Chapter 10: A Duel Between Divine Magic and Constellation Sorcery, Pt. 1

Chapter 10

A Duel Between Divine Magic and Constellation Sorcery, Pt. 1

In the back of Avalon's hall was a courtyard with a large dirt platform used for training, sports, and outdoor events– mainly concerts and monster part markets. Disputes would also be settled here on occasion as part of a duel of magistry and might. The battle between Xinyu and Avalon’s master was one such duel.

The old man’s first formal fight in years was enough to pack the surrounding area with hundreds of exhilarated spectators itself, but the word of mouth was that it was against an Eastlander; a rare individual from a group of people said to live east of the impassable mountain walls. Few westerners had ever met one, and many believed they were just a fabled civilization confined to storybooks and plays. Naturally, rumors began to spread like wildfire, and people flocked in, hoping to catch a glimpse of the girl far from home.

Brax was surprised that the elderly master even heard out Xinyu’s ridiculous proposition in the first place, especially given who he was. Though Brax had kept his mouth shut out of respect during the initial encounter, he recognized his face the instant he walked into the building. The master was no ordinary old man. He was Lancelot, renowned member of Arthur’s round table, and a living Westland legend. Tales told him a beast who lost a fight but once in his life, to King Arthur himself during their youth, and was accredited with building the greatest guild from the ashes of a hundred fallen kingdoms. This glorious group helped Arthur lead the Westlands from a crumbling mess of warring states to a single, unified division, and made Wunderdum the most prosperous city amongst all three nations.

Lancelot, known far and wide as the Warrior of the Lake, was one of the land's greatest warriors to ever exist, and a personal hero from Brax’s youth.

The Warrior of the Lake and the Merchant of Joy stood on opposing sides, both brining in an overwhelming presence. Their sly smirks emerged as enchanted aura irradiated their bodies with a visible intensity. Xinyu, burning with the fiery red glow of fortune, bowed respectfully with her fist in her hand. Lancelot, flowing with a fierce ocean blue smoke, spit sticky spit and cracked his knuckles. If their colored energies could clash, it would have created an amethyst stained fire, and blown the arena away in one fiery explosion.

Fortunately, both parties had the courtesy not to incinerate all the cheering folks in the immediate vicinity.

A finely dressed man walked out on the field to referee the battle that was about to ensue. At least, a mediator was what Brax and everyone else in the crowd had assumed when the tall young man first walked out, but they were surprised when he sauntered up to the guild master, and got down on his knee.

“Lance, my friend,” he said. “I know not why you’ve taken this skirmish, but if it is okay with you, will you allow me to battle in your stead? Our radars had noticed irregular energy coming into and out of existence around the kingdom, and it seems I’ve been able to trace it back to the young lady before you. With your agreement, I’d like to confirm and study this oddity with my own hands.”

The gentleman that openly waltzed upon the grounds was suave, perfectly proportionate, and nested clean, yet messy brown hair atop his lovingly crafted skull. His tired eyes, a deep indigo, reflected the sun dashingly, whilst his cheeks bled a rosy pink blush from the heat. The sleeves on his greyish shirt were rolled to his elbows, and the tightly strung vest on his thin waist garnished his stylish outfit with a deep black. He smiled at Xinyu, but she stood aloof, simply waiting for whoever was to fight her.

“Please, allow me this duel,” the man said once more, tilting his head down.

“Bah! Very well,” Lancelot muttered. “If it were anyone else, I would’ve beat them to hell, but you surely must have a reason for stepping in, considering you've never fought willingly before. I'd win too fast to have any fun anyway. This duel is yours.”

“Thank you, sir,” he said.

“Eheh? So do I have to fight this pretty-looking boy?” Xinyu asked, disappointed.

“Pretty, am I?” the man teased. “Sorry, but I’ve no interest in romance.”

“I do not care,” Xinyu said, curling her lip back. Then, she smiled. “Women make much better lovers!”

Brax watched the appealing man pick some fuzz off his pants, and throw it to the side. He looked fatigued with his slightly baggy eyes, but this somehow came off as attractive. Brax kind of hated him for that. As he wondered who the insufferable cliche was, a name began to echo throughout the crowd: Cygnus. It was another name he knew well, though he hadn’t ever seen his face before. It seemed the man that had taken the duel from Lancelot was the greatest scholar and scientist in the Westlands, Cygnus Rift.

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“Sososo, what kind of magic do you use?” Xinyu asked excitedly.

“Oh? Why would I tell you that before we even begin?” asked Cygnus. “If that’s the case, then would you tell me what kind you use, young lady?”

“Of course!” Xinyu said. “I use the most wondrous spells of all! Ones which are limitless in power, and as beautiful as the starry night sky. From lightning to arrows of light, my magic manifests any way I see necessary.”

“How peculiar,” Cygnus said. “You’ve exposited many words, yet you’ve explained nothing.”

“We would be here all day if I explained it all,” Xinyu said. “Come! I will show you!”

Lancelot, who resigned to adjudication, struck his hand downward to signify the beginning of the match.

Cygnus moved first, sprinting up to Xinyu and throwing a hefty fist at her. Xinyu’s eyes widened as she sidestepped his punch, but the agile guy spun and delivered a swift kick to her chest, causing her to go flying into the dirt. She quickly jumped back to her feet and brushed herself off, grinning. It turned out the blow hadn't actually landed, because she had thrown herself back before his foot even touched her chest. She knew well that falls were better controlled when self-induced.

“Was this not a battle of magic?” she asked, looking despondently at the stain in her garments. “If you wish to trade fists, then say so!”

“No one in their right mind would reveal their cards without assessing his opponent,” Cygnus said. “Besides, physical enhancement magic is a type of magic. I’m surprised you can keep up with mine with only your innate physical prowess. How strange… I am intrigued!"

“You should always train your body to be in good health,” Xinyu laughed. “But let us get serious now. I do not wish to disappoint this spectacular audience!”

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“I couldn’t care less about that,” Cygnus said. “But I’m going to need you to use your magic. There’s a few things I’d like to confirm.”

“Did you not say only a fool would reveal his cards without assessing his opponent?” Xinyu asked.

“Indeed… I did,” Cygnus said, as he began to unveil his power.

From the palm of his hand Cygnus formed a small, furious sun, swirling like a blazing orb of magma. Though it started at the size of a flea, the spell grew hastily and soon floated overhead in the arena, morphing to a massive flash of brightness that could blind anyone who attempted to gaze directly at its radiance.

As the spherical mass increased, so did its scorching heat. Within seconds, everyone in the crowd was sweating and removing their extra garments, trying to appease the sun’s wrath. If it had not been for the guildmaster’s attendant’s protective barrier around the area, all the spectators would have been burnt to brittle charcoal.

Floating above the dirt arena, radiating noble valencia fire, was the power of a star.

“As bright as the sky, my sun burns," Cygnus said, the flicking lights dancing upon his shining face and in his gaping eyes. “Allow me to tell you about the limitless and beautiful power of a star. It is the frightening result of hydrogen fusion, a wonderful phenomenon that science can hardly explain. The mere presence of my sun’s plasma is enough to melt steel.”

The flames crackled, and the attendant began to struggle containing the star's power. Cygnus had faith in him to keep everyone safe, though. Otherwise he wouldn't have unleashed such a vicious spell near so many people.

Actually, he preferred not to use his magic at all, because Cygnus’s signature cosmic powers consumed energy faster than any other magic. All magic had a cost. Magic energy. Mental stamina. Bodily risks. The form of magic was only bound to the casters imagination, but the actual strength of it relied on the user’s ability to pay the price. The law that dictated nature was the greater one's power, the greater the price they had to pay.

Still, with a pool of internal magic that could only be rivaled by a few figures such as Arthur, Lancelot, and Princess Sako, Cygnus was one of the only people capable of wielding such draining magic. He knew that he would have to expel a great extent of his power if he wished to tempt out the true colors of the anomaly before him.

“If you don’t believe your magic can handle it, I would not think less of you should you falter now,” Cygnus said.

“It is you who should falter!” Xinyu said as she smiled. She placed her hands on her knees and chanted the name of the hero Hou Yi, the great archer deity of her lands. Blue fire sputtered from around her back into a curved crescent shape, and became conjoined by a sparkling gold thread knotted upon each tip. Summoning Yi’s greatest weapon, she conjured a bow made of azul flames and golden strings. This enormous weapon held by Xinyu dwarfed her by two times, but was light enough for her to carry easily, and feeble enough for her sling back a pure white arrow of light.

“Legend says that there used to be nine suns around this world, but Hou Yi shot nine of them down,” Xinyu said, aiming the bow towards the bright light that burnt the sky. “I loved reading about him, for he is so cool! The coolest of all!”

Her aim moved up and steadied. Readied with golden light arrows, the dazzling bow string creaked as it was pulled past her back.

“But the most incredible thing about Hou Yi… is that he never misses!” Xinyu said. “Though I am not sure how you could miss such a big target.”

Xinyu released the string, and the arrow flung forth, piercing the air faster than the eye could see. It flew right into the center of the fiery red ball, and disappeared into its inferno. In that instant, the sun reacted, becoming a supernova of glimmering brilliant, and collapsed into itself, folding inward like a crumpling piece of molten paper. Before the sound hit anyone's ears, it exploded in a disk of sunny dust, and spread its sparks into the dissipating wind. All that was left behind was a ball of iron, and a slightly out-of-breath celestial mage.

The metallic mass crashed to the ground, indenting the dirt, and Cygnus looked curiously at how easily she had swatted one of his strongest abilities away.

“Your sun might be strong in the face of others, but it is a mistake in mine!” Xinyu gloated.

“Those who don't make mistakes are those who don’t try anything new,” Cygnus said, taking off his vest and throwing it to the side. He clenched his fist, and the iron ball began to levitate. The hunk of metal wobbled in the air, and then, started to shrink. Screeching and creaking, Cygnus crushed it with immense magic pressure until it was compressed down into an infinitesimally small nothingness; a microscopic object which no one could see, but all could sense as it seemed to pull in the spirits of all the watching spectators. The obnoxiously loud crowd grew silent as an eerie chill came upon the air. The iron ball itself disappeared, but the area where it had been began to distort, blur, and swirl as if color itself were being sucked in.

Though no one was aware of what the scholarly mage had done, his magic had released a miniature imitation of the universe’s most dangerous and ravenous entity; an object from beyond the skies which Cygnus referred to as a black hole. Not a single mind in the crowd could understand the magnitude of the magic before them, yet inherently they knew it was something sinisterly tearing at the fabrics of existence. Something that should not have been used so casually. Still, Xinyu did not feel threatened in the face of such a destructive beast, and even smirked at its fearful aura. Instead of wavering, she released Hou Yi’s bow from her grasp, dissolving its flame, and chanted another name.

“Of the four fiends, I request Chaos, the harbinger of Entropy. Disperse this wild magic as it is of your realm,” Xinyu said, humming her words. A black light appeared first around her heart, then dimmed her skin until she was a shining entity of pure darkness. Her eyes and features disappeared into this blinding black stain, but her radiance remained. She raised her arm towards the distorting light and began to pull it in.

Cygnus was intrigued, but did not let his focus break. Veins began to show amongst his gripping hands as he struggled to hold it together and keep control over his ravenous power. He did not wish to unveil the magic he’d been working on before he’d perfected it, but he was also never one with stagnation. He also felt at ease knowing that no matter what happened ,Lancelot was there to stop him should he lose control.

The constellation sorcerer was at the peak of unleashing the black hole, drenched in sweat and battling waning muscles. For him and the crowd, it felt like an eternity had passed while he charged this power, but in reality, only a fraction of a second went by. He struggled to maintain its destructive intake, and then, something peculiar occurred.

Though no object nor entity physically came into being, the black hole reacted to Xinyu’s motions and consumed itself into oblivion. It swirled faster and spun like a bamboo leaf caught in the most ravaging tornado, but not for long. Fwipping into rippling waves, the wind became gentle again and the once twirling air steadied into stillness. It all happened in an instant, and like nothing happened at all, but Cygnus’s distortion was no more. The world existed as though he hadn't cast anything in the first place.

Cygnus was puzzled, yet he was curious. So curious, he had to know. Two of his most incredibly powerful attacks were thrown away as if they were simple elemental spurts of water and fire. In the end, they were bluffs, as he would never have unleashed them, but they should have been nigh unstoppable nonetheless. At least, so he thought.

Why? he wondered. Why why why why! I must…

He paused.

“It’s funny,” Cygnus said.

“What is?” Xinyu asked, tilting her head to the side.

“Your magic is irregular, but you are not the dark anomaly we’re looking for,” Cygnus said. “Our radars showed an intense magical concentration of the black energy we’d been tracking for so long days before your arrival, so I thought you might be the cause. Now I see that’s not true. Back to square one, it seems.”

“So does that mean we are finished here?” Xinyu asked.

“No,” Cygnus said. “You’ve gained my interest and thus, I cannot let you go without knowing more. I want to see the full extent of your power… and mine too!”

“I am very interested in you too! Let us continue our fight then!” Xinyu said.

Cygnus’s body shone brightly, like a star in himself. His heart, a lionizing furnace that could broil hell itself, became so furious that it stained the ground with stagnant magma, and so hot that it might even melt thought itself. The attendant was overwhelmed by the pressure, and would’ve failed to contain the overwhelming gravity of Cygnus’s light had Lancelot not stepped in and lended his energy to create a magic field to protect the spectators.

“Shouldn’t we stop them?” the attendant huffed, on the verge of fainting.

“And give up this damn good show? Not a chance!” Lancelot said. “You may rest now, Galahad, for I shall protect everyone for heronout.”