CHAPTER 72: THE WATER AND THE CRYSTAL

Now it captain Zephyra vs. dawn.

Zephyra used : "Hurricane Spiral!"

A vortex of violent wind formed above her palm and burst outward. Wind torrents slashed through the battlefield like invisible blades, encircling Dawn in a deadly whirlwind storm.

Zephyra's voice rang through the chaos.

"You're good, girl—but let's see you stand against the wind itself!"

Dawn narrowed her eyes. Water flowed calmly around her fingers. Then—she moved.

"Aqua Spin Barrier!"

A swirling dome of water enveloped her just in time. The barrier clashed against the raging winds, water spinning in high-speed arcs to deflect the slicing gusts.

Zephyra's eyes gleamed. "Not bad!"

With a thrust of her hands, more wind spears conjured in the air, each one sharper and faster than the last.

"Gale Strike Barrage!"

They rained down.

"Storm Spear Rain!" Dawn countered—summoning spears of pressurized water. The two barrages collided midair, exploding in bursts of vapor and force.

The shockwave threw both back.

Dawn rolled and skidded, slamming her palm to the ground. "Ocean Wall!"

A towering wave rose behind her like a shield. It absorbed Zephyra's follow-up cyclone.

Zephyra twisted in the air and spun like a drill. "Twister Dance!"

She dived, blades of wind extending from her arms, cutting through the wave.

Dawn jumped above the collapsing wall, twirling midair.

"Torrential Blades!"

Dozens of curved water blades formed in a circle around her and launched outward in every direction. Zephyra weaved between them with grace, but one sliced her shoulder. She winced but kept moving.

Lightning cracked overhead from the storm Zephyra created.

Rain began to fall.

Dawn landed and crossed her arms.

"Let's see you handle this—Leviathan Surge!"

The ground trembled. A massive serpent made of water burst from the arena floor, its mouth wide, its body spiraling like a tidal dragon.

Zephyra's expression changed. She shouted, "Typhoon Burst!"

A colossal dome of air clashed with the Leviathan. The explosion soaked half the arena. Steam clouded everything.

Silence.

Then a sharp clang. Dawn had used the mist to get close.

"Pulse Freeze!"

A burst of chilling energy froze the water droplets in the air and began encasing Zephyra's left leg.

But Zephyra spun and sliced the ice with a gust blade. She hovered back, panting.

Both girls were breathing heavily now.

Dawn raised her hand again. "Aqua Chains!"

Chains of water shot from the ground and wrapped around Zephyra's arms and torso.

"Got you," Dawn whispered.

"Don't think so!" Zephyra grinned. "Whirlwind Shred!"

Wind exploded around her, tearing the chains apart. She dashed forward, her hand surrounded by green magic.

Dawn crossed her arms and said, "Tempest Spiral!"

She spun like a typhoon, water flowing around her in a corkscrew motion. Zephyra's attack hit—but was deflected.

They both flew back from the impact.

Then, in perfect sync, both raised their hands to the sky.

"DRIVE MODE: WIND!" Zephyra screamed.

"DRIVE MODE: WATER!" Dawn shouted.

Their auras exploded.

Zephyra's body was enveloped in translucent, razor-thin layers of wind. Her speed increased dramatically.

Dawn's form shimmered in blue and teal—water dancing around her like a second skin. Her hair floated as if submerged.

They vanished—and clashed in midair. The sky above twisted. Water and wind collided with elemental fury.

Each move was now faster, stronger.

Zephyra summoned a final storm.

"Heavenly Cyclone Barrage!"

A tornado of divine intensity bore down on the arena.

Dawn lifted both hands. Her voice echoed like the ocean itself.

"Abyss Tide!"

A flood rose, massive and dark. It swallowed the cyclone.

And in the eye of the chaos, she moved one last time.

"AQUA TEMPEST!!"

A high-speed fusion of water, pressure, and drive energy. A spiral beam of condensed aquatic force erupted from her, engulfing Zephyra.

A pause.

Then—BOOM.

Wind scattered. Water fell in calm streams. Zephyra lay on the ground, her Drive form flickering. She was conscious but beaten.

Dawn stood above, chest rising, victorious.

Zephyra smiled, bruised but proud. "You've... earned this."

The training grounds were filled with soldiers and spectators. At the center stood Captain Grohl, his body caked in living mud armor, arms crossed, face twisted in disgust. Around him stood a few elites from the Earth battalion, sneering and pointing.

"You again, Silver?" Grohl scoffed. "I heard you've been wasting your time healing commoners in the lower districts."

The crowd chuckled.

Silver's pale eyes stayed calm, unreadable. His long silver-white hair flowed like threads of crystal. He carried himself not like a noble—but like someone above such labels.

"You consider compassion weakness," Silver said quietly. "That's why you'll never understand true strength."

Grohl snorted and raised a muddy fist. "You're not a soldier. You're a jewel polisher pretending to be one. You want to defend filth? Then be buried in it."

He slammed his hand into the ground.

"Swamp Surge!"

The earth beneath Silver liquified, turning to thick, bubbling mud. It launched upward like claws, trying to pull him under.

Silver didn't move.

"Crystal Platform."

A perfect diamond-hard surface shot beneath his feet, rising above the filth.

Grohl growled and launched forward.

"Mud Mauler!"

He summoned a massive golem arm of hardened earth and sludge, swinging it with force.

"Crystal Shatter Shield."

Silver raised a flawless wall of shimmering crystal. The golem arm smashed into it—and cracked.

BOOM!

But instead of crumbling, the cracks on the shield glowed—and the wall exploded in razor-sharp shards, blasting Grohl back.

The crowd gasped.

Silver walked forward, eyes sharp. "I don't fight for praise. I fight to protect."

"TAR FIELD!" Grohl roared.

The arena floor became black sludge. Viscous tentacles erupted, hissing as they moved.

Silver raised a finger.

"Prism Bloom."

From the air, dozens of glowing crystal lotuses bloomed—each one humming.

Snap!

They burst in synchronized detonations, releasing cutting waves of crystal needles that shredded the mud arms and lit the battlefield in brilliant flashes.

Grohl growled, now slightly bruised. "Still think you can act noble?"

He raised both arms and slammed the ground.

"EARTH PRISON: GRAVE OF MIRE!"

Pillars of stone and sludge rose around Silver like prison bars, closing in.

Silver didn't even blink.

"Crystal Lattice Zone."

From beneath his feet, a fractal web of crystal veins spread outward at lightning speed. The bars shattered before they fully formed. Silver hovered now, standing on a floating hexagonal crystal tile.

Then his aura surged.

The air trembled with pressure.

Grohl blinked. "What...?"

Silver spoke clearly.

"Crystal Domain: Obsidian Rain."

The sky turned dark. Floating in the air above the arena were hundreds—no, thousands—of razor-sharp black crystals, silently spinning.

They rained down.

Grohl panicked. "Mud Wall!"

"Armor of Earth!"

"Sludge Barricade!"

None of it mattered.

The obsidian crystals pierced every defense, pinning Grohl down. One slammed into the ground beside his head—shattering the stone into glittering dust.

Grohl's armor was torn, his limbs shaking, breath ragged.

Silver walked up, conjuring a long crystal blade. "You mock me for aiding the weak. But I don't need your respect."

He pointed the blade downward.

"I only need to prove that your cruelty ends here."

Grohl swung wildly with one muddy arm.

Silver moved like light.

"Shatterstep."

He vanished—and appeared behind him. With a flick of his wrist, Grohl's remaining armor shattered into dust.

One final move.

"Crystal Cage."

Thick, elegant towers of crystal rose around Grohl and locked him inside a glowing prism. He couldn't move.

Silver "crush".

The towers contract and crush Grohl.

While the main clash unfolded across the battlefield, two separate duels were drawing attention for a different reason altogether—battles on a completely different level.

Title: Clash of Storms - Imperial Alden vs Captain Raikus