It was soon the sixth day, and an enthusiastic energy filled the air, the cheers louder now as the crowd seemed to have recovered from the brutality of the previous day.

The stadium filled faster and people were even arriving earlier to claim the best seats. Even the vendors were having the time of their lives, selling out within an hour of arriving.

Everyone knew what was on the schedule and no one wanted to miss it.

When it was time, Rollo descended into the open arena with his usual calm demeanor, and the crowd cheered, excited for the coming battles.

He raised his hand, and when the spectators finally grew quiet, he spoke.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "welcome to the semi-finals."

The response from the stands was loud as cheers erupted from every direction.

"Our first match," he continued, "starts with a fighter who has burned her way through every obstacle this tournament has placed in front of her, and arrived here on nothing but skill and sheer refusal to stop."

"I present to you, Kaida Steele!"

Kaida stood, rolled her neck, and walked to the center of the arena floor with her chin up.

"And her opponent, a masked woman who needs no introduction," Rollo paused, "Morgana Le Fay!"

Morgana rose from her seat, sword already in hand, and walked to the arena with a calm expression.

The two fighters faced each other across the open floor.

Lukas watched from his chair at the edge of the arena.

Rollo’s arm came down. "Begin!"

Kaida didn’t waste time.

She came forward the moment Rollo’s arm dropped, closing the distance fast, and activated [Cremation].

The flames that erupted from her were white-hot, the air around her distorting from the heat.

She directed them forward in a concentrated stream aimed directly at Morgana. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Morgana simply took a step, moving slow enough that everyone thought she’d be hit, but it was fast enough to put her out of the fire’s path.

The flames passed through the space she’d been and continued until they hit the invisible barrier at the same edge of the arena behind her, scorching the translucent surface black.

Kaida tracked and fired again.

Morgana stepped again, evading the stream.

Kaida changed her approach, spreading the next attack wider, the fire covering more of the arena floor. She’d decided to copy Liam’s [Divine Wrath], trying to cut off Morgana’s escape route.

Instead of retreating, Morgana stepped forward to meet the flames, her sword descending smoothly.

Before the eyes of everyone, her sword split the fire, the flames passing either side of her instead of hitting her directly.

Kaida leapt back, laying a wall of flames in front of her as a barrier.

By this time, everybody was aware of Morgana’s swordsmanship skill.

The white-hot flames roared forward, forcing Morgana to abort her attack, the heat licking against her skin.

An instant later, Kaida burst from the fire, hoping to catch Morgana off guard.

However, Morgana saw the coming stream of fire and leapt backwards without any urgency, dodging the attack with ease.

And so the fight fell into a repetitive rhythm, with Kaida attacking with her fire, and Morgana finding ways to get close before being driven back by Kaida’s flames.

The fight continued with neither of them managing to land a decisive blow.

The crowd was fully invested in the fight, their noise building as Kaida escalated her attack, pouring more into [Cremation] as the fight went on, the white flames growing broader and more intense.

Then, suddenly, the flames slammed into Morgana.

No one had expected it, so it caught the crowd by surprise.

Kaida laid another barrier of fire, forcing Morgana back, and as she leapt into the air, fired without even walking through the barrier of flames first.

The stream of fire burst out of it, catching Morgana across the torso before she landed, the impact sending her staggering backwards before she quickly caught herself.

A loud cheer erupted from the crowd, and a grin appeared on Kaida’s face.

Morgana looked down at the scorch mark on her armor, then she looked up at Kaida, who stood with white flames still running along her arms.

She was now breathing harder than she had been at the start of the fight, her constant use of [Cremation] beginning to impact her mana reserves and constitution.

She stood there for a moment, and then something shifted in her posture as she raised her sword.

It was time for her to finally use some firepower.

Morgana raised her arm, and Kaida watched the movement, flames still running along her forearms.

She took a step forward. She didn’t know what was coming but she wasn’t going to wait to find out.

Morgana clenched her fist.

At that moment, vines erupted from the stone floor in a ring around Kaida, reaching upwards to ensnare her.

Kaida leapt up immediately, her flames bursting from her as she rose, burning the nearest vines to blackened threads before they could close around her legs.

The moment she landed, she dashed forward towards Morgana.

More vines burst from the ground towards her but she burned them.

Her [Cremation] tore through the vines, creating a path for her as the white fire reduced the plants to ash and smoke.

She kept her eyes on Morgana and kept moving, but when she was just three meters away, the ground erupted again.

These vines were thick and wet as they reached towards her. Her fire tried to burn them down but since they were too wet, the process was slow enough for the vines to do what they were created for.

They wrapped around her ankles first, then her calves, climbing fast while she burned the ones at her arms.

By the time she had cleared her upper body, the lower half was covered, the wet vines resisting the fire long enough for more to layer over them.

She was soon covered completely, and as she strained against them, trying to free herself, they held.

She increased the intensity of her fire, but while the inner vines charred, more vines erupted to cover them, locking her in place.

She could only watch, eyes burning as Morgana slowly walked behind her, sword held loosely in hand.

When she was finally behind Kaida, Morgan raised her sword, pressing the tip against the nape of Kaida’s neck.

The moment Kaida felt the steel on her neck, she froze in place.