The ultimate one of Gaia

A ripple.

The air vibrated with a structured mana resonance, like a tuning fork struck against the world's spine.

'Finally showing up,' Martin remarked calmly.

Four pillars of magic erupted in cardinal formation—north, east, south, and west. Each pillar thrummed with concentrated elemental incantations: Ice, Holy, Wind, and Water. They rose like translucent towers, their foundations interlocking in sigil arrays that shone with blinding clarity.

A vast hemispherical barrier snapped into place around Martin, shimmering faintly like the inside of a pearl.

The temperature plummeted as cold mist rolled across charred ground. Holy light threaded through the wind currents, purifying toxic residue, while moisture condensed to suppress flame ignition points.

Martin watched dispassionately as his fires calmed down to tolerable levels, the rampaging shadows smothered under the layered dampening incantations.

"This just took the terror out of terrifying," Martin murmured, his eyes flicking across each pillar with critical curiosity, 'This spell formation is pretty good, it seems CLL does have something up their sleeve.'

Footsteps approached from the swirling frost. A familiar silhouette emerged, her frame casting a sharp shadow against the pale barrier light.

Diemo stood there, wearing reinforced combat robes layered with reactive glyph armor. Her dark hair was tied back in a tight braid that emphasized her refined yet feral aura, while her exposed arms flexed with toned muscle hardened through endless training.

"Diemo Nidas," Martin spoke, his voice neutral as his rapier twitched lightly in his grasp, "What are you doing here?"

"Why are you saying my full name?" Diemo tilted her head with a faint smirk, though her eyes remained cold and focused.

"Just answer," Martin said flatly, "I have twelve people to beat."

"I made a deal with CLL," Diemo replied, rolling her shoulders as she cracked her knuckles one by one. "They wanted a chance to wear you down. I wanted a fight with you. So I agreed to a 1 vs 1, uninterrupted."

"Alright, let's get this over with," Martin said, his eyes glazing with disinterest.

"No question," Diemo asked softly, her smile fading.

"Not in the mood right now," Martin replied, shifting into a lazy defensive stance, "I want to finish up quickly so I can go back to practicing Magecraft in silence."

Diemo tilted her head, her braid brushing her collarbone as she chuckled humorlessly, "Really not a thought about, how this beautiful girl is here to kill you?"

"Get in line," Martin said, unblinking.

Without warning, Diemo lunged. Her foot crushed the stone beneath her as she accelerated forward in a blink, fists blurring as she launched a devastating twin hammer strike.

Martin caught both fists mid-air with ease, the shockwave of their collision exploding outward, ripping nearby moss clean from the stone floor and shaking the stabilizing sigils of the barrier formation.

"You're holding back," Diemo growled, her arms trembling under Martin's unyielding grip.

"I told you," Martin said calmly, tightening his grasp until the air between their palms vibrated, "Not in the mood."

In a single smooth motion, Martin gathered mana into his free hand, compressing it into a sphere of pale blue light that swelled instantly, before firing an explosive point-blank blast at Diemo's chest.

The kinetic eruption blasted her off her feet, tearing a shallow trench through the moss and cracked stone as she crashed into a nearby tree with a deep, echoing thud.

"You're… such an asshole," Diemo coughed, blood dribbling down her chin as she raised herself back to her feet, her eyes now gleaming with murderous clarity.

"Go on," Martin said, unsheathing his rapier in a casual flick. Reddish-black mana condensed along its edge, the blade vibrating with fractal overlays. He attacked without warning from five points at once, the rapier's shadow splitting and striking from impossible angles.

"You know I can see them," Diemo dodged each thrust, letting the attacks graze her robes and arms without breaching her vital lines. Her agility was supernatural, her movements so minimal that her center of gravity never wavered.

"Is that so?" Martin narrowed his gaze, channeling even deeper mana circuits. The blade split again, twelve phantasmal rapiers striking in a coordinated pattern to pierce every defensive blind spot.

Diemo screamed as the attacks pierced her abdomen and shoulders, spraying blood across the moss-slick stone. She stumbled back, trembling, as Martin twisted the blades slightly to widen the wounds.

"Do you think this will stop me?" Diemo asked, her voice ragged but her eyes filled with unbreakable light. She clenched her abdomen muscles, locking the rapier's position, making it impossible for Martin to pull it back.

"What the__," Martin began, but before he could finish, Diemo surged forward. Her knee rose like a piston, slamming into his chin with enough force to rattle his skull and send shockwaves rippling up his spine. The impact cracked his jaw slightly as his body was lifted off the ground.

Diemo pivoted mid-motion, swinging her leg around in a savage roundhouse kick that smashed into Martin's temple, sending him crashing into a tree trunk ten meters away. The impact cracked the bark, sending splinters flying as Martin slumped to the ground, stunned.

Martin blinked rapidly, tasting blood in his mouth, his rapier shattered into fractured mana shards scattered across the forest floor.

Diemo stood above him, panting heavily, blood streaming down her torso but her posture unbowed. She rolled her neck once, the vertebrae cracking audibly as her aura expanded like a pressure wave.

"You… will take me seriously," Diemo said softly, her voice trembling not with fear, but with ecstasy, "Or I'll kill you where you stand."

Martin smiled faintly, blood trickling down his chin as his cracked jaw knit itself back together with a muted click.

"Finally," he said, slowly rising to his feet, eyes glowing with savage delight, "Someone interesting."