Liliana kept her eyes closed for a heartbeat as the sounds of the audience faded in her awareness. Rage thumped in her chest like a second heartbeat, the fires of anger scalding in her veins. Something in her howled in victory that she finally released it from its shackles. A beast, driven near rabid from its imprisonment.

Light turned the darkness of her eyelids blood red before she opened them, seeing the sands illuminated under a pure white light. Zir’elon stood before her, frozen, his sword raised, foot forward as if he had been prepared for a charge.

Liliana felt the comforting weight of her naginata materialize in her palm, the haft pressed into her back; the blade pointed towards the ground. A slow, satisfied smile grew on her lips as she regarded Zir’elon.

“You know, I’ve never tested this skill on a human,” Liliana said softly, almost conversationally, as she took a step forward.

She couldn’t see what she looked like, but she’d heard what others had said about it. The bright crown made of light floating above her head, striking against the blue black inky darkness of her hair, the vague wing like shapes behind her, all of it making it almost painful to look upon her. Liliana liked to imagine, in her more vain moments, that she resembled the visage of an avenging angel.

A rather appropriate thing for Zir’elon to face.

“I don’t enjoy taking away the free will of other sapient beings,” Liliana continued to speak to her captive audience of one as she reached Zir’elon. His mouth was kept locked shut at her wishes. She could only imagine the countless things he wished to say to her.

“So I never tested it on another person. But you bring out something nasty in me.” Liliana hummed as her free hand reached out and took the sword from Zir’elon’s grasp, testing the weight of the weapon for a moment.

She truly hadn’t been sure if her [Radiant Revelry] would work, but the skill had never specified it couldn’t be used on one of the mortal races. Only that the targets had to have a lower Intelligence than her Charisma, and that the effect was increased on those with a Dark alignment. Already, the slight damage over time of the skill’s effect on anything with a Dark affinity was starting to take hold, darkening Zir’elon’s shield.

Well, Liliana knew Zir’elon didn’t have an Intelligence stat over 728, and as a dæmon, he naturally unlocked a Dark affinity. So she had estimated the odds of her skill working being rather high.

It was always so gratifying to be right.

“You like to feel powerful, like to believe it’s your right to be above others. To play with them, to humiliate them.” Liliana tossed the sword in the air, catching it by the hilt deftly with one hand before she turned on her heel and threw it.

“Catch,” Liliana called out.

On cue, Polaris jumped from where he had sat at the edge of the arena, snatching the weapon out of the air before settling back down. Liliana turned back to Zir’elon, her smile widening, fangs barred in a facsimile of a grin.

“And truly? I’m not so good-hearted that behavior like that would normally draw my ire. I’m not a champion for the weak. I don’t share the honourable disposition my brother has.” Liliana tilted her head slightly, shrugging.

“But what I do have an issue with is when someone decides to target the people I hold dear.” Liliana dropped all pretense of kindness as her voice lowered into a growl. She leaned forward as if sharing a secret.

“You want to know the most important lesson I ever learned, Zir’elon?” Liliana paused, as if waiting for a response.

“Oh, nothing to say for once?” Liliana asked, faux concern thick in her tone before she let out a mocking laugh when Zir’elon neither moved nor spoke.

“Of course, you can’t talk. Not unless I want you to. Not until you hit forty percent Health at least.” Liliana purred, “Well, I’ll tell you, anyway. As a treat for good behavior.” Liliana smirked.

“I learned that if someone wants to make themselves a threat to you or those you love, you should cut them down before they get a chance to strike.” Liliana leaned back, taking a step away from Zir’elon as her face went cold.

“Kneel.” The spoken order was unnecessary, but Liliana felt it added to the humiliation as Zir’elon’s body forced him to obey.

Or, she supposed, it was the shield around his body doing it. The shields prevented any harmful attacks or effects from affecting the students, but it would also mean they had to enforce certain effects.

She had been curious as to how the shields would handle effects like those of her [Radiant Revelry] or Psyche and Control skills geared towards body or mind control. If they would let it slip past the shield, or if the shield would turn into a prison. She still wasn’t entirely sure, but she wasn’t going to ask Zir’elon which it was.

He was so much more pleasant when his mouth was shut.

“Consider this the last and final warning you’ll get from me, Zir’elon. I’ve been so very kind to you these past six months. Remember the mercy I showed you when we’re done here.” Liliana leaned slightly down to meet Zir’elon’s eyes, the only part of him that could show the rage he was undoubtedly drowning under.

Good. Liliana had been choking on her fury since she walked into this fight. She could feel it, clawing in her throat, begging her to let it out, to soak through every word. To send her blade sinking deep into Zir’elon’s body.

For once, Liliana was inclined to indulge it.

“The next time you cross me, I’ll take it as an invitation to cut you down and end you as a threat to me and mine,” Liliana hissed as she stood straight once more, naginata whipping out in front of her. She rested the blade against Zir’elon’s vulnerable neck.

“Now, let’s have some fun, shall we?” Liliana asked with a vicious grin that displayed those fangs Koth’talan had asked her to show.

Well, he’d get his wish.

Liliana pulled her naginata back, twirling it and striking the butt against Zir’elon’s face. Zir’elon went down, his shield flickering slightly, far less than the damage over time effect of her skill. Liliana was purposefully holding her strength back.

Zir’elon wanted to act like a villain? Like he was so strong? Well, Liliana thought it was high time he met a real villain, and felt what true power tasted like. It was a lesson he sorely needed, and Liliana was more than happy to teach him. And just this once, during this one fight, Liliana would let him see exactly how dark she could be, and why he should’ve left her and her friends alone from the start.

Liliana stepped to the side and slid the tip of her foot under Zir’elon’s back. With a surge of muscles, she kicked him high into the air. She followed shortly with [Leap], [Wind Walk] catching her as she met his falling body. Swinging her naginata like a bat, she flung him halfway across the arena. [Wind Surge] enabled her to follow him and meet him before he landed, a hand snaking out to grab him by a limp arm, arresting his fall.

“You know, I could make you do anything I wanted right now. I could make you crawl across the ground like the worm you are,” Liliana told him as she held him a hundred feet in the air.

“I could make you bow before me, or lick my shoes.” Liliana hummed, tilting her head as if considering the options.

“I could make you take one of my daggers, and slit your own throat,” Liliana let the words fall from her lips with the same offhanded consideration she’d given the other options. Belying the deadly threat held within them.

“How does it feel? To know you’re completely at my mercy? To know I could have done this at any time?” Liliana asked, voice going as cold as her eyes as she stared at Zir’elon. Now there was something other than rage in his eyes. There was fear, too. And Liliana reveled in it.

“At any point, I could’ve taken away your free will. I could have made you turn your own sword against yourself.” Liliana told him, hand tightening on Zir’elon’s arm in what would’ve been a crushing grip, had there not been a shield in the way. As it was, said shield deepened in color.

“But I didn’t. Because I know what it’s like, to lose control of your own body. To be at someone’s mercy so utterly, to be powerless.” Liliana drew Zir’elon up, shaking his body slightly.

“But here I am, doing it to you. Because you finally pushed me to my limit, Zir’elon. And now you have to face the consequences of your own actions,” Liliana hissed, words coated in venom and something bordering on hatred. Her eyes flicked slightly to the edge of her vision as she checked her Mana.

Perfect.

“However, I’ll give you one last mercy, Zir’elon,” Liliana told him, smile anything but kind as she flung Zir’elon down to the ground hard. The impact left cracks in the hard packed sand around his body as his shield turned orange.

“Have your freedom back, for what good it’ll do you,” Liliana called out as she simultaneously canceled [Wind Walk] and [Radiant Revelry], her body plummeting through the air. As the wind whistled in her ears, Liliana activated [Aspect Of The Beast].

Power flooded her veins and Liliana could almost feel the physical changes the skill caused appearing on her, the silver marks like constellations spreading across her skin, twins to the ones on Polaris’ coat. Her teeth ached in her mouth and she felt the fangs she had gained when she bonded Polaris pressing into her lips as they lengthened.

The world seemed to slow as she adjusted to the way her mind was now processing things so much faster with the significant boost to her Speed. She almost felt like she was floating as she fell, and Zir’elon looked like he was moving through thick sludge as he stood.

The real reason she had canceled [Radiant Revelry] had not been out of some misplaced kindness, or sudden chivalry. No, Liliana knew herself well, and when it came to those she saw as enemies, she had no warmth in her heart for them. Her friends might see her as a good person. But Liliana knew she had never been a good person, would never be one.

And she wasn’t entirely sure she truly wanted to be good. Or at least, not what most people would see as good.

Good people didn’t drug their step mothers to force a confession. A good person would’ve found it in their heart to forgive. But Liliana didn’t want to forgive any who had wronged her. She wanted to make them pay.

In blood, in pride, in every way that would make them hurt. She wanted to rip everything they cared about from them, and leave them broken behind her. Too weak and defeated to ever consider turning on her again. She wanted them to fear her, and all she could and would do to them.

So, she’d stopped her skill because Zir’elon’s shield had been inching ever closer to red. And Liliana was not finished with him yet. She hadn’t made him pay enough to match the crimes he’d committed against her and hers.

This fight would end only when Liliana decided it was over, and not a second earlier.

Liliana hit the ground as Zir’elon found his balance, flames licking up his arms, twining with shadows. He moved towards her to attack, and Liliana had to smile. He was so slow.

With a Speed stat now well exceeding a thousand, it took no more effort than a breath to practically vanish as she moved, stopping behind a Zir’elon who had only just started to move his head to locate her.

“Too slow, such a shame.” Liliana taunted as her naginata swung and connected with Zir’elon’s legs, knocking him from his feet.

If she’d wanted to end this quickly, she would’ve borrowed Lelantos’ stats. His Strength would’ve ensured it only took her a hit or two to finish this. Polaris, however, had such a small Strength stat that forty percent of it was hardly noticeable. No, Liliana had wanted his Speed.

She wanted to be sure Zir’elon was forced to endure hit after hit, never able to retaliate as she beat him up and down these sands and made a mockery of him in front of the entire Academy, as he had tried to do to Koth’talan. She wanted him to burn with shame, knowing that he had never even gotten a single hit off on her. To understand, truly and utterly, the vast ocean of difference between them. Not just in power, but in temperament.

She wanted him to know that she could’ve ended this fight within seconds, and he wouldn’t have been able to stop her. That she chose to draw it out, because she could, because she wanted to. She wanted him to fear not just the power she held, but her. Wanted him to wake up screaming in fear from the manic light in her eyes, and the mad smile on her face as she laughed at his pain and humiliation.

He would know, by the end of the fight, what kind of viper he’d grabbed, and the sting of the venom it held in its fangs.

“Get back on your feet, or are you more comfortable in the dirt?” Liliana ordered, pressing her foot into Zir’elon’s face, jumping lightly back when he tried to grab her ankle.

“The mighty prince, brought so low by a half blood rose.” Liliana mocked when Zir’elon stood once more. Every second it took felt like years to Liliana.

The moment he was on his feet, Liliana struck. His arms had hardly risen an inch in what would have eventually been a block had Liliana given him the few seconds needed to complete the move. However, Liliana was not feeling generous today as her naginata struck him in the chest, throwing him back and down once more.

“Gosh, so pathetic. Is this the might of the self proclaimed strongest son of the Alfein Emperor? Your father must cry himself to sleep every night, knowing his blood runs through such weak veins.” Liliana’s voice dripped sickly sweet sympathy as Zir’elon rose to his hands and knees, just in time for Liliana’s foot to catch him under his chin and send him flying again.

Fire climbed up Zir’elon’s body as he got back to his feet, but the flames moved at a glacial speed, like some lagging game from Earth. It was nothing at all for Liliana to strike him without suffering damage, the flat of her blade slamming into Zir’elon’s face, sending it to the side, his body following.

“You know, I complimented Dunstan once in a battle. He was a strong enough opponent that I was forced to use my Quintessential skill,” Liliana spoke as if she was discussing the weather, even as she spun a kick into Zir’elon’s ribs, sending him back down again.

“But I don’t want you to think I was forced to use this skill, I don’t want you to misunderstand.” Liliana told Zir’elon as she jumped slightly to grab him by a horn, dragging his head down to meet her knee. She released her hold on his horn and kicked out, her foot connecting with his stomach.

“You see, I could have beaten you quite easily without ever touching a Quintessential skill. Truly, it would’ve been as easy as squashing a bug.” Liliana’s next attack went low, naginata hooking behind Zir’elon’s knees and sending him into a flip that landed him on his stomach.

“The difference between you and Dunstan is I had to use the skill to win with him. But you? Oh, I just wanted to,” Liliana told him as she grabbed his arm and flipped him over her hip.

“Honestly, I thought I’d be bored by now. I’ve met ten-year-olds who put up a better fight than this.” Liliana planted her naginata on Zir’elon’s chest and kept him down as she leaned over him.

“This is so much fun, though! Perhaps we should do this again. Without the shields. Do you think that would be a good idea, little weak prince?” Liliana asked him, lips stretched wide in a grin.

“Nothing to say for once? Or did you bite through your own tongue?” Liliana asked, laughing when Zir’elon tried to grab her weapon at the same time as flames erupted over his body. It was adorable, how he kept trying.

“Bitch,” Zir’elon spat out, voice slow to Liliana’s ears.

“Ah ah ah! If you have nothing nice to say,” Liliana tutted, striking with her weapon dead center on Zir’elon’s mouth, sending him back. “Then say nothing at all. Did your mother not teach you manners?”

Liliana gaged Zir’elon’s shield. She’d been holding back her strength, only ever using enough to knock Zir’elon down, while targeting spots that would ensure the hits sent him off balance. But there was always momentum to account for, and with how fast her strikes were, her momentum was considerable. His shield was a deep orange red. Liliana checked the timer on her skill and sighed.

Well. She supposed it was time to end this fight. Or, well, calling it a fight would be an insult to all fights. This was nothing more than a vicious beating.

A delightful, satisfying, long over due beating. But a beating none the less.

“This has been fun, and I hope you enjoyed yourself too, Zir’elon. Or at least learned something. I hope my lesson was impactful,” Liliana swung her naginata into the side of Zir’elon’s knees, “enough to make it through your thick skull. Tell me, was I a good teacher?” Liliana asked as she stomped a heavy foot down on Zir’elon’s chest.

“The only regret I have about this is that we have these pesky shields. I think a few broken bones might have made the lesson stick a bit better. Don’t you think?” Liliana’s blade smacked harshly into Zir’elon’s hand as he tried to raise it.

“If I have to teach you this lesson again, I’ll be sure it will be a permanent one. So study up, do your homework and make me proud, little prince.” Liliana’s voice was honey coated steel as she flipped back.

“And just know,” Liliana’s voice lost its sweet edge, all the rage that was burning inside of her coloring her words now, “none of this had to happen. I would’ve happily ignored you for four years. But you forced yourself into my life. Forced me to see you as an enemy. All of this? It’s nothing more than the result of your own actions. You made this happen. You made me show such an ugly side of myself.” Liliana spat the words out between clenched fangs.

It was tedious, to activate so many skills and spells at once. But if she didn’t get to show off at the tournament, when would she? And for once, she didn’t have to worry about her Mana. With Polaris’ stats, she had 9,290 Mana.

In the time it took Zir’elon to stand once more and make two steps towards her, Liliana activated every skill and spell she could think to use. Her Set Up and Beast’s Dance combos, power and speed thundering so thickly through her body she thought she might explode with it.

For the first time this fight [Threads Of Control] activated, tugging her daggers free. [Radiant Edge] and [Radiant Ignition] turned every blade she wielded blindingly bright. [March Of Madness] summoned four copies of herself, each with their own weapons arrayed on and around them.

Liliana did not stop with her own skills and spells. No, she had access to Polaris’ as well, and she would use them. [Dark Kitsunebi] summoned balls of shadows dancing like flames around her. [Havoc Claws] surrounded her blades with chaotic energy on top of the light.

Her set up done, Liliana moved, clones and blades moving with her as she activated her Finisher combo on top of [Chaos Pierce] and [Winds of Discord].

When every attack and spell Liliana had used hit Zir’elon, there was a moment, a single breath, that felt like eons. As if the world had frozen in that second. Everything hung still, suspended in time. Zir’elon’s eyes full of hate, fear and resignation as he stared at her, her blades a hair from his body.

Then time restarted, and even with Liliana’s faster comprehension, it was a struggle to see and process everything. There was a deafening boom, a flash of light and chaos that burned Liliana’s eyes and a blast of concussive force that had Liliana digging her feet and naginata in the ground to keep her balance as she was forced back several yards. In the second it took Liliana to blink, Zir’elon had been flung clear across the arena, and there was a second thunderous boom when his body collided with the shield.

He hung there for a heartbeat, like he’d been glued to the shield. Then, his body fell to the ground, his shield such a dark red, Liliana wondered for a split second if she’d somehow broken it. Or truly killed Zir’elon.

“Winner, Liliana Rosengarde.” With the announcement, the sounds of the audience crashed on Liliana, nearly as deafening as the thunder crack when she’d struck Zir’elon with everything she had.

Liliana closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she let it out, every skill and spell she still had activated turned off, her rage flowing out of her with them. Somewhere inside of her, a dark beast returned to its cage, purring in contentment. She locked her knees to keep herself from stumbling, or worse, falling, when she felt the strength given to her by her skills and anger drain from her like a bucket with a hole punched in it.

When Liliana opened her eyes, she had her ‘mask of civility’ placed firmly on once more, and she looked like nothing more than an utterly ordinary girl as she waved at the audience.

She had won.

Lili's stats during the fight, after using Aspect Of The Beast:

Status Sheet

Name

Liliana Rosengarde

Age

16

Level

121

Class

Beast Souled Blade Dancer

Race

Human

Rank

6

Health

2,540

H-Regen

+25.4/1.1sec

Mana

9,290

M-Regen

+106.4/1.1sec

Stamina

9,750

S-Regen

+97.5/1.1sec

Magic Power

4,888

Magic Control

4,703

Experience: 439,799/1,488,400

Vitality

162(254)

Endurance

845(975)

Strength

421(461)

Dexterity

834(1,042)

Wisdom

319(929)

Intelligence

260(1,064)

Speed

889(1,473)

Charisma

728(1,248)

Unallocated Stat Points: 0

Aspect Of The Beast: Soul. You have bonded your soul to multiple beasts, through the strength of your connection to those whose souls you share assume a portion of their power and majesty for yourself. Chose one beast to become one with. Take 40% of their stats as your own, unlimited access to their skills and spells for the duration of Aspect Of The Beast.

Skill can only be used once per 24 hours.

Lasts ten minutes

Cost: 3000 Stamina, 1500 Mana