Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

The arena was bathed in moonlight as two of Midgard's most famous players, Bloody Lily and Xanthea, finally met on the battlefield. After a brief greeting and exchange of words, they stood on opposite sides and waited for the signal to begin fighting.

As soon as the gongs rang out across the Valkyria Arena, Blood Lily surprised Xanthea with her speed and tried to attack with her ruddy sword, but Xanthea created a magical barrier to protect herself from the attack. The barrier didn't hold for long, crumbling from the force of the blow, but Xanthea quickly cast a spell to grab Bloody Lily with greenish tentacles that mysteriously appeared from portals around her.

The onlookers were surprised by this magic, and soon remembered that she was a witch class player, which meant that her spells were not as common as those of mage class players.

"What are those things?" Bloody Lily asked, also surprised. She had never met anyone who could use interdimensional portals.

Xanthea laughed, obviously confident in her abilities. "Huh? But sweet Lily, I thought you'd have an advantage because you've seen my other fights? What happened? Did you really think I would show my best against those rats I fought before? Of course not, but I must admit that I didn't expect you to be so fast, so I'll have to play a little more cautiously, but that won't stop me from beating you."

With a flick of her wand, Xanthea launched a series of green lightning bolts at Bloody Lily, who turned her red sword into a large shield to protect her entire body.

"Oh! You do that too? Yes! Show me more of your tricks! You're a formidable opponent!" said Xanthea, admiring Bloody Lily's skill.

Bloody Lily smiled despite the tense situation. "You're not the only one with tricks up your sleeve," she replied, advancing towards Xanthea, her sword now transformed into a whip that extended to full range.

Xanthea barely had time to react, and the next thing she knew, Bloody Lily's whip was wrapped around her, pinning her down.

"Is that the best you can do?" teased Xanthea, though there was some concern in her voice. "I expected more from you, Bloody Lily."

But Bloody Lily made no reply, instead beginning to focus her magical energy on the whip, causing it to glow with an intense light and then burn. Xanthea tried to free herself, but the energy was too strong, and she began to feel her strength failing.

"What is this? What are you doing?" asked Xanthea, now truly worried.

"A special ability," Bloody Lily replied, smiling triumphantly. "It allows me to absorb some of my opponent's mana."

But Xanthea was never really worried, she was just pretending. While the Bloody Lily concentrated on absorbing Xanthea's mana, the witch smiled with satisfaction, and at that moment, everyone saw the interdimensional portals behind the Bloody Lily open again. Tentacles like the ones before emerged from these cracks in reality and began to move silently toward the lily, making the entire audience even more euphoric.

Xanthea laughed, and with a quick wave of her wand, Xanthea made the tentacles attack the Bloody Lily. However, the leader of the Crimson Soldiers Guild was no fool, she knew that she could not let her guard down against Xanthea, and she did not let her guard down, so she was able to see the tentacles move out of the corner of her eye, and she deftly dodged as they tried to attack him. She knew that if one of them grabbed her, it could be the end of the fight for her.

Xanthea's tentacles were incredibly fast and agile, but Bloody Lily was even faster. She released the mana-stealing whip, and as she dodged the tentacles, she lunged at Xanthea, causing her whip to return to its sword form.

There was a unique glow at the tip of Xanthea's wand, which could mean that she could not keep two spells active at the same time. In other words, as long as she kept those interdimensional portals open, there was no way she could protect herself.

However, Xanthea's speed of thought and the way she used her mana were unique. She skillfully deactivated the portals, causing the tentacles to retreat into the rifts in reality, and defended herself with a magical barrier. Just like before, the red sword collided with the barrier, causing a loud noise, only this time, when the barrier was broken, Xanthea already had a second layer of barriers ready to defend herself, and with each shattering, these barriers seemed to get stronger, showing that it was useless for Bloody Lily to try to push Xanthea to the limit like this.

Bloody Lily wisely backed away a few steps, panting. She hadn't expected Xanthea to be so skilled at magical defense, as she hadn't shown it in any of their previous fights.

"Huh! You're a little more limited than I thought, sweet lily. Is that all you have?" Xanthea asked, placing a hand on her chin as she glared at her opponent.

Bloody Lily remained silent, staring at Xanthea.

"Very well, if this is how it is to be, I will not prolong this any longer. It's time to end this fight." Xanthea continued, pointing her white wand in Bloody Lily's direction.

Then a greenish glow began to emanate from the tip of the witch's wand, and the glow increased in intensity. At the same time, a fierce storm began to dominate the battlefield, shaking the beautiful hair of the two fighters as well as the thousands upon thousands of spectators. A moment later, thunder rumbled in the darkening sky, announcing that something powerful was about to happen. And then, behind Xanthea, a crack in reality began to appear, only this crack was not like the others, it was much bigger.

No one could say for sure why, but just by looking at the crack, one could tell that this was not good for the Bloody Lily.

...

Edited by: DrHitsuji

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