Bisky's lips curled into a sly smile as she burst forward, her left hand reaching for Habiki's throat.
"KEEARH!!" she shrieked like a wild beast, using her stiffened hand and long, polished nails like claws.
Habiki dodged the first attack by a hair's breadth.
Then Bisky planted her feet to the ground and unleashed a flurry of attacks. Habiki dodging and deflecting some with her staff in style.
They moved so fast that the onlookers from outside the dome couldn't keep up with their movement as sparks of gold light and violet particles flew from each impact.
"Whoa whoa whoa...what's going on over there!" Louise was beyond amazed
"Hmph! It'd seem the stories of Bisky weren't just all talk after all."
Jhun said, adjusting his lenses.
Naki's vision was trained on their battle as he was one of the few following their movements.
"..."
Bisky made a misstep and put too much force into her next side claw attack
"Haarghh!!" as she engaged, Habiki slipped away with skill, shifting behind her like a snake.
Then, stylishly, she spun her staff, enchanting it with light magic in the process.
"Divine Pummel!!"
Habiki called out and struck with her empowered staff down on Bisky's blind side, but -
"GOTHITA!!" Bisky yelled, planting her chained hand to the ground.
Then, a giant, grotesque-looking gothic doll made up of numerous stitches on its cloth, some grey cotton hanging off its armpit as if about to come off, with one of its eyes about to come off, appeared between them.
Habiki's attack bounced off it as it crackled, "Wha!?"
Before realizing it, Bisky stretched her hand as the chains unraveled themselves and spun around the doll, aiming to trap Habiki.
"Her chains!!"
Habiki rolled sideways, dodging the attack.
"KAAARGHHH!!!" Bisky then expertly controlled the chains like a circus performer as she tried to capture the president.
But her acrobatics and flexibility made it difficult to trap her as she evaded each chain lash attack.
"(Tsk, she's making it difficult to approach her at this rate)," Habiki thought as she searched for an opening.
"[We may have to rely on illusions]"
"(They only work if the opponent hear the bell chime, from this distance that'll be difficult)"
Habiki was planning a counteroffensive as the chain attacks intensified
"[Then we cover the distance, allow me to take over!]" Keifa said.
"(No...I have to face her on my own. If I rely on your power it'll prove her point)"
"Is running all you can do, witch? Just like you did in the past? running away from your weaknesses!!!" Bisky taunted her as she pulled back her chains, wrapping them around her wrist and fingers once more.
Habiki took her stance once more and frowned.
"I wonder what you will do when you inevitably run out of places to run to."
Bisky smiled and stretched her hand towards the giant doll she called forth, Gothita.
"Hm!? (What's this sensation?)" Habiki's focus was shaken.
"While you were busy running, I designed the layout of my dollhouse."
Habiki's eyes immediately turned to the floor, and she noticed the lashes of Bisky's chains on the floor had drawn some convoluted magical glyph.
"An entrapping spell!?" Habiki's eyes widen in shock.
"You're too late." Bisky stretched forward the small doll wrapped on the chains, and its eyes lit up.
"Swallow her, Gothita's Dark Embrace!!"
Gothita jumped high up above Habiki and spread its arms wide.
"Tsk, I have to escape!"
She tried to move, but the glyph on the ground lit up and bound her legs to the floor.
"Crap I'm stuck!"
Gothita's giant belly bulged and opened wide as if it were the mouth of a giant shark.
Then, with a crackling laughter, it started its descent upon Habiki.
"Hehehehe with running out of the question, what are you going to do now, witch?"
"[Habi you have to escape! Getting caught in her black magic is ill-advised, let me intervene!!]" Keifa proposed once again.
"(Tsk... I can overcome this! I have to defeat her as me or she'll never understand!)"
Vivid memories of the past flashed before Habiki.
<><><>
They had succeeded in their heist of the merchant's caravan and had just lost their pursuers.
But they only escaped with one thing, a gold bell earring.
'Heh, at least, we found you something, Habi. Think of it-'
Bisky gently pulled Habi's hair up and put on the bell earring.
'as a memento from me to you.'
'To our promise of today, we shall always stick together, won't we? Habi?'
<><><>
"(You misunderstand Bisky, I did not choose Keifa over you)"
Habiki tipped her staff as it suspended mid-air, whirling as it gathered magic energy
Then she brought her hands together to control a might.
"Your magic is strong, Bisky, but it lacks imagination."
"Huh?" Bisky was annoyed
"Allow me to show you what true magic looks like!"
Habiki smiled as Gothita descended upon the area where she stood.
It crushed the earth with mighty force, damaging the floor massively as if hit by a massive earthquake.
Outside the dome, Louise had her hand to her mouth. "Oh no! Did the giant doll get prez?"
"...hmm!?" Naki saw Habiki reappear a fair distance above Gothita and Bisky, holding an enchanted staff.
"Behold!" She spun the staff and turned around.
"Hm?" Bisky assumed focus, anticipating a dangerous attack.
"Pshi Gate 7 Divine Spell, Mariah's Revolving Door!!!"
She swiped forth her staff as it unleashed its harnessed magic to manifest a giant pillar cross (+) pillar of light from the center of the dome arena.
Gothita, caught in the center of the pillar, was eradicated.
"Grr, Gothita..."
Then,
Habiki equipped her staff and descended into the light.
This caused it to start spinning around endlessly like a revolving door, and since it covered the full width of the battle arena, Bisky suffered damage each time the pillar's doors of light got to her.
"Grhk"
She tried running in the same direction as the revolving pillar to avoid being hit by the doors of light.
"In-incredible!" Maya exclaimed.
"Hmph! The president is a genius," Jhun commented.
"Hoh, how so?" Naki asked him.
"She's combined both an attacking and defensive spell into one to form an entrapment technique. With the revolving doors, she can seek cover, the revolutions are a means to attack, and since Bisky's not given a moment to think because of said revolutions."
"She has no choice but to run around in circles...hence the trap," Naki said.
"Yes," Jhun nodded. "Bisky's actions before were quite interesting too, by using her chains to attack and at the same time carve out a bound spell on the floors, she was able to combine entrapment and attack," he added.
"So you're saying Habiki got the better in her because her own spell managed to add defense to the equation?" Naki asked.
"Precisely. The difference between a genius and others is often in the details. And because Bisky failed to anticipate the details, she is on the cusp of losing this duel."
Right on cue, as Bisky was still trying to keep away from the revolving doors, Habiki emerged from one of the doors in front of her.
"Wha!" She was caught by surprise.
"It's over!"
Habiki called forth her enchanted staff attack once again,
"Divine pummel!!"
"(Crap! I can't defend in time! I only have one option...but then...)"
Bisky hesitated with her move for some reason
Because of this hesitation, the staff struck her down with a heavy energy blast attack.
"Gaargghhh!!!" she screamed in pain as she was sent crashing into the edge of the dome.
Her sidearm suffered burns caused by the divine magic.
"Huh huh huh." Habiki struggled to catch her breath. "I guess Pshi gate 7 spells still take their toll."
She called off the revolving door technique and walked up to Bisky, who crouched on the ground, holding her burnt arm, bleeding from the mouth.
"Huh, I guess prez won. Surprise, surprise," Louise said, shaking her head.
"To be fair, it was a close battle. Had Habiki hesitated for just a moment, Gothita would've ended the battle with its embrace," said Maya.
"Well, that doesn't matter now. Bisky fell short in her calculations; the result is clear."
The configuration device notified the end of the spar, citing Habiki as the winner.
"..." Naki was strangely quiet throughout this particular conversation. He had noticed something the others failed to.
"(Why...why didn't she go through with it...)"
<><><>
Naki recalled, when Habiki emerged from the revolving door in front of Bisky, she had read the move ahead of time.
Shifting her chains subtly - to control her small gothic doll - she used the shadows to position it directly under Habiki's neck.
The doll then equipped a small needle with black and red liquid dripping off it[1]. With just a tug, it would've pierced Habiki's throat, but the tug never came.
<><><>
"(It was a sneaky and stealth move, one I could only see thanks to my crow's visage...there's no denying it, Bisky hesitated)"
Meanwhile, in the dome
Habiki stared at Bisky, who averted her gaze.
"What are you looking at? Here to revel in your victory at my expense?" she said.
"...I will do no such thing. It was only a spar, and I'm sure we all learned something from it."
Habiki offered her hand. Bisky was slightly surprised she did, but then,
"Huhhh, I don't need your help."
She ignored Habiki's hand and found her feet.
"Bisky..."
Habiki muttered as she watched her leave the dome and head straight for the exits.
"You can go ahead and file for my dismissal or whatevs, I don't really care either way."
As she walked past Naki, he asked with a whisper.
"Why did you hesitate?"
She paused for a brief moment and smiled, "Why don't you meet me in our rendezvous spot and find out?"
With that, she left the room.
No one could stop her from leaving. If their president couldn't talk her into staying, they had no chance.
Naki, however, was left pondering. If she truly hated Habiki like she made clear the night before, why did she hesitate in their bout?
This made her motive of their upcoming on the rooftops even more difficult for Naki to figure out.
He stared at Habiki for answers, but noticed she too had a concerned look on her face. Did she figure it out too?
Whatever the answer may be, one thing was certain.
His meeting with Bisky just shot up the list of priorities.
[1] Similar to what she struck the thug boy and the girl bullies back when they were in year 1. It's a very dangerous poisonous attack.