The final battle of the tournament was not at all what John expected. Due to the arrangement of contestants, some of the favored individuals were knocked out earlier than expected. It was possible that people like Lucanus and Renato hadn’t gone all out. They put in real effort, but John understood that there was a difference between real stakes and a tournament where people’s lives were guaranteed. Those who could pull out something more when it mattered were the best.
As it was, Tajana of the Searing Sarcophagus was one of the finalists. Inviting some of those remaining in the Molten Sea had been something only undertaken after some careful analysis of politics. He hadn’t expected someone like her to be a finalist, though.
John had fought alongside her during the war, and she certainly had talent… but she was also only in the mid Ascending Soul Phase. There were quite a number of late Ascending Soul Phase cultivators available, though not everyone was participating in the tournament. Regardless, John thought there were plenty with similar or greater talent and cultivation rank.
Like her opponent, though he was certainly biased with regards to the metric that wasn’t easily discernible. Talent wasn’t a strict thing, and was based around an individual’s growth and overall effectiveness during their time as a cultivator.
Anyway, it was Melanthina. John thought all of his children were talented. He knew they were, but maybe they weren’t the most talented. Even Ursel had lost… which was still a surprise even with Venkat having prepared specifically for her.
Depending on perspective, the fight was either extremely terrible to watch or excellent. For those without sufficiently powerful spiritual energy senses, it was probably awful. There were no visuals for most of the battle. When Melanthina wasn’t wreathed in darkness, she was invisible with light passing completely through her. But for those who could keep track of things, she was constantly on the move attacking Tajana.
For her part, Tajana was taking advantage of the slightly fire dominant field arrangement. She had turned the sands into molten glass, wielding them like waves that tried to crash over Melanthina as she made her attacks. They also served as a shield, even protecting against twisted pairings of light and darkness as she kept the material far enough back that any explosions occurred at a safe distance.
However, it was impossible for her to keep track of Melanthina’s position forever. Sometimes she left false positions, gathered bits of spiritual energy to fake her position. Whenever Tajana thought she’d picked her out, it could be a decoy so she wasn’t able to fully commit to any attacks.
If she had actually managed to cover Melanthina with a wave of molten sand, she might have had a decent chance at defeating her. But eventually Tajana was worn down and defeated. That left Melanthina with the grand prize. It was possible some people would complain given her connection to John, but not to her face. Because ultimately, they would know that she was strong. And if none of the others at the top voiced their complaints, how could anyone lesser?
Those who were strong knew well enough. And the rewards for winning the tournament weren’t the sort of thing that greatly influenced the path of a sect or clan. The continental alliance was providing significant benefits to all, and it was a time of prosperity.
Since John wasn’t participating in the tournament- not even as a special final opponent- that was the end of things. Or so it was supposed to be.
-----
John didn’t know how it began, but a call rang out among the people. “Fight the Empress!”
It had been very clear up front that that was not going to happen. Both with relation to Aldara directly and the people, it wasn’t going to happen.
If people had been angry, John would have shut it down completely. This was a thing of peace. However… people sounded more excited than upset. It was possible they really just wanted to see the two strongest people battle it out.
“Unfortunately,” John said. “That won’t be possible. The enchantments aren’t up to the level of protecting against power at the Exalted Soul Phase.”
Rather than making people settle down, that declaration of power just made people even more excited for the idea.
John exchanged a glance with Aldara. His intention was to have her politely decline. He’d already done so first, so it wouldn’t be shameful for her. However, she betrayed his expectations.
She looked out over the people. Her voice spread far and wide. “Well, I suppose if we can arrange some method that people will be safe watching… we can give some sort of display.”
She seemed just as surprised as John… but not unwilling. John had to think about it, though he couldn’t take long. Could it be some trap? Did she want to kill him in front of his own people? That seemed like a foolish mistake. Even if it was an accident, she wouldn’t get away. It would be a terrible result. On the other hand, he could kill her and they’d only have to additionally deal with her entourage. Fairly easy with the bulk of the continental forces present.
She knew he wanted to kill her. Or at least, John wanted to kill Aldara. The rest of the details made things a bit more… complicated.
He should shut down the idea. He couldn’t even think of how… well, as long as it was only for one battle the audience could certainly be safe. “Quiet down. We have no arrangements for this… but we might be able to manage.” He directed his voice to just Viriato for a moment. “Do we have any high potency elemental arrangements remaining for the arena?”
“Ah,” Viriato thought for a moment. “We have a few that haven’t sustained any damage.”
John nodded. “Prepare one.” He didn’t put too much effort into concealing what was said. Even if people overheard, he didn’t mind. They simply didn’t need to directly overhear. As for the rest. “We may need to rearrange where people are in the arena. Guests will have to be responsible for their combined defense. That means loose cultivators joining with sects and clans of similar elements to provide additional energy for widespread defenses. You’ll need to focus for the whole battle. Are you willing?”
The outcry was astoundingly loud- even with the arena’s enchantments limiting such noise. John wasn’t really surprised that cultivators were passionate about this. Even if some of them liked non-combat options, strength was still paramount. And nobody except a small selection had witness and Exalted Soul Phase battle.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“We will have to slightly extend the duration of the tournament, then,” John said. “One more day to organize this… unexpected situation.”
-----
“I truly don’t mind,” Aldara said when John consulted her. He was willing to take the publicity hit for cancelling things if she was uncertain. “I think we can provide a sufficiently spectacular event without going overboard. Unless you’ve been slacking on your training since our battle?”
John shook his head. “When we fought we were on the cusp of advancement. I hadn’t expected quite so much to be beyond that point.”
“Good,” Aldara said. “Then we are agreed. We shall make a suitably impressive display. Though we must call it off before we damage the foundations of the arena.”
“... Right. We might not have anyone directly protecting that,” John said. He knew they could cause that damage. Together they could flatten the city, even with defensive enchantments at full power. That was the sort of strength the Exalted Soul Phase had. He’d had the opportunity to test himself against the Windswept Sea and was aware of the massive potential.
-----
Lightning struck the waters as the two cultivators stood atop roiling waves. A storm arena had been prepared, with enchanted pillars to create the winds, rain, and lightning. The whole thing was visually impressive, and John thought Viriato had tossed in a little bit extra. He hoped it wasn’t going to be too expensive to replace.
“Prepare yourselves!” John declared to the surrounding stands. Both he and Aldara were ready to face each other. He knew that, and he would have even if they hadn’t discussed previously. He pointed toward one section. “Shore up your defenses!”
Everyone there flinched, but the lacking water element in the area was raised. The surrounding groups also put in more effort, just in case they were being called out too.
The defenses weren’t perfect… but they were full of sufficient power. At least to protect against collateral damage.
“I am ready whenever you say,” John commented.
Aldara nodded. “I shall make one circle with my spear. Then we shall begin.”
She drew out a smooth arc, a perfect rotation with easily visible timing.
False clouds parted from their first clash. Neither of the two used individual elements in their techniques anymore. At most, they could be said to be dominant in one or two, but at all times six elements suffused their every move.
Aldara’s first spear thrust sent people in the stands reeling even though she pulled back after John avoided her attack. John’s attack similarly broke through the outer barriers and some of his slash hit the stairs between segments.
Just like that, the defenses had been overcome. Both of them hitting at the same time might have made the situation worse, but either way the arena simply couldn’t stand up to their power. People hadn’t quite realized that.
Rather than guarding themselves with effort that was merely serious, the observers began to output the maximum stable amount of spiritual energy they could manage. John thought that was prudent. The battle wouldn’t be very long anyway.
Even if the two meant to kill each other, it wouldn’t have been.
Aldara tossed some of the arena’s lightning at him, and John responded by raising a drenched pillar of earth from the floor beneath to block it.
Following that, light and darkness clashed in bright explosions. The mutually destructive elements might have been the least dangerous to the two combatants, as either of them could negate the reaction with their own control. After all, they lived with both elements inside of them. If they couldn’t trivially manage that, they would probably be dead… instead of balanced full cycle cultivators.
The two of them flew about, ricocheting off of the waters below and the barriers above and around. They tried to confine themselves to an area where people could watch, but soon they found themselves being drawn to the skies.
Storm clouds gathered as their power swirled. Not clouds of pure water or water and air, but instead the six elements that Astrein possessed were being drawn out into the open. They were always there, mixed together in harmony, but now they were visible and dangerous.
This couldn’t last much longer without the city going falling. John didn’t have to say that for Aldara to get it. He merely gestured, and the two of them nodded. A final clash… or a series of them.
Gathering multicolored clouds were rent asunder. John slashed down at Aldara and created a gouge along one of the main roads- it was more durable than the surroundings, so it had to be sacrificed so that his attack didn’t dig concerningly deep.
Aldara’s spear created a meter wide hole in the ground that might lead all the way to the Prismatic Chambers.
John wondered how he could ever defend a city from an invading Exalted Soul Phase cultivator. He’d have to be much stronger… and he couldn’t guarantee that if they existed at all. He was only a small number of years into the Phase, and already he had phenomenal power.
The battle stopped by mutual agreement. Their weapons met, and their elements perfectly balanced. The atmosphere at once settled down.
John was pleased with himself. Then saddened by an alternate timeline where this nearly perfect compatibility would have been nothing but good. If only Astrid hadn’t died. Or if he hadn’t known her.
John pushed away the latter intrusive thought. That wasn’t acceptable. The time they had together had been unequivocally good. There was no reason for him to have rejected her. If he had, Aldara might have met a man not yet fully recovered from Matayal’s death. Perhaps they would have immediately joined together. It might have been wonderful.
Or they might have hurt each other even more than what had happened in this world. But it didn’t matter, because Aldara was responsible for Astrid’s death even if nobody who still lived actually wanted that outcome.
Aldara smiled pleasantly as the winds and chaos settled between them. “After that, I could use something to eat.”
“I can have the finest chefs in the land bring you whatever you wish,” John replied. “Or I can make you the street food I invented.”
John was certain he’d mentioned his former profession to Matayal, but he’d never cooked for her. Why not? Because he’d been too important to do it, maybe. He honestly didn’t know. But ultimately, he didn’t hate cooking burgers and he liked them. Not made with fancy ingredients from rare animals, but just food. He should have done things like that before. He would have gotten around to it, probably, once he and Matayal weren’t trying to run clans in different regions.
Offering to Aldara… wasn’t necessarily to make up for that lack. He was just interested to see what option she would pick.
“I will eat anything you make,” Aldara said firmly. “Especially street food. I’m tired of eating gilded once-in-a-century fruits. Aside from the potent spiritual energy, most of them are kind of awful.”
Did people actually put gold on fruit they fed her? It could have been a metaphor, but people on Earth did that so…
John looked around. He could see some distant flocks, ones he knew were owned by the Six Elements Crossroads. “I think we’ll eat that one.” He wasn’t an expert at butchering meat, but he could grab a bison without even spooking it and bring it back to the city. He knew the meat well enough to get what he needed- and it would be ground anyway. Then he’d grab a good bun and cheese and grill it himself.
Even if she didn’t like it, it would be honest food. And he would.
