Let's rewind time a bit. It happened at the same time the match between Gabriel and Basil started.
The two women appeared in different locations—a world of mountains and wonder, where they faced each other in silence in the sky. Elfie spoke about the rules of the test, just as Basil had done, it was finally time to choose a weapon. But neither had chosen yet.
The signal of the fight was given.
The space between them vanished. Twisting and bridging distance was an effortless task for her.
In the next instant, Lilith appeared before Elfie, fist pulled back. The motion was sharp and efficient, with no wasted movement.
The punch connected without any problem.
BOOM!
A sharp detonation rang out through the cracked and twisted space. Elfie's body shot backward through the air, carving a line through the clouds. The receptionist righted her body quickly, feet skimming across the thin air like a car skidding across asphalt to stop her momentum.
The mountain peak below cracked. Small chunks of stone broke loose and fell into the mist.
Elfie flexed her fingers, shoulders rising and falling with controlled breath.
Lilith hovered quietly across from her, her aura steady, no longer flaring wildly.
"Ufufufu," Lilith laughed. "This is getting fun, don't you think, dear Elfie?"
Elfie's brow furrowed as she felt a power several magnitudes higher than what Lilith had shown her earlier.
'I was not able to react?'
She pondered briefly before realizing what had happened. She did not move fast enough to surpass her perception. Lilith had—and quite literally—erased the space that existed between them.
This was impressive. Truly so.
'As I thought, she can perfectly control the Space element. Heh! Let's have some fun.' Unlike your typical fighter, Elfie was the type to enjoy fighting, slaughtering, and dominating her foes—but not to the extreme like a demon. Among her peers, she was considered a weirdo.
"I have no intention of losing," Lilith declared as a matter of fact. She embodied the word confidence, and Elfie appreciated that attitude because she loved crushing them.
The two gazed at each other in silence for a few moments that seemed to stretch on eternally.
Wearing a smile unlike her usual self, Elfie lunged first.
There was no hesitation nor any feints in her attack. Her slender and athletic body shot forward, arms clenched tight into fists aimed straight for Lilith's chest. The latter shifted slightly—a subtle ripple in the air around her distorting Elfie's charge.
The punch passed harmlessly through space.
Meanwhile, Lilith reappeared on the side, foot swinging sharply to strike Elfie's ribs. Having taken countless classes of self-defense, she was pretty good at hand-to-hand combat.
Naturally, it went without saying that the receptionist was also good at this. Thus she twisted, taking the hit with a grunt and spinning with a set of open palms aimed at Lilith's head. Lilith tilted back just enough to avoid the consecutive barrage of blows, the force slicing through the dense clouds and sending fragments of mist scattering.
The air cracked sharply with every exchange. Lilith's calm, measured strikes, enhanced by imperceptible manipulations of space, met Elfie's wild, aggressive attacks—each one stronger than the last as she imbued the Wind element inside.
Rumble!
The sky darkened as their fight pushed upward, scattering the clouds and literally shredding the atmosphere as if it were minced meat.
But neither was satisfied.
Elfie flipped backward, putting twenty meters between them. She rolled her shoulders, feeling the dull ache where Lilith's space-enhanced kicks had landed. Already, the bruises were fading.
"You're holding back," Elfie said. It wasn't a question.
Lilith tilted her head, her smile never wavering. "So are you."
A beat of silence.
Then both grinned.
"Fine."
They moved again. Lilith's arms blurred, fists pounding from multiple angles. Elfie deflected, redirected, and then struck back with sharp, surgically precise counters. They moved around, creating sonic booms as they exchanged blows.
Smack! Lilith's palm caught Elfie's wrist mid-punch.
Thud! Elfie's knee drove into Lilith's thigh.
Crack! Lilith's elbow slammed into Elfie's collarbone.
Whoosh! Elfie's spinning backfist grazed Lilith's temple.
Injuries began piling up, but their insane regenerative abilities kicked in, healing each wound before more appeared. Lilith blended the Space element with her attacks—each strike seeming to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. Elfie defended and retaliated using the Wind element—her blows carving invisible arcs through the air that exploded on contact.
It was not some complex fight. Neither had gone all out. But it was still a deadly fight, destroying anything in their wake. They were too engrossed in the exchange, testing each other's limits.
The mountains below paid the price.
A peak to their left was sheared in half by a missed wind-enhanced punch. A ridge to their right collapsed into rubble when Lilith redirected space itself, sending Elfie's redirected force crashing into the stone.
They fought across the sky like two storms colliding—no, like two goddesses who had forgotten they were supposed to be mortal.
"You're fast," Lilith admitted, dodging a flurry of jabs. Each one missed by a hair's breadth, the wind pressure alone carving furrows into the distant clouds behind her.
"You're annoying," Elfie replied, not slowing down. Her leg swept low, then high, then mid—a three-step combo that would have broken reinforced steel.
Lilith danced around the first two and caught the third on her forearm. The impact sent a shockwave rippling outward.
Boom!
Both women skidded backward, feet dragging across the sky as if it were solid ground.
Elfie examined her knuckles. Split. Bleeding. Already knitting back together.
Lilith rolled her wrist, feeling the slight strain. Her space manipulation had dulled most of the force, but not all of it.
"You're strong," Lilith said, genuine respect coloring her voice.
"You're not so bad yourself," Elfie replied, cracking her neck.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then, as if guided by some unspoken agreement, they exhaled simultaneously.
"Shall we stop playing?" Elfie asked, her eyes gleaming.
"I thought you'd never ask," Lilith answered, her smile widening.
The atmosphere shifted. The temperature dropped. The very air became heavy with anticipation.
This time, when they charged, there was no testing. No holding back.
This was the real fight.
They met in the center of the ruined sky.
Lilith's fist, wrapped in compressed space, aimed for Elfie's heart.
Elfie's palm, swirling with razor-sharp wind, aimed for Lilith's throat.
Both attacks connected at the exact same instant.
BOOOOOOM!
A column of light erupted between them—half silver from distorted space, half emerald from raging wind. The shockwave spread for kilometers, flattening what remained of the mountain range below. The clouds above were obliterated, revealing the starry expanse beyond.
When the light faded, both women stood exactly where they had been before.
Neither had moved.
Neither had fallen.
A thin line of blood ran down Lilith's neck, disappearing beneath her collar.
A matching line of blood ran down Elfie's chest, staining her uniform.
They stared at each other.
Then, slowly, they both smiled and the fight resumed more intensely than ever, this time with weapons, and the final result was soon known to the two before they went to join the men and happened to see the draw.