Rath moved first.
Not because he was the strongest… but because he was the most eager.
He closed the distance between them in a beat, swinging his hands he aimed straight towards Mahoraga's head.
From the other side, Sanyma had already nocked her bow and fired an arrow.
The two attacks arrived almost simultaneously.
One carried enough force to cave in a stone wall. The other was aimed directly at Mahoraga's blind spot.
Neither held back.
Neither intended to test him gently.
Which was exactly what Mahoraga had hoped for.
A smile tugged at his lips as he caught Rath's hand and pushed it in front of the incoming arrow — but, unexpectedly, the arrow veered upwards and dodged the prideful Awakened's hand completely.
Taking a swift turn back, Mahoraga had no other option than to summon Dying Breath to defend himself.
But, at that same time, Rath's leg whipped upwards.
The kick came from below his line of sight, hidden behind the chaos of Sanyma's arrow. It was fast, brutally direct, and empowered by the force Rath had accumulated beforehand.
Mahoraga's eyes widened slightly.
Damn.
There wasn't enough time.
Dying Breath had only just materialized to intercept the returning arrow.
The silver blade flashed through the air, destroying the arrowhead as it curved toward his neck as the same time as Rath's kick arrived.
His boot crashed directly into his jaw, snapping his head sideways… and yet, he remained rooted in place.
Mahoraga slowly turned his head toward Rath. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, yet a mocking smile spread across his face as though the kick had done little more than amuse him.
"That all you got?"
Before the scarred man could respond, Mahoraga's free hand shot forward.
Rath braced himself… but the strike didn't arrive.
His eyes flicked to the massive shadow in front of him to see him painfully clutching his ankle, a wooden shaft embedded in his legs.
'Darn girl.'
Even though Mahoraga had destroyed the arrowhead, the girl was still able to control the shaft, distracting him during the critical moment.
His eyes settled over the black-haired maiden.
After a brief moment of consideration, he decided that she was the greater nuisance.
Ducking beneath Rath's punch, he drove the gladius into the man's thigh as a parting gift and lunged toward Sanyma without a second glance.
A sudden wave of heat washed across the chamber.
Without slowing down, he twisted his body sideways.
A sphere of blazing orange fire tore through the space he had occupied less than a heartbeat earlier.
The fireball crashed into the wall behind him.
Stone exploded outward in a shower of debris as flames erupted across the impact point. Cracks raced through the black stone while scorching heat rolled across the training grounds.
Mahoraga didn't even spare the destruction a glance.
His eyes had already been on Tanya.
The blonde girl hovered several meters above the ground, her expression as calm and detached as ever. Strange geometric patterns glowed faintly around her fingertips before dissolving into motes of light.
Since the battle began, he had been keeping one eye on her at all times.
Rath was dangerous.
Sanyma was annoying.
But Tanya?
Tanya was the only real threat in the room.
As he surged toward Sanyma, his eyes continued tracking every movement the blonde girl made.
A second geometric structure was already forming around her fingers.
Dozens of glowing lines appeared in midair.
They intersected, shifted and connected to form lines, ratios and angles.
Instantly, the stone beneath his feet liquefied into a sea of shifting quicksand. At the same time, two arrows curved through the air from opposite directions, cutting off every avenue of advance and turning his charge into a carefully prepared trap.
The trio had frightening chemistry.
Can I win?
The thought crossed his mind for a single second.
Then he barked out a harsh laugh.
What a stupid question.
Since when had impossible odds ever stopped him?
Of course he could.
His body shimmered and turned translucent just as the arrows arrived. The projectiles passed harmlessly through him, their trajectories crossing behind his back before colliding with one another. Splintered wood and shattered steel scattered through the air as both arrows destroyed each other.
Across the chamber, Sanyma's expression shifted for the first time since the battle began. Her eyes narrowed sharply as she focused on him, a flicker of disbelief and confusion breaking through her composure.
Mahoraga had completely disappeared!
A gasp escaped her lips as her eyes darted frantically across the chamber, searching for even the faintest trace of the mysterious shadow.
Yet her eyes refused to find him.
A chill crawled up her spine.
"Oopsie daisy, nice seeing you here."
A mirthful voice rang out beside her.
Innate Ability - [Cursed Spirit]
Innate Ability Description - [You are a metaphysical being born of hatred and malovolence.]
Mahoraga lunged forward, his fingers closing toward her throat. Yet before he could reach her, the ground beneath Sanyma fractured violently. Massive slabs of stone tore themselves free from the floor and shot skyward at a terrifying speed, carrying her out of his grasp.
When did she say she could only control arrows?
Sanyma could control anything she touched, and her feet were definitely touching the floor.
What an inconvenient aspect.
A bitter thought surfaced in his mind, only to be crushed beneath the sheer weight of his ego.
Lose?
The very notion was laughable.
He had prepared for situations like this long before the battle ever began.
Then, a grin spread across his face.
"Who said this was a one-versus-three?"
His voice thundered through the chamber.
"This is a two-versus-three!"
Dharma erupted from her shadow without warning, his massive jaws already spread wide.
He was a dragon.
And dragons were born to breathe fire.
A raging stream of orange dragonfire burst from Dharma's maw and engulfed her completely.
Her mouth fell open.
A horrific scream followed, reverberating through the chamber while the inferno devoured her silhouette.
But the scream wasn't born from pain.
It was born from overwhelming discomfort.
In the final instant before the flames struck, Tanya had altered her formula. What should have been an offensive spell became a defensive one, wrapping Sanyma in a hastily constructed barrier instead.
Mahoraga had gambled on that outcome.
If Tanya could create fire, then creating water should have been well within her capabilities. And judging by the steam now billowing through the chamber, his assumption had been correct.
"Hey, dickwad."
Mahoraga turned towards the source of the nuisance — Rath — and suddenly went still.
Is… he… squirt—
Before he could finish the thought, a blinding pillar of energy erupted from Rath's chest.
The chamber shook.
Stone disintegrated in its path. The floor vanished beneath the torrent of force, leaving behind a widening trench of shattered rock and molten debris.
The pressure alone was enough to crack the surrounding walls.
Mahoraga watched the beam tear across the battlefield and rage toward him, reducing everything unfortunate enough to stand before it into dust.
"OH, COME ON!" Mahoraga roared.
…
"I wouldn't take it against you if you decided not to follow me—"
Mahoraga never got the chance to finish.
Rath stepped forward and planted a heavy hand on his shoulder, nearly making him stumble from the force of the gesture alone. The scarred Awakened wore a broad grin, completely at odds with the seriousness of the conversation.
"Don't look so miserable, boss," he said with a chuckle. "It was only logical that you lost. You threw yourself against three Awakened at the same time. If you'd actually won, I'd be questioning my entire career."
Across the room, Sanyma folded her arms and shook her head.
"Though I have to admit, you surprised me." A reluctant smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "When this started, I thought we'd put you on the ground in less than a minute. Instead, you nearly took me out before I even realized what you were planning."
Her expression immediately soured.
"And for the record, setting me on fire was completely unnecessary. Do you have any idea what would have happened if Tanya hadn't altered her spell in time? I could've ended up roasting inside my own armor."
Mahoraga meekly shrugged.
"No, I knew Tanya would save you."
His gaze drifted toward the blonde girl.
"I'd been watching her from the moment she cast her first spell. After seeing it once, I realized something important — her spells weren't instantaneous. They required time to weave — a minute of uninterrupted casting."
A faint smile tugged at his lips.
"So I started counting."
Tanya's expression shifted ever so slightly.
"By the time I set you on fire, I'd already calculated how long it would take her to alter the spell she was weaving. There were two seconds left before completion."
Sanyma blinked.
Mahoraga's smile widened.
"So when I made that decision, I wasn't gambling on Tanya saving you."
His eyes flickered with amusement.
"I was counting on it."
He then turned towards Rath and said sourly.
"You didn't have to fire squirt at me though. That was completely unprovoked."
Rath stared at him in disbelief.
"Unprovoked?" he repeated. "You drove a gladius straight into my balls!"
"I was aiming for your leg."
"You missed… Do you have any idea how happy I was when Tanya healed me?! The moment I could walk properly again, I finally got my revenge! I dumped every ounce of stored force I had into that blast. Also we are not abbreviating that as 'fire squirt.'"
Mahoraga rolled his eyes.
"Totally am."
"Totally not!"
Mahoraga ignored his protests completely and let out a mournful sigh.
"Ah, I'm still unhappy about losing. I forgot many important things during that fight — Sanyma's ability to control everything she touches, Tanya's healing capabilities and your fire squirt. That wasn't like me, I don't know what happened."
Rath silently rubbed the back of his neck and glanced away, a hint of embarrassment creeping onto his face.
"About that..." he muttered.
Mahoraga frowned.
"About what?"
Rath shifted uncomfortably beneath the stares directed at him.
"My flaw."
The room grew slightly quieter.
"What about it?" Mahoraga asked.
Rath let out a long sigh.
"It lowers the intelligence of everyone around me."
Mahoraga blinked.
Rath winced.
"The effect scales depending on the person. Smart people become average. Average people become idiots. And idiots..." He paused for a moment before grimacing. "Well, let's just say they stop being functional members of society."
The chamber fell silent.
Mahoraga slowly turned toward Sanyma.
Then he turned toward Tanya.
For a long moment, neither woman said a word.
Eventually, all three of them shifted their gaze back to Rath and thought in unison.
Is that even a flaw?
____
A/N - Sorry for the delay, chatgpt (my brain) wasn't working.