As small as the light way, the impact seemed to be devastating. What began as a ball sized energy burst suddenly expanded outwards as it reached its target. It detonated with the force of hundreds of demolition bombs - so powerful, that blinding light and deafening boom rumbled well throughout the dimensional barrier. The Devils closest to the action roared in pain as they covered their ears and scrunched their eyes, feeling their skin burn a bit from the force of the impact.
"SHE"S GOING TO KILL ALL OF US!" a Devil roared in anger as he ducked down, his ears ringing and temporarily blinded.
"I CAN"T SEE A d.a.m.n THING!? WHAT HAPPENED TO EÄRENDIL? DID SHE ELIMINATE HIM?!" another Devil wondered.
Hats, gla.s.ses, purses, wallets, jackets, balloons, and many other things flew back out of the stadium as the people struggled to figure out what had happened - how powerful was the attack? What was the damage? How was Elros?
"Folks, that might be it! Although Mr. Eärendil put on an impressive showing, I think this might"ve clinched the win for Lady Elizaveta! Such a powerful attack and it seemed to hit him head on! If he"s still in the running, I"ll eat the good judge"s hat!" the announcer yelled.
-o-
"ELROS!" Rias shrieked, although she had to cover her own eyes. The light was extremely powerful and reached all the way where she was sitting with the others. Besides Azazel, Michael, and Jason Blood, everyone seemed to be affected to some degree.
"Don"t worry Gaspie," Koneko a.s.sured Gasper who was crying lightly.
"B-b-but Elros!" he said as he held on to Koneko.
"My word…," Yubelluna whispered, her eyes readjusting as the light still burned strong. She looked through the pain, hoping to catch a glimpse - but saw nothing. Her heart fell - was this it?
"How"s he going to come back from that?! IT WAS HEAD ON!" Issei yelled as he stood up, forcing his eyes open and looking for any signs of his friend.
They waited for a while longer as the light began to dim down. However, as soon as it did, another suddenly erupted - but this one was different. Instead of a pure white, it was a blue and gold. As soon as Akeno saw it, she exclaimed in relief. But said relief soon turned to shock as she saw what happened. The others followed her lead, looks of amazement, wonder, shock, and awe etched onto their face - and the faces of every Devil in attendance.
-o-
As the light started to die down, Elizaveta felt her heart soaring.
"At least. We-," she said before her heart came crashing down with the force of a meteor. She suddenly felt a heat radiating outward from the blast area - one that was not similar to her attack. Her eyes narrowed before they quickly widened in shock.
Two resplendent blue wings burst out from the area of impact and began flapping, dissipating the light. As it cleared and people began to finally see what happened, they let out a thunderous cheer of applause which was quickly silence as they saw what was happening.
As the energy cleared, Elros was clearly standing there with his wings jutting out - but not from his back this time. The entire lengths of his arms had disappeared, turning into part of the fire that constructed his wings. The rest of his body was riddled with holes. His right cheek, his left eye, part of his neck, his chest, his stomach, both legs - yet the most terrifying aspect was his lips, which were curved into a sardonic smile. Elizaveta"s eyes widened as the holes in his body suddenly erupted in a blue and gold flame before closing, making it appear as though nothing happened.
-o-
"WHAT HAPPENED?!" the announcer roared, unable to think anything else to say.
"NO f.u.c.kING WAY!" a Devil roared in excitement.
"Isn"t that the power of the Phoenix family?!" another asked.
"What the h.e.l.l is going on?!" yet another inquired. Murmurs and cheers went throughout the crowd as they attempted to figure out what was going on.
-o-
"No way," Sona whispered as she saw Elros smiling at Elizaveta, his arms burning a bright blue and gold as the flames rolled.
"How did he do that?" Tsubaki asked in surprise, although in her heart she felt ecstatic - he wasn"t hurt. At all.
"I"ve no idea. That"s amazing," Akeno said, containing her excitement as much as she could, otherwise she"d be liable to start jumping around in joy and miss the rest of the match.
"He"s certainly full of surprises," Michael said with a light smile.
"This isn"t just a surprise, however! This is the power of the Phoenix Family. Are we sure that he isn"t… you know…," Kiba said.
"I surmise this has something to do with his ring. You can ask him once the match is over," Jason said, smiling as he saw the sight. He suddenly got up to leave.
"Excellent work," he thought.
"Are you leaving, Mr. Blood?" Venelana asked in surprise.
"I"m afraid so, Lady Gremory. I have other matters to attend to. Please give Elros my congratulations on his win. If you would be so kind, also let him know to come see me soon. We have some things to discuss. Michael," Jason said, nodding at the man before taking his leave.
"Some friend he is…," Azazel mumbled.
-o-
"Worked just like I planned it. Nice. Now… time to finish this," Elros thought. Using his wings, he suddenly flew forward with a tremendous speed. Elizaveta had no time to react as Elros appeared in front of her. Her eyes widened even further as the immenseness of his wings was finally made evident to her. They were much wider than her own, as well as much more beautiful. She wondered how such a thing was even possible for him to achieve. As she locked eyes with him, she saw the lack of emotion they held - the same as they were throughout the match. Elros wrested control back from the three and made his presence known, brutalizing and eliminating Bastion and Anders. Now it was her turn to fall.
She felt a searing as one of the wings grew smaller. Elros"s hand was still on fire as he reared it back. Expending some energy, he thrust it forward with the force of a piston, encasing the fist in a blue construct that he amplified with his green ring. The fist connected viciously with Elizaveta"s stomach, hurtling her upwards. The arm regrew into a flame and Elros shot upwards, pressing his attack. He shifted orientation midflight, turning his back to Elizaveta before doing a backflip midair. Extending his right foot, he brought it down on her her, aiming at the midback. Elizaveta rocketed down, some spit flying as she felt the impact. Instead of continuing the attack, however, Elros flew up and shifted in midair again so that he was looking down. The wings suddenly began to grow larger and larger, brighter and brighter, hotter and hotter. He brought them back behind him before thrusting them down towards the earth. Each wing turned into a ma.s.sive pillar of blue flame as it connected with Elizaveta"s p.r.o.ne form. The resulting explosion forced many a Devil to avert their eyes yet again.
Finished with his attack, Elros retracted his wings and fell down to the ground, landing deftly on his feet. As the light finally dissipated entirely, he saw the result: two giant craters on the ground and no sign of Elizaveta. He then heard the announcer.
-o-
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I CAN"T BELIEVE IT! HE"S DONE IT! HE"S DONE IT! ELROS EÄRENDIL HAS DONE IT! HE"S BEATEN ELIZAVETA FOMINA! SHE HAS BEEN TRANSPORTED BACK AND IS RECEIVING MEDICAL TREATMENT AS WE SPEAK! BUT BY h.e.l.l HE DID IT! ELROS EÄRENDIL - AGAINST ALL ODDS AND A ROUGH START - HAS WON THE MATCH!" the announcer roared as he jumped out of his seat in excitement, sweating profusely from a combination of excitement and the heat generated by the attack, which breached the dimensional barrier.
The crowd was silent before they erupted into a ma.s.sive cheer - the loudest one yet. Elros stood comfortably in the middle of the arena, offering no sense of excitement - no smile or grin or word leaving his lips. He continued to frown at the craters as he heard the people go wild.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE"LL SEE YOU ALL IN THE AUDITORIUM WHERE MR. EÄRENDIL WILL OFFICIALLY BE ANNOUNCED WINNER! THANK YOU FOR JOINING US HERE FOR THIS MAGNIFICENT MATCH!" the announcer roared.
-o-
"YAY!" Rias roared happily as she hugged Akeno tightly. Both were crying tears of joy while Sona and Tsubaki lost their serious demeanors and began to celebrate excitedly.
"I knew he"d win!" Gasper yelled happily as his eyes shone with excitement. Elros just kept getting cooler and cooler in his opinion. Koneko held on to him tightly, eliciting a smile from Kuroka as she observed the tender scene she shared with the small vampire.
"WOO YEAH! GO ELROS!" Issei yelled, exchanging a high five with Saji, while Karlamine cried tears of joy onto Kiba who held her, a fist raised in Elros"s honor as well.
The girls from the peerage were all on their feet, cheering and waving at Elros who continued to look at the crater.
"That was amazing," Bürent cheered happily as she hugged Marion, who whistled in happiness.
"Very. I"ve never seen such a beautiful, yet terrifying, attack," Mihae said dreamily.
"He"s certainly full of surprises. How his arms turned into his wings… I don"t recall ever seeing such a thing," Isabela said.
"It appears we"re not the only ones impressed," Yubelluna said with a grim smile as she nodded towards a gaggle of beautiful devil women below, all of whom were talking about the acts they wanted to perform with, on, and have done to them by Elros.
Hearing the lascivious thought, a powerful force began to emanate from the girls that knew Elros best. Sirzechs, Michael, and Azazel all exchanged a glance and chuckled.
"Good show, kid," Azazel said with a laugh.
"Impressive indeed. Elros seems to keep pushing the bar," Michael said with a smile.
"Well, dear? What do you think?" Venelana asked Rias.
"All I know is that I"m really looking forward to tonight," Rias said excitedly. However, as she looked at Elros, she felt her heart began to drop slightly.
"I wonder what he"s thinking?" Rias thought as she noted his figure. He didn"t seem happy or relieved to win - he didn"t seem excited at all. He simply seemed ambivalent to the whole thing. As she looked down, she saw Elros turn and walk back to the portcullis, still frowning. Rias gulped - what was going through his mind?