<h4>Chapter 174 Chapter 174 me VS me</h4>


    His sudden confidence stopped her dead in her tracks. Had she miscalted?


    Suddenly, overhead, a flock of bald headed birds took off in the distance. They emerged in formation from a leafy tree- pping their wings in fluttering sounds as they took off noisily- rising towards the clear blue sky, swirling in formation, and disturbing the peace of the terrain.


    For a moment, Nexus'' gaze shifted from the girl- obviously distracted by the sight of the flying ck dots receding in the distance.


    That was a rookie mistake.


    Swiftly, the girl moved to take advantage of the break. In a sh, her arms that were shrouded in long wide sleeves, rose up from her sides and merged together- bing one at the fingertips. In the same breath, her lips moved furiously and hastily- eager to finish the lyrics to a rushed poem;


    ''The power of the sun- the heat of a dying star- lend me your strength- as I rage in mes. . .''


    By the time Nexus pulled his gaze away from the sky above, he was weed back by a roaring gift.


    From the intersection of her fingertips, a ball of orange mes- roughly the size of a fetus, erupted in a defeaning roar. In both of Nexus eyes, the zing reflection of fiery orange lit up his eyes.


    zing with chaotic destruction, and roaring with a thundering swoosh, the girl''s long hair blew backwards as the zing inferno raged forward from her married hands- bursting forth in a horizontal pir, raging towards Nexus- and brightening up the entirendscape.


    Nexus felt the scorching heat even before angry mes surged forward.


    At such a close distance- and with minimal time to react, Nexus knew immediately that the girl had purposely closed in on them for this very purpose. She wanted zero ce to hide or run. She wanted them dead- and she wanted them crisp.


    As Nexus brought his own hands together, looking at the raging ball of fire, his eyebrows singed from the heat- and he felt his pores all over his skin open up- forcing his internal heat out.


    Forced to respond, red sparks lit up from his hands as he instinctively lifted his arms forward. In the fraction of a second, angry shes of red lightning erupted, snapping in angry cackles- imploding on an atomic level- riding the wave of each implosion- growing exponentially in heat and in size- until a ze ripped through his palms.


    Fighting fire with fire, and matching heat with heat- Nexus'' entire arms- from his shoulders to his palms- erupted in bright flood of scorching mes! They licked, and curled- snapping in cackling crispy sounds- bright and glorious in their raw form- and surged forward- COLLIDING with an ear splitting roar.


    From afar, it looked like orange had met red- bursting in a burst of vor of colors.


    At a quick nce, it looked like two methrowers on opposite ends.


    However, ten feet close to the action- it was a different story.


    The sheer brightness alone of the colliding pirs of fire blinded Selina''s eyes. In a dreadful thunderous roar, the colliding res rammed into each other, and raging upwards- shooting twenty feet up towards the sky- like a verticalet!


    The entire terrain was instantly enveloped in a halo of reddish-orange! The intense scorching heat was so hot, it licked up the moisture in the atmosphere! Leaving Selina''s lips parched, and her throat dry, and her skin baked.


    Gasping, she crouched down behind Nexus, and dropped to her knees. Eyes round in shock, face glowing in orange, she had no option but to stoop her ears.


    For a dreadful stretch of time- the fiery orange piir of fire burned loud, and bright in the sky- before finally, a winner emerged. Nexus'' reddish orange mes looped around hers.


    Crackling wildly like a dragon made entirely of fire- it curled, and slithered around the opposing mes- swallowing the orange pir of fire- snuffing it outpletely! And then, in a victorious roar- the red fiery ''dragon'' danced upwards the sky-pped from side to side, before vanishing into the atmosphere.


    The silence that followed was deafening.


    As the smell of ash and sulfur permeated through the air, as she simmering heat melted before the sweeping breeze, right in front of Nexus, the red girl''s jaw dropped.


    Staring at Nexus with burning searching eyes, darting her eyes to his fingers, his arms, trailing along the sleeves hiding his biceps, up to his shoulders- and then finally, to the serious set of eyes hidden under the ck hat!


    Shock streaked through her- riding her spine all the way to her brain- thinking;


    "WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED???"


    The red girl had good reason to be scared.


    For the York Family- their nasty Blood Moon Eyes were terrible.


    But when it came to Fire Magic- there wasn''t a single n that could touch them.


    The uniqueness of their genes allowed them something no other fire mage could do- use the power of the sun, and tap directly into the power of the Heavenlies. A single York girl could torch an entire vige.


    But a prodigy- well, in a bad mood, they could easily waste an entire city- and still have enough juice to do it two times over. All these thoughts (and more) cruised through the girl (and Selina''s mind as well. If the Yorkers were the best- then who the fuck was this dude?!


    The herb garden, still fresh from the hot searing heat, singed in the background. Above, in the stratosphere, the burned up moisture began to return- slowly regenerating in noiseless drippings.


    But to the York girl- none of those things mattered.


    On her pale face, her evenly pointed chin had dropped- hanging low in shock. Her well spaced eyes which were previously round with mocking confidence- were now squinted in narrow slits. The ends of her trimmed eyebrows huddled together in a hairy curve.


    Standing there, barely eight feet away from the young man in the pping trench coat- both her eyes flickered- twinkling like mini stars. With those piercing blood red eyes, she shot him an interrogative look- making herself dizzy with all the questions.


    ''But he''s so young. . .'' she muttered; ''How? Where did he–? Who is this?''


    The soft wind rustled in her face- beating gently against her, and seeping into her skin.


    A sudden thought streaked through her body- shooting through like jolts of lightning.


    Tugging her sleeves closer, she dragged her spread apart legs, and brought them back together. Still feeling the rage of his mes on her fingers, her voice came- softer than rushing water;


    "You," she began; "You''re a hidden master," she blurted out.


    Eyes fixed on her, suspicion echoed in his reply;


    "What are you talking about?"


    Her weaker foot took a step backwards;


    "I saw everything," she said firmly; "You didn''t make any incantation before releasing that fireball. . .you didn''t have time to react. . .that was pure muscle memory. . .you tricked me. . ."


    She didn''t realize it.


    But she was basically pouring out her thoughts- lining them up, and blurting them out in short sentences. Under her sandals, tiny rocks crunched slightly as she inched backwards.