The Azra-El Series Ch. 19

Aurnia's body began to grow warmer and redder. Blaze felt her nipples hard against his chest, and they flicked against his body every time he went down on her.

Aurnia's moans soon turned into whimpers. Her face shifted through a myriad of expressions- euphoria, sadness, regret, and bliss. Tears began to roll down her eyes, and though Blaze did not completely understand what was going through her mind, he knew that she was feeling good.

Finally, Aurnia clutched him and pressed him to her bosom. Her hips rose, lifting him up, and she shuddered a couple of times, before drowning Lance Corporal Dickhead in a hot papaya-flavored bath.

The lance corporal burst and came inside. Afterall, he was a dickhead.

Spent, Blaze quickly fell asleep in her warm hug.

oOo

The next morning, Blaze woke up and found a naked Aurnia sitting on the edge of the bed, facing away from him, and seemingly deep in contemplation.

"Granny?" he called out to her. Her body perked up at his voice, but she took a moment to speak.

"I am deeply sorry about last night, dear. I do not know what came over me. I should not have rushed you in that manner. Please do not worry about Rebecca. I will speak to her. This is my fault."

Blaze suddenly felt very sorry for her. She had been curbing her desires for two hundred years. He couldn't control himself for a week. He crawled up to her and hugged her.

"It's alright granny. I don't mind," he comforted her, "but you do have to speak to Aunt Becky for me. I don't want to get spanked for this!"

Aurnia chuckled. "Do not worry, I gave Becky her fair share of spanking when she was your age."

***

After breakfast that morning, Blaze met up with Aahna, Fiora, and Alice to head over to the main stadium. Nikolett Lovag's first match was scheduled that morning and he didn't want to miss it.

The central stadium was a massive colosseum-like structure, consisting of five floors of viewing stands. It was one of the largest structures Blaze had ever seen, both on Earth and Azra-El. Even the largest of castles he had seen thus far felt small and insignificant beside it. It was made of white marble, and had hundreds of eight-foot wide pillars supporting its gargantuan weight.

As the group of angels walked through its colossal entryway, Blaze heard a shout directed towards him.

"Brachel!"

He turned around and spotted an angel with blonde hair making her way towards them through the crowd. He paused and the rest of the group stopped with him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her, when she reached them.

"Here for the match," Lynn answered.

Blaze cursed himself for the stupid question. Lynn was a Caledonian. Of course, she would come to watch Nikolett Lovag. I wonder if she came to see mine?

"Marquess Lianara Burghess. She likes to disguise herself," he introduced her to the others. If they were surprised, they didn't show it on their faces.

"May I walk with you?" she asked, after greeting his friends.

"Don't you have friends of your own to hang out with?" he asked, as they walked to their seats.

"I do, but I cannot be Lianara right now," she replied.

Blaze wondered if she was up to something again, but if she was, he didn't want to know about it.

They climbed up to the fourth floor and sat down on the step-shaped polished stone that made up the seating area. The fifth floor was reserved for royalty and the heads of societies. Lynn sat beside Blaze, and the two of them quietly watched the stadium fill up with angels.

Thousands of Caledonians flocked to the stadium to watch Nikolett's match, making Blaze wonder how many would come to watch his match against her. Clio had mentioned that there were at least eighteen thousand Aranyan visitors at D'Warka.

"Who are you supporting?" Lynn finally asked.

"Whoever is facing Nikolett, but I doubt she has a chance against her."

"Do you think you have a chance against her?"

"Doesn't matter what I think. I just have to win."

"Blaze, have you ever considered moving to Caledonia? The Malakim are not cruel. They will allow you to spend time with Sky."

"Sky is mine!" he said harshly, startling her.

However, on noticing the regret in her eyes, he calmed down. "I am sorry."

"You should at least consider transferring to the University of Bologna. I am a student there as well."

Blaze gave her a simple nod and began searching for the two combatants.

On the west side of the arena was a small contingent of greyish-blue-haired angels, surrounding a young angel in her fifties. The whole group on average was shorter than most angels, but taller than the pixies. Blaze quickly deduced that they were Sylphs.

On the east side stood a group of Caledonians, but Blaze couldn't tell which of them was Nikolett. Surprisingly, he found Astrid standing together with the Malakim.

"After the tournament, would you like to hang out sometime?" he asked Lynn, after trying to catch Astrid's eye and failing.

"I would like that."

As the day reached nine in the morning, an umpire flew into the middle of the arena. She beckoned towards the Sylph and looked towards the Caledonian group. Every angel in the stadium had their eyes affixed on them. The identity of Nikolett Lovag was a mystery to most, and this was the first time she was to appear in public.

Suddenly, Lynn pulled off her wig, revealing her real hair. It was short, silver-colored, wispy, and styled in a bob. Standing up, she pulled out a short sword and a buckler.

"What are you doing?" Blaze exclaimed, as she manifested her ten-foot long, elliptical wings. They matched the color of her hair and were incredibly wide.

"I am sorry," she said glancing over her shoulder, with melancholic eyes. "I tried to tell you, but I did not know how. I never intended for any of this to happen."

She jumped and took to the air, leaving nearby angels flustered and confused. Blaze's first thought was that Lynn was there to assassinate someone, but then, it dawned on him.

The old Streltsy division of Angalnebo were known for their skill with bardiches!

His thought was confirmed when Lynn flew straight towards the umpire and the Sylph. She gave them an ama and readied herself.

Blaze's mind reeled as a sense of betrayal hit him like never before. His fingers painfully dug into his stone seat as he unblinkingly stared at Nikolett. Had it all been an elaborate scheme?

"Blaze?" Aahna called, scooting towards him and placing a comforting hand over his shoulder.

"Do not let this affect your mind, Ms. Blaze. That is probably what the Malakim want."

Like the pixies, Sylphs hatched with four wings, but their wings resembled those of a bee rather than a butterfly. Their wings were weaker than those of the pixies, but Sylphs were adept at manipulating the flow of air around them, making them almost as agile as the pixies.

The Sylph whom Nikolett was fighting was the sixteenth seed of the tournament, so she was no pushover. Just like Siofra, she held a rapier in one hand and a rotella in the other.

"BEGIN!" the umpire shouted.

The Sylph shot towards Nikolett. She was fast- almost as fast as Siofra at her best- and she came at her opponent with a sharp thrust.

Nikolett swept her sword at her with impeccable timing. Her reach was longer, and the Sylph had no choice but to defend herself with her shield, but almost as soon as they clashed, she changed directions.

Her movements felt counterintuitive as she flowed through the air as if it didn't exist. In fact, the wind seemed to respond to her thoughts as it blew in the direction she wanted.

She swerved around Nikolett and came at her from the left, as her shield had a shorter range. Nikolett was forced to block her with her shield. The next moment the Sylph wound up her arm and threw the rotella at Nikolett's face.

Hey, that's my move! Blaze cursed in his head.

However, the next moment, he felt glad that someone else tried it on Nikolett before he did.

The Malakim wasn't even fazed by the abruptness of the throw. She deftly knocked aside the projectile with her shield.

The Sylph panicked and tried to put some distance between her and Nikolett. However, despite her speed, it wasn't that easy to negate her forward momentum. Nikolett was upon her within a fraction of a second.

The Sylph tried to ward her off with her rapier, but Nikolett had a shield and she did not. The Malakim simply diverted her thrust and swung her sword at the Sylph's neck, stopping just before it hit her. Though the Sylph had body reinforcement, she understood that Nikolett's swing would have done her harm.

She conceded before her rotella hit the ground.

"Victory: Nikolett Lovag!" the umpire declared, and the stadium erupted into cheers.

However, Blaze felt none of the jubilance. He recognized that the Sylph was no pushover, yet the match was over in the blink of an eye. If there was one word he could use to describe Nikolett's fighting style, it was "clean". She was steady, had no excess in her movements, and was constantly aware of her surroundings. Her flair was that she had no flair, and it worried him more than it would have if she defeated her opponent with an overwhelming show of strength or technique.

The Sylph gave Nikolett a small ama and retreated. Nikolett threw a quick glance at Blaze before flying to her group to celebrate her first victory.

"It will be a difficult duel, Ms. Blaze," Fiora stated, not giving him any false hope. Fiora was one of the few angels that understood Blaze's strength.

Blaze did not reply. He simply stood up and removed his black wig. He wasn't sure why he did it- he simply wanted to. Unfurling his wings and not caring about the looks of surprise he received, he told Fiora where he was heading, and shot straight towards his destination.

He found Elyssa in her room, preparing for her next match. He quickly told her what happened.

"I knew it! There was something I did not like about her," she said to Blaze, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Do not let this get to you, Blaze. She is a deceitful little Malakim carnike. Do not even think about her. Just focus on your matches and win back Sky. If only I could participate in your tournament, I would have kicked her ass for you."

"No thank you, I will do it myself."

"Sure, but I want to do it too."

Elyssa's words and presence helped Blaze get a handle on his raging emotions. He gave her a warm hug and went with her to watch her second match.

Her match helped him take his mind off Nikolett. Elyssa's opponent that day was a rare kind of angel.

Her race was called the Marid, a type of Djinn, who flew by turning the lower parts of their bodies into a gaseous form. They also had a demonic counterpart, called the Ifrit, who were more numerous.

Elyssa's opponent fought with an enormous heater shield and a long scimitar. Marid were slow fliers, but they were incredibly steady and sturdy. Their flight was strange, seemingly fluid, yet somehow lagged. Elyssa's blows against her shield barely managed to move her. It was almost as if the Marid was rooted to the air around her.

It was also hard to land a hit on the Marid, as physical weapons simply went through her lower body without hurting her, while she protected her upper half with the shield.

Thus, it turned out to be a long and arduous battle, but Elyssa ultimately came out on top, disarming the Marid of her shield, and cutting down her chest reinforcement.

oOo

Blaze breezed through the rest of the matches of his group stage. However, it didn't appear so to those that were watching. His most common tactic was the hit and run.

He would pick up a random weapon, try it out, and see if it worked. If it worked, he would contest his skill against his opponent and defeat them, mostly through the strength of the counter. If it didn't, he would run away, make a new energy weapon, and return to try that out-- rinse and repeat, until he won. The only special skills he displayed were the dive-gliding technique and his unnatural physical prowess for an angel his age.

Most newspapers that discussed his matches argued that the Blazing Fury, though exceptional for his age, was a little overrated. Some even claimed that he was winning only through sheer luck, and that he was making a mockery of the tournament.

However, The Aranyan Weekly had a different take on things.

...Let us assume that the Blazing Fury is just a silly child. Can such an angel manifest the Righteous Fury? She cannot. That means Blaze is simply hiding her skills to have an upper hand in her fight against Nikolett. Moreover, I believe that none of her competitors thus far have been able to force her to use her true strength...

oOo

On the sixth day of the tournament, Blaze attended one of Priscilla's matches. Priscilla was to fight the third-best competitor in their bracket, and she had to win the fight to ensure that she moved on to the next stage.

Blaze and his minion army found her sitting in the dugout, with her eyes closed and seemingly in deep meditation. Fiora, Alice, and a primly-dressed brunette stood by her side. Priscilla's mother was an Aranyan marquess, and she had a similar snobby attitude as the Caledonian nobility.

Blaze beckoned to Kida to follow him quietly, and the two of them tiptoed up to the young Malakim.

"Gaaaah!" they both yelled, startling Prissy out of her trance.

"What are you doing here?" Prissy scowled at him.

"We are here to support our precious schoolmate in her all-important match," Blaze replied, donning an innocent expression.

"Are you trying to pick a fight with me?" Prissy growled.

"No, of course not. When have I ever tried to pick a fight with you?" he asked, sitting down beside her and placing an arm over her shoulder.

"Get off me," she snarled.

"Okay, okay, fine. Man, it's not easy to make friends with angels these days."

Priscilla looked at Fiora in protest.

"Ms. Blaze..." Fiora chided him, while the marquess looked at Blaze with distaste.

"Hey! I really am here to support her. She is a Tir student, after all."

"Just keep it quiet and do not distract her," Fiora told him firmly.

So, Blaze simply sat by Priscilla's side until her match began. For some reason, ever since he discovered Nikolett's identity, he had a strange urge to bring Priscilla to his side. So, when the match began, he and his friends sincerely cheered for Priscilla, surprising her mother and the headmistress.

Priscilla fought her opponent with valor, but her adversary severely outmatched her. The dark-skinned angel from Alkebulan was an expert archer and brought her bow to the tournament, which was quite uncommon in the tournament as physical arrows were easily warded, and energy arrows were the skill of archangels. However, this archer's bow had blades attached to its ends. She used her arrows at short range, and expertly combined her arrow shots with quick lunging swipes from her bow-blades.

Priscilla was forced to concede when her opponent managed to get through her shield's guard and shatter her energy reinforcement, at around five minutes into the match.

"Good show, Prissy," Blaze praised, when she returned from her fight.

Priscilla simply scowled at him, thinking he was taunting her.

"I am not making fun of you. I think you've improved quite a bit since the last time we fought. And, to be honest, I always respected the way you fought."

Priscilla was surprised and a little flattered. "Still does not change the fact that I lost..." she shook her head.

"So what? I've lost to Siofra now and then, yet you've always won against her."

"Yet, the pixie has not lost a single match in the tournament, and I have."

"Well, she's improved quite a bit too. You just have to work harder."

"Why are you being so nice to me, all of a sudden?" she asked.

"Maybe I just wish for your support in the tournament."

"Fat chance, that."

oOo

On the twelfth day of the tournament, Siofra faced her toughest opponent in her bracket. The match was between the 7^th and 10^th seeds of the USMAT, and as such, it was the most even match of the tournament, especially since Siofra had shown during the tournament that she was even more talented than predicted.

The betting odds reflected this sentiment, as they were exactly 50-50. Even Blaze, the most ardent of Siofra's supporters, wasn't sure if she was going to win. Though Siofra would still proceed to the next stage, even if she lost, Blaze didn't want her to lose. Moreover, if she lost, he would have to face her in his first match of the elimination round, and he didn't want that.

However, Blaze could not go and support her during her match, as his final match of the group stage was scheduled at the same time-- his opponent, Ragna Fulladottir.

Since the two of them were quite familiar with one another, they immediately flew to the center of the arena to have a conversation before the match began. He gave her an ama and then turned to Fulla, sitting in Ragna's dugout, to give her a deeper bow. He felt a deep gratitude towards Fulla, for without her berserking technique, he didn't think he had a chance against Nikolett.

"Axes or swords?" he asked the young berserker from Vaikunheim. He wished to fight on the same terms as Ragna, not because he looked down on her, but because he had immense respect for her and her mother. Moreover, this was his last match in the group stage, and he had won the rest. The result of his match against Ragna had no effect on his placement in the elimination round.

"You are stronger than I, Blaze, and more talented. That much is already clear to me. I do not have nearly as much control of my flight as you. So, there is no point in fighting in the air," she said, seriously. "If you are willing to have a duel with me on the ground, I will forfeit the match, regardless of the result."

"Huh?"

"No weapons, no tricks. Just our bodies, body reinforcement, and the way of the berserker."

"But why?"

"If you defeat me under these conditions, my mind shall be put at ease, knowing that there is someone worthy enough to carry on my mother's way. Will you accept?"

"Of course," Blaze replied. "But, are you sure you want to forfeit?"

"I never had any desire to make a name for myself in the martial way. I am only here because I have always had a lingering vexation that I was abandoning my mother's lineage. I need you to prove to me that there is someone else even more worthy to carry her techniques forward! Unfortunately, none of my kin are as talented as her."

Blaze gave her a nod and slowly descended to the ground. Ragna smiled and followed. She had never fought him before, but she was acutely aware of his skills. She had always been watching when he was learning from her mother.

"What is going on?" Kida wondered, at the dugout. Many had the same question in their minds.

"A berserker brawl," Elyssa quietly replied.

Blaze stood in front of Ragna and appraised her form. From afar, one could mistake the ginger-haired angel in front of him to be dainty- for a Viking. However, one had to stand by her side to notice her lean, yet pronounced, musculature. Her sharp blue eyes, steeply rising brows, and slim lips, though pretty, displayed an unmistakably gritty and tenacious strength.

"Ya, ready?" he asked her, unconsciously flexing his biceps as the umpire landed a few feet away.

"Give me your best," Ragna replied, with utmost confidence.

Blaze planted his left foot forwards and ploughed his right fist at Ragna's face. Having been trained by Fulla, he knew exactly how tough a berserker could be, but it still took him by surprise when Ragna dug her feet into the ground and voluntarily took his punch on her hardened jaw.