Mireya Aeromont. I have learned a lot in this match, thank you.”

”You’re making it sound like you already won.”

Mireya’s lips curved into a faint, almost serene smile. ”I’m not making it sound like it,” she said softly. ”I’m stating it.”

Before Raina could respond, the earth wall crumbled into dust, revealing several balls of flame floating beside Mireya.

”I didn’t want to use one of my mother’s ways, but it is the strongest offensive spell I can use at the moment. This is my way of showing you my respect and my thanks.”

The orbs of flame multiplied, two, four, six, circling her like a quiet constellation of heat and light. Their glow bathed the stage in amber, the air growing hotter with every passing breath.

Raina, who had her eyes closed, enveloped her entire body with her aura mantle as she decided to attack with her strongest as well.

Raina twisted three arrows onto the bowstring at once. The two then fired their respective attacks at the same time.

Raina drew in a deep breath and let it all out with the release. The arrows left her bow with a shriek that tore through the air, spiraling violently.

Each shaft spun so fast it made them look like miniature whirlwinds, which then changed directions mid-flight at an incredible speed.

One arrow curved right, another left, their trajectories weaving like predators circling in for the kill, and the last one aimed straight for Mireya’s chest.

Mireya also unleashed her spell onto Raina; the balls of flames surrounded her and had no blind spots.

Raina had no choice but to charge forward with her aura mantle enveloping her; she would take a few hits but evade most of the damage.

Mireya, on the other hand, also could not dodge the incoming attacks, so she prepared to take them head-on.

She created several walls of earth to block the arrows. The spinning arrows penetrated the walls of earth, but it lessened their momentum.

Mireya started running backward while creating more walls of earth to block the attack. The same thing happened, and the arrows penetrated the walls, but they had slowed down considerably until they finally stopped.

On Raina’s side, she had managed to evade a majority of the balls of flame by charging forward and taking a few hits. Unfortunately, her aura mantle, which was at the second level, was unable to handle that much damage, and she was burned.

She was still standing with an arrow already nocked. She had gotten behind Mireya without the other party noticing her and was about to deliver a fatal blow, but unfortunately, she had fainted standing up without being able to release the arrow.

Mireya and everyone watching were quite surprised by this. Even the two dukes and the duchess were stunned by her performance. They were moved by her tenacity; she truly fought until the end. Victory could have been hers, but alas, she was just one step away.

The referee who had regained his senses made an announcement. ”Winner! Mireya Aeromont!”

Even after the declaration of the victor, the audience remained quiet. Mireya looked at the arrow that was aimed at her head and then looked at Raina, who had fainted without releasing the arrow, her fingers still grasping it tightly.

”You truly are a remarkable hunter. I will remember your name, Raina Graven.”