The moment the match began, Myzen wasted zero time. His eyes narrowed and his essence flared to life.
"Resonance: Volcano of Darkness!"
His body became encased in the same black and red armor and his essence surged around him.
"You and your crew are fools. You have no idea what you're up against! You're a danger to the peace and justice of this universe! This is why the Accord exists—people like you!" He said as he pointed at her.
Elara's expression hardened.
"The Accord huh? I should've known…" She muttered to herself.
Her essence began to flare up, a fiery crimson light flickering in the air around her.
"Peace? Justice? Don't give me that crap!" She began to say.
Her voice was sharp, laced with anger. Her eyes locked onto Myzen's.
"You stand there, hiding behind your twisted version of justice, but all the Accord has done is spread fear. You've exploited worlds, promised peace, and delivered chains. We're not the threat, you are! You're just another puppet doing their dirty work, and I'm done watching them trample over everyone who's too weak to fight back."
She unsheathed her sword for the first time in the tournament. Her red essence began to swirl around her, burning brighter with every word.
"For my crew. For the ones you've hurt. I swear… I'LL DESTROY EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!"
Her red essence around her intensified.
The ends of her silver hair began to morph into flames.
She raised her sword high above her and uttered the words that would solidify the outcome of this battle before it truly ever began.
"RESONANCE: PHOENIX ZENITH!"
A pillar of red essence shot into the sky, engulfing the entire battlefield in a blinding light.
The sheer force of her transformation shook the entire moon, and Myzen was forced to brace himself, barely able to keep his footing.
In the middle of all the chaos, his CPI scanner flickered like crazy, reaching levels of power he or many of the viewers have never seen.
Elara: 12,000,000… 48,000,000… 60,000,000 CPI
The entire moon cracked and shifted under the weight and intensity of her power, and even the distant residents of the host planet Thaloria looked up in confusion as the red light illuminated the night sky.
Myzen unshielded his eyes and what he saw made his soul leave his body momentarily. The back of Elara's blade was a foot away from his face, mid swing.
He barely ducked in time, but the sheer force of the swing leveled a small mountain range in the distance, vaporizing it. He peeked back to see a portion of the destruction.
"What... is this strength!? This isn't the power of a normal elf—"
He didn't have time to think or process anything else before she attacked again, this time the back of her blade connected with his side, sending him flying across the battlefield.
He crashed into a rocky outcropping, blood trickling from his mouth.
Her strength. Her movements. There was no grace, no elegance, just pure…
destruction.
She blurred in front of him in an instant and tossed her sword at him. He caught it instinctively, confused.
But before he could react, her fist slammed into his gut with such force that the ground beneath them cracked. The air was driven from his lungs, and his vision blurred as he doubled over in pain.
He gritted his teeth until one of them cracked and gripped the sword as hard as he could with one hand before taking a swing.
The blade was inches from her neck and Myzen saw a little hope of victory in his head… but that hope was quickly smothered. That's because Elara stopped the sharp blade with a single finger.
Myzen looked completely lost for words staring at her fragile looking finger effortlessly holding back his full physical strength.
He brought the blade back and unsheathed his curved sword with his other hand. They both were enveloped with his essence. He lunged in, swinging both blades at mind boggling speed at Elara.
But it didn't matter.
She blocked every single one of them effortlessly with a single finger. He tried over and over, but nothing worked. His curved sword shattered into pieces after one last attempt.
He took a step, huffing and puffing from the constant swinging. He threw what remained of his sword on the ground next to him and began to speak.
"Do–" But his words were sent back down his throat by Elara's fist.
She didn't want to hear any of it.
"Shut up." She muttered calmly.
She continued raining blow after blow. Each punch, each kick, wasn't thrown to kill, they were thrown with the intent to break him completely.
As Myzen was beaten down, memories of his family flashed before his eyes. His wife and child, the ones he fought for, the ones he had to protect. But in this moment, that image began to fade, replaced by the overwhelming force of Elara's rage.
With one final, sickeningly powerful kick, she sent him flying through the cliffside, destroying it and the small mountain range. Her sword dropped to the ground beside her.
Myzen flew over several thousand meters away, his body limp and battered. It was clear—he was no match for her.
In a last, desperate attempt, he began to gather his energy, charging the same technique he had used on Kaito.
His body shook as he poured every ounce of strength into this final attack, his dark essence crackling around him.
"I will not lose! I can not lose!!" He yelled out.
Elara picked up her sword, gripping it with both hands for the first time.
Her knuckles turned white as she raised the blade over her head, her essence flaring brighter than ever before, flowing around her like flames around a star.
Blood dripped from her hands as she gripped the hilt so tightly, it cut into her skin.
Myzen fired his attack, the massive blast hurtling toward her like a force of nature.
Flashes of memories raced through her mind—Farro, the kids, her brothers, Kaito, and her crew.
"Phoenix Requiem!"
She swung her sword down and it seemed as if the air and space in her surrounding vicinity crumbled in on eachother.
The blast was redirected as her massive attack tore through the air and Myzen.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!!
The resulting explosion was so massive, it split the clouds above and destroyed a large portion of the moon's crust in the blast's direction. Almost all of the residents on the nearby host planet of Thaloria felt it due to her attack causing minor to moderate earthquakes all over the world.
The dust settled, revealing Elara standing tall. Myzen laid unconscious in the distance on the tiny sliver of land still intact.
The announcer's voice boomed through the drone overhead.
"Elara... Elara is the winner! We have a champion of the Grand Sirius Tournament!"
The Starlight crew celebrated wildly back on the ship, but for some, the moment was bittersweet.
In her large bed, Seraphine watched through a hologram as Elara stood alone on the battlefield. She lifted her head up to one of the many drones overhead and spoke.
"This victory isn't just for me. It's for my crew, for those who have suffered at the hands of the Accord, and for the ones who have been cast aside by those who pretend to care about peace. I promise you it will change, and I will be the one to change that! I will become the next head of the Accord—and to every single current member, nation, or entire world who values any of the beliefs and ways of the current regime, just know this… I will destroy you."
Her fiery words rippled through the battlefield, and far away, in cities and homes across the galaxy, people watched through holograms, transfixed by her speech. A few viewers murmured to themselves, resonating with her words. The stories of the Accord's false promises, their oppression, and their exploitation echoed in the hearts of those who had lived through it.
"She's right. The Accord failed us. They use us… just like they did with my world." One alien man said at a space bar.
"Are you serious, that elf bitch is crazy. The Accord is the reason we can live in peace!" Another alien man next to him butt in with.
Her words sent shockwaves across the galaxy, shaking almost everyone to their core who watched… everyone beside Seraphine.