Altair felt his hand burn. A massive column of fire had burst out of the ice. Riser flew through the air. His burned body regenerated in midair.
"It takes courage to burn yourself," Altair thought.
The column of fire that Riser used to free himself had been so substantial that it ended up damaging even himself. Altair felt his right hand burn. It wasn't a severe burn; his body was naturally resistant to fire, but even so, it was a burn like the kind a Muggle gets when burned with boiling water.
Altair ended up with his clothes melted by the heat. He needed to conjure more clothes so he wouldn't end up completely naked.
"You're troublesome," said Riser. Even his voice sounded different, thicker.
"Who are you?" Altair asked, balancing on top of a block of ice.
"I am the great Riser," said the man from the sky, sounding arrogant and regal.
"And with a magnificent sacrifice, Riser escaped from Altair's vile trap," the commentator said on the verge of orgasm.
"You're not Riser," Altair pointed out. "Are you his older brother or his father?" he asked.
"I am—"
"Riser wouldn't say 'I am,' he would say something like 'This is the Great Riser.' The little idiot doesn't even know how to speak in the first person. He sounds like a narrator of his own life," Altair said.
The signs were there from the first second. Although he started out wanting to threaten him as Riser would have, his personality changed for the rest of the fight. He didn't brag, and he didn't do unnecessary things. Besides, his magic felt different. Similar enough to Riser's that it didn't raise suspicion at first, but not the same.
Altair could have thought that Riser was being more serious because the situation warranted it, but no. It wasn't Riser at all.
"Lies!" The man stopped talking.
Flames engulfed his body, and like a meteorite, he launched himself at Altair.
Altair teleported to the Astronomy Tower, the tallest tower at Hogwarts. He could waste time and wait. With every passing second, the man posing as Riser grew more and more desperate.
At the lake, a massive cloud of steam rose, blocking the view. Then, a huge gust of wind cleared the surface above the lake. Altair frowned.
'Does he control the air too?' he wondered, although it made sense. The Phoenix was, in essence, a bird. A bird associated with fire, so that might be its main element, but air was always associated with birds.
"And Altair is hiding in the tallest tower in the castle!" the commentator shouted.
Altair sighed as a massive fireball hit the tower in half. He teleported to another tower before the last one fell to the floor. The commentator was playing against him again; he was a nasty guy. He wondered why no one had stopped him. Didn't Serafall have enough authority?
Soon, there were no tall towers left at Hogwarts.
"How long are you going to waste hiding?" the man asked.
"How long ago did you take Polyjuice?" Altair asked.
The man's eyes suddenly widened. Altair had hit the nail on the head. It was no surprise that Lady Phenex had accepted the bet so confidently. Polyjuice had been introduced to the underworld thanks to the exchange with the magical world. In the magical world, it was a controlled potion, but it wouldn't be difficult for a powerful family like the Phenex to get hold of it.
"Polyjuice?" said the commentator. "What the hell is that boy talking about?" He sounded quite nervous now.
"Oh, can you hear me?" Altair asked the air.
"Get lost!" shouted the Phenex.
Altair flew through the air. For the first time since the fight began, he was struck. The man's speed increased enormously. It was as if he hadn't been fighting seriously from the start.
If he had to pretend to be weak, it was not surprising that he reduced his strength. That told Altair that his opponent was Ruval Phenex. Lord Phenex, Riser's father, was strong but weaker than his eldest son. He would not be able to overwhelm Altair as Ruval did.
Ruval was the heir to the Phenex clan. A strong devil, he was in the top 10 of the rating games.
Altair put his wand away in his inventory. Then, from the palm of his left hand, he pulled out a long, shiny object.
The staff came out of his soul. Altair had modified it slightly. Before, it was a red metal rod, painted with his own blood. It was thin, almost as thin as a wand, which earned him a few laughs from Lavender. Now he had covered the staff using bones he found in his castle. They seemed to belong to the spine of a magical creature. When used as a cover for the staff, they turned red, imitating the metal.
"Pestis Incendium!" he shouted, conjuring Fiendfire flames against Ruval.
"Agh!" The man covered his body with his hands. The flames devoured his body as he stopped dead in his tracks.
The flames hurt him, but not enough to rout him. The man regenerated from his burns. FiendFyre was a fire that consumed everything, including magic. That a man could enter and exit those flames alive was quite incredible to see. Even so, the man's resistance was diminishing, as the fire consumed his magic.
"Merlin!" Altair managed to teleport away by the skin of his teeth.
He really felt like he was spamming a ridiculously overpowered ability. If he couldn't appear, the fight would have been over long ago.
Ruval self-immolated once more.
He unleashed his flames again, taking advantage of the man's vulnerability, who incinerated himself once more, a vast explosion consuming dozens of meters around him.
'He looks like a suicide bomber,' thought Altair, watching the charred body appear in the fire. Altair has created a flame shield around his body. If Ruval approaches, he will get hurt.
For Ruval, that fighting style was feasible; the man was basically immortal. But not for Altair. He couldn't maintain the flames without moving. He didn't trust the shields to keep Ruval's fire at bay.
'Fire really isn't the best weapon against him,' Altair thought, but he had few options. Fire at least allowed him to damage him.
Arresto momentum. He shouted mentally as the man traveled in his direction, casting the spell with his hand outstretched, without a wand. He paused for a few seconds, but quickly dispelled the spell. Altair heard a majestic sound emanating from where the orichalcum met Ruval's fist. The red orichalcum turned purple for a few moments.
Altair flew back, but was unharmed, the weapon absorbing most of the damage.
"Arresto momentum!" He shouted, this time using his staff as a conductor, replacing a wand. Ruval stood still, his eyes wide open. It was at that moment that his face began to change, his features becoming a little more mature. Riser Phenex's face was not there anymore.
From the tip of the staff, the gem glowed red, and the metal around it heated up and glowed purple. A blue flame shot out from the tip. Ruval fled, barely managing to regain control over his body's movements. The impact hit his hand, pulverizing it. He screamed in pain, a sound so sweet that Altair wanted to set it as his alarm clock.
Soon, the weapon glowed purple entirely, heating Altair's hands. Altair looked at his opponent, who was struggling to regenerate his hand. 'Will I kill him before the arena teleports him away?' he wondered as he raised his weapon again.
"Holy magic!?" he heard the commentator say.
That distracted him for a second. He hadn't imbued the flames with the holy element, but judging by the damage to Ruval, he seemed to be right.
"It doesn't matter," he told himself, although the truth was that it would cause him a few problems with the geriatric of the underworld.
The fire concentrated on the gem, then, like a bolt of lightning, it shot out, piercing Ruval's stomach, and his body disappeared from the arena seconds later.
"A cheater! He brought a holy weapon, a cheater!" complained the commentator.
Altair was teleported out of the arena. He looked at the crowd of devils—a picturesque image of disgust, respect, and curiosity.
"That weapon will be confiscated!" shouted an irritable Lord Phenex.
"You can't do that," said Altair, as the weapon disappeared into thin air.
"Listen, boy—"
"Where is Riser? Will he come to the duel?" Altair asked, turning the question to the Phenex. Their faces soured.
"You fought and won by cheating!"
"Altair didn't cheat; it's his Sacred Gear!" Azazel approached, excited. It seemed that the event allowed him to attend. The man did not seem at all bothered by being in enemy territory. "Did you do it yourself?" he asked, ignoring the Phenex.
Altair turned around.
"I'm waiting for Riser. My fight with Ruval doesn't count," he told the Phenex, eager to cut off the blond's leg. "I don't want any problem with the bet, after all-"
"You win, fine, you win!" said the woman. She looked tired and fearful. The Phenexes had not disclosed all the terms of the bet; if they had, their reputation would be on the line.
"Okay, then, Altair Black is the winner!" This time, it was Serafall who shouted so that everyone could hear. "In addition, Ruval Phenex's behavior will be reviewed. The rules of the Rating Games will be reviewed," she said as she looked at the Phenex.
"Altair, don't ignore me!" said Azazel to Altair. "Let me see your staff, please! Oh, that sounded so Homose-"
"Goodbye", said Altair to him.