Chapter 301: X-Ace Clash (Part 19)

"Sorry about that, Aria, I really didn’t expect that. It just felt like the logical thing to do while I was in that state, my bad," I apologized sheepishly.Enrage had just worn off, and the instant my normal state of mind was restored, I felt kinda mortified.

"Nah, it’s okay, don’t worry about it," She shook her head with a smile, before glancing at the door as one of the event staff entered.

"Ariella Velle, Jaden Xeno. We’re ready to begin the final match. Right this way."

"Alright! Let’s do this!" Grinned Jaden, a look of anticipation on his face.

"Good luck out there, Aria, you’ve got this," I remarked with an encouraging smile, as I patted her head.

"Yeah, I’ll give it everything I’ve got," She replied, lightly tapping her fist against my chest, before heading out of the waiting room.

It won’t be easy, but she’s definitely capable of defeating him. She’s really going to need to push herself to her absolute best though, he’s a serious threat.

Let’s see how she does...

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Point-of-View: Ariella Velle

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"Here we go," I muttered to myself, feeling a hint of nervousness as I stepped onto the arena, taking a deep breath and letting out a slow exhale to compose myself and ease my nerves.

I’ve faced tougher odds before, but that doesn’t mean this’ll be easy by any stretch of the imagination.

Far from it...thanks to fighting him yesterday, as well as watching his matches against Kai and Aarav today, I’ve got a good idea of what he’s capable of, so I should be able to fight him more effectively than I did yesterday, since I more or less know what to expect.

But, well, that goes both ways.

He knows what I’m capable of too, so I can’t afford to be predictable.

If nothing else, I’m in peak condition for this fight...my Mana is full, so is my stamina, and I only used Descent for about five seconds, so I’ve got close to the full time limit at my disposal.

"Bring it on, let’s wrap up this event with a bang!" Called out Jaden, as the countdown began.

"Be careful what you wish for," I smiled, as I laced my fingers together and stretched my arms out, cracking them.

This is it...

Three.

Two!

ONE!!!

"[Descent]! [Blaze Ignition: Flare]!"

"[Telekinetic Shroud]," He chanted, before whipping his right arm across as a shimmer enveloped his entire body, "[Telekinetic Slash]!"

I shot up into the air as a rapid slashing wave of telekinesis came shooting towards me, before charging up a large, swirling sphere of Negative Energy above me, concentrating and intensifying it as it steadily expanded, veering across as rapid telekinetic blast came shooting towards me.

As I evaded the blast, I swung my arms down, hurling the large mass of swirling Negative Energy down towards him.

He swiftly unleashed a barrage of telekinetic shockwaves around himself, slowing the sphere down with each burst.

As the mass of Negative Energy began to fall apart and dissipate as he killed its momentum, I swooped down towards him at full speed as he dispersed the Negative Energy with another shockwave, crimson flames erupting around my gauntlets.

I swiftly fired out a pressurized burst of Negative Energy from my feet as he unleashed another shockwave, his burst of force barely slowing me down as I propelled myself through it, unleashing another Negative Energy burst to launch myself towards him with a sharp burst of speed as I closed in on him.

He quickly crossed his arms in front of himself, the telekinetic shimmer around them intensifying before I drove my right fist forward, unleashing a sharp burst of Mana through my knuckles as my fist collided against his defense, breaking through as an intense, fiery crimson burst enhanced by the explosive effect of Blaze Ignition erupted upon impact.

His feet skidded back several meters across the arena, the middle of his right forearm starting to swell up before he raised his right foot and stomped on the ground as I shot towards me, pushing me back as a sharp telekinetic burst erupted out.

I quickly flew up as he took aim and fired out piercing beam of telekinesis at my chest, grazing the inner part of my right calf as I shot up into the air, before firing out a barrage of Negative Energy arrows down towards him.

He raced across to evade the incoming projectiles, firing out blasts of telekinesis to blow them away, before he suddenly halted and spun across towards me.

I quickly veered across to my right as he launched himself straight up towards me with a powerful burst of telekinesis, zipping up towards my left as I flew across, before we simultaneously fired out blasts of Negative Energy and telekinesis at each other, our attacks colliding and exploding upon impact, the force of the blast blowing us both away.

I brought myself to a halt by spreading my wings out sharply, triggering a gust of wind as he landed on the floor of the arena, his feet hitting the ground with a thud and skidding back slightly, before I shot across to my left through the air as he raised his right hand towards me, before I got pulled off-balance as my feet got caught in his Telekinetic Pull Spell.

I pulled my legs up towards me with all my strength, getting my feet out of his Spell’s line of trajectory, before I quickly crossed my arms in front of myself as a rapid, piercing spear of telekinesis came shooting up towards me.

The attack collided against my gauntlets, pushing me back several meters through the air as I felt a twinge of pain across the middle of my left forearm, before twisting my body and spinning across to divert the attack away, my left arm trembling in pain.

As the pain began to fade as my Regeneration repaired the damage, I swerved across the air as a rapid telekinetic slash came shooting towards me, evading it before getting some distance, taking a moment to catch my breath as I let out a slow exhale...