Flinching against the onrushing flames, I turned my back to them and curled up into a ball on the ground, minimizing my exposed surface area. But instead of the scorching heat I was expecting, a cool breeze washed over me.

Blinking in surprise, I uncurled myself.

My head throbbing and my mind fuzzy from overstraining my soul, I staggered to my feet. The sword cry from Artemis had dulled my hearing and the blast of the explosion had finally put my eardrums out of their misery. I could hear nothing. Dredging up the last of my strength, I drew upon a little bit of ambient light mana to patch one eardrum to serviceable conditions before turning around.

The uproar of the audience hit me but I was in no state to pay attention to them as I was shocked at the sight before me.

The slender figure of a female stood between me and the flames, a beautiful blue curtain of water mana shimmering in front of her, protecting us from the explosion. Her waist-length ultramarine blue hair undulated gently in the breeze of the blast like waves upon a tranquil sea.

“Nice boys don’t play with explosions,” teased Isabella, turning around with a smile, “especially ones they can’t control.”

Beyond her, the deluge of incandescent blue flames seemed to rewind and compress back into a tiny sphere that floated down into the palm of a man who had appeared baseless in the middle of the Arena.

He was a giant of a man, nearly two and a half metres tall with bulging muscles. Bright orange-red reptilian scales covered his clawed arms and most of his bare chest while the scattered wisps of white hair on his head did nothing to hide his four dark, curving horns. Scales covered his prominent brows instead of hair and in their shadows, two draconic eyes burnt an incandescent yellow. His long reptilian tail whipped behind his back, never touching the ground.

Closing his fingers around the sphere, the man tightened his fist, casually pinching the compressed explosion out.

Astarael Salamandra, the Sunlight Soldier, the Demigod of the Radiant Flames, looked up from his palm and fixed his burning eyes on me. When our eyes met, I felt like I was staring directly at the sun. My very soul seemed like it would burn. I averted my gaze, my eyes tearing up and my vision spotty.

Suddenly, I noticed that my head wasn’t hurting anymore and that my mind was much clearer. Not only that, all my injuries, including my damaged ears, had healed and I could hear everything perfectly again. I remembered, belatedly, that the Sunlight Soldier’s flames were also attuned closely to the light and that he had been a paladin back in his days of military service. He was quite the accomplished healer.

Blinking the tears out of my eyes, “Thank you,” I said as I bowed to him, and then to Isabella, “and thank you for coming to my aid.”

When the Emperor had said that our safety was in capable hands, I hadn’t understood exactly how capable those hands really were. They were two Demigods for Vita’s sake.

Isabella shrugged nonchalantly. “I was just passing by.”

“And I was pestered by my granddaughter into coming,” said the Sunlight Soldier, the undertone of a growling hiss colouring his words.

Behind him, Artemis, back in her Bestia form, fluttered down onto the ground. Our eyes met. Her eyes were still grey, but they were dull with defeat, no longer containing the sharp glint of silver they had before. Averting her eyes and looking down, she sheathed her sword, standing with her arms hanging limply by her sides.

“So, senior,” asked Isabella, “since we intervened, to whom do we award the victory?”

As I was standing behind her, I couldn't see her expression but the Sunlight Soldier looked from her to me and then back again before rasping out, “Well, I suppose it would have to be the boy.” His voice echoed throughout the stadium and sparked ripples of discussion among the audience.

Artemis’ shoulders dropped further and I could see her clenching her fists.

The explosion I had caused was a result of my experiment with my great grandfather’s technique of Sapphire Flames. I had been trying to distinguish between dead and vital air by breathing a large amount of air into my lungs and waiting for my body to consume the vitality leaving only dead air behind. Then I would study the wind mana fluctuations of the dead air to memorize it. Finally, I would skip the process and directly use my control over ambient mana to separate out the vital and dead components of the air.

I had succeeded to an extent, though I still needed to breathe the air in and perform the separation with the aid of my lungs.

Then I had hit upon another roadblock. I couldn't use fire magic when I was in the mental state of the Void as the flames required emotions to wield them. The fix was simple. I had to drop out of the Void and perform the spell in Oneness. While possible, it was exponentially more difficult and inefficient. In practice, I would botch the attempt nine out of ten times.

All in all, I had lucked out today by being able to pull the spell off. I managed to separate the vital and the dead air, used the dead air for the air barrier and the vital air for the explosion.

But still, the epicentre of the explosion had been closer to me than to Artemis and orichalcum was very resistant to heat and her armour was pure orichalcum. If she wrapped herself up in her wings, the most she would suffer would be a few molten feathers, while I would be a charred husk.

My attack was purely suicidal. I didn’t deserve the win. But when I opened my mouth to protest the decision, Isabella’s clear voice rang in my mind. "Just shut up and accept it.”

I shut my mouth with a click of my teeth. What exactly was going on here?

After a short pause, the Emperor stood up and addressed the gathering. “The winner of the duel is Mars Felidae. For the meritorious military service rendered by him in the war against the Calamity, We bestow upon him the military rank of Major, making him the youngest man to ever rise to this rank in the history of the Empire.

“And for the feat of besting her in a Trial by Combat, it is with great pleasure that We bestow upon this young hero, Our daughter, Artemis of the House Valkyria. May their bond be eternal!”

Getting to their feet, the entire gathering echoed his statement in unison, their combined voices vibrating the air. “May their bond be eternal!”

End of Volume.