Audrey stared at herself in the mirror. A mane of natural, crimson hair deluged all over her shoulders and back, with two unruly bangs framing the sides of her face. Eyes, the same shade as Purple Quartz, sat comfortably underneath long, curled eyelashes. Her face was raffinate, aristocratic, and extremely attractive—it was a clear symbol of her noble lineage. However, that same alluring face was tightened into a frown.

Why? Simply because the mirror was not reflecting all of her beauty.

She brought a slender, pale hand up and tucked a chock of bloody-red hair behind her ear.

The crowd outside was bustling with impatience. Audrey could hear their chatter even from her dressing room. She didn't blame their enthusiasm. It was an important match, and many leaderboard rankers were spectating either from the stands or from home. Jered, the teenage boy they blatantly ignored, turned out to be a dangerous threat to their position. Therefore, it was with a bit of pressure that she flew all the way to the USA for the match.

There was a lot of expectation placed on her; an expectation she wasn't sure she could live up to.

A knock on the door rang out, "Excuse me, m'lady. The match will start in 5 minutes."

"Oui," Audrey straightened her back, applying a swipe of fiery red lipstick, "I'll be there in a min."

The footsteps slowly faded.

She tilted her head slightly to the side, her smile unveiling her bright white teeth.

"So what if I don't win?" her hands trembled, not out of fear, but excitement, "The fight, at least, is bound to be... thrilling!"

With a deep, calming breath, Audrey headed out and into the arena.

Her black, cocktail dress fluttered due to the powerful excess of her mana.

The audience burst into applause, and she nodded at them dignifiedly.

However, they weren't what she was focused on.

On the other end of the arena, her opponent stood there, watching her, his hands tucked in the pockets of his unbuttoned overcoat. His hair was brushed to one side, with a few strands making it down to his right eye. She had seen him on videos many times before, but he was undoubtedly a very attractive guy, that she could admit. And the closer she got to him, the harder his presence pressed on her—most likely due to his unmeasurably deep mana pool. Even his green eyes were glowing slightly because of it.

They were a couple of feet away from each other.

Jered had a practiced smile on his face as he stared at her.

She stared back, eyes narrowed and lips curled up in defiance, "It's not going to be easy for you," she stated.

There was no need for introductions anyway.

"Is that so?" he was not angry, there was genuine curiosity in his tone, "I'm looking forward to it then. Eldwyn was not bad, but his control over his spells was rather pathetic."

Audrey frowned; she knew Jered was not making fun of Eldwyn. He was just expressing his opinion.

"I'm better than him," she hissed, a proud grin on her face.

He nodded thoughtfully, and that signaled the end of their conversation.

"Audrey D'Arc, Global Rank: 26th versus Jered von Jacobs, Global Rank: 78th! This ought to be good, guys!"

The floating flood lights were on them.

"Start!"

Audrey whipped one hand up, and a pillar of fire spiraled out of the ground, taking the shape of a crimson basilisk. The creature curled around her, its maw open, fangs bared, ready to strike down its foe.

"So, you want to play with fire, huh?" Jered commented, hands still in his pockets, "Are you sure about that?"

"Amuse me, Jered!"

He smiled, silently casting one of the new spells he learned, which happened to be the same as hers, 'Hell Spawn'.

The temperature shot up, and a winged, robed creature made out of fire appeared behind him in a burst of flames and embers.

A scythe was in its skeletal hand.

Audrey's basilisk lunged at his summon, however, with a swing of its scythe, the reptile was split in two.

It didn't die, though. The split, scorching body parts mashed back together and slithered around Audrey, its forked tongue flicking out.

"Quite the fearsome pet you have there, Jered," she observed, inwardly surprised at the sheer power oozing out of it.

"You sound confident."

She shrugged, and two more pillars of fire flew out of the ground, going up as high as 50 feet in the air, rippling and flicking into basilisks.

The temperature in the arena had reached such a degree that it felt like Jered had cast his 'Pharaoh's Flame'. Luckily, the flooring was made out of magical minerals, and the barrier warding off the heat was powerful enough to tank a couple of Royal-Tier spells. Jered watched the basilisks float intimidatingly behind Audrey, "Do you honestly think that will make a difference?" and as if to prove his point, he pumped a continuous supply of mana into 'Hell Spawn'.

Audrey frowned, and immediately commanded her spawns to pounce towards Jered.

The basilisks tore their maws wide open and aimed at him.

There was no fear on his face.

With a raise of his hand, a powerful 'Mana Barrier' sent the flaming creatures reeling back.

"Aw, come on! That's ridiculous!" Audrey groaned.

Meanwhile, Jered's reaper-like entity had grown considerably taller, and because he sneaked his 'Vizier's Light' into it, its color turned a wispy blue.

The scythe—which had elongated to the point its tip almost touched the ceiling of the arena—came swinging down at the basilisks. Audrey gawked as the pressure of the swing disheveled her hair and clothes. Her basilisks leaped up to resist the blade, but they were overpowered before contact was made. Their flames were snuffed out, leaving only ripples of smoke behind. The scythe continued in its downward arc, its sweltering light reflecting off of Audrey's eyes.

She didn't know of any spells that could protect her from that. Still, she smiled, finding the thrumming of her heart exhilarating. Death had never been so close before, and now she was face to face with the reaper itself.

'Show me what you're worth, Audrey! Show him that we're not pushovers!'

The voice in her head whispered, giving her that extra push not to give up.

'I know, Adrienne. Let's fight as one entity!'

A swirling shaft of mana went off, the shock waves crashing against the barrier and putting serious strain on it.

Jered's summon was forced to back away right before it could slash through Audrey.

"Hmmm..."

He watched her transformation with a curious tilt of his head. He sniffed the air, the pungent tang of mana prickling his nose. He hated it when people released such powerful waves of mana. When the light petered out, Audrey was vastly different from before. She was less human-like, and more unholy-like. Her eyes were replaced by glowing, crimson orbs. Her skin was considerably paler compared to earlier. And two antelope horns jutted out of the sides of her head.

She looked like the result of a satanic ritual, or the ingredient to one.

"How long can you stay in that form?"

Audrey didn't seem to have lost her reasoning, for she replied with a relaxed smile, "Half an hour."

He nodded, taking one last sniff of her mana. It was dark, heavy, sinister. At first, he thought she was possessed by a Shadow too. But the feeling was less pronounced, less potent, less evil, in way. Even Jasmine's random hungry bursts would emit a more foul aura than the current Audrey.

'So, it's not a Shadow, huh.' he thought, holding her gaze with a degree of confidence that slightly shook her resolve.

"You're... not scared..." she said, her lips pulling back to unveil sharp canines, "... papa was right..."

"You should have listened to him then."

Jered loaded his hand back, past his shoulder, "I have a fitting spell for you, Audrey," his face broke into a smile as he spread his fingers wide open, "Do me a favor. When you go down, don't get back up."

"You're so arrogant!" she clenched her teeth, her anger manifesting into wisps of black mana all over her, "We'll show you, Jered! We'll show you that you're not invincible!" her voice overlapped with another.

He briefly recalled Lucy's words, 'This is the weakened version of a spell that is supposedly capable of swallowing an entire continent. Its creator was one of the most powerful Magicians to have ever lived, Anton Gutiérrez.' He carefully conjured a wiggling mass of darkness and destruction in his hand, slowly molding it according to Lucy's instruction. Audrey was quick to recognize the growing threat and cast an extremely powerful Elder-Tier spell.

A dark mist reared up around her, growling ominously. Then, numerous crimson eyes lit up inside it, moving in no fixed pattern, "I'm not fighting alone, Jered! Don't underestimate me!" she raised her hands up dramatically, and the snarling mist crashed forward.

The swirling, vile cloud in Jered's hand thinned down into a shaft and lengthened until a sharp tip was pointing forward. The rolling power whipping out of it threatened to crack the barrier and swallow the entire arena. 'Lanza del Diablo'. He jammed it straight into the incoming mist, a sonic boom going off as it broke the sound barrier. The spear easily blasted a hole in the mist, without so much as a flinch, and appeared right in front of Audrey's shocked, frightened, yet excited face.

The golden shimmer protecting the barrier eventually broke down, and a man—coated in bright, crimson light—teleported before Jered's 'Lanza del Diablo'.

Jered couldn't see what happened exactly, but an explosion tore the ground apart, and the audience was forced to either erect a 'Mana Barrier' or flee entirely from the arena. The shockwaves shook the building, chunks of debris and dust raining down.

"You're an anomaly," the man said as soon as the dust settled down, "This spell... should have died long ago along with that man."

"Papa...?" Audrey squawked out, "You... you..." her transformation faded, and she reverted to her original form, albeit a bit more roughed up.

"Mon petit, you're not hurt, are you?" Jacques asked, turning around to look at her.

She shook her head, "I'm... fine..."

Frankly, she wasn't fine. There was so much going on in her head. She had seen the essence of destruction in that spell. A force so great that it was like a tsunami of darkness, pain, and the vilest things that dwelt within men. For the first time in her life, Audrey was truly helpless in front of someone. Even Adrienne was unresponsive to her mental tugs.

"How about you, papa?"

The man chanced a glance at his slightly burnt hand, "I'm a bit surprised," his eyes drifted back to Jered, "You were going to kill her, even though this was not a deathmatch."

"And you are?"

"A concerned father."

"Your unwanted interruption disqualified her, you know that, right? Then again, I would have won regardless of your interference," Jered said with an annoyed frown, then he sighed, and walked over to them. He stopped right by Audrey's side, "You lied. You aren't any better than Eldwyn. You're all full of fancy tricks, but with no real substance. In the end, this proved to be exactly as I had expected. A complete waste of time. But you know, to get to the top, I have to climb over you. So, forgive me for being harsh. I'm not making fun of you, I'm just disappointed."

He spared a glance at Jacques, who stared back with equal intensity.

Neither of them moved.

Jered 'Shadowport'ed away.

"..."

"I'm surprised you didn't stop him..." Audrey breathed out, a bit terrified, "... you're so protective of me..."

"That boy..." Jacques held back a sigh, "... he has someone extremely powerful backing him up."

"What do you mean? Ashy Petals isn't exactly powerful."

"I'm not talking about Ashy Petals. Jered... how could he have learned those spells, Audrey," he continued soberly, "His spell repertoire is ludicrous. What he used against you was definitely a Royal-Tier spell. And then there's his teleport method; which is another Royal-Tier spell. And not only did he learn them, but he can also use them so nonchalantly. Who taught him? Ashy Petals doesn't have the resources or the power to create such... a monster."