New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Once the chairwoman was done with her long and winding speech, she announced the start of the semi-finals. Three bouts were left before the end of this tournament.

Astaroth looked at Phoenix, and she gazed back. There was anticipation in both gazes, as both knew the next bout would send them to the finals.

"Hold nothing back. You ought to know you'll lose if you do." Astaroth told Phoenix, a smirk creeping up his lips.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Wolfy. You are talking to a pro player. Even if you have the strength to back your words, have a little respect." Phoenix answered smugly.

It was primarily pre-match banter between the two of them, since both knew that their opponent was dangerous. Phoenix especially knew that she couldn't give Astaroth even a second to think.

This fight would all come down to who of the two would act first. And from that first action on, the fight would go at a breakneck pace.

Both combatants were teleported to the arena as the tension in the stands grew by an order of magnitude. Silence permeated the place, as a pin drop could be heard.

The timer ticked away as both players went into hyper-focus.

*Gong!*

Phoenix immediately cast a firebolt with her left hand, aiming to disrupt Astaroth's mind, as her right hand started gathering flames.

Astaroth, for his part, melded with White instantly, lunging toward Phoenix. He couldn't take a straight path to her, since she was barraging him with firebolts.

He could have taken the spells without too much trouble, but he knew better than to already start taking damage against an opponent that could rapidly escalate her damage output.

Of course, he also remembered not to let too much fire accumulate in the arena as he split his focus to blow out the firebolts that landed on the ground with some sharp wind gusts.

Phoenix would not let him approach so easily either, as she started running back in a circumvented path, trying her best to maintain a distance from Astaroth.

She always made sure to cut the shortest route to her with some firebolts and flame walls, making sure Astaroth could only go the long route.

She knew Astaroth could just run through those, but she also had a good grasp on his tactical mind. She knew he wouldn't take avoidable damage.

The fight rapidly transformed into a game of cat and mouse, with Phoenix being the mouse. Astaroth only had five minutes to catch her and end this, as he wasn't confident in being able to take her down without his buffed stats.

'This isn't going anywhere,' He thought, after chasing her around for three minutes.

Astaroth was already thinking about lunging at her on all fours, but he was weary of something. Phoenix was still only using one hand to fire spells at him.

She occupied her other hand, gathering flames, and that worried him.

'How long does it take to gather fire?' He wondered.

He felt that something was off, and he used his perfect mana sense. That was when he grasped the situation.

*Gasp!*

Through his heightened senses, the fire in her right hand was shining a bright white, almost like a miniature sun.

'This! This is Aether!' He screamed internally.

That's when he understood what she was doing. She was refining her mana in the flames to make it purer.

'How did she learn about Aether?!' He questioned in his head, as his thoughts started going into turmoil.

He immediately recognized the threat she was going to pose, lest he let her finish that process. Astaroth dropped on all fours, pushing all his strength into his hind legs.

The speed at which he bounded forward made everyone in the stands, and all the others watching from outside the game, drop their jaws in astonishment.

The ground under Astaroth's feet crumbled when he launched forward, practically exploding behind him, as all Phoenix saw was Astaroth appearing before her.

Her eyes went wide in shock for a second. But they quickly reverted to normal, as she grinned.

"Gotcha!" she said, as Astaroth's hand pierced her stomach.

Phoenix grabbed Astaroth's arm and slammed her right hand into her own chest. Astaroth's mind went blank, not understanding why she would attack herself.

But horror quickly replaced the shock.

In his still heightened senses, the bright white flame in her hand melted into her body, before her entirety started shining with the same force.

"Combat Pyromancy: Avatar Of Flames," Phoenix said, closing her eyes, as her body combusted.

Astaroth tried jumping back, but Phoenix's hand was exerting unnatural strength right now, as it began burning in bright orange flames.

Fire covered her body, her hair turning to a blazing inferno behind her, as she transformed into a fiery woman with a face with no mouth.

Her eyes reopened, and instead of eyes, they were now two slits of blue flames extending to the sides. Astaroth quickly understood that she had been holding back with all her previous opponents.

His mind went razor sharp, as his instincts kicked back in, clearing his head from the shock.

'I need to get out of her grip,' He thought, glancing at his health bar.

It was rapidly dropping, as being close to Phoenix right now was equivalent to being near a miniature sun.

He quickly jumped up, sending both his feet into her chest, taking more damage, but kicking off with all his strength, slipping out of her powerful grasp.

The jump sent him airborne, flying backward for a respectful distance, only landing back on the ground on the opposite side of the arena.

Astaroth's meld timer was almost over, and the situation had just escalated from bad to horrible. But his face showed no signs of desperation.

An enormous smile was instead forming on his lips. He was having so much fun!