"BEGIN!"
The patriarch of the Treedor family's voice resounded through the arena, officially starting the duel, and both Mary and Klara instinctively rushed into action.
The fae went from standing still into a full gallop basically instantaneously while the woman on its back began chanting spells.
Four swords of slightly off-color white energy materialized around Mary's head, only to shoot out towards Rotsard, who was yet to react... At the same time, another of Mary's spells sprouted thorny vines out of her saber-wielding hand, turning the bladed weapon into a lance as she aimed her free hand at the unmoving youth.
"...d wall."
That was when Rotsard finally did something, and by something, he simply straightened his back and tilted his head to the side, muttering some chant that caused the air around him to fluctuate to the point of appearing to be boiling.
"Cage of Roses! Thorn storm!"
The swords of light already flew three-quarters of the distance between Mary and the bleached-blond-haired youth when she shouted.
The ground around Rotsard bulged out and cracked apart, giving way for dozens of thin, thorny vines to shoot out while countless needle-like spikes materialized in the trail left by the galloping fae, all aiming at him!
At that moment, all four swords, one after the other, struck the youth…!
*CRACK*
…or rather froze over and smashed into dust upon coming in contact with the barrier of fluctuating air surrounding him…!
Similarly, all the thorny vines that climbed up and intertwined with each other to then wrap and squeeze down on the youth to trap him turned into ice and shattered into dust that scattered in the wind!
"...?!"
Mary's eyes bulged out, and her jaw dropped at the sight, but her spell launched regardless of her reaction.
All of the countless spikes shot out in a seemingly endless barrage…
…that amounted only to creating a mist-like cloud of fine ice shards as each and every single one of the thorns that hit Rotsard's barrier turned into frozen dust
It… it wasn't even good enough to work as a distraction or a smokescreen obstructing his vision…! Mere inconvenience that could be shaken off with a single move.
…
The fight merely began, but everyone was left speechless, and the Royal Magician, especially, was basically glued to the barrier surrounding the arena's field, quite literally leaning against it. Pressing his forehead to it as his mouth twisted with an expression that could only be described as the grin of a maniac.
…
"T-TRY THIS THEN!"
Suddenly faced with the reality and the realization that her contracted fae did not exaggerate its worries, Mary shouted as her fae stopped in place, her voice laced with fear, and she threw her weapon!
Not away to surrender, but to attack!
The lance-turned magic saber launched with a strong body empowered with enhancing spells and empowered by the swordsmanship, pierced through the air with a thunderous shockwave, closing the distance to its target many times faster than a human could blink!
The impact went different this time, the thorny lance's tip covered in sword's will did not get shredded into ice… not immediately, at least… Instead, it was stopped, but then the vines unwrapped, creating a sort of dome, unveiling the saber within and adding even more force.
The shine of the saber was giving off, was almost blinding, the enhancements, magic, swordsmanship, and the spells woven into the metal itself by the magic blacksmith that created, put together could not be underestimated by anyone present, and hence the moment that the blade came in contact with Rotsard's barrier…!
*TING*
*thunk*
…it was deflected with a loud sound and flew back in a long arch to finally sink into the ground all the way to its hilt, half the distance between the two opponents…
"..."
Mary's body shivered uncontrollably as she got drenched in cold sweat.
The glare of the beastly yellow eyes fell upon her, and the chill of it turned the shivering into violent convulsions.
"..."
"!!!"
And then, Rotsard squinted his eyes, and Mary's neck suddenly stung with actual cold… it… IT WAS AN ATTACK!
"MASTER. GET DOWN! GET BEHIND ME!"
"...!"
Klara reacted much faster than its master, kicking up its front legs and standing on its hind ones just to get its master out of sight of the horrifying youth.
"Y-yes!"
Mary gasped, still not quite back to her senses, and jumped off her contracted fae.
"I'll get his attention! You have to take back your saber! Since it wasn't destroyed, it's our best chance!"
"!"
Klara neighed, glancing back at its master to make sure that the woman heard it, before rushing in head-on towards the bleached-blond-haired youth as if it intended to trample him!
"Ghhh…!"
Mary bit her lips to force down the pitiful cry of desperation and forced her trembling legs to move, adamant on not wasting the chance her contracted fae was giving her!
But then…
"You're in the way. I need to focus."
"...!"
Despite the thundering noise of Klara's hooves on the beaten ground, Rotsard's slightly annoyed voice carried right to Mary's ears, ripping out all the strength she had left in her limbs.
*WHOOOSH*
As a gust of freezing-cold wind blew past her, the red-haired woman found herself dropping to her knees and slowly turning towards her contracted fae that should be in the middle of the wild charge at the bleached-blond-haired youth.
"!!!"
What she witnessed instead was an ice sculpture of a beetle horse stuck in an animated pose of full gallop, and her eyes widened with terror.
*THUMP*
But she wasn't even given time to call for her fae to disappear. The next moment, a block of ice the size of one-third of the arena's field materialized out of thin air above her frozen fae and simply dropped down on it within the same heartbeat.
The shockwave of the impact blew dust and the fine shards of ice against the barrier, disrupting the view for the audience but only for a second…
"S-STOP HIM!"
The next moment, the entire barrier disappeared just long enough for the patriarch of the Treedor family to roar in desperation and for a single man to rush in before locking the field again.
But none of that mattered for Mary Treedor.
"There."
*CRACK*
…because Rotsard squinted his beastly yellow eyes once more and the cold sensation around Mary's neck became unbearable until... it suddenly just stopped…
"...eh…?"
*pomf*
…and one final word escaped Mary's mouth as her head separated from her torso, rolled forward, and fell into her own lap as her body slumped down.