Ultraya: Revival

Chapter 54: Three Duels

08/02/4014 AD – 16:21 – Lavamelt – Mount Avilasa – Hidden Temple – Summit

"Why in hell would I tell you that?!" the Angel of Fire was dumbfounded.

"Because you couldn't pick it up!" the Angel of Water rebutted. "What if you still can't?!"

"Well then give it here and I'll try!"

"Hell no! I'll just go and ask Staruthia; she's already used one once!"

"Well genius, the exit is behind me".

"Oh yeah..."

"How about this then", Elimiphlaren stood up straight in earnest. "A duel to deplete the other's health. You win, I'll tell you how to use it, and then I'll retreat. You win, you hand me the crystal".

"You really expect me to fight one-handed?!" Anmarina shouted in defiance.

"Not at all", Elimiphlaren pointed to the alter the crystal had been resting on. "Put it over there, I have a theory". She reluctantly complied. The crystal slotted nicely into a claw-like stand and a domed shield appeared over the alter. Elimiphlaren walked over and attempted to bypass the shield to no avail.

"I reckon only an Angel of Water can get past the barrier, the inscriptions below all mention water. I was translating the rest of it when the three stooges barged in!"

Anmarina remained quiet.

"So how about it?" Elimiphlaren sounded sincere. "I can't kill you and you can't kill me; it'll be like a real-life arena fight".

"Okay..." Anmarina was torn between the desire to see Hyperzio and her own confidence in her abilities... no. Her desire shall be her source of strength.

"Good. I'm on ninety-eight percent; what health are you on?" Elimiphlaren asked.

Anmarina glanced at her health gauge, "Ha! Perfect one-hundred!"

Elimiphlaren scorched her armour slightly, dropping her health to the same level.

"Heyyyyyy", Anmarina whined.

"Shut up", Elimiphlaren summoned his Angelic Cannon. "We aren't friends; this isn't a game either".

"Yeah, yeah", Anmarina answered in kind.

On the floor below, barrage of six micro-missiles launched at a relatively slow speed towards Skyswipe.

"Oh come on!" he laughed. "You could not have possibly expected those shots to land!" Dracolast ignore the taunts and continued to fire around the room; after a volley of rockets were unleashed, he would spray his chain cannon around randomly.

'In fact, it doesn't look like he is even trying to hit me...' Skyswipe thought. 'What gives? He is one of the U.A.'s strongest fighters. Is he just trying to buy time for Anmarina? That's it, isn't it?!' The ex-Guardian made a beeline for the staircase to the summit. Suddenly, three powerful energy blasts slammed into his back, draining a third of his health. He turned around in shock, but Dracolast was still stood there with his tank-based cannons still placed firmly upon his back.

Dracolast smiled sweetly, "Running away?" he fired upon Skyswipe with his chain cannon.

Skyswipe activated his spherical shield to block the large-calibre rounds, "What kind of game are you playing at?"

"Oh, who knows..." Dracolast equipped two holo swords from his assault belt.

On the floor below that one, Olicleaver and Grouslash clashed blades in a series of attacks; both with their respective arm blades. The A.E.R.'s ace was trying for a quick end to the battle whereas the U.A.'s Elite was playing this match extremely passively. Olicleaver would simply block incoming strikes with his blade, then retaliate with a short burst of bullets from his Wing-Shredder. These tactics were very slowly chipping away at Grouslash's health, but after five minutes of combat, only seven-percent of health had been drained. The fight had been void of any speech as both combatants preferred to talk through other means: Olicleaver through his intellect, and Grouslash through his skill with a blade. The sharp fins on Grouslash's arms and back withdrew closer to his core and allowed his body to dive right through the ground as if it were water. Grouslash surfaced beneath Olicleaver and performed and upcut; the attack scraped his back fin against the Exploration Team member's chest plate and cut a small gash, exposing some circuitry. Satisfied with the sweep, Grouslash dived back underground.