"Heave-ho~"
Under Brian's gaze, Fire Rat Agni, who had been curled up on a rock sunbathing while watching the battle, instantly revived at full strength. With a few leaps, she landed in the arena. "Master, I'm ready."
"This concubine is also prepared."
A voice came from above as a breeze swept by. Lion Girl Griffin's figure also appeared in the arena, facing Agni.
"Good, then I'll leave the battlefield to you two. Begin."
Brian nodded, his figure disappearing before reappearing at the edge to watch the two.
Without wasting words, Agni and Griffin exchanged a glance, and their powerful auras instantly erupted.
At the center of the battlefield, two distinctly different yet equally powerful energies clashed violently in the air.
On one side was the embodiment of blazing flame - Mythical Zoan Beast Girl Agni of the Mouse-Mouse Fruit, Fire Mouse Form.
Agni's petite body hovered half a foot above the ground, her slender tail swaying and burning like real flame, its tip constantly flickering as it emitted suffocating high temperatures. Her fiery red eyes burned with fighting spirit, surrounded by visible waves of distorted heat, as if a miniature sun had descended to the mortal realm.
On the other side was the ruler of the skies - Mythical Zoan Beast Girl Griffin of the Cat-Cat Fruit, Griffon Form.
She possessed a form that perfectly combined a lion's majesty with an eagle's agility. Her powerful lion body was covered in short brown fur, standing on all fours with sharp claws digging deep into the rock. A pair of enormous and magnificent eagle wings with an astonishing wingspan, each feather like gilded steel, glinted with cold light. Merely standing there, she exuded the natural pressure of a predator and the arrogance of a sky sovereign.
In the rear, the Beast Girls watched this second battle, discussing among themselves.
Privately, they had even started betting on who had better chances of winning.
"Chirp!!!"
After staring each other down for quite a while, it was actually the usually somewhat silly and cute Agni who broke the stalemate.
Agni let out a clear cry filled with scorching heat, her petite figure transforming into a stream of fire. She thrust her hands forward, and the flames surrounding her instantly condensed into dozens of orange-red fireballs the size of fists, yet containing terrifying high temperatures. They shot toward Griffin like a meteor shower.
"Blazing Flame Secret Art: Sunfire Thousand Needles!"
The fireballs tore through the air with sizzling sounds, as if even the air was being ignited, blocking off large areas where Griffin could evade.
Facing this dense barrage of flame projectiles, Griffin let out a sharp, piercing eagle cry filled with disdain.
Her massive brown eagle wings beat violently, the powerful airflow instantly lifting gravel from the ground as her enormous body shot skyward with agility belying her size.
Numerous fireballs brushed past her, striking the ground where she had just been standing and exploding into charred pits with molten rock flowing within.
"Is this all you've got, little fire mouse?"
Griffin's voice carried a metallic quality and the arrogance of a sky sovereign.
She executed an elegant aerial loop, her wings beating powerfully once more—not for flight, but to transform the gathered wind pressure into countless crescent-shaped, visible cyan wind blades. They poured down like a torrential rain toward Agni below.
"Azure Sky Combat Skill: Sky-Splitting Wind Array!"
The wind blades were razor-sharp, slicing through the air with piercing shrieks. Their coverage was vast, and their speed astonishingly fast.
Agni's small size proved advantageous now. She darted and weaved through the air with nimble grace, like a flame sprite, narrowly evading most of the wind blades.
When a few proved unavoidable, she condensed small flame shields to block them head-on. Fire clashed with wind blades, erupting in violent explosions that scattered sparks and chaotic air currents in all directions.
"Incredible speed!"
Dog Girl Ling couldn't help but exclaim from the sidelines.
"And the cutting power of those wind blades is absurdly strong."
Tiger Girl was shocked. A single one of those blades could likely take her life.
"Truly impressive, worthy of the Griffon Griffin."
Leona expressed admiration. As a combatant of similar caliber, she knew facing such an attack would require considerable effort to withstand.
Berlos, however, remained expressionless, commenting lightly, "The wind blades are good. Pity the flame shields aren't up to par—not condensed enough."
Sure enough, just as Berlos said, Agni's flame shields ultimately fell short, being continuously shattered by the wind blades.
Agni clearly realized this too. She ascended once more, confronting Griffin from a distance in mid-air.
Taking a deep breath, the flames burning around her suddenly deepened in color, shifting from orange-red to a more intense, blazing white.
"Fire Mouse Ultimate Art: Bone-Scorching Flame Wheel!"
A massive ring several meters in diameter, composed entirely of bright white flames, shot toward Griffin like a fragment of the sun. It carried an aura intent on incinerating everything, spinning and howling as it sliced through the air.
Wherever the flame wheel passed, space distorted violently, and the rocks below even began to show signs of melting.
Sensing the terrifying thermal energy contained within this attack, a flicker of gravity flashed in Griffin's amber eyes.
Not daring to underestimate it, she let out a long cry that pierced the clouds and cracked stone, her entire body erupting with dazzling golden light!
She folded her wings before her, the golden feathers at their tips standing erect like two enormous golden shields. The surface of these shields flowed with a wind-pressure barrier as solid as substance!
"Griffon Secret Method: Steel Wing Guard!"
The bright white flame wheel slammed fiercely into the golden Steel Wing Guard!
"BOOM!!!"
A deafening explosion resounded across the desolate island!
Blinding white light mixed with golden radiance, making it impossible to look directly.
Frenzied flame energy and razor-sharp wind pressure wildly clashed and annihilated each other! The shockwave spread in a ring, briefly dispersing the clouds in the sky and sending gravel from the ground soaring into the air before raining back down like hail.
The watching Beast Girls once again activated their abilities to defend.
Yin and Xuan exchanged a glance, positioning themselves in front of their weaker sisters. They released their Haki outward, shattering the falling rocks.
Feixue and Ella automatically manifested the Dragon's Aura Barrier again, while Mia and Aola continuously thrust their serpent tails, smashing the debris.
In front of Coco, freezing energy erupted once more, turning the shattered stones into ice sculptures that fell to the ground.
The most imposing was undoubtedly Berlos, who merely glanced at the incoming shockwave and unleashed a mental blast, instantly clearing the area without even lifting a hand.
As the light faded, the scene in the sky became clear.
Griffin's Steel Wing Guard had already dissipated. A few feathers on her magnificent brown-gold wings were scorched, leaving her looking somewhat disheveled, but she herself had not sustained any serious injuries.
After briefly adjusting her aura in mid-air, a flash of cold light swept over her. The scorched feathers instantly fell away, restoring her wings to their sharp, formidable state.
With her feathers slightly spread, she readied herself for another attack.
Meanwhile, Agni, having unleashed such a powerful ultimate technique, was visibly weakened, the flames around him significantly dimmer.
In that fleeting moment, the slight opening Agni revealed was perfectly seized upon by Griffin in the sky.