Free Web NovelChapter 107: Serah vs. Mara (2)
Serah’s ice on Mara’s fingers didn’t make her let go.
Mara squeezed harder — strength against cold, both materials resisting, neither yielding.
Serah twisted her arm inside the grip.
Not to break free — to change the angle of the ice. If she couldn’t break the grip with direct cold, she could send the cold up Mara’s arm toward the elbow.
The elbow was the joint.
Joints yielded to cold before skin did.
---
Mara felt it.
She let go.
Not because the elbow gave way — because she recognized where the plan was going and decided it was better to release than to wait.
Serah repositioned.
Her markings at fifty-five percent.
Mara looking at her own arm — the white mark climbing from her fingers to her elbow, the primordial cold that had traveled farther than she expected.
"Clever."
Serah didn’t answer.
---
[DraconicLegacy: SERAH FORCED THE RELEASE!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ THE COLD THROUGH THE ELBOW!!]
[Warwolf: THAT’S IT!! SERAH CALCULATED IT FROM INSIDE THE GRIP!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]
[Kalgarth: Mara let go before the elbow gave way. that’s experience. (ง’̀-’́)ง but Serah forced her to let go. gotta admit it.]
[Chris_Murray: Serah found the third option and executed it. cold climbing through the joint is real technique.]
[Drakeking: "clever" from Mara. not an empty compliment. Mara doesn’t give those. (ง’̀-’́)ง]
[TheDeadDragón: the Orcs on Serah’s side ROARED when Mara let go. the perimeter exploded.]
---
Kai had his arms crossed on the perimeter beside Urgo.
Urgo watched the field.
"Your primordial has technique that isn’t from here."
"No." Kai watched Serah reposition. "It’s hers."
Urgo considered this.
"The flank move was yours."
"She learned it."
Urgo didn’t respond right away.
Both watched the field where Serah and Mara circled again.
"She’s going to lose her markings before Mara feels the real damage," Urgo said.
"I know."
"And?"
"She’s finding things in this fight she didn’t know she had."
---
On the other side of the perimeter, Lira stood beside Brek.
Brek watched Mara with his arms crossed.
"The vampire fights tomorrow too," he said.
"Yes."
"Against Mara?"
"Yes."
Brek looked at her.
"How long have you been assessing the fight?"
Lira adjusted her glasses.
"Since the first exchange."
"And?"
"Mara uses three different methods depending on the opponent." Lira watched the field. "With the primordial she used attrition — letting the ice wear itself out while she absorbs."
"And with you?"
"With me she can’t do the same." Lira looked at Mara’s side with the white mark. "My blood magic doesn’t wear out the same as ice. She has to get close to neutralize it."
"And if she gets close?"
Lira didn’t answer right away.
"Then we’ll see what happens."
Brek looked at her a moment.
He went back to the field.
"Mara hasn’t lost in this camp."
"I know."
"Ever."
"I know that too." Lira watched Serah take ground with a combination of claw and ice that made Mara step back two paces. "But there’s a first time for everything."
---
[DraconicLegacy: Lira assessing the fight from the start for tomorrow. eight hundred years of tactics working.]
[Warwolf: SERAH TWO PACES!! TWO PACES MARA BACKWARD!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]
[Kalgarth: "ever" / "there’s a first time for everything" — Lira has confidence. or fakes it well. (ง’̀-’́)ง MARA (ง’̀-’́)ง]
[Chris_Murray: Kai and Urgo debating the fight. Lira and Brek debating the fight. the perimeter has two parallel conversations and both are tactical.]
[Per_Sundin: Kai said "she’s finding things in this fight she didn’t know she had." that’s what a good fight does.]
[Drakeking: Lira already calculated that Mara has to get close to neutralize blood magic. that’s the opening she’s going to use tomorrow.]
[TheDeadDragón: SERAH TWO PACES!! the Orcs on Serah’s side can’t fit in the perimeter. LET’S GO SHE-WOLF!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]
---
On the field, Serah was taking ground.
Not with the attrition from the start — with the combination she’d found in the last exchanges. Ice not as the first response but as the second, after the flank movement created the space for the cold to reach the right point.
Mara stepped back two paces.
Then one more.
Her side with the white mark. Her arm with the white mark climbing to the elbow.
Mara adjusted — her circling tighter, covering the right flank where Serah had landed three times.
Serah read it.
She went for the left flank.
---
[DraconicLegacy: SERAH SWITCHED TO THE LEFT FLANK!! SHE READ IT!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]
[Warwolf: THAT’S SERAH!! KEEP TAKING GROUND!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]
[Kalgarth: Mara adjusted to cover the right and Serah went left. (°ロ°) ... Mara has to recalibrate. (ง’̀-’́)ง]
[Chris_Murray: Serah is learning Mara’s pattern in real time. same as Kai learned Brek’s.]
[Drakeking: the Orcs on Mara’s side are still. Serah’s side is shouting. the perimeter changed sides. (ง’̀-’́)ง MARA HOLD ON!! (ง’̀-’́)ง]
[TheDeadDragón: Urgo didn’t say anything when Serah went for the left flank. but his arms moved. I saw it.]
---
Kai saw it too.
"She’s reading Mara’s adjustment."
Urgo didn’t answer.
"Three times to the right flank. Mara covered. Serah switched." Kai watched the field. "She learned from the exchanges."
"Mara learns too." Urgo watched Mara recalibrate in real time. "She’s spent three hundred forty years learning."
"I know."
"Then why do you sound like Serah is going to win?"
Kai looked at her on the field.
"I didn’t say she was going to win." Pause. "I said she’s finding things she didn’t know she had."
Urgo watched Serah reach Mara’s left flank with claw and ice.
Mara absorbed it — the left arm this time, the white mark doubling.
"Costly for both," Urgo said.
"Yes."
"The primordial’s markings are at fifty."
"I know."
Urgo looked at Kai.
"And you still trust that she finds what she needs?"
Kai didn’t answer right away.
He watched Serah reposition after the exchange — her markings in the specific glow of something at its limit but not yet yielded, the kind he knew from months of training.
"Always."
---
[DraconicLegacy: "always" — Kai about Serah. without hesitation. without pause.]
[Warwolf: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ KAI TRUSTS SERAH ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]
[Kalgarth: "always" with that calm. that man doesn’t doubt her for a second. (╥_╥) okay that was good.]
[Chris_Murray: Urgo asked if Kai trusted Serah after seeing the markings at 50%. Kai said always. no additional context.]
[Per_Sundin: Lira heard that from the other side of the perimeter. vampiric senses caught it. I saw it in her posture.]
[Drakeking: Kai trusts Serah the same way Serah follows him. that’s how this works. (ง’̀-’́)ง though still MARA!! (ง’̀-’́)ง]
[TheDeadDragón: markings at 50% and Kai says "always." the whole perimeter heard that.]
---
Serah’s markings at forty-five.
The battlefield with the white marks on both of Mara’s arms and her side. The ice on the ground nearly gone — no new energy to sustain it.
Serah knew it.
’Markings at forty-five. No area ice. Aura at fifty percent.’
’Mara has damage on both arms and her side. Not enough to change the fight but it’s real damage.’
’I need the left flank again before she adjusts.’
She closed the distance.
The lateral step — the same one she’d used three times on the right, now on the left.
Mara was waiting.
---
Mara’s counterattack came from inside the flank — not the block, the direct attack to Serah’s body before Serah reached the claw angle.
Serah took it in the chest.
Markings at thirty-five.
She went two meters back.
She stopped before falling.
---
[DraconicLegacy: (°ロ°) MARA ANTICIPATED THE LEFT FLANK]
[Warwolf: SERAH!! HOLD ON!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ THE MARKINGS!! (╥_╥)]
[Kalgarth: MARA READ IT!! THREE HUNDRED FORTY YEARS DON’T GET FOOLED TWICE!! (ง’̀-’́)ง (ง’̀-’́)ง (ง’̀-’́)ง]
[Chris_Murray: Serah used the same pattern one time too many. Mara learned. that’s the difference in experience.]
[Per_Sundin: markings at 35%. Serah is at the limit. her chest took a blow of pure direct SSS strength.]
[Drakeking: MARA!! MARA!! MARA!! (ง’̀-’́)ง (ง’̀-’́)ง (ง’̀-’́)ง]
[TheDeadDragón: Urgo didn’t move. Kai didn’t move. Lira didn’t move. all three watching if Serah gets up.]
---
Serah on her feet.
Her markings in the irregular glow of thirty-five percent — not the white of the start, the faint silver of something holding what it can with what it has left.
Mara advanced.
Not circling this time — direct, the advance of something that has calculated the moment has come.
Serah raised the ice.
Markings dropped to thirty.
The ice came out — not structural, not area. Concentrated to the maximum possible with what was left, all on one point, aimed at Mara’s right arm where the white mark on the elbow already existed.
Mara’s right arm gave way at the joint.
It didn’t break — it gave way, the primordial cold reaching the point Serah had been building toward since the grip, the temperature at the elbow crossing the threshold where the joint stopped fully responding.
Mara lowered her right arm.
---
The perimeter exploded.
---
[DraconicLegacy: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ MARA’S ELBOW ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]
[Warwolf: SERAH DID IT!! FROM THE GRIP TO NOW!! THE WHOLE FIGHT BUILDING TOWARD THAT!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]
[Kalgarth: (°ロ°)(°ロ°)(°ロ°) the elbow gave way. MARA HAS ONE ARM OUT. (°ロ°)]
[Chris_Murray: Serah spent the whole fight accumulating cold on that point. every exchange on the right arm was for this.]
[Per_Sundin: SERAH!! SERAH!! SERAH!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ I switched sides I admit it]
[Drakeking: the Orcs on Mara’s side silent. Serah’s side roaring. the whole perimeter turned upside down. (°ロ°)]
[TheDeadDragón: Urgo turned his head toward Kai. Kai watched the field. expressionless. just watching.]
---
Mara looked at her right arm.
She moved it — slowly, assessing the range of motion. The elbow responded but with the specific delay of something that has taken functional damage.
She looked at Serah.
Markings at thirty. The field ice gone. The aura at the minimum sustainable.
Both with real damage.
"You spent the whole fight accumulating cold on that point," Mara said.
"Since the grip."
Mara considered this.
"And the markings?"
"At thirty."
"Can you continue?"
Serah looked at her.
"Can you?"
---
[DraconicLegacy: "can you?" — SERAH DIDN’T GIVE IN EVEN WITH MARKINGS AT 30%]
[Warwolf: SERAH!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ PERFECT ANSWER!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]
[Kalgarth: Mara with the right arm damaged. Serah with markings at 30%. both standing asking each other if the other can continue. (ง’̀-’́)ง MARA CAN!! (ง’̀-’́)ง]
[Chris_Murray: this fight changed nature. it’s no longer attrition vs strength. it’s who has more will to keep going with what they have left.]
[Per_Sundin: BOTH STANDING!! BOTH WITH DAMAGE!! THIS DOESN’T END EASY!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]
[Drakeking: MARA HAS ONE ARM!! BUT ONE ARM OF MARA IS MORE THAN BOTH OF ANYONE ELSE’S!! (ง’̀-’́)ง]
[TheDeadDragón: Lira has her glasses in her hand. she took them off without realizing. she’s watching the field with no filter.]
---
Mara advanced with her left arm.
Not the previous pattern — without the right, her combat style was different. More direct. Fewer combinations, more mass concentrated on a single point.
Serah read it.
She raised the primordial aura to the maximum of what was left.
Twenty percent.
The field cooled five degrees in a second.
Mara felt it. Processed it.
She kept going.
---
The next exchange was the shortest of the fight.
Mara with her left arm straight to Serah’s chest.
Serah with her claws to the left arm — the same method as the right, cold concentrated on the joint.
Mara’s arm landed first.
Serah’s markings at fifteen.
Serah on the ground.
---
Silence on the perimeter.
---
Serah on the ground with her markings in the minimal glow of something sustaining function with what’s left.
Mara’s left arm with the white mark on the elbow — not given way, but with the accumulated cold of the last exchange starting to work.
Mara stood.
She looked at Serah on the ground.
Serah raised her head.
She got onto one knee.
Then on her feet.
Markings at fifteen percent. The ice with no energy to come out. The aura off.
On her feet.
---
[DraconicLegacy: (╥_╥) (╥_╥) SERAH GOT UP]
[Warwolf: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ SHE GOT UP!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]
[Kalgarth: (°ロ°) markings at 15% and she got up. I... have no words. (ง’̀-’́)ง but MARA!! (ง’̀-’́)ง]
[Chris_Murray: Mara’s left arm with the accumulated cold starting to work. Serah got it in the last exchange before falling.]
[Per_Sundin: Serah got up with markings at 15%. that’s not physical. that’s something else.]
[Drakeking: Kai on the perimeter. still. watching. "always" he said before. he’s seeing it now. (ง’̀-’́)ง]
[TheDeadDragón: three hundred Orcs silent. both sides quiet. Serah on her feet with 15% unified them.]
---
Mara looked at her.
Looked at her own left arm — the white mark on the elbow starting to spread.
Both arms with accumulated damage. Her side with the first mark from the start of the fight.
Serah on her feet with fifteen percent.
Mara advanced.
Serah had no ice. No aura. Nothing except her claws and markings at fifteen and three hundred forty fewer years of existence than the thing approaching.
She threw her claws.
Without ice — just the claws, direct contact, seeking the point on the neck between the scars she’d aimed for before.
Mara grabbed her.
Both hands this time — the right arm responding less but enough, the left firm.
The complete grip. freёwebnovel.com
No angle of escape.
No markings for ice.
No aura.
Serah assessed it all in a second.
---
Mara waited.
She said nothing this time.
The two looked at each other.
Serah’s markings at fifteen — the minimal glow, the limit where the markings held basic function and nothing more.
Serah looked at Kai on the perimeter.
Kai was watching her.
Without anxiety. Without the gesture of someone wanting to intervene.
Just watching her.
Serah looked at Mara.
She released the ice from her claws — not because there was none left, but because there was no point on Mara’s body that hadn’t already received enough cold.
"Second," Serah said.
---
Mara let her go.
Serah took two steps back.
Mara looked at both her arms — the white marks on both elbows, her side, the accumulated damage of a fight that had cost more than anything had in the camp.
"Second," Mara confirmed.
Pause.
"But that right elbow is going to take three days."
---
[DraconicLegacy: SERAH DAMAGED HER RIGHT ELBOW!! THREE DAYS!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]
[Warwolf: (╥_╥) Serah lost but left Mara with three days of recovery. that’s real combat. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]
[Kalgarth: Mara admitted the elbow takes three days. MARA ADMITTED DAMAGE. (°ロ°) first time in the camp.]
[Chris_Murray: Serah said "second" before Mara. she said it first. that says everything about who Serah was in this fight.]
[Per_Sundin: SERAH!! SERAH!! SERAH!! she lost the fight but won something bigger. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]
[Drakeking: the Orcs on both sides roared at the end. both. that had never happened before in this camp. (ง’̀-’́)ง]
[TheDeadDragón: Kai on the perimeter. Serah’s markings at 15% back to him. the way they look at each other says everything they didn’t say.]
--- fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
Lira watched the field.
Mara’s right arm. The left with the cold starting.
Mara tomorrow with two damaged arms.
Lira put on her glasses.
She looked at Brek.
"Tomorrow," she said.
Brek looked at her.
He nodded.
