Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit-Chapter 140: The Elven Nation of Sylph(Part 10)

"I am the Commander of the Knight Order of the Kingdom of Persona, Jules Diamond. I look forward to a good battle," Remarked Jules with a bow of her head, as the barrier formed around the arena.

"And I am Saevel, a Grand Warrior and a member of the Council of Elders. I am currently considered to be the strongest of the Grand Warriors. And likewise, I look forward to this," Responded her opponent, the Elf who’d overheard Raven during the banquet.

He held a spear with a long, narrow handle that had a slightly curved blade at the bottom, and a long, two-pronged fork-like blade at the top end.

"The final match will now begin in three...!"

"I have to win this...we’ve got two wins so far, and the Elves have three, with one draw. To ensure that this ends as an overall tie, I have win this final duel," Jules thought to herself with a determined grimace.

"Two! ONE!!!"

The instant the countdown ended, Jules drew out her sword, flames erupting out and wrapping around the blade before she took a swift step forward and swung the sword across, firing out a rapid, horizontal slashing wave of flames towards Saevel.

As the fiery slash roared through the air with immense speed, a sharp burst of wind erupted around the Elf before he swiftly whipped his spear up with a flick of his wrist, unleashing a pressurized, vertical slashing wave of wind.

His attack sliced through the air before cutting straight through the flames, splitting Jules’s attack in half, the two halves of the flaming slash shooting past either side of Saevel and hitting the wall of the barrier behind him.

Jules raced off to her left as the wind slash closed in on her, evading it before grimacing as a fierce barrage of wind blasts came shooting towards her.

She zipped around the space, ducking and weaving to evade the incoming attacks, before quickly raising the face of her blade over the middle of her torso as Saevel took aim and fired out a concentrated, piercing blast of wind, which struck the middle of her blade and pushed her back several meters, her feet sliding across the arena before she fired off sharp bursts of flames from her shoulder blades to cancel out the pushing force.

She then launched herself up into the air with powerful jets of flames from the soles of her feet, before unleashing a pressurized stream of flames from her back to blast herself towards her opponent with immense speed.

As she zipped through the air, she swung open her jaws before a devastating wave of flames erupted out of her mouth, roaring forward with immense speed, the air around the wave shimmering intensely.

A powerful shockwave of wind burst out around Saevel as the flames closed in on him, blowing them away before he whipped his spear across as Jules closed in on him and unleashed a fierce, flaming downward swing of her sword.

A sharp clang echoed out as he struck the side of the blade with his spear, deflecting it across to his left, the blade narrowly missing his shoulder and hitting the floor, before he swung the bottom of the spear up towards her head with a swift flick of his wrist.

Jules twisted her head and body across at the curved blade at the bottom of spear’s handle came slicing up towards her, the tip of the blade nicking her right cheek and drawing out a trickle of blood, before she gritted her teeth, taking one hand off the handle of her sword and swinging it up with all her strength.

Saevel quickly arched back as the blade zipped up towards him, grimacing as it grazed the bridge of his nose and inflicted a small, seared cut across it, before he sprang back with a burst of wind from his feet and opened his mouth.

Jules leapt back simultaneously and raised her left hand, firing out a blast of flames as Saevel unleashed a burst of wind from his mouth, streaks of flames erupting out between them as their attacks collided and canceled out.

As Jules’s feet hit the floor and skidded back slightly, her eyes widened as Saevel came charging towards her with immense speed, quickly twisting her body across as he closed in and unleashed a powerful thrust of his spear towards her stomach, the edge of the blade grazing her right side before she fired out a swirling blast of flames at him from her mouth.

He unleashed a sharp burst of wind from his feet to launch himself up into the air, wincing slightly as his left foot got partially caught up in the flames, before he flew up higher into the air as Jules unleashed a barrage of blazing fireballs up towards him, zipping around and swerving through the air to evade them, the flames erupting fiercely as they collided against the barrier.

As he continued to evade her flames, his eyes widened slightly as she suddenly blasted herself straight up towards him with concentrated jets of flames from the bottom of her feet, the flames wrapped around her blade intensifying as she closed in on him.

She then fired off pressurized bursts of flames from her elbows, her body rapidly spinning across and increasing her momentum, which she channeled into the swing of her blade as she whipped it across at Saevel with immense speed.

He quickly turned his body across as fast as he could, a stifled grunt of pain ringing out as the edge of the blade sliced across his right side, just below his ribcage, the gash searing agonizingly before he wrapped immensely swirling wind around his spear and swung it across at her.

She rushed to pull back her blade and raise it up in front of herself defensively, just barely getting it up in time as the spear slammed against the sword and sent her plummeting back down towards the floor of the arena at an alarming speed.

She strained herself as she closed in on the floor, before unleashed a compressed blast of flames below her to cancel out as much of the momentum as she could, her back thudding against the floor before she quickly rolled out of the way as Saeval came swooping down and chasing after her, driving the blade of his spear down towards her.

The blade grazed the side of her right bicep as she narrowly rolled out of the way, before a fierce shockwave erupted from the spear from the intense, swirling winds wrapped around it, blowing her away before she jammed her blade into the floor to halt herself.

"D-Damn it, I don’t have so much as a second to catch my breath!" She thought to herself with a sharp gasp, before quickly pulling her blade out of the arena as Saevel shot towards her with blinding speed.

He unleashed a fierce thrust of his spear towards her as he closed in, which she barely managed to deflect with her sword, her knees buckling slightly from the force upon impact, before she released the flames wrapped around her blade, a concentrated eruption of flames bursting out and pushing Saevel back several meters, before Jules launched herself towards him with bursts of flames and swung her blade across at his stomach with immense force, firing out a pressurized jet of flames from the side of her wrist and hand to boost her swing.

A sharp clang rang out as Saevel narrowly blocked the slash with the handle of his spear, grimacing as the impact jarred his forearms, before he lifted his right foot and drove it forward as intense winds swirled around it, a devastating explosion of wind bursting out as he stomped down on the arena, sending Jules hurtling back through the air.

She let out a sharp gasp as her back slammed onto the barrier before she could even try to cancel out the momentum, stumbling forward before quickly raising her sword up defensively as Saevel charged forward and slashed at her with his spear as he got her within reach.

She only managed to partially block the slash, wincing as the tip of the spear sliced across her left shoulder, before she gritted her teeth as flames erupted around her, wrapping around her entire body as she let out a roar of exertion, tightening her grip on the handle of her blade before unleashing a vicious stream of relentless thrusts and slashes at her opponent, straining herself past her limits as she put everything she had into the attack.

Saevel managed to block and deflect several of her strikes, grimacing as she managed to graze him a few times, inflicting burnt cuts and shallow gashes across his body, before her began to push back and match her blow for blow.

A ceaseless barrage of sharp clangs rang out in rapid succession, sparks flying out with every clash as the two of them attacked relentlessly, managing to inflict slight cuts and nicks against the other but neither able to land a direct hit.

Jules then let out a fierce yell as she drove her sword straight towards Saevel’s chest with her right hand as he simultaneously unleashed a powerful thrust of his spear towards the middle of her torso with his left hand, the blades of their respective weapons whizzing past each other by a hair.

Jules managed to partially deflect the trajectory of the spear by striking the side of the handle with the back of her left fist, gasping in pain as the blade plunged into her left shoulder excruciatingly, as Saevel simultaneously raised his right hand, crying out sharply as Jules’s blade pierced through his palm and burst out the back of his hand, scorching his skin with an agonizing sizzle.

The two of them then opened their mouths simultaneously and fired out concentrated blasts of flames and wind, a scorching shockwave of heat and wind erupting upon impact and blowing them both away, sending them skidding across the arena before coming to screeching halts across the floor.

They both then shakily got back onto their feet, Saevel’s right hand trembling in pain as Jules’s left arm slumped to her side, blood streaming out of the stab wound in her shoulder and seeping into the fabric.

A tense few seconds passed as the two of them tried to catch their breath, before meeting each other’s gazes and tensing as they mustered up the last reserves of their strength.

They then shot towards each other with all the speed their could muster, shooting through the air like bullets, closing in on each other in the blink of an eye.

Jules swung her right up and across to whip her sword towards Saevel as he drove his spear towards her throat, both of them well aware that this would be the final exchange of their fight, straining themselves for their attacks to reach the other first.

The edge of Jules’s blade cut into Saevel’s torso with a scorching sizzle, a gasp of pain escaping his lips as he fired out a burst of wind from his elbow, the tip of his spear piercing the skin over the front of Jules’s neck...before she suddenly vanished from sight, as the barrier teleported her out.

Saevel collapsed onto his knees with a winded gasp, a diagonal, scorched shallow gash across his torso as the barrier faded.

"I...I lost...," Was the sole thought that went through Jules’s mind as she struggled to catch her breath.

She’d collapsed onto her hands and knees on the grass right after she got teleported out, sweat streaming down her face and dripping onto the grass.

"I barely won that fight...my attack was just a hair faster than hers, the most miniscule of missteps and I would have lost," Saevel thought to himself with a pained, exhausted grimace.

He then shakily got back onto his feet with a wince, before dragging himself off the arena and hopping onto the grass, approaching Jules before lowering his hand towards her.

"That was quite invigorating, the way you fought was worthy of praise and respect," He remarked with a smile.

"I should say the same, it was clear to see just how hard you must have trained to get so strong," She replied as he helped her up, before shaking his hand.

"Wow, what a fight, that really got the adrenaline pumping," Grinned Aster, before glancing down as Raven let out a groggy mutter, his eyelids slowly cracking open.

"Wha-...? What happened?" He mumbled as he sat up and rubbed his head.

"The last duel just ended, the Commander lost by the narrowest of margins. You missed quite a show, kiddo," Responded Aster with a wry smile, as Raven got back up and began healing himself.

"I see, that’s-...hm?" Frowned Raven, before his eyes widened as his nose twitched, turning his gaze towards Jules and Saevel before exclaiming urgently, "LOOK OUT!!!"

A few of the Elves, those with Detection Magic, also reacted, but it was too late.

In the blink of an eye, a gust of wind burst out behind Saevel as a figure appeared behind him, a trail of dust rising up in his wake.

In the next instant, the sound of bones snapping and flesh tearing echoed out, as the figure drove his hand into Saevel’s chest from behind, an agonized gasp of pain ringing out.

"Wh-What...?" Uttered Saevel weakly as he coughed out blood, before the figure tore his heart out with a violent twist of his arm, blood bursting out and splattering across the dirt and grass as he crushed the heart before tossing it away.

A stunned, horrified silence ensued as Saevel’s body went limp and collapsed onto the ground, slumping against the dirt as blood gushed out of the hole in his back, the figure letting out a slight, malevolent chuckle.

He had longish, messy black hair, dark purple eyes, a short, wide chin beard, a tanned complexion, his face and body were covered in scars; he had a diagonal scar on his left cheek, a vertical scar on the right side of his forehead, small one across the middle of his lower lip, and several more on his arms, torso and legs.

The tip of his right ear was split in half, and he was on the taller side, with a strong, muscular, yet agile, build.

A malicious smirk spread out across his lips as he looked around at the stunned crowd, a dark gleam in his eyes.

"I expected more from the strongest Warrior in Sylph, what a disappointment. No matter...more importantly, the time to exact my vengeance has finally arrived!" He declared gleefully, as he let out a murderous, ominous chuckle...