Lira quickly raised her hand, summoning her magic.
"Heavenly Slash!"
"Flaming Shot!"
The two attacks collided, completely canceling each other out. Taking advantage of the curtain of dust raised by the impact, Enrico advanced and tried to hit Lira with a punch enveloped in flames.
However, the woman of aura behind her intercepted his arm with one hand and hurled him backward. That figure was at least three meters tall, and that was because only the upper half of her body had been summoned so far.
"How dangerous!"
Enrico used his Fire Steps to dodge another slash from the woman of aura. Then, he took a step back and created several lines of fire in front of him, spreading them throughout the street until they covered his position and removed him from the sight of the two.
"Fire Bow!"
After creating his bow, Enrico entered a house, exited through another opening, and moved into the next building. He repeated the movement three more times, constantly changing positions before finally stopping and aiming an arrow in a certain direction.
"Let's go."
Upon noticing the lines of fire scattered around her, Lira gathered a large amount of magic in her hand, forming a current of wind that she unleashed against the surroundings. The cutting pressure swept through the street and destroyed all the lines surrounding her. Her eyes noticed that Enrico had disappeared.
"He's not here."
An arrow appeared behind Lira, heading directly toward her back. The woman of aura noticed the attack and grabbed it with one hand, stopping it without any difficulty.
"What is he trying to do?"
The figure turned her head toward the direction from which the arrow had come and released a light gust of wind. It was a tracking spell that used air currents to detect a target's presence.
"What? He's not there?"
Another arrow appeared from the right. The woman of aura managed to intercept it, but immediately afterward, three more arrows came from different directions. This time, she only managed to stop two, while the third struck Lira's foot. The girl made a slight expression of pain.
"How...? Ah, that's right! It's his clone!"
The arrow lodged in Lira's foot began to glow more intensely, surprising her. The next moment, an explosion of fire engulfed her, causing some injuries. Even so, she remained relatively calm.
"Destroy the six houses in front and behind us!"
Following Lira's order, the woman of aura turned toward the nearby buildings and began destroying the surrounding houses, advancing both forward and backward. While remaining at the center of the area, Lira took three measures.
First, she created a Spiritual Ki magic shield that was practically impenetrable to someone at Enrico's current level. The only way to break it would be to use the magic he had demonstrated a few minutes earlier.
Next, she expanded the range of her tracking magic, making the wind currents sweep through the area in every direction. That way, it would only be a matter of time before Enrico was discovered.
Finally, she placed her hands behind her back and assumed a relaxed posture, keeping her eyes wide open as she watched her surroundings. There was an unmistakable amusement in her gaze.
'Let's see what you'll do.'
"Damn it... It seems she wants a head-on fight."
Hidden behind a partially destroyed house, Enrico tightened his grip on the fire bow. At that moment, he wouldn't be able to break through the barrier with a ranged attack. He would need to get closer to have any chance of breaking it.
'I'm not ready to use Arcane Collision in another attack right now.'
He had chosen to start with that technique because its mana consumption was lower, allowing him to use it one more time.
'It seems she wants a direct confrontation... Well, if that's what she wants, then I'll give it to her.'
Enrico stepped out from behind the house and dispelled his fire bow. An excited smile began to appear on his face. He didn't want to use that battle merely to earn points; he also intended to take advantage of it to train, just as he had done in the previous fights. That was precisely why he had been using the bow that way.
'I wanted to improve my long-range aim a little more, but as always, she's a killjoy.'
Upon seeing Enrico emerge from his hiding place, Lira's lip seemed to tremble slightly. An increasingly wide smile began to appear.
The System immediately grew concerned upon seeing that expression.
[Be careful, Enrico. Judging by the expression she's starting to make as she watches you come out, there's a good chance she'll choose you as her rival.]
'That's troublesome, but if I want to win, I won't be able to avoid it.'
Lira's face began to show increasingly obvious signs of madness. The reason was simple: she had made a move that was far too obvious for someone as intelligent as Enrico, practically inviting him to face her directly.
If he refused the challenge and continued hiding, Lira would end the fight as quickly as possible, considering him nothing more than another tedious opponent.
'He's coming.'
Lira brought one hand to her mouth, trying to contain the excitement growing intensely inside her. So far, Enrico had overcome three of the five trials she had established to decide whether someone deserved to be her rival. Now, only two remained.
Among people her age, he was the one who had come closest to earning that position.
Removing the smile from her face, Lira concentrated her Ki magic in her left hand, keeping her palm open. Meanwhile, Enrico began running toward her, concentrating mana in his hand. He intended to break that shield with all the strength he possessed.
"Purifying Palm!"
Lira struck the air with her open palm. An invisible pressure surged toward Enrico, forcing him to dodge to the side for a moment. As soon as he avoided the attack, he continued advancing.
Enrico knew that the spell inflicted damage directly on the soul. He couldn't allow the attack to hit him.
"Charged Flame Impact!"
His fist struck the shield, shattering the barrier into several pieces. Taking advantage of the opening, Enrico activated Charged Impulse and moved behind Lira, surprising her. Without giving her time to react, he delivered another punch, striking her squarely on the right cheek and sending her flying into one of the houses.
'As I thought, I managed to get past that automatic defense.'
There were three ways to overcome that ability: one had been demonstrated in the original story, while the other two had come from his own ideas. He had just tested one of them for the first time, and the result had been positive.
[What did you do?]
'That magic is still imperfect. It can detect an opponent's intentions through the mana in their body. Therefore, if I hide my intentions and my mana, it won't be able to detect me.'
[That's more practical than the method Kai used in the story.]
In the original story, Kai wasn't someone who usually thought too much before acting. Therefore, his solution had been quite simple: he only needed to be faster than Lira's automatic defense.
Of course, he had only managed to do that because, at the time, his power level was far superior to hers.
'His level was much higher, but in the future, when she perfects this magic, it will be even more difficult to get past her defense. She'll be able to detect even physical attacks carried out without any intention.'
Enrico prepared to advance once more, but stopped moving when he heard Lira's voice.
"Heh... Heheheh... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! There's no way I can hold myself back! Even though I've only completed the fourth trial, I've finally... Finally found someone who makes my blood boil!"
She emerged from inside the house with a few injuries. Lira tilted her head slightly to the side as her face twisted into a smile filled with madness and her eyes took on an intense purple glow.
"ENRICO!! Don't you dare fall before I've had enough fun!"