Another blast of lightning soared past the judge's stand, causing Kletain and Orlandu to flinch away instinctively. Roland simply stood there, watching, as the battle between Hilda's quick, lithe strikes and the warrior Sofia's brutal dance of swordstrikes and electricity continued.
"How long will this go on?" Orlandu cursed softly. "As impolite as it may sound, this is taking far longer than anticipated. I have other things I must attend-"
"It will end soon." Roland said, beginning to grin oddly. Orlandu turned to Roland for a second, before looking back down at the arena. The only difference was Hilda was now, in a thin, bony hand, holding a...
"Is that a straw?" Kletain asked, confused.
A flash of light blinded the three judges momentarily. When they looked down again, a plump, cheerfully grinning girl stood in Hilda's place, carrying a large staff instead of the original small wand she had earlier. However, she looked rather battered.
"My, she is cute in that form." Roland noted, amused. "And the battle ends here."
"You cannot blind my ascent, Hilda! This ends here!" Sofia yelled, lunging in to finish the job...
...and being sent flying out of the arena by one massive swing of Hilda's staff. Hilda twittered and spun out of the arena, leaving the FFT judges staring and Roland laughing.
