Rise of the Crusader

"Mikaelson"

Raphael mumbled his middle name and as he stared at Hilario, there was shock evident in his eyes.

As Hilario made contact with Raphael's eyes this time around, she nodded her head and then flashed a smile at him.

"If you're the person I think you're, what are you doing here?"

"How did you survive it?" Raphael couldn't help but ask the most concerning and at the same time as disturbing question.

And responding to Raphael, Hilario let out a chuckle.

"It's glad that you remember who I am." Hilario paused, "But, let's have a good fight because this might as well be your last fight."

"May the best person win, Mikaelson"

Only a handful of the people in the domain could hear the discussion between Raphael and Hilario.

The others were very much curious about what both of them were saying, as the expression on their faces indicated that it was a very serious conversation.

However, once they saw Hilario dashing towards Raphael, they soon put their thought behind them and fixed their eyes on the intriguing battle that was about to occur.

As for Raphael, he turned towards Gus who was watching the battle from afar and then let out a chuckle.

Bang!

Followed by Raphael's earlier chuckle was his fist colliding with Hilario's punch.

Neither of them was pushed backward from the strike, and a second after their fist collided with one another, what occurred was a series of combos from both of them.

Fists and kicks were thrown all over the place, and as the both of them went on without holding back, they moved at a pace that defied common sense.

Whether it was Raphael or Hilario, both of them moved and attacked that only a few of the people in the surrounding could still read as well as see the battle.

As for the others, they were left with the afterimage created by Raphael and Hilario.

"Ohhh my fucking god!"

"Can someone pinch me, and tell me I'm in a dream of…"

Before Bane could even complete his words, he felt two hands digging into his skin and twisting it fiercely.

"Ahhh~!"

Bane screamed as the pinch hurt like hell. He, however, turned towards the battle in front and as he saw Raphael and Hilario still going at one another, his face lit up.

"These two are monsters!!!!!"

It was difficult to find anyone in the academy who would agree with Bane on any view, but this time around it was different.

Even the seven who were seating on the obsidian throne had to admit that Raphael and Hilario were of different breeds.

The both of their movement was in sync with one another, and so were their attacks. They seemed to be very familiar with one another style, as there was a counterattack waiting after every move.

Raphael appeared to be able to predict Hilario's next move, and so was he.

"Is the reason why you left to become weaker, Mikaelson?"

Hilario spoke with mockery evident in her voice.

There was no response other than a head shake from Raphael. He could naturally tell that Hilario was upset with him, but what was done was done.

Even if he had the opportunity to go back in time, he would still choose to make the move that he made.

After a few minutes of another heated exchange between Raphael and Hilario, she suddenly moved backward.

"Come at me, Raphael!!!!!!!!"

Hilario's eyes were bloodshot with killing intent present in them. She bit her lower lips hard and her body shivered for a brief moment.

Meanwhile, Raphael heaved a deep breath.

Most of the people in the surrounding had assumed that this was all that he was capable of, but Hilario, who was once close to him knew that he was still holding back.

"Alright then," Raphael replied.

Hearing Raphael's response, there was a change in Hilario's expression.

She continued to glare and as she saw him bring out a bowl from his ring, one of her eyebrows was raised.

The bowl's emergence on the stage didn't only put a puzzled expression on Hilario's face, but it also made the others around the stage confused as well.

Inside the bowl was an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless substance.

And ignoring the dumbfounded look that was on Hilario's and the other's faces, Raphael placed his hand inside the bowl.

Hilario didn't have any idea what was inside the bowl or what Raphael was going to do with it, but she didn't want to wait around before he made a move.

If there was someone who was going to die, then Hilario firmly believed it should be Raphael.

Hilario already healed the wounds that were around her body, and after the demonic plants grew ten times their former sizes, she launched at Raphael.

In front of their incoming attack, Raphael still had his hand placed in the bowl. He didn't seem to have the slightest bit of intention to move from where he was standing.

But, it all changed after Hilario appeared a few meters away from him.

Raphael suddenly scoped a portion of the water that was in the bowl and sprinkled them on Hilario, who was close to him.

"What are you…"

Hilario was able to dodge the water that was sent forward, and she opened her mouth to speak, only to realize that the demonic plants around her body were decaying.

The water wasn't aimed at Hilario, instead, it was at the demonic plants around her. And by the time she realized it, it was already late and nothing could be dead.

Staring at the plants that were withering and dying at an inhuman pace, Hilario's eyes twitched.

Even though she already knew that Raphael had something on her all this while, she still didn't expect that the damage it could cause was this lethal.

A quarter of the demonic plants were destroyed once they made contact with the water. The destruction of the plant didn't cause any injury to Hilario, but seeing the plants dying in front of her, her eyes became teary.

Her body shook violently, and as the second wave of water was sprinkled at her, Hilario watched as half of the demonic plants died.

"Y-You…"

Hilario dug her fingernails deep into her palm, causing it to bleed. Clearly, when she asked Raphael to come at her, she wasn't expecting it to be this way.

And as Hilario attempted to call out for more demonic plants, she received retaliation from her power that caused her to spit blood from her mouth.

The demonic plants were unique existence, possessing minds of their own, and to prevent their extinction from Raphael's hand, they refused to come forward.

However, despite the look and the state which Hilario was in, there was no pity or even remorse on Raphael's face.

The usual expression was on his face, and just when it seemed to be like Raphael might spare Hilario, he splashed the rest of the water in the bowl at Hilario.

"Huh!"

It all came so fast that Hilario wasn't even given the chance to move away.

And as they landed on her body, she didn't bother to readjust her clothes, instead, she moved her gaze to the little demonic plants that were around her.

Tears soon dropped out of her eyes as once the water touched the plants it erased them all. And within seconds, Hilario, whose body was wrapped around with demonic plants was without none.

Hilario wanted to stop the tears that were coming out of her eyes, but she was unable to.

While it might seem like Raphael was simply disabling the demonic plants around her, the damage he was, in fact, doing to her was more than that.

Raphael was actually eroding her powers.

"Raphael," Hilario mumbled as she took large strides and appeared in front of him.

Hilario stared at Raphael with tears oozing out of her eyes, "Why don't you just finish the job, I can tell that you want to." She said.

There was however no response from Raphael nor a change in his expression, and this was even after Hilario tightened her grip on his clothes.

"Why?!"

This time around, after those words escaped Hilario's mouth, she knelt on the ground.

Her hands were on Raphael's thigh as tears oozed out of her eyes.

Meanwhile, Raphael heaved a deep breath, he lowered his head and was about to speak to Hilario when he realized that she had fallen unconscious.

A light smile appeared on his face afterward, and gently bending slightly, he carried Hilario from the ground.

He stared at Hilario, who was in his arms, and then trailed his hand across her face.

Even though no words escaped Raphael's mouth, the way he stared at Hilario was very different from how he had ever looked at any woman before.

Not even Elisa had been looked that way by Raphael.

There was complete silence in the surroundings as they all moved their gaze between Raphael and Hilario. While the same thought wandered through their mind, none of them voiced it out.

And as the referee confirmed Hilario's status and received a nod from the directors, he stepped onto the stage.

"The winner of the first-year tournament is Raphael Queen!"