CHAPTER 49: FIGHT, JASMINE! FIGHT!

[Fight Scene— Continuation]

Punch let out a victorious laugh, striding forward as if the desert itself belonged to him. "Finally," he muttered, cracking his knuckles again, "time to see if the so-called prodigy can survive a proper test."

Jasmine shifted into her stance, muscles coiled like springs ready to snap. The heat pressed against her skin through the illusion, sweat forming despite no real sun touching her. She narrowed her eyes, scanning the landscape and Punch, judging his movements, calculating the balance between speed and distance.

Punch mirrored her, moving with exaggerated confidence, his shadow stretching across the shimmering sand. "Come on, Jazzboy," he called, voice echoing slightly in the wide-open illusion. "Show me what you’ve got."

Jasmine’s lips curled into a smirk. As she keeps calculating her next move.

Darren stepped back, folding his hands. The trial was underway. Every student observing felt the tension like a physical presence, the air was heavy with the promise of sparks, power, and skill about to collide.

The desert stretched endlessly, an endless field of challenge. And in that hallucinatory space, every movement and every decision mattered— Punch and Jasmine were about to test not just strength, but strategy, perception, and endurance.

The sand under their feet seemed to shift with each step, heat beating down like a living entity. Punch’s eyes gleamed with mischief and anticipation, while Jasmine’s focused gaze radiated calculated fury. Both stood ready, each prepared to push their limits, knowing the other would not give an inch.

Darren’s magic hummed softly around the edges, stabilizing the scene. "Observe," he murmured to the gathered students. "Notice their technique, reaction time, and adaptability. This is how you learn— not just from your victories, but from understanding the other."

Punch’s grin faltered for a fraction of a second as he adjusted to Jasmine’s steady movements. He had expected her to react impulsively, perhaps recklessly, but every step she took was measured, precise, and deliberate.

Jasmine, in turn, analyzed Punch’s posture, the way he cracked his knuckles, the subtle shift of his weight and his overconfidence that could be exploited to her benefit.

Darren exhaled again, the faint shimmer of magic around the desert holding strong. "YOU MAY BEGIN" he repeated, voice carrying authority.

Punch lunged forward first, testing Jasmine’s reaction, as she shifted with a grace that betrayed hours of discipline. The sand seemed to ripple under her feet, the illusion responding perfectly to their movements.

The trial had begun.

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Punch moved first.

He launched himself across the burning desert arena in a blur of motion, the sand exploding beneath his feet as his body shifted mid-stride— skin turning metallic and limbs sharpening into jagged steel.

He didn’t waste time scouting or testing distance. He attacked with lethal intent, a predator trained by chaos and born for destruction.

Jasmine didn’t blink either. She stared him right in the eyes, using her powers to determine his next move and how to counter.

The instant he closed the distance, she tilted her chin slightly, eyes narrowing with no sign of fear. Punch’s arm morphed into a serrated blade and came down in a brutal arc, aimed to cleave her from shoulder to waist.

She wasn’t there when it landed.

Jasmine moved like she had been waiting for that exact attack.

She took half-step back. Then came a pivot— and a calculated slide over sand without losing balance.

She didn’t look like a warrior trying to survive— she looked like a strategist solving a problem.

Punch growled and twisted again, his limb reshaping into a monstrous hammer. He swung, creating a shockwave that cracked the ground. Jasmine took to the air, wings unfurling behind her— smooth, effortless and precise. She rose in a sharp leap, dodging the second strike, gliding only inches out of range.

Punch frowned "COME ON...FIGHT ME!"

"You talk too much for someone your size..."

Jasmine hissed with a smirk on her face.

Immediately, She dropped out of the air like a silent blade, landing a spinning heel kick to the side of his jaw that snapped his head to the left.

Gasps rippled through the crowd.

"Fight, Jasmine! Fight!"

"Come on girl, you’ve got this!"

"Whoop his ass, Jaz! Show ’em who’s boss!"

Her friend’s voices rose above the noise, fierce and loyal from the stands as they watched.

Punch stumbled, more shocked than hurt, but he laughed it off.

"Finally," he said, wiping blood from his lip, eyes burning with violent excitement. "A attempt!"

He transformed again— this time into a spiked beast of obsidian armor, molten cracks glowing beneath jagged plates. His voice twisted as his body shifted, deeper, layered and monstrous.

"LET ME SHOW YOU REAL POWER." He roared.

His body exploded into a storm of metal shards, fire, and kinetic force. The blast wave tore across the battlefield like a bomb.

Protected by Darren’s hallucination barrier, the crowd could only stare in disbelief as the desert floor erupted— fire tearing through the sand, sending molten grit flying skyward like a violent volcano.

Jasmine vanished into the explosion, but her reaction came a second too late. The shockwave caught her from behind just as she took flight, hurling her forward. She slammed hard against the arena wall with a brutal thud before crashing to the desert floor.

Her wings— once steady and powerful twitched weakly, feathers scorched at the edges from the heat of the blast.

A ripple of alarm spread through the audience by her friends and other angels.

"Jasmine!" Lily roared

"She got hit!" a random angel from the audience said.

"Oh no...her wings...!" Suki said as her friends leaned forward against the barrier, eyes wide with fear, watching to see if she would rise again.

***********************************************

[Stephanie and Friend’s Circle—]

Far from the roaring crowd watching Punch and Jasmine tear up the desert arena, Stephanie sat with Mona and Rosé in their shaded corner of the stands— Looking relaxed, entertained and living in the afterglow of destruction.

Rosé popped a piece of candy into her mouth and smirked. "I still can’t believe she actually snapped like that. One little push and BOOM...She’s an Instant psycho."

Mona laughed. "You saw her face, right? She completely lost it. In front of everyone. Now she’s officially the academy’s freak show."

Stephanie sat back, smiling lazily as if she had just watched fireworks. Her bandaged arm rested on her lap, but she didn’t look pissed anymore. She looked pleased...

"She made it too easy," Stephanie said coolly. "All it took was a little pressure. Break something she cared about, and she did the rest herself."

Mona scoffed. "Stupid girl. Should’ve just walked away. Instead she gave us exactly what we wanted."

"Hmm..." Rosé added. "You felt it?...The way everyone backed away from her? Even her own friends weren’t sure what to do... At first they looked like they never expected their beloved ’Angel’ friend to react the way she did..."

Stephanie chuckled. "Oh, they’ll pretend they believe in her. They’ll stand next to her, defend her for a while. But trust me...every one of them is wondering the same thing..."

She leaned forward, her smile sharpening. "Because they believe angels were not made to be violent in nature...Now they can see how much of a freak she really is..." She laughed as though victory was already hers.

Mona’s mouth curved into a slow, satisfied grin. "Everyone loves a tidy story, people crave drama..." she sneered, folding her hands as if tucking a receipt into a pocket. "’Hero falls apart—Villain is born’...People pick sides without thinking...All you have to do is hand them a target, and watch them rip it open on their own" She laughed "how pathetic!"

Rosé tapped the edge of her candy, watching the shimmer of the desert in the distance. "Fear spreads faster than facts," she murmured. "You don’t need to explain the why. You let them taste the result and they’ll do the rest...what can I say ladies? We won this round..." She cheered as they all laughed in satisfaction of their evil actions.

Stephanie crossed her legs and watched the arena flames flare in the distance. Jasmine and Punch were still fighting like monsters— but she wasn’t even watching. Her mind was still on Valkyrie.

"That little outburst she had today?" Stephanie said. "It just rewrote her story. She’s not mysterious anymore— she’s dangerous. Unstable and A threat."

"And people love a villain more than a hero," Mona said mockingly. "At least until it turns on them."

Rosé smirked. "She’ll break again. And next time? We won’t even have to try. Someone else will trigger her for us."

Stephanie’s smile widened.

They didn’t care about the trial. They didn’t care about the fight. Right now...they were enjoying the chaos they had created.

She looked at Mona. Then at Rosé. Proud, Cruel and satisfied, then muttered.

"Good job, girls. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING OF THE DOWNFALL OF VALKYRIE SALTSMAN..." They continued laughing menacingly as the light faded around them, their cruel voices echoing long after everything went silent.