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The ice spell eventually comes forth but it fires wide and is easily deflected. So, I decide to adopt an entirely different philosophy. Focus my tail on just deflecting him and keeping him away and empower my main spell since I know at least that can hit even if it doesn't do any damage. He charges at me and a wall of ice comes and stops him, allowing me to get a shot with the ice spell inserted into it. He definitely feels it but it loses a lot of its luster attacking with two opposing elements like that. Getting an idea, I start trying something truly different than normal. Instead of trying to put a specific spell into the flame, what if I just put in raw magic itself, have it become a carrier to just magic? Would definitely help with hurting him and as I start trying to figure out how best to create raw magic and put it into the attack the bow begins to separate again.

His eyes widen at the sight and he unleashes a powerful spell himself at me to try and stop the attack. His is not made of fire but rather lightning, creating a fast object moving in my direction but my tail creates a wall of earth to counter his lightning just barely enough that my sword can absorb the attack anyway. I unleash my shot but don't quite have the mechanics correctly. This one, especially after trying to deal with his attack grazes off his shoulder and crashes into the side of the barrier, cracking it a bit. The look on his face as he looks to see the result of my attack on the barrier is one I can't quite put my finger on. But it's far too important at the moment to instead keep charging up my next one. I have to finish this fast. Gaining the upper hand of his distraction I fire it off again, finding it barely hitting his leg. Apparently, the blasts are now coming way too fast for the targeting spell to really do me all that much good. Which means I have to put some more focus onto actually aiming my shots. On the plus side it probably also means his ability to dodge it is probably non-existent by this point. The wings at my side are glowing very brightly as I aim for his head. He sends an attack at me but I use my tail to cast a quick spell to block his attack and then fire off the blast. It hits, and he takes a step back from the impact, but unfortunately it doesn't look like this will work in the long run. I need to try and find something to hit him for more than I have been, some weak spot or something. Or maybe all I need is to figure out how to get that eighth branch to finish.

In either event, he's not going to let me sit around and figure it out. Getting tired of this tactic after I hit him in the stomach with another blast I'm surprised by him suddenly teleporting right behind me. Before I have time to react and create a defensive spell between us he grabs my tail and severs it neatly with his sword. Wondering slightly why he didn't just try and stab me in the back I turn to try and defend against him. The swords I had been using to block his attack suddenly turn blue and then stab out at him, one of which stabs him in the chest while the other slices through his arm. And then we both jump away from each other, but with him having my tail still held in his hand. He is bleeding in a couple of places but grins as he came out the better for that exchange. There must be some part of the sword spell I am unaware of. I didn't expect it to turn blue or to actually hit him. Must be an automatic response and why he only went for the tail, he didn't think he'd have the ability to finish me off without them doing major damage. But first thing's first, need to stop the bleeding. I ignite one of my hands and place it over the bleeding stump of where my tail would be and have to suppress a scream as a result. No wonder they said don't try and cut that thing off, it hurts far too much. But looking back the bleeding does seem to have stopped, a small mercy I suppose.

I'm starting to pant particularly hard at this point. I don't think I'll have all that much magic power left. My arms hurt just moving them and I'm starting to get a bit lightheaded. Not to mention that I no longer have my only means of defense as both my tail is gone and the concentration to use the swords have waned and they fade out of existence. But he's still in more than acceptable condition. I need to do something in order to finally even things out once and for all. And that means I think I'm going to have to risk doing that. It is extremely high risk, but if I can pull it off then it may just give me the edge I need to stay alive. I stand up straight with my legs close together and press my arms together as if praying and start to channel the spell. I allow my body to sink into the pose that seems to facilitate this spell the best. It will take just about every last ounce of my remaining magic to pull off. If I fail, regardless of how I fail, I may as well be dead.

"Healing magic is not going to save you."

"Perhaps, but this spell will protect me from any attack you throw at me."

"We'll see about that. It's a waste of time to try and bother healing yourself. And it doesn't look like a barrier spell. And there isn't a single healing spell that will regenerate what you've lost. If you hadn't transformed yet that might have been an option but you used that at the start of the fight. So how about I just go ahead and end this fight here and now."

Arell crouches down slightly, adopting a pose of his own. I can practically feel the magic and my own eyes immediately begin to try and watch it, to see if I can guess what kind of attack it is. Given the fact his body's strong against fire, odds are his body would be strongly favored towards using fire magic himself. And given how my body is not resistant to fire he'll likely try and use a strong fire spell against me. Meaning I should have at least a chance to understand what kind of magic he's likely going to try and throw at me. Fire magic or something else won't make much of a difference in regards to the effectiveness of this spell, but it would give me an idea of whether or not I should try to dodge it or carry out this plan. I can't recognize the spell he's using, but I can tell this thing is going to be powerful. Based on the hand signals and preparation time I can only imagine that it's a combination of multiple spells all at once, some of which are to increase its speed and accuracy. I doubt that I'd be able to dodge this spell even if I tried. On the plus side it looks strong enough for my purpose.

He unleashes his attack at me, calling his attack his final judgement, though that doesn't seem like it's the correct name of the spell. And I'm somewhat wrong as the spell seems to be as much a lightning-based attack as it is fire-based. It hits me square in the gut and I almost regret this course of action. I know even more clearly that if this spell doesn't work I am dead, this one spell likely could kill me, and makes it all the more fitting for the name he gave it. But I can't hesitate. As much as I am in shock from the impact of his attack I grit my teeth and activate my spell, thankful that the attack didn't knock me out of my form. I ride the wave of energy from his attack and fly right towards him. Half startled that I'd attack him back in such a state he reaches up and tries to slice down at me but I instead ride the spell right through his attack and through him as well. As I emerge on the other side of him the wound his attack gave me is now gone. I push off him and spin in the air, sending another hit from my Projected Flames in the process. Since little time to prepare, it barely had six branches. I land and skid for a little bit and feel extremely light headed and my vision is getting a bit fuzzy. But I can't simply stop, so I adopt the firing pose again and put everything I have into attack but do not fire right away. He's still hunched over from my attack, gripping at his gut. I refocus my efforts and try to get it up to the full eight branch form but find it extremely hard to even hold it at the six branch I'm feeling so drained. On top of that my arms are just screaming at me to stop. It's excruciating enough just trying to hold them up. Finally, after what feels like forever I get a response from him.

"I yield," he says rather quietly, raising up one of his arms into the air in an act of submission. "I yield."

I hesitate for a moment, debating if he's telling the truth or not. The rules say the fight doesn't end until either one has died or both have called for the fight to end. Meaning until I accept his statement the fight is still on and he can change his mind and attack. I glance over to the side and see that my wings have completely left me, telling me that his statement is truly genuine. I stop the spell and raise my arm as well, signaling the end of the fight. And with the adrenaline of having to fight going away I collapse onto the ground in an undignified heap. I'm pretty sure the way I'm sitting would be uncomfortable, but right now I'm just so numb from exhaustion. I just sit there, barely processing anything. I am aware enough of the shield going down by the roar of the crowds suddenly showing up and being extremely loud. I can also see some people coming into the arena and rushing to Arell's side. And I watch it all going down from a sort of detached disinterest. I'm pretty sure someone could just walk right up to me and slit my throat and I wouldn't even notice until after I was dead. I watch someone run towards me with a sort of cheery excitement holding something cylindrical in his hand. A name shows up in my head reluctantly. Gabriel. He crouches down beside me and hands me the thing. Finding it to be a water bottle I start trying to drink without any question or complaint. It's definitely sweet and my body definitely wants it badly, but drinking in my current state with this body is proving to be a bit of a challenge and some of my first attempt goes down the wrong pipe.

"Do you realize what you've done," he exclaims at me excitedly.

"I managed to stay alive?" I ask, not entirely understanding where all he's going with the conversation. If nothing else, I would consider the whole being alive thing is an accomplishment in itself, though I imagine in a few hours once the exhaustion has run its course my body is likely to make me wish that I had died.

"The gauntlets came off early in the fight. He was at full strength for most of the fight. Meaning you just fought one of their strongest fighters in a fair fight and won."