The walk to his mark was much calmer than Kyoya had thought it up to be. Were he not here to prove himself wrong, the boy would've thought he'd be nothing short of a nervous wreck after an introduction like that.

Though, that thought was the furthest thing from a complaint. He turned to face Lyric, the pair now exactly thirty meters apart, set on a collision course for the center of the arena.

With his hand still signaling skyward, Rory got the crowd going in another show of raw, concentrated passion.

"You know what time it is, folks! Can we get a word from our combatants before this showdown starts showin' down?" Just as he asked, twin magic circles appeared before the two, Miscreant and Seraph locked in a staring contest for the ages.

Lyric gave her statement first.

"It's a damn shame I won't be able to fight in the real tournament, but I've got the feeling I'll get my fix just fine from this. I'll be sure to make it fast; don't wanna embarrass him too much in his first run on the big-time."

"Now that is a KILLER opener from our reigning champ! What's your rebuttal, underdog?"

"If she's dead set on coming out on top, there's no reason I shouldn't be. Don't expect me to be some deadbeat, now: I'm the one with something to prove."

That drove the audience into a frenzy, with even Rory throwing both hands up.

"Man, oh MAN! Truer words have never been spoken! If that doesn't make you wanna ROAR, I don't know what could! But that's enough fore-war, people! It's time to get this goin' with our kickoff countdown! Everybody with me!"

Now, his heart was racing.

An ecstatic Rory joined the cheer in a unified chant, thousands of voices all erupting with the same message.

"Three!"

Kyoya dug his greaves' claws in deep, standing ready to spring off with more force than he'd ever exerted. Lyric was already in a stance of her own.

"Two!"

There was no going back, now.

"One!"

It would all start here.

"LET'S GO! ROCK, ROLL, AND ROOOOAR!"

"HELLS YEAH! LET'S SEE THE REAL YOU, BLUE!"

"YOU'RE LOOKIN' RIGHT AT 'EM! BRING IT!"

Lyric's polearm collided with Kyoya's fists the instant the clash began, a metal hiss erupting from the forces' impact. She spun, he dodged, she swung, he returned the hit. The boy ducked a horizontal swipe and exchanged that for an uppercut, but she parried the hit and tried a swing from the left. He blocked that by a hair, and now at one hit from knocking her weapon away, cut right to the chase. "Affinity Extension: Critical Outburst!"

He used the window to rear back and slam his head into her collarbone, explosions of azure packing only two hits' worth of power, and dazing his vision for a moment, but this was going to be a fight of inches and sacrifices. That ended the clash.

"What a start! They were neck and neck to that point, but Kyoya's Extension Effect came out almost immediately! What're the numbers there, your highness!?" Rory looked to an equally stunned Alexandria.

"Kyoya's Affinity, Critical Ascent, increases his Strength level with every hit he lands on an opponent. The Extension effect lets him forfeit the chain of hits for double the impact of the applied chain on his next attack, so he must have been able to do it after he hit miss Lyric's weapon!"

"I was right to think this wouldn't be a sweep. Let's see what else we'll get treated to." Ryder finished, though the battle had only just begun.

Lyric recovered with a backflip out of the knockback, vaulting over his fist and countering with a perfectly timed block, completely preventing him from chasing the hit. She sidestepped an attempted follow-up and brought the staff down on his shoulder, a vicious crack of thunder blowing him back just as when she'd struck the Demon. He stumbled, that hit leaving a crushing ache, but now wasn't the time to cry uncle.

"I'm a bit surprised you pulled out your stops so fast! Where's the respect?" The Seraph broke into a rush, opening with a cleaving overhead swing. He avoided it, but took some of the time gained from her having to recover to see just how incredible of an opponent she'd proven. That missed attack sent an enormous arc of hissing electricity surging past him, crackling explosions raining rubble down with absolutely zero mercy.

"Spare me the fluff, I've got nothin' to lose here!" Kyoya dashed back into the fray, close combat following multiple failed attempts to get through her seemingly impregnable defense. He just kept on the attack, trying to find something, anything he could use as a means to exploit her strong suits so he could turn them into weaknesses.

"Don't bank everything on attack! I'm no pushover, Blue!" Lyric successfully disengaged, batting her opponent away each time he tried to keep them in closer quarters. She found enough room to vault into the air, practically flying by using currents to keep her airborne. She reared her arm back as charges of bursting blue thunder gathered at her palm, the electricity itself pulling him toward whatever it was she was charging.

"Here it comes! Galvanic Surge!" Lyric thrust her open palm forward, a massive beam of concentrated lightning bursting forth and cutting straight through the ground he dodged from. Somehow, she was able to keep the attack going, trailing every move he made in attempts to avoid it.

After losing his footing in one of the fissures from the blast, the beam rolled right into him, sending a charred Miscreant careening into the East border. The shock was expected, only with the accompanying sensation of a battering ram barreling into his chest for good measure. He'd never felt such a sharp, unrelenting pain quite like that, but staying in its radius would only make that worse. With what little room he had, the boy managed to slip out of her range just long enough to start dodging again, even if it wouldn't be for long.

"There's no way she could keep an attack that intense up for so long! There's gotta be a limit..." Kyoya kept dodging, but his windows were getting narrower by the second.

"Talk about wicked! Lyric's Galvanic Surge is usually a finisher, but it looks like there are ZERO holds to be barred, here!"

Alexandria tailed Rory's observation, unintentionally giving light to Kyoya's predicament.

"Galvanic Surge is one of Lyric's most magically draining skills, but when her Affinity takes effect and begins storing the energy of attacks from her staff, it mitigates the extreme cost imposed by such a powerful move. Although, it can only stay out for so long. It's a wonder he was even able to dodge the initial blast, let alone avoid the skill when she prolongs its use... Of course, that hit looked far from pleasant."

Lyric looked to have finally reached the attack's limit, but not before grazing his abdomen one last time and leaving it burned beyond what he knew the human body could withstand. She landed with haste, re-materializing her weapon.

"Jeez, you really made me go and waste all that Magic I built up... What a drag."

"I didn't make you do jack, and you literally NAILED me! How was that a waste!?"

"Close is for horseshoes, Blue; if it doesn't get the job done, it's a miss. That's a whole lotta talk for the one that's been running this whole fight."

"Who said anything about running?"