"Are you two ready?" asked Miss Nora.

  "Ready," said Irene and Princess Amelia.

  "Then, the match begins!" said Miss Nora.

  Miss Nora immediately stepped to the edge of the arena.

  Irene and Princess Amelia prepared to attack.

  ~Rose Stem Rapier~

  Princess Amelia transformed her rapier into a whip resembling a rose stem with numerous thorns. Then, Princess Amelia began attacking Irene with her whip. But Irene managed to dodge the attack, allowing the whip to only hit the arena floor.

  The whip's swings shattered the floor where it struck. But Princess Amelia didn't stop there, she continued to swing her whip at Irene continuously. But Irene managed to dodge all of the whip attacks.

  ~Raging Thorny Rose Whip~

  Princess Amelia's whip attacks on Irene grew faster and faster. At first, Irene managed to dodge some of the increasingly fast whip attacks, but over time, the whip's attacks managed to scratch her as she dodged. Irene was shocked, thinking she had completely avoided the whip attack.

  The next whip attack came, and Irene jumped to avoid it. As she jumped, another whip attack suddenly came at her. Since Irene was in the air, she couldn't avoid the whip attack and was struck squarely. The whip attack sent Irene crashing hard into the floor below. A cloud of smoke erupted after Irene hit the floor.

  "Hmph, nothing has changed from the previous match. Looks like I'll win again," Princess Amelia said.

  But suddenly, from behind the cloud of smoke, an ice slash shot swiftly towards Princess Amelia. Princess Amelia was a little surprised, but she immediately prepared to use her rapier to block the ice slash. She managed to block the ice slash, but it was so powerful that it sent Princess Amelia flying several meters back.

  "What was that slash?" Princess Amelia thought in surprise.

  The smoke dissipated, revealing Irene standing with several wounds on her body.

  "I thought you were down, Princess Irene. But you're still holding on," said Princess Amelia.

  "I wouldn't have fallen from that attack alone. Besides, this time I was confident in defeating you," said Irene.

  "You're talking too much now, Princess Irene," said Princess Amelia.

  Irene immediately darted toward Princess Amelia and prepared to attack her.

  ~Ice Sword Art: Ice Great Slash~

  Princess Amelia also prepared to counterattack.

  ~Blooming Rose Slash~

  Their attacks collided, resulting in a powerful impact.

  "Ice Sword Art? What the hell is that? Aren't you a rapier user?" asked Princess Amelia.

  "Indeed, but this is a technique I learned from Rid," said Irene.

  Irene knocked Princess Amelia several meters back in the exchange of blows.

  "What the hell is with that power? Has she gotten stronger now?" thought Princess Amelia, shocked.

  Irene immediately moved back toward Princess Amelia, but Princess Amelia wouldn't let her. Princess Amelia transformed her rapier into a whip again and swung it at Irene, preventing her from approaching. But this time, Irene easily dodged the whip attack, finally reaching Princess Amelia.

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  ~Glacier Strike~

  Princess Amelia was struck squarely, sending her crashing into the arena wall behind her.

  *BOOM

  A loud crash rang out, and smoke erupted from where Princess Amelia had been. The spectators were shocked, wondering if the match was over.

  But suddenly, the entire arena transformed into a rose garden.

  "This technique, ~Garden of Roses~, huh?" Irene said.

  Suddenly, from the cloud of smoke where Princess Amelia was, a whip attack appeared, heading toward Irene. Irene attempted to dodge the attack, but her leg was caught by a rose stem that appeared in the arena. Irene was struck squarely by the whip, sending her flying far away, crashing into the wall behind her.

  *BOOM

  The sound of Irene hitting the arena wall was incredibly loud. Smoke and dust erupted from the area. Meanwhile, the smoke from where Princess Amelia had hit the wall had already dissipated. Princess Amelia's condition was visible, as she also had several wounds on her body, just like Irene.

  Suddenly, Irene quickly emerged from the smoke and headed toward Princess Amelia. However, Irene's movements were slightly hampered by the rose stems in the arena, which began to obstruct her movement, trying to grab her arms and legs. Irene slashed at the rose stems blocking her movement, cutting them apart.

  While Irene was focused on slashing the rose stems that appeared around her, Princess Amelia suddenly approached Irene and attacked with her rapier.

  ~Dance of Torment of Roses~

  Princess Amelia attacked with her rapier, and at the same time, the rose stems surrounding Irene also attacked her. Because of this, Irene's focus was divided. While Irene focused on taking care of Princess Amelia, the surrounding rose stems easily attacked her. Meanwhile, when Irene focused on taking care of the surrounding rose stems, Princess Amelia easily attacked her with her rapier. But Irene knew what to do in a situation like this.

  ~San Lucia Art : Snow Blade Dance Technique~

  Irene conjured six ice rapiers that moved around her. She immediately used the six ice rapiers to deal with the rose stems that attempted to attack her, while Princess Amelia faced them head-on. A close-range battle of rapier wielders ensued. Irene and Princess Amelia exchanged attacks and defenses without any distractions. Their exchange of attacks caused the surrounding rose garden to slowly begin to deteriorate and be destroyed, which displeased Princess Amelia.

  While Irene and Princess Amelia were still exchanging attacks, Princess Amelia suddenly launched a powerful attack at Irene.

  ~Thorny Rose Slash~

  Irene quickly used her rapier to defend herself, but the attack was powerful enough to send her flying several meters back.

  Afterward, Princess Amelia pointed both hands to the arena floor.

  ~Rose Magic : Hell of Roses~

  The previously damaged roses began to grow again in the arena. And the undamaged roses began to be replaced by new ones. All the roses in the arena turned blood red.

  "Welcome to this 'hell' of my making. Now let's have some fun, Princess Irene," said Princess Amelia.

  Irene, her six rapiers still surrounding her, remained silent as Princess Amelia said that. Then Irene suddenly pointed one hand at the arena floor.

  ~Ice Magic : Full Frost~

  Suddenly, the arena floor froze completely. All the roses in the arena froze as well. Princess Amelia was shocked by Irene's action, as were the audience.

  "I knew this technique of yours was very dangerous, so I decided to stop it. I could have used this magic before you used it, but if the situation was still manageable without it, then I didn't need to use it," said Irene.

  "Area ice magic, just like Rid's?!?!,"

  "Even so, the power of your ice magic must be different from his," said Princess Amelia.

  Princess Amelia tried to move her frozen roses but couldn't.

  "Why can't they move? These roses should be able to move and free themselves. Don't tell me their ice magic is the same as Rid's from back then?" said Princess Amelia, shocked.

  "It's time to end this match," said Irene.

  ~Frozen Rapier~

  Irene transformed her rapier into a frozen one. She then swiftly moved toward Princess Amelia, gliding across the ice-turned arena.

  "Don't get cocky, Princess Irene," said Princess Amelia, looking angry.

  With the roses in the arena now useless, Princess Amelia chose to attack with her rapier, which she had transformed back into a whip.

  ~Raging Thorny Rose Whip~

  Princess Amelia swung her whip at Irene continuously, but Irene easily blocked it with the help of the six rapiers surrounding her. Princess Amelia continued to attack Irene with her whip, although she managed to block it. Feeling useless, she stopped her attacks and swung her long whip. Then, Princess Amelia suddenly brought her whip down quickly.

  ~Rose Whip Impact~

  The whip descended straight towards Irene. However, Irene remained calm. Just as the whip was about to hit her, the six ice rapiers surrounding her suddenly moved simultaneously and cut the whip. The whip was successfully cut, surprising Princess Amelia. Irene then approached Princess Amelia and prepared to launch an attack. Before Irene could launch her attack, Princess Amelia said something to Irene.

  "You and Rid, you two are an annoying couple," said Princess Amelia, seemingly resigned to the fact that there was nothing else she could do.

  ~San Lucia Art : Freezing Air Slash~

  Princess Amelia was struck squarely by the attack, sending her flying back into the arena wall behind her.

  *BOOM

  Smoke erupted from where Princess Amelia had struck the wall. After launching the attack, Irene stared at the spot where Princess Amelia had struck the wall.

  "If you think we're an annoying couple, doesn't that mean we're a perfect couple? Because we're both equally annoying to you, Princess Amelia," Irene said.

  -To be continued