Dueling like a snake

*Narrator pov*

"You ready?" the voice of Evan reached Marinette's ears

She turned to look at her younger housemate, "Of course," she replied with a small smile

"Your dueling style is unique I have never seen something like it before, where did you learn?" Evan asked

She chuckled, "From dueling club, of course, my father would never teach a girl how to duel it's just not ladylike," her response was full of smiles not giving anything away

He frowned, "I want to duel you," he confessed

She shook her head, of course, he did. Evan Rosier is known for his desire to duel everyone. Quite a Gryffindor trait she would say but, she isn't one to judge.

"Maybe in the future Evan but, I should head up for my duel," she said with a small smile as the judge called her name

She was facing a male student named Kaito Tanaka, he was tall about six feet which was tall for someone only fifteen years of age.

Marinette stood on the platform her impassive face giving away no inkling of nervousness, fear, or excitement.

She was like a blank slate.

Kaito on the other hand seemed to have a permanent scowl on his face, as if he wanted to fight hand-to-hand instead.

Most people would be intimidated, Marinette on the other hand wasn't.

The audience watched with bated breath as the dueling instructor raised his wand. "Ready, duel!" he announced, and the duel commenced.

Kaito wasted no time, launching a relentless barrage of spells at Marinette with a flick of his ring-bearing hand. "Honō no Kyūshū!" he shouted, sending a wave of searing flames hurtling towards her.

Marinette's eyes narrowed as she deftly dodged the flames, her movements fluid and precise. With a flick of her wand, she conjured a shimmering shield of energy to deflect the incoming attack. "Aegis Protego!" she exclaimed, the shield forming around her with a radiant glow.

The flames that she didn't dodge parted around her creating a mesmerising sight. she could feel the searing heat trying to scorch her skin, her face was still unmoving as if she had everything under control.

Undeterred, Kaito pressed on, his attacks coming fast and furious. "Raimei no Kyūshū!" he bellowed, summoning bolts of lightning to strike at Marinette from all directions.

But Marinette remained calm under pressure, her defenses holding strong against Kaito's relentless assault, the shield she conjured rippled as the lighting clashed with the surface, and small cracks began to form causing Kaito to grin.

With a flick of her wand, she countered with a spell of her own. "Serpensortia!" she declared, summoning snakes that slithered toward Kaito with deadly grace.

Kaito snarled in contempt, and with a flick of his hand, the serpents were knocked out of the ring before he quickly jumped to the side dodging a stunner. Swirling his head around at Marinette he glared, his ring glowing with renewed intensity. With a savage grin, he unleashed a torrent of cutting curses towards Marinette, his eyes ablaze with determination. "Burēdo dai uzumaki!" he roared, the spectral blade edges surging towards her like a maelstrom.

Marinette's heart pounded in her chest as she faced down Kaito's relentless assault. With each spell he cast, she found herself weaving intricate patterns with her wand, deflecting and dodging the onslaught with every ounce of concentration she could muster. The fiery darts singed the air around her as she danced out of their path, the thunder sparks crackling dangerously close to her skin.

But despite her best efforts, Marinette couldn't evade every attack unscathed. A stray fire dart grazed her arm, leaving a trail of searing pain in its wake. Marinette gritted her teeth against the discomfort, refusing to let it distract her from the duel at hand. She knew she had to stay focused if she had any hope of emerging victorious.

As Kaito unleashed another wave of cutting spells towards her, Marinette's instincts kicked in. She deftly dodged a couple of the spells and then with a quick flick of her wand, she conjured a repelling shield sending two of the blades back at Kaito who didn't defend in time "Argh!" he grunted in pain as the two reppelled attacks cut across his skin. The impact of the spell sent her stumbling backward, her breath coming in ragged gasps as she struggled to maintain her footing.

Kaito looked furious, "JUST GIVE UP ALREADY! STOP DEFENDING YOU COWARD!" he yelled letting his anger blind him as he made a large movement with his ring hand ready to form a powerful spell

But Marinette refused to give up. With a determined glare, she summoned her remaining strength seeing him overextend leaving him no time to defend and prepared to make her move. Channeling her magic with laser-like focus, she whispered the incantation for her final spell under her breath, her voice steady despite the pain coursing through her body.

"Reducto!" the blue spell of destruction tore through the air

The spell streaked towards Kaito with incredible speed, leaving a trail of dark blue sparks in its wake. Kaito barely had time to react his eyes for the first time widening with fear, before the spell could impact him a shield formed in front of him blocking the spell.

"MARINETTE HELSHIRE WINS THE DUEL IS OVER!" the Judge yelled

Kaito forgetting his previous fear yelled, "I'm hardly injured! I can still duel!"

The audience was silent so they were able to hear exactly what he said, they waited with bated breath for the judge to speak.

The judge glared at the boy, "If I didn't shield that spell from hitting you, right now you would be out cold on the ground with your ribs crushed to dust. Which isn't even the spell at full power as it could have turned you into paste watch your tone,"

"SHE TRIED TO KILL HIM?" a student yelled

"BAN HER!" another joined

Soon the Japanese students were yelling in protest.

Before the judge could speak a loud voice was heard, "QUITE!" Kazuki shouted, "The spell is perfectly legal for duels, unless someone uses it with the intention to kill. Kaito would have been injured but it would not have been fatal, he was saved from that fate. Kaito lost,"

The students did not look happy. Well, the audience wasn't happy, the duelist's students understood the rules and knew it was Kaito's loss.

Marinette smirked as she walked down from the platform returning to her classmates before being whisked away by the healers.

Morpheus was off to the side with a wide grin on his face.

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