Because Ronald had told them they could go all out without worrying about the consequences, assuring them he would step in if something dangerous were to happen—Azrael had decided to test his combat power against Dante.
Until now, he had never truly fought against anyone in the real world. His only battle records came from facing opponents in the Eonrift's Trial Ground and the Tower of Trials. Thus, he genuinely wanted to see if his fighting strength would hold up against an actual Elite Class student.
The moment the match began, Azrael used his Force Utilization technique to draw out 150% of his strength, bursting forth with terrifying speed by utilizing the Power of Wind.
His intention was to strike at Dante's head—a spot that was generally a weak point for most people.
Because he was at the mid-level of the Cosmic Energy Breathing Method, his cosmic energy surged through his body instantly, fueling the activation of his Power of Wind.
When he arrived right in front of Dante, the latter was still in the middle of mobilizing his cosmic energy to activate his powers.
Azrael noticed that Dante was very close to bringing up his defense when he appeared before him. However, the moment his fist closed in on Dante's face, Dante froze in fear and failed to activate his power in time.
It was a clear sign that, while Dante was indeed strong and had decent control over his cosmic energy—good enough to mobilize it quickly even without reaching the entry level of the Breathing Method, he lacked true combat experience.
Faced with the imminent threat of death, his mind froze, and he lost control over his body and cosmic energy.
At the same time, just before his strike could connect, Azrael also sensed something was wrong as there was no sign of Ronald stepping in to stop him.
Realizing his attack was about to land at full force, he quickly tried to hold back his power at the last moment, redirecting the blow from Dante's head to his left shoulder instead.
Of course, pulling back so suddenly and changing direction at the last second was no simple feat. Not only did Azrael suffer some internal injuries from the strain, but his shoulder was also dislocated in the process.
The attack he had launched at Dante was a burst strike that combined nearly all his physical power with the Power of Wind, producing a force capable of killing even opponents stronger than him in an instant.
Naturally, because it was such a high-output attack, it wasn't something he could perform repeatedly. After using it once, he needed time before he could employ it again, as pushing himself to 150% power was no easy task, even with his current physical condition.
As Azrael gave Ronald a blank look, cursing him inwardly, Ronald himself was feeling quite awkward.
It wasn't that he had intentionally neglected to stop Azrael or wanted Dante to end up in such a state—everything had simply happened too quickly for him to react.
'This brat… couldn't he have mentioned that his Force Utilization technique is already perfect, and that his control over cosmic energy is far beyond what someone at his level should possess?' Ronald thought bitterly.
The distance between Dante and Azrael had been about ten meters, and when Azrael unleashed 150% of his strength along with the Power of Wind, he closed that gap as if they had been standing face-to-face from the start.
All it took was a single swing to hit him. Because of that, even though Ronald had been ready, he still wasn't able to react in time to intercept the attack.
Seeing Ronald staring at him without speaking, Azrael broke the silence first.
"Professor, you said you would step in if something dangerous were to happen…" He said, placing his left hand on his right shoulder.
"But your reaction was way too slow. Are you trying to frame me as the murderer of my fellow classmate?"
The sound of bones shifting echoed from Azrael's right shoulder as he forcibly set the dislocated joint back into place.
"It's a good thing I pulled back most of my strength at the last moment. Otherwise…"
Hearing his words and watching him casually fix his own shoulder, many of the students couldn't help but twitch. While their pain tolerance was high, it wasn't to the point where they could completely ignore the pain of a dislocation.
With his statement, they also realized the situation hadn't been Azrael's fault. In fact, he had even injured himself while trying to hold back at the last second.
When Ronald heard Azrael's words, he didn't try to make excuses. Instead, he gave a serious bow.
"It was indeed a mistake on my part. I should have been more careful," He admitted. Pausing briefly, he added, "Don't worry, I won't let you suffer any losses. I will personally cover all the healing costs for both of you. In addition, as an apology, both of you may choose any low-level skill from the Skill Library for free."
Azrael was genuinely surprised by Ronald's words.
For someone like Ronald—who was at least a Star Level being, and possibly even higher to openly admit his mistake and even bow in apology was truly unexpected.
Thus, Azrael also chose not to press the matter any further and simply nodded with calm composure.
It wasn't just Azrael who was surprised, the other students were as well. Most members of the Elite Class came from influential backgrounds, so they knew firsthand how arrogant people of high rank could be.
Seeing Ronald sincerely accept fault improved his standing in their eyes considerably.
Ronald then carried the unconscious Dante over to the side chairs. Once Dante was settled, he returned to the ring and used the same healing skill he had applied on Dante earlier to treat Azrael's injuries.
"Although I messed up earlier, we still need to move forward," Ronald said as he looked at the rest of the students. "Anyone else who wants to come up and spar against Azrael?" He paused, then added, "This will be Azrael's final spar as we need to evaluate the others as well."
Hearing that, the students wore thoughtful expressions. Although the earlier match had spiraled out of control, they couldn't deny the sheer power of Azrael's attack.
Most hadn't even been able to follow his movements before Dante was sent flying out of the ring.
Elyara, the level 16 elven woman had a pensive look in her eyes. It was clear she was tempted to step forward. Just as she was about to make her move, someone else beat her to it.
Xavier and the others looked on in surprise as Luo Bingqing jumped up onto the ring.