Scarlett burst onto the battlefield from the left flank, light flickering across her armor like ripples on water. The moment Victoria caught sight of her, she snapped her fingers with precision and calm authority.
A radiant glyph bloomed beneath her feet as she invoked the Tier Four Light Mastery spell: Valiant Defender.
Six shimmering shields of hard light materialized in an instant—each one hovering protectively in front of her allies, crackling with arcane energy and refracting sunlight like crystal.
But Scarlett was already responding.
With a swift incantation and a glare like the midday sun, she unleashed her own Tier Four Light Mastery spell: Scorching Barrage (Sunshine).
A blistering hail of laser-like rays erupted from her outstretched hands—each beam as thick as a warrior's arm and burning with the fury of a furnace. The sky above shimmered from the sheer intensity of the barrage.
Victoria didn't flinch.
She stepped forward and called upon her Tier Five Light Mastery spell: Corona Argentum.
A column of silver-white light enveloped her, and from within it emerged a gleaming suit of full armor, forged entirely from concentrated headlight energy. Four radiant silver orbs hovered behind her in a halo formation, humming with raw potential. With a wave of her hand, one of the orbs transformed into a luminous glaive, its blade blazing with radiant power.
With the glaive in hand, Victoria surged forward, colliding with Scarlett in a furious clash of steel and sorcery. Blades sang and spells collided in bursts of brilliance, each strike rippling through the battlefield.
Amid the chaos, Victoria glanced at her comrades—and made a split-second decision.
With a whispered incantation, she cast an air spell, sending her allies flying to safety, deeper into the fourth ward of the battlefield. In the same breath, she summoned another Tier Five Light Mastery spell: Obex Solaris.
A dome of golden hard light erupted around her and Scarlett, stretching 130 meters in diameter and rising ten meters high. Sealed tight, the radiant barrier allowed nothing to pass—neither spell nor sound. The two duelists were completely isolated.
Inside the White Phoenix Academy's control room, every eye was fixed on the live feed from the battlefield. The entire chamber fell silent. Then came the collective gasp.
Jaw after jaw dropped in stunned disbelief. One of the fourth-year students—Victoria—had just conjured a spell-array hybrid, a feat typically reserved for elite Archmages and master tacticians.
Back on the field, within the radiant prison of Obex Solaris, Victoria and Scarlett fought on.
For three relentless days, their duel raged—blades clashing, spells thundering, light colliding with light. A clash of wills. A war of legends in the making.
After four relentless days of battle, the dust of clashing wills and magic finally began to settle. Victoria and Scarlett stood, facing each other across the scarred earth, their eyes locked in a fierce, silent exchange—neither willing to yield, neither able to claim victory.
Then, without warning, a ripple in the fabric of reality shimmered between them. A warp-step unfolded like a curtain, and out stepped Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, his robes billowing in the lingering breeze of residual power. Calm and composed, he raised a hand—not to cast a spell, but to signal peace.
"That's enough," he said, voice quiet but commanding, echoing with the weight of centuries.
Scarlett, still in her transformed state, towered over them both. Three meters tall at the shoulder, her body was a majestic amalgamation of lion and nightmare. Her fur was a wild mane of crimson streaked with gold, silver, and onyx—like a war-paint brushed by the hands of chaos. Her bat-like wings fluttered slightly from the soft wind, and her massive scorpion tail arched lazily overhead, still glinting with venom.
The great beast regarded Victoria with a slow blink before speaking in a voice that was both melodic and thunderous.
"May I know your name?"
Victoria, her armor scorched and her braid loosened by battle, straightened her back with pride. "My name is Victoria Velastra," she said firmly. "And yours?"
"I am Scarlett," the beast replied. "Lord of the Forest. Guardian of the Forest, and protector of the beasts who dwell within it. That title is not ceremonial—it is sacred. And for you to have stood against me for four full days without rest... You have earned my respect."
Scarlett's great head dipped slightly in acknowledgment.
"As such," she continued, "I will grant you a reward. So long as it lies within my power, ask what you will."
Victoria inclined her head slowly, eyes narrowing with measured thought. "I see," she murmured, then raised her voice clearly enough for the Headmaster to hear. "In that case, I request two things: access to both magical resources and divine beasts—preferably peaceful ones—for study."
Scarlett's eyes glinted. "Regarding the divine beasts, do you require their presence, or will a sample of their blood suffice? And what magical resources do you seek?"
"If possible, I'd prefer them in person," Victoria replied. "But a single drop of blood from each will suffice, if that's all that can be spared."
She then drew in a breath, her tone growing technical. "As for magical resources—I require a quantity of Purified Adamant sufficient to construct both a forge and a hammer. The forge should be fifty inches long by forty inches wide. I'll also need fourteen Violet Mana Crystals to integrate into the forge's foundation, with an additional three violet and six blue mana crystals for the hammer itself."
There was a pause, then she added, almost as an afterthought: "And, if by some miracle you can obtain it—any size, no matter how small—a piece of unenchanted Yggdrasill wood, untouched and raw. I need all of it unworked, completely inert, and free of any existing enchantments."
Scarlett considered this, her tail twitching thoughtfully.
"For the divine beasts, I will see what I can arrange," she said at last. "I will provide the materials for your forge and hammer without delay. As for the Yggdrasill wood... that may prove difficult, even for me. But I will try."