Announcer: Well that was something… Anyway, one to the next round! Luna from Elune vs. Levi from an independent trainer!

--- Chapter 115 ---

In the private booth, the master’s master leans in.

Old man: So, Taizawa. You wanna make a bet?

Taizawa: A bet?

Old man: Mhm. I bet my Levi can beat your Luna, in under 2 minutes.

Kota: Oh that sounds interesting. Levi is undeniably strong, we all saw it. But Luna has a strong will to win, even stopping her own heart.

Taizawa: Hm, what do I get if I win.

Old man: If you win? That’s a good point. I got it! Whoever wins gets free drinks for the rest of their lives!

Taizawa: Heh, deal.

Announcer: Ok! Our combatants are ready, begin!

Levi in his cloak gets in a readied position. Luna brings four tablets out, summoning four golems.

Luna: Inspiratione, Virga, Defensionis, Gladio.

A golem with tube-like barrels appears. Another with two large blasters. The thirds arm is a sword. And the fourths look incredibly sturdy, with two shields for its arms. Levi backs off slightly, a slight smile forms from the only visible part of his face.

Levi: You’re a summoner huh? Nice! I always wanted to fight a summoner.

He dips his fist in the orange sandbags on his hips. He takes a deep breath in through his teeth and exhales. And before she even realizes he’s running in at fast speeds.

Luna: Inspi, Virga! Blast him! And Gladio! Get him quickly!

The three golems ready themselves. Virga begins to release a barrage of smaller yellow beams, and Inspi releases a giant one. Gladio Runs in. As Virga’s beams reach Levi, he swiftly dodges and weaves through them. The large blast is about to hit him, but he arches his back backward, the ball flies right over him. He returns to normal posture. Gladio stands before him swinging its swords in toward him. He leaps into the air as both blades clatter together. He lands on top and pulls his fist back. But before he could punch Virga and Inspi’s bullets were upon him. He backflips off the swords landing in front of Gladio, and he runs under its blades and punches it in its front side. The punch doesn't look inherently strong, but Gladio cracks and bursts into smaller stones. Luna guards her eyes and when the stones stop falling, she looks around trying to locate him. Then she catches him in the corner of her eye. She looks to see him shove a large rock from Gladio into Inspi’s cannon, causing it to swell up and burst. He sprinkles some of this sand on his boot. He kicks upward causing Inspi to shatter. He looks over at Luna, readying his guard again. He starts to run in toward her. He leaps into the air, bringing his fist down upon her. Defen however quickly places its shield to protect her. His fist connects with the shield for only a moment, again with seemingly no power behind it, but the shield cracks and begins to crumble. The force pushed him into the air, flying toward Virga, punching and destroying it. He looks back at Defen and Luna.

Levi: These things are a lot sturdier than I thought originally.

He says in a whinny tone shaking his hands in pain.

Luna: Huh, I was under the impression these were light work.

Levi: I never said they weren’t.

-

Old man: It’s only been 40 seconds, heh looks like I’m getting free drinks for life.

Taizawa: Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.

-

Levi runs in and punches the second shield on Defen. However, this punch seemed much more serious, causing the entirety of Defen to crack and burst into nothing. Luna raises her fists.

Levi: Oh, a fistfight? I thought you were a summoner. Whatevs.

Levi punches at her but makes contact with seemingly nothing, then he sees the air itself crack and break.

Levi: Solid air? Ah, I see, you’re using wind magic to make barriers. Clever.

As he makes this comment, she smirks as several slivers of air go flying at him. His eyes widen as he didn’t expect this. He dodges most, but one grazes his arm, drawing a little blood to the outside.

Levi: huh. You got a lot of tricks. But let’s end this, ok?

She sees his fist clench, and his muscles tighten. As this happens, it almost appears he has more muscle than before. He brings his fist back. Luna is frightened by this sight and creates multiple air barriers. He releases a punch on one of the barriers that send shockwaves. All of the barriers break and Luna is sent flying but she gets back up.

Levi: Wow, you sure are resilient! It’s not often I meet someone who can keep my attacks at bay, so thanks!

Luna: Why is he being so nice when he’s the one clearly winning?! I need to think, how can I beat this kid. Wait, it might not work but it’s the best I got.

Levi continues his advance, but when he got somewhat closer, she lifts her hands causing a bright light to appear, blinding Levi for a moment. He blinks away the light and opens his eyes to see her still standing there.

Levi: Why didn’t she try anything?

Levi shrugs off the thought and punches her. He is surprised there isn’t a wind barrier. But he is even more surprised that his punch sinks into her stomach.

Levi: Wait, I didn’t punch her that hard did I?! Oh god, wait-

His thoughts are cut short by Luna’s body turning into a brown stone-like color. The word “Exemplum” is carved on its chest. It begins to crumble.

Luna: Thanks Exemplum! You bought me just enough time!

Levi’s eyes go wide as he looks up, seeing her walking up steps made of solid air, and jumps off from above him. In her right hand is a ball of wind, and the left has fire. She crosses her arms, causing an Air slash made of fire to launch at him.

Levi: Shit!

He goes to jump back, but Luna already saw through his moves. The ground below him recedes down causing him to fall before he could jump, and the Flaming air slash makes a direct hit, causing an explosion of fire.

Luna: Heh, I did it.

The crowd begins to roar in excitement.

Levi: Did what.

The fire swirls around his body and blasts off him as he steps up onto the solid ground.

Luna: But…

Levi: Oh come on, did you think one good hit was gonna keep me down for the count?

Luna grits her teeth, preparing her next move. He runs in and leaps forward, she lifts her hand up, flashing him with light again. Still blinded and not touching the ground, he twists his body and punches into the air, breaking the solid air she was escaping on.

Levi: I’m not falling for the same trick twice.

He says wiping his eyes, and standing back up. She also stands back up, grabbing a tablet from her pocket.

Luna: I guess I’m gonna have to use my ace.

She brings the tablet forward, and the carving of a man standing tall appears.

Luna: Come! Mr. Invincible!

Mr. Invincible: Hey beautiful.

Luna: …

Levi: So you got something other than golems? Awesome! Let’s see what he’s made of!

Levi runs in at incredible speeds, but Mr. Invincible stands tall, letting the attack hit him. The shockwaves from the punch ring around the arena, but Mr. Invincible stands there.

Levi: Nice he can survive my punch! Maybe he really is Invincible!

Levi leaps up into the air.

Levi: Now, let’s see how you handle this!

Levi releases a barrage of punches, barely even perceivable. In the end, he still stands. But Mr. invincible’s stomach begins to gurgle, and he collapses on one knee.

Luna: Invincible, what’s wrong?!

Mr. Invincible: I’m invincible, but the more damage I take, the more my stomach hurts.

He looks up at Levi.

Mr. Invincible: I was sure I was only hit with 37 punches, but the amount of damage I sustained is equal to three HUNDRED and 37.

His stomach gurgles once more.

Mr. Invincible: Oh god, I gotta go, good luck beautiful.

Mr. Invincible poofs into smoke. His figure is erased from the tablet.

Levi shakes his hands.

Levi: Ouch, that man was made of pure steel, that hurt.

He wines. But he regains composure and stares her down.

Levi: If you don’t have any more tricks left, I suggest you forfeit.

She is breathing heavily, obviously exhausted. She contemplates his words carefully. But as she realizes she’s is out of options, something begins to happen. Her cuts begin to close, and she starts to emanate glowing yellow light.

Levi: What the hell is she doing now?

As this light grows stronger she feels invigorated. Then, from her back, a single glowing wing extends from the left side of her body. The crowd is in awe and begins to murmur. Levi’s eyes go wide.

Levi: That wing. It couldn’t be.

She begins to form a ball of light in her hand, and as she grabs it, it forms into a blade of light. She jumps toward him, and slices at him. He leaps back pretty far. She then puts her left hand forward, the wing points toward him, and extends like a blade. He tucks his shoulder back and moves slightly to the left as the blade stabs past him.

Levi: It has to be, a glowing wing, glowing body, weapons of light. There’s no doubt in my mind. Your… an Angel.

Luna’s eyes are glowing yellow, the light she emanates gets brighter constantly, causing some of the crowd to have to cover their eyes.

Levi: I see, I can no longer afford to take this battle lightly.

He grabs the knots tying the sandbags to his waist and pulls them. The sandbags thump on the ground, and he gets in a ready position. He runs in at even greater speeds. She brings her sword to her side and throws it. It turns into a large circular saw-like disk going towards him. He leaps into the air, her wing stabs forward toward him. He grabs his shirt underneath his cloak with both hands and pulls them in different directions, causing him to disappear. In this mode, Luna can see most things, but what happened wasn’t speed, she is sent into confusion. She turns her head to look behind her and she sees him, but he is already turning and punching her back with full force, she is sent flying. She feels her consciousness slipping, but before it does, she is thinking.

Luna: If it was speed, I would have seen it. So it must have been some sort of teleportation. But when he punched my back, it felt like several different punches all over my back. Just what is his arcana…

She bounces off the ground unconscious. The light fades.

Levi: That was a close one at the end. I hope nobody saw that. I’m not ready to reveal my arcana to the world yet.

Announcer: A-and there we have it! Levi is the winner! That was an intense match! Right folks?!

The crowd is silent, still trying to process what had just happened.

Announcer: Eh-hehe.

Taizawa: HA! Two minutes and three seconds. I win!

He looks over at his master and Kota, and they are in shock.

Kota: Taizawa, that was…

Taizawa: Sigh Yes. She is an angel. Her mother was the SS+ rank mage, Mirielle the angelic mage.

Announcer: Now, onto the next round! Mizusata from Vector vs. Hiro from Elune!