Seeing her ally plummeting, Gia tries to react quickly. However as she started to move, she found herself staring at a black wall.
Having seen Gia moving to try and help her teammate, Selene had set up a shadow veil between them, preventing her from being able to see Yelena.
"Damn it," Gia cursed under her breath, blind to her partner's descent, instead of wasting time trying to get past it. Gia extended a stone pillar just above the lava where she thought that Yelena would fall, it wasn't going to be a nice landing, but at least she wouldn't be disqualified.
Yelena slammed into the ground, luckily for her the lightning still lingering in her body actually ended up working as a pain suppressant. Even so, her body throbbed from the brutal impact.
"Okay new plan," she groaned, using her Shadow magic she dissolved into the shadows, trying to give herself a second to recover.
Ethan, seeing her disappear, returned to Selene's side, not wanting to lose a stupid point. Taking the chance to summon his fifth and final crystal, reaching his maximum power level.
Selene also wanting to keep their advantage, focused more on strengthening their platform. Vines, roots, and stone melding together practically turning it into a fortress.
Gia exhaled looking up at them. "We're not going to win like this, time for something drastic." She once again placed her hands down onto the ground, her Earth magic rumbling to life beneath the entire arena.
Investing a lot of her remaining mana in an attempt to go for a win. The platforms in the arena itself began tilting, shaking, making the platforms other than her own unstable.
Yelena's form materialized on the platform across from Ethan and Selene. "You ready crystal boy?" she taunted, hoping to throw them off even a little bit.
Ethan didn't even respond, his focus completely on Gia. The spell was risky, but Ethan knew from her earlier attacks, she had to be running low on mana.
Knowing that Selene would guard him from Yelena, he launched himself into the air again. The building level of electricity felt like a warning, his crystals lining up in his railgun formation.
His lightning going from one crystal to the next, the power increasing with each one. The feeling of danger as it struck the final crystal made Yelena's hair stand on end, the massive crack as the bolt shot towards her partner. "GIA!" She shouted, but it was far too late.
Gia's knees were nearly buckling from the strain of trying to alter the arena, her mana was running thin and she knew it.
She looked up to see how the actual battle was going, only to see Ethan in the air.
All five crystals floating in front of him, the hum of power was shocking, a thrumming pulsing energy that made the entire battlefield feel like it was about to collapse.
Eyes wide, she froze.
His railgun… Full power… Straight at her…
"GIA!" She heard Yelena shout, but there was no time. No way she could defend. No way she could dodge.
The bolt fired.
She couldn't hear the sound before the beam of pure elemental force detonated the earth she was standing on, the impact sending flaming chunks of earth flying, as she vanished into a storm of dust and molten light.
It was only a moment later that there was a splash.
"Contestant Gia has been disqualified, a point will be credited to Team Aurora, score is 3-0." The announcer's voice cut through the shock everyone was feeling.
Yelena's eyes were wide in shock. "One strike, he destroyed everything with one strike." It didn't feel like a normal match now, more like a battle.
Everyone watching was stunned by what they had just witnessed, everyone except Jace.
"It's not often he uses his maximum power level," Jace said, exhaling.
The rest of the team remained silent, until Aurora finally broke it. "I knew crystals could augment spells, but I wasn't expecting anything like that."
Astra nodded. "In our group duel, he had five crystals, but his spell wasn't even close to that level."
Jace shrugged. "That's because he usually goes for speed instead of power. Speed's harder to dodge and can secure the point just as easily. But with the lava causing disqualifications, he went all in."
"Wait, so what do the crystals actually do, then?" Orion asked.
"They're an advanced form of magic," Felix began. "Each crystal can augment a spell in a different way. Or, if you enhance the spell with the same effect through each crystal, the improvements stack."
Orion frowned. "But if they can do stuff like that… why doesn't everyone use them?"
"Because it takes an insane amount of effort," Jace said with another shrug. "Most people who can pull it off at our age either only have one element or they specialize completely in it."
"But why? That still doesn't make a lotta sense to me," Orion said, clearly still confused.
Aurora chimed in this time. "To use elemental crystals like that, you need not only maximum affinity with the element, but also complete familiarity. Those of us with more than one element usually spread our training out for versatility. That limits how far we can push a single one."
Orion thought for a moment, then nodded. "Maybe I should focus on making one of my elements a primary, then."
"Versatility can be a massive advantage too," Aurora said, shaking her head. "Just because it works for him doesn't mean it will work for you, Orion."
"Yeah, man, you've got five elements," Jace added, clapping him on the shoulder. "Better to focus on knowing how to use all of them."
"Alright, alright." Orion raised his hands in surrender. "I get it, don't go changing what works."
"But for real, though," Astra said, leaning back. "Just how much power does it take to annihilate a platform like that? Especially since Gia had reinforced it."
"Annihilate? He practically vaporized it," Lucian chimed in for the first time, shaking his head.
"Well, it did turn the fight into a two on one," Jace added, also leaning back. "The duel's practically over, even with the score only at 3-0."
"Yelena doesn't seem like the type to give up, though," Astra mused. "We'll see what else she can manage."
Back inside the arena, Yelena's eyes were wide with shock. "He took her out in a single strike."
Her hands trembled. She couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. For a moment, panic surged through her.
Then she clenched her fists, forcing the shaking to stop.
Her eyes narrowed with determination as she took a deep breath.
"I'm not going down just yet."