Lightning struck the crowd in awe as blue energy created cataclysm throughout the sands of the arena.
However, it was as if the two Paladins were experiencing time through a different lens...
"What is your name?... Sorry, might I ask... Real name?" The indigo-haired woman with depressed deep blue eyes asked with a lowered voice... At the same time... Outstretching a finger and stopping both Chase and Apocalypse a foot away from the Paladin.
Chase's eyes widened in shock... Feeling the immense cosmic power radiating from Natalia's body...
'What the hell are you?!' Chase thought, tensing his muscles and summoning a gateway above him... Using his newfound knowledge to pull the force of the portal downwards... Engulfing Chase when he has no other means of movement...
Natalia's eyes widened in surprise.
"A trick?" She first asked, tilting her head as she curiously observed the traces of energy left by the gateway.
"The underworld..." She said quietly, noting to herself that she was familiar with this affinity...
She sidestepped instantly...
Chase flew past, hurling the blade of Apocalypse into the ground and dragging himself to a stop.
"You already know who I am then." Chase said, brushing his golden hair back and loosening his shoulders.
Natalia smiled softly and chuckled.
"It appears you would be right... Heir of Solis..." She put a hand over her mouth and giggled once again at the King of Chaos.
Chase slumped his shoulders, leaning his head back with a wistful sigh.
"You don't say we could call this whole thing off then... Maybe like march down those stairs and get rid of The House of Durangor?" Chase suggested with a shrug.
Natalia shook her head.
"No good."
Chase frowned behind the mask.
"What do you mean no good?" He asked expressively, pointing at the ground in disgust.
"You mean to tell me that your own leaders are torturing conscious beings and using them as an underground slave trading token even though that is outlawed in the lands of Vallmora... And you will kneel to those leaders and do nothing...?" Chase twirled the staff of Apocalypse, accepting that this battle truly was inevitable, as this Paladin was far too ignorant for the good of her people.
"King Phillip knows nothing..." She said, looking at the ground with no nameable expression.
"And things must remain that way..." She ended, summoning a glittering blade of cobalt and some unknown indigo steel into her hand...
Then a wave of crushing energy followed in her wake...
Chase's eyes darted around the arena, even enhanced with soul sense... He had no way of seeing her attack...
But he sure could feel it...
The gravity of the sands shifted inward, tightening Chase's organs as pressure began to pulse in his head.
"It's no use... As Seh Jenah... Is the House of Durangor..." She finished with sad smile as her blade struck downward... An after wave of indigo energy following her flawless motion with absolute precision...
That being said... The devastating slash completely missed Chase as a portal sucked him in from below.
The crowd was roaring in outrage at the cowardice stunts being performed within the main match up of their long-awaited fight.
Chase frowned, feeling the terrible radiance of the underworld accumulate through him once again.
"They are expecting more from you..." Natalia said, greeting Chase right outside of his exit portal.
"How-" Chase gasped, before getting slashed in the weak point of his armor located underneath his armpit.
The crowd gasped, as blood began to stain the sands crimson.
"Should probably not expose that much skin..." Natalia thought, not expecting fiery burst of fury to be unleashed upon the sands...
The inferno was let loose the second that Chase felt the third drop of blood leave his body... A thought process that was found by a strange reasoning with an unknown inner voice.
'What the hell?!' Chase thought, having gained a memory that did not happen.
Meanwhile, he stood at the center of an inferno tainted in neon green... Flames dancing and licking Natalia who wore a stunned expression on her face as if the pain simply had not occurred to her.
The crowd's roar had begun to rise, and at the very same time... Natalia was broken from her daze... The very same second that Apocalypse had become an impending doom upon the sword of Seh Jenah.
Chase's wicked grin was blaring on all cylinders behind the onyx mask... Apocalypse soaring downwards at Natalia's head with incredible pace.
"Shit." She muttered, lifting her sword and bracing her knees.
The axe crashed into her blade with astonishing force, so much so that the sands of the arena had become a sand storm... Huge clouds of what had once been the ground filling the eyes of the crowd above.
Within the sands... Natalia grinned... Trembling as she held back a violently shaking Chase who was about to lose advantage of the clash.
"You know what? I will lower my gravitational field's potency so that you can actually attack me." Natalia flashed her teeth as her voice shook under Chase's equalizing force.
Then Chase's eyes widened in shock as Natalia's began to burn a vibrant blue...
Her force got stronger... Pushing back Chase with immense swiftness...
He grit his teeth, preparing to spin the staff of Apocalypse to the block the obvious counter attack...
However, she had already known... Having grabbed the staff of Apocalypse with her offhand, while using her other to knock the blade of Apocalypse away... And all in one swift motion... Chase's ribs began to spill blood.