The Arks

The thing struck his arm as a sharp spearhead emitted from the water droplets near him. The Mage winced and landed on the ground.

"Wind to Water conversion? That's an old trick," said Z.

"You have been mistaken. I do not rely on such powers only."

The Umbra replied with another slash using water. Z tried freezing the spell but the Umbra simply used the wind to conjure up the water spell again.

"Only? You've got more up your sleeve?" asked Z, wiping a stream of blood on his forehead.

"You can never defeat me!" yelled the Umbra as it used Z's blood to create a spike.

The spike launched out and hurled back towards the Ice Mage. He then blocked it by tossing a Kunai. Whatever the Ice Mage tried to freeze, the Umbra had the best way to counter it. And vice-versa, making this battle checkmate at both ends.

And if the water spells had been dispersed by Z trying to destroy it, the small water droplets would transform into spears. They will then directly attack Z, no matter how many times he could freeze or destroy them.

Mavislin looked at the duel in awe. There were only a few times that she had witnessed the second strongest fall to his knees as the Umbra continuously dished out attacks. Her worries increased as Z began coughing out blood. Blood that was used to further injure him.

"Hmm, it seems that we've got standstill in our duel. Never expected an Umbra to be this strong," said Z.

He took in a deep breath before looking at the Umbra, who took no damage from Z at all. Meanwhile, Z had slashes from head to toe. His body was slightly arched as he was busy collecting his thoughts. With such a powerful foe, there was no choice but to switch Elements.

Z smiled as he tossed a few Kunais upwards. The entire group looked confused, including the Umbra. It took Mavislin a while to understand what the Ice Mage was planning. It was only when the Kunais thrown started to glow and emitted a bright light, which honed in at Z.

"Your efforts are futile!" yelled the Umbra as it tried to attack the Galaxian Mage.

"When The Stars Shine!" yelled Z as the Kunais created something from the stars.

This pushed the Umbra away and blinded the whole room. As the light faded, Z held up a bow with a single arrow. Both the weapons were made out of stars, shimmering in and out of existence. He then drew the bow and launched the arrow towards the Umbra.

Another set of Kunais glowed behind the Galaxian Mage.

"Leon(Lion)!"

As the few beams of light shined onto the bow, the bow and arrow were engulfed in flames. The flames built the symbol of the zodiac sign of Leo right in front of the arrow's tip.

"Hah! Fire against Water is simply foolish!" yelled the Umbra, as he prepared to fight the oncoming attack.

The Galaxian Mage gave a proud smile as the flames flared out.

"Don't be so sure. If there's enough heat, you can boil water," replied Z.

With the heat aggravating his opened wounds, Z wasted no time in completing the spell. He gathered just enough Elemental Energy to fire off the attack. He tensed up and aimed.

"Mamamana (Archer)," called out Z as he released the bowstring.

The arrow of stars plunged into the Umbra's neck, pinning the being onto the wall. The Umbra tried its best to use water to put out the flames while thrashing about but the flame soon engulfed it whole.

Z smiled and Mavislin's eyes sparkled, a sure-fire win for the Galaxian Mage. But then, the Umbra smiled as well. Vernice, as Z froze, quickly whipped her sniper rifle and shot a few rounds at the Umbra.

The Umbra staggered for a moment before fully slumping down onto the floor. The Umbra was out cold, with a few bullets holes in its body and a single arrow at its neck. It was charred, from head to toe. Any signs of overcoming this seemed impossible for the Umbra.

After such a long, draining duel, Z collapsed onto his knees. With his Elemental Energy depleted, he tried to heal himself up. But that held no results. Vernice, on the contrary, still held the fallen Umbra at gunpoint.

"There's no need to fear. I've hit the Umbra's Elemental Core. It won't be getting up any time soon," said Z, panting heavily.

Mavislin quickly rushed to Z's side and tried to heal some of his wounds. She slapped his hand away as he tried to conjure up his Ancient Relic. Z looked puzzled.

"The Ancient Relic needs Elemental Energy to use. Something that you haven't got enough now."