Solaris let the mace slam down onto the shards like hail on a tin roof as he moved out from under them.
As soon as he was out of the way of the imminent doom that the mace instilled within him, he willed the shards to return to him.
With airflow, the top speed of the shards was nowhere near as fast as they were in hell, so the usefulness of them being weapons was diminished heavily.
As they returned to behind his back in a ring of shards, Solaris readied himself to dodge the incoming attack.
Just as Ember's attacks all flowed into one another, Aria's copy of him did the same.
The mace bent the air around it and pushed against the world, bringing its weight to crush Solaris's skull.
Solaris, with the speed provided to him by his Extramicy, was able to move in time so as not to be reduced to a puddle of brains and bone matter.
Solaris felt the air rush past as the mace narrowly avoided him.
Rolling to his feet, Solaris looked up only to see the once-descending mace now rising towards his jaw.
Throwing himself backwards, he narrowly dodged the attack, only for it to be followed up once again with another attack.
Damn it, I'm not sure how long I can last... I need to make an opening...
Solaris watched as the mace swung past his face, the small girl's body turning into a spinning motion, as if to flow into another attack.
Solaris grinned; now was his chance.
With arias, in the air, Solaris jumped up, reeling his left arm back and hardening it before heating it slightly.
Then he threw a punch that seemed to bend the air ever so slightly.
The punch slammed into the girl, sending her slender figure back.
Solaris stared at her, his smile dimming.
"I'm starting to see why shes number two."
Landing on the ground, Solaris watched as a mirror of her body fell slightly, then disappeared into the air.
The moment his attack landed, she had created a small reflection of the spot he was about to destroy and used it as cover.
Solaris was just as impressed as he was dismayed.
The implications of this move were nothing to scoff at.
If he was to win, he would be forced to find a way past this defense, which could even outrank his own.
While abyssal harden was a near-indestructible armor, it was still his skin, or at least very, very close to his skin.
Which meant, if he was being hit, he was still going to feel the impact, albeit to a subdued degree.
The girl floated to the ground; once her feet touched the ground, the wings and mace shattered, then disappeared, as if they had never been there.
The metal lining the mace flowed, then moved around her finger and formed back into a ring.
The girl cracked her neck with an uninterested look on her face.
Her arm shot up and cracked the air before it formed into a greatsword.
Grabbing the hilt and willing a ring to turn into a liquid and line the blade, Arias readied herself for a duel.
Solaris narrowed his eyes before raising his own blade, willing a few shards to line the edge.
Taking a breath, Solaris decided to try something he had not before.
Then he hardened the blade.
Or at least he tried to.
The coating seemed to only work on the shards and, shockingly enough, his mantle.
So coating the blade in a near-indestructible coating and making it hot enough to slice demons apart like butter was out of the question, for the most part.
The shard lining the blade at least partly accomplished this feat.
With this attempt ending in failure, Solaris instead readied himself for Arias's inevitable attack.
After a moment, she finnally attacked.
The clash of swords began to resound across the arena.
The two moved across the arena, their blades locked in combat, each one taking the lead only for the other to snatch it back.
Solaris felt as though, throughout every parry and every slash, he was slowly beginning to surpass her.
As this thought passed through his mind, he stumbled and felt a blade approaching.
The blade was thrusting towards his body.
Having no way to dodge or block, Solaris hardened his skin and let the blade hit him.
The mirror-like glass blade shattered on his skin, exploding into myriad pieces before disappearing.
The blade was gone, but the momentum caused by the thrust wasn't, so closing her fist, Arias punched Solaris, throwing him across the arena.
Solaris flipped through the air before landing and using his sword to slow his momentum.
Solaris looked up, seeing the girl charging him, closing the distance with great speed.
Her fists were closed, and a glassy coating covered them.
As she grew closer, her arm shot up, and she threw a punch that sent her flying forward.
Solaris's smirk widened as he let go of the hilt of his blade and stood up fully; his own arm shot forward and collided with hers.
The two fists lingered for a mere moment before the force of the two attacks separated them.
Arias changed her stance into a more martial arts-oriented stance and readied herself for Solaris's next attack.
Solaris wasted no time and shot forward.
A myriad of shadows made from his mantle shot out like darts.
This was something he had only thought of doing after seeing Selen's battle, and now that Arias was unarmed, the chances of her being hit were much higher.
The darts tore through the air, and towards Arias.
The shadows were only recreations of Solaris's memories of darts, so the accuracy that a normal dart would've had was much higher; however, they still were accomplishing the goal Solaris needed them to.
As Arias dodged and deflected the darts with her bare hands and feet, Solaris grew closer and closer.
Then, as he raised an arm, he threw a punch.