Kaelan struggled to climb up from the ground, her mage robe caked in dust, the blood seeping from the corner of her mouth shockingly vivid against her pale face.
However, instead of fear, she bared her teeth in a grimace that mingled pain and excitement into a savage smile.
“Interesting, Aixi, I have to admit your strength exceeds my expectations.” Her voice was hoarse from injury.
“But unfortunately, I will always be the mountain you cannot surpass!”
Before her words had fully fallen, she suddenly waved her hand, and countless sharp earth spikes instantly condensed out of thin air on the Arena, shooting toward Aixi like a torrential rain, slicing through the air with a piercing sound!
Faced with this apprentice-level magic, Aixi swung her massive war hammer with sharp eyes, smashing the oncoming earth spikes to pieces one by one with pinpoint precision.
Amidst flying debris, she kept closing the distance with Kaelan, seeking a chance to finish it in a single strike.
But as a genius in magic, Kaelan’s combat instincts were equally outstanding.
She would never allow Aixi to get close.
“Thunder Sea!”
With a crisp shout, blinding lightning burst from beneath her feet, transforming in an instant into a raging pool of thunder that spread five meters around her!
As a true First-tier Magic, Thunder Sea would bring down a terrifying thunderous judgment on any enemy attempting to approach Kaelan.
With it, Kaelan could be said to stand in an invincible position.
“I’ve won.”
Mentor Anderi let out a cold laugh, making his final judgment.
He could not imagine how a useless brute could possibly break through this kind of magic.
It wasn’t just him—around them, Mills Academy students all wore mocking expressions, as if saying, “Just as expected.”
Leanna and the others clenched their palms, full of worry.
Without any magic, how could Aixi break into the Thunder Sea to defeat Kaelan?
Among them, only Teresa gazed silently at the Thunder Sea, quietly shaking her head.
Who said defeating Kaelan meant charging through the Thunder Sea?
Boom—!
Under everyone’s horrified gaze, Aixi brought her war hammer down onto the Arena once again.
But this time, unlike before, cracks appeared for the first time on the Arena made of Magic Stone.
Not only that, a Destructive Shockwave—mixing tangible impact with raging magic—roared forward along the ground like a waking giant beast!
Thunder Sea?
How could something like that possibly withstand such a shockwave?
Kaelan’s face changed dramatically.
She hastily summoned several Stone Walls to block the shockwave, while simultaneously casting Airflow Magic, trying to fly away from the trembling ground.
But what she didn’t expect was that, at this very moment, Aixi slammed her hammer down for a second time.
This time, it wasn’t just the ground that trembled—even the air itself groaned under the strain.
Kaelan felt the currents around her become wildly chaotic.
Her Flying Magic was forcibly disrupted, and she tumbled clumsily from low in the air.
And just as she crashed down, that terrifying Destructive Shockwave smashed through all the Stone Walls and struck her squarely!
Exactly as before, her whole body flew out like a broken kite, crashing messily several meters away with a heavy thud, blood pouring from her mouth.
A dead silence fell over the surroundings.
Except for Teresa, who had seen this coming, everyone was stunned into speechlessness by this overwhelming scene.
Anderi’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. He simply couldn’t understand how someone he had written off as “worthless” could explode with such power.
But… this was as far as it would go.
“That’s still not enough!”
He stared at the Arena, the corner of his mouth twisting up.
Aixi was strong now, but still not enough.
Because now, the real fight was about to begin.
“…Did you think you’d won just like that?”
Kaelan propped herself up with a trembling hand, wiping away the blood at her lips.
The once-beautiful face was now twisted with pain and humiliation, but a mad fire burned in her eyes.
“A talentless person like you will never know the true terror of magic! Aixi, you forced me to this!”
She screamed, her magic flaring recklessly from her body.
The entire Arena’s temperature soared, the air shimmering with heat as a suffocating wave rolled out!
“Pseudo Second-tier Magic, Fire Dragon’s Breath!”
With her hysterical shout, a flame beyond description suddenly formed a giant dragon in the air.
The dragon opened its maw, pouring down a torrent of scorching, destructive energy toward Aixi!
The range of the breath was immense, sealing off nearly all of Aixi’s escape routes.
“With your speed, there’s no way you can run now!”
Kaelan’s voice brimmed with vengeful delight.
In the face of these flames, Aixi’s previous shockwave seemed pitiful.
Forced into a corner, the protective Magic Circle on her dress flashed desperately.
Her face was blackened, and she could barely hold on to her hammer.
After the flames receded, she was half-kneeling on the ground, seemingly unconscious.
“Pseudo Second-tier Magic! Kaelan truly is a magic genius!”
“I almost died of fright. I thought that penniless knight was really going to win for a second.”
“No way. Kaelan was just playing with her before. Now that she’s used Pseudo Second-tier Magic, the outcome is set.”
As the discussions surged around her, Kaelan, enduring intense pain, looked down contemptuously at the seemingly defeated figure.
“See? This is the power of magic! Your brute strength, your speed—before the true Art of Magic, they’re worth nothing!”
Just as everyone thought the outcome was settled, Aixi opened her eyes and, slowly, performed an action no one could understand.
She didn’t even look at the deadly magic.
Instead, she lowered her head and calmly began unfastening the unremarkable metal chains on her wrists and ankles.
“What’s she… what’s she doing? Surrendering?” Whispered voices rose from the audience.
Kaelan was stunned for a moment, then sneered. “Want to beg for mercy now? Too late!”
Aixi paid no heed to any of the voices. She placed the last metal chain gently on the ground, as if completing a sacred ritual.
Then, she raised her head. The eyes once clouded by self-doubt now shone with pure focus and calm.
“Kaelan.” Her voice wasn’t loud, but it echoed through the arena. “You’re wrong.”
“Magic has never been the only way.”
The moment her words fell, everyone heard a clang—the Chains with Weight Magic on the metal chains vanished instantly. And along with them, Aixi’s figure disappeared.
In the next instant, she reappeared before Kaelan as if she’d teleported.
No dazzling light, no complicated incantations—only a fist, wrapped in swirling air currents and raw power, stopping right in front of Kaelan’s terrified nose.
The shockwave from the punch scattered the flaming dragon Kaelan had conjured behind her.
This scene plunged the entire arena into dead silence.
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