Sael latched on to Aphestus' leg, her eyes glowing with a dangerous light.
This battle was indeed an insult to her. She, the preeminent youth of Valiant Hall was looked down upon to the point of fighting a mere Vice Leader of a Peak. This kind of humiliation wasn't small. And, the sinister plot behind it was even worse.
She needed to win. She had to win.
Sael's gaze grew bloodshot, her fury finally reaching a peak.
She roared, blossoming blue tattoos of blooming flowers growing along her fair skin. Her wrists grew out with delicate blue lily petals and her hair lengthened, growing out into long, whipping vines.
In what felt like an instant, the stage of the battle had been covered in these think bluish-green vines, each blooming with large swaths of flowers.
Sael's delicate exposed belly, her frail shoulders, even her lovely cheeks became covered in these tattoos. Yet, instead of ruining her appearance, it seemed to give her an exotic air. It was the kind of feeling one might have when gazing upon something alien. The feeling was only made more potent by the change in Sael's eyes.
Her brown eyes became a bright blue, her irises morphing into the form of a six petaled flower.
Anyone who knew Sael knew that she was going all out.
Sael's gaze glowed, her flower petaled irises spinning one petal over.
In that instant, a tattoo bloomed on Aphestus' chest before he could put his leg away.
Chuckling, Aphestus finally pulled back, hopping through the network of vines and dodging their snapping whips as he touched the tattoo on his chest.
"Hoho… How curious…"
Aphestus felt that his body was slightly sluggish as though his Force circulation had slowed.
He suddenly ducked down, dodging a vine aimed for the back of his head. By the time he looked up, Sael was already before him again, her movements not affected by her obscenely long hair in the slightest.
She threw out a punch, forcing Aphestus to block with a knee. His chuckling grated on her ears. There was nothing she wanted more than to rip that smile off of his face.
"Ooo, big chested beauty. Your eyes seem a little strained after that."
Sael didn't respond, her fists raining down. The petals that surrounded her wrists suddenly separated, forming a hovering crown of sharp blades around her knuckles.
Aphestus' pupils constricted.
His back arched backward until his palms touched the ground. The muscles of his torso flexed and writhed, his feet kicking up toward Sael's chin.
Rather than meeting delicate skin, though, he found a blockade of vines in his way. Unable to dodge, his booming kick was stopped in its track.
The air vibrated wildly as they clashed. But this time, Aphestus couldn't pull his leg free so easily.
Vines wrapped around his ankle, lifting him up and into the air.
At that moment, it was as though Sael was walking on air. The same petals that formed around her wrists formed around her ankles, anchoring her legs as they pierced into the ground.
Using them to gather the momentum and foundation she needed, Sael's arms flexed, her back pulsing with strength as she sent a punch toward the dangling Aphestus.
"Hehe, how interesting."
Hanging upside-down, Aphestus seemed as though he was still able to react perfectly. His palms flipped over, causing two daggers to appear.
Each was three quarters of a foot long, shimmering beneath the setting sun.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The daggers and Sael's blade-like petals crossed, her fists' endless barrage being met and countered by Aphestus instantly.
At that moment, Sael's irises rotated by another petal, causing another flower tattoo to bloom on Aphestus' body.
In that small instant of time, Aphestus' body slowed by another measure. He mistimed his block, Sael's fists shooting by his guard and ripping toward his chest.
Aphestus reacted as quickly as he could, flexing the muscle dense tapestry that was his torso to swing himself to the side.
But, Sael's vines weren't stationary. Her gaze seemed to be able to counter everything, her sight seeing through Aphestus' intentions with ease.
In the instant Aphestus wanted to swing, Sael's vines countered his weight, resulting in him staying in place.
PUCHI!
The blue blades hovering around Sael's fists shot through Aphestus' chest, piercing toward his heart.
Her fury didn't seem to be satiated in the slightest. She wanted to watch her fists tear a whole through his body, to feel his blood running down her forearm.
Valiant Heart Mountain meant too many things to Sael. She did everything she had to do, even lowering her head when she didn't want to, for the sake of watching it thrive and survive.
There was little she cared more about than this. And of the few that existed, there was her master, a man she respected more than anyone else. Yet, not only was Hero Peak trying to force her dream to crumble, they were actually attacking her master in the process and dragging his name through the mud.
She couldn't tolerate it!
Sael roared, her fists driving forward. Her stance sunk downward, the petals around her ankles anchoring her into the ground as she pushed with all her might, the veins in her eyes practically bursting apart into a sea of red.
At that moment, Aphestus coughed, his body wracked with pain.
"Oof. Are you trying to kill me, big chested beauty?"
Sael's pupils constricted. She found her petal blades were stuck, not because Aphestus had caught her arm, but rather because she couldn't seem to slice through the bones of his rib cage.
Taking advantage of Sael's shock, Aphestus spun, rapidly slicing apart the vines around his ankle and landing nimbly to avoid the vines that covered the ground.
He looked down at his chest, watching the blood trickle down the blue tattoo that now covered it.
He looked back up and grinned, licking his lips.
But, all Sael saw were the vertical slits his pupils became.