Faced with the sudden ambusher and the dark crossbow muzzle, Kelaode was indeed stunned for a moment.
But only for an instant.
As a top mage in his first year and a widely acknowledged high-scorer in this practical assessment, Kelaode had his own pride and confidence.
He didn’t panic like some greenhorn who had never seen the world, nor did he raise his hands in surrender just because a weapon was pointed at him.
Instead, after recognizing the figure sitting on the rock, the shock on his face quickly shifted to a mix of anger and amusement.
“And I thought it was someone serious.”
Kelaode snorted.
He didn’t step back. Instead, he raised the ruby-embedded staff in his hand, the tip aimed directly at the girl on the high rock.
The two lackeys behind him reacted just as swiftly.
Though they were only followers, Kelaode had chosen them as teammates, so their strength was not to be underestimated.
They weren’t pure casters; they had chosen a path combining martial arts and magic.
Thus, they could use not only elemental magic but also several enhancement-type spells.
The burly boy on the left abruptly drew a broadsword from his back.
Embedded in the blade was a magic crystal that emitted a dull yellow glow.
As he channeled his mana, a layer of armor-like rock covered the thick blade’s surface.
The slightly leaner boy on the right pulled two short daggers from his waist.
Similar wind-attribute crystals were set in the hilts, and green air currents began to swirl around his wrists, clearly signaling a readiness to strike at a moment’s notice.
In an instant, the three of them had formed a battle formation.
“And I thought it was some kind of big shot.”
Kelaode squinted, his gaze sweeping over Helos’s academy uniform, which lacked any mana fluctuation, and finally resting on the small, unimpressive hand crossbow in her hand.
He recognized this girl.
This was the “duke’s daughter” he had mocked in the Teleport Plaza.
The corner of Kelaode’s mouth curled into a cold, undisguised sneer.
He had always looked down on those inferior to him, no matter how noble their status.
And this one? He’d never even heard of her. How strong could she possibly be?
He felt insulted.
If it were Eleanor the Saintess, or some chief disciple from another division ambushing him, he might have felt a little challenged and respected.
But an alchemist who couldn’t even use offensive magic? And she dared to sit up there like a hunter in this survival-of-the-fittest trial, pointing a weapon at him from above?
“How amusing.”
Kelaode shook his head, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
“I thought you bookworms from the Comprehensive Research Academy would have found a corner to hide in and shiver. But no… someone actually dares to come and rob me?”
He stepped forward, the ruby at the top of his staff beginning to radiate intense heat.
“Since you’ve come to me, don’t blame me for not being gentle. That little saintess pissed me off just now, so I’ll take it out on you first!”
“It seems I’ve really been underestimated.”
As Kelaode’s words fell, the temperature in the surrounding air began to rise sharply.
A massive amount of fire element seemed to be summoned, crazily converging toward his staff.
The air itself seemed to warp from the heat.
Flames entwined with crimson mana circled around him.
As an excellent fire mage, Kelaode indeed had reason to be proud of his casting speed and mana intensity.
He didn’t even need to chant long incantations; relying solely on his affinity with the fire element and his own mana guidance, he could construct a powerful spell in a short time.
“Go to hell!”
Kelaode shouted.
He swung his staff forward fiercely.
“Boom!”
A fireball the size of a washbasin, accompanied by a bursting roar, roared out from the staff’s tip!
That wasn’t an ordinary fireball.
It was a compressed and enhanced “Blazing Burst Technique.”
It possessed not only extremely high temperature but also a terrifying explosive impact.
If it hit its target, even rock would be shattered, let alone flesh and blood.
The fireball, dragging a long tail of flames like a falling meteor, shot straight toward Helos on the rock.
A cruel glint flashed in Kelaode’s eyes.
He could already see the pathetic scene: the arrogant girl engulfed in flames, thrown back by the blast, rolling down and begging for mercy.
The ruin’s protection mechanism might save her life, but the pain and fear of being nearly burned alive would become her lifelong nightmare.
However, facing this intermediate magic that could make ordinary students’ legs go weak, Helos, sitting on the rock, didn’t even move.
Not even an eyebrow twitch.
She maintained the same posture with her legs crossed, her lavender eyes as calm as a dead pool.
In her “vision,” the world was no longer what Kelaode saw.
With her “Mind’s Eye” activated, all colors faded away.
Instead, the world became a web of countless lines and points of light, a realm of mana.
She clearly saw the internal structure of the fireball flying toward her.
That seemingly violent and powerful flame, in her eyes, was nothing more than a tangled mess of countless red mana threads.
Loose structure, chaotic nodes, mana flow full of unnecessary waste and redundancy.
Most importantly, too little mana.
“Too crude.”
Helos made her judgment inwardly.
This level of magic couldn’t compare to someone like Sylvia, an Imperial Archmage, nor even to the spells she had seen in books. It was full of flaws.
So this was the so-called “genius”?
This was the elite of the Elemental Academy?
Helos felt a little bored.
She didn’t even need any special technique or complex guidance.
She just quietly watched the fireball.
Then, the “black hole” inside her—the null magic field called the “Curse of Silence”—opened a tiny crack.
Like a giant beast opening its mouth and inhaling at the flying insect.
Not even a sound.
No earth-shattering explosion, no dazzling light show.
The moment that aggressive blazing burst entered the three-meter radius in front of Helos, it dissolved like a pricked balloon, like a snowflake thrown into a furnace.
The raging fire element instantly lost all its vitality.
It couldn’t even release a trace of heat before an invisible force forcibly stripped away its foundation.
Mana structure collapsed. Elemental links severed.
That massive fireball, right before the eyes of Kelaode and his two lackeys, simply vanished.
Yes. Vanished.
As if it had never existed.
Only a few wisps of insignificant smoke drifted weakly in the wind.
The previously noisy battlefield fell into a dead silence.
The cruel smile on Kelaode’s face froze.
His staff almost slipped from his hand.
His eyes widened as he stared at the empty air in front of Helos.
“Wh… what?”
His mind went blank.
What happened?
What just happened?
Where was his Blazing Burst?
His Blazing Burst, powerful enough to shatter rock?
Was it blocked? Dodged?
No. Neither.
It just… disappeared.
Right before that girl’s face, without warning.
How was that possible?!
This was his pride and joy!
Even a mage of the same level would need to raise a magic shield to defend against it!
What did this woman do?!
Kelaode’s pupils visibly contracted, and a wave of absurdity crawled up his spine.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, or cast another spell to verify.
But Helos didn’t give him that chance.
A hunter is a hunter because they never give their prey a moment to breathe.
“Return the favor.”
The girl hummed lightly.
“Now… it’s my turn.”
Her fingers gently squeezed the trigger of the hand crossbow.
“Twang! Twang!”
Two extremely faint string sounds cut through the silent air.
The girl made no unnecessary movements, no flashy special effects.
Helos didn’t even aim at the still-stunned Kelaode.
Her target was the two lackeys behind him.
Two streaks of blue-violet electric light, like fleeting thunder serpents, shot out from the dark crossbow muzzle!
These were alchemical rounds specially made by Helos, incorporating the [Flash Thunder Core] technology.
Extremely fast.
So fast that ordinary human eyes couldn’t track them.
Although within the “Curse of Silence” range the mana in the rounds might be suppressed, once they left its radius, their mana would instantly re-energize.
That was why, as the rounds left the muzzle, the opponent couldn’t sense any mana flow.
Even though the two lackeys held weapons and wore armor, at this moment, they hadn’t even had time to think about defending.
“Crackle——!”
“Crackle——!”
Two crackling electrical bursts sounded almost simultaneously.
The two rounds, flickering with lightning, struck the chest armor of the two lackeys with pinpoint accuracy.
Though the rounds themselves weren’t powerful enough to pierce thick armor.
But the killer feature of these things was never penetration.
It was the instant electric discharge!
At the moment of impact, the micro-runes engraved on the rounds’ surface instantly activated.
The stored lightning element energy, like floodwater from a burst dam, surged through the metal armor into their bodies!
“Ah——!”
“Ah——!”
The two boys, who had been ready to charge just moments ago, stiffened violently.
The intense electric current instantly paralyzed their nerves, robbing them of all control over their bodies.
Their eyes rolled back, their bodies convulsing violently, and their weapons clattered to the ground with a “clang.”
“Thud.”
“Thud.”
In a single breath, the two fell like chopped logs, landing flat on their backs, foaming at the mouth, completely unconscious.
Occasional residual arcs of electricity jumped across their bodies, making “crackle” sounds.
Instant kill.
Clean and efficient.
Helos lowered her hand crossbow, her face expressionless.
She acted as if she had done something trivial, not even bothering to glance at the two unlucky bastards.
She turned her gaze back to the red-haired young man, now completely frozen in place.
“So.”
The corner of Helos’s mouth curled into a harmless smile.
“It seems… you’re the only one left, oh great genius?”