While the battle raged in the arena, Lucian—who had left moments earlier—was now seen striding rapidly toward his office.
His hands were tucked into the flowing sleeves of his robe, but his pace grew increasingly agitated, his footsteps echoing through the stone corridors.
He finally reached his office, slamming the door shut behind him. A deep frown etched itself onto his face as he collapsed into his chair, his palms covering his face. The chair swiveled in slow, frantic circles, the tension thick in the air until—
"Damn it!" Lucian roared, snatching a heavy object from his desk and hurling it into the wall. The impact cracked the surface, leaving a gaping hole as fragments rained to the floor.
"How can a kid like him wield four affinities—and they say it's no problem?! How can't there be a problem?! This kid is the problem!" he bellowed, yanking at his crimson hair in frustration.
"This is worse than I imagined. Depending on how long he's had these affinities, the threat level could be catastrophic. But if he used them simultaneously without a hint of strain, then… he's already adapted. Damn it!"
"Shit! I have to report this now and finally, the mission assigned to me two years ago, will finally be completed." Lucian's breathing slowed as a twisted smirk formed on his lips. "Finally… after two years, the mission would be complete." He brought his index and middle fingers to his forehead, closing his eyes.
Suddenly, a voice responded, not from the room, but inside his mind—distorted and otherworldly, as if whispered through the void.
"Tell him I've found the target," Lucian replied, his brows drawn together.
"Target? What target?"
"The prophecy. The mission from two years ago. You remember it now, don't you?"
A pause. Then the voice stuttered, as if recoiling in realization.
"Wait… don't tell me…"
"Yes," Lucian confirmed coldly. "Grey—the red-haired threat—has been found."
"You must tell him yourself. Prepare. Your transport is en route."
Lucian lowered his hand and exhaled sharply. "Grey Dawn… the answer you give in the coming days will determine your fate. Choose wrongly, and you won't live long enough to regret it."
A portal burst open in the middle of his office. It radiated an eerie, otherworldly presence—swirling with pitch-black energy, crackling with unnatural light, as if the void itself stared back.
With a resigned sigh, Lucian reached for a mask resting on his desk.
The mask was a grotesque masterpiece—void of emotion, forged from obsidian-like material that devoured all light. Strange runes shimmered along its surface, shifting like whispers etched by madness.
A wide, twisted grin was frozen into its form, stretched beyond human proportions in a mockery of laughter.
The eye sockets were hollow abysses, faintly glowing with dying embers. Wisps of dark mist slithered from its edges, curling through the air as though the mask exhaled dread.
When Lucian would speak, the words wouldn't come from his lips—but would echo into the space around him, like a curse invoked.
Tying his red hair into a long ponytail, he donned the mask and stepped into the portal. It snapped shut behind him with a sound like thunder swallowed by the void.
Back at the arena, the atmosphere had turned electric. The domain lay in ruins, shattered like fragile glass. Dave had been hurled across it like a broken doll, his once-imposing presence now reduced to rubble.
The crowd was in uproar.
"Who bet against the red-haired?! Pay up, suckers!" someone shouted gleefully.
"I can't believe Dave lost… to a lowerclassman."
"It's understandable. After all it felt like Dave had gone insane during the battle. If he had faced off against someone else and not this red haired, he would have won hands down."
"That further emphasizes that multi-elementalist are very dangerous. Throughout history, after the first ever mages, the emperor was the only one that had multiple affinities.
Now we've got a seventeen-year-old kid wielding four!"
"This kingdom keeps churning out monsters. I pity anyone who tries to go to war with us."
"Didn't something happen recently? The Lunaria and Wysteria squads were sent out for it, right?"
"Yeah! I heard a rumor that a single student took down five hundred soldiers on his own."
"No way… that had to be the captain or the demonic student, right?"
"Not quite. Word is, the demonic student showed up later. This happened before that. They say it was a Lunaria student."
"It must be him then—this Grey guy."
"No doubt. Now I understand why he didn't join the earlier matches. He would've wiped the floor with everyone."
"If there's a definition of 'overpowered,' Grey is it. He might even give the vice-captain a run for his money."
"I even heard Grey fought the demonic student once, and they brought down an entire village without going all out."
"Chills, literal chills. Imagine what happens when they do go all out…"
The sounds of something crackling in the air as if something was tearing through space itself was heard filling the air.
Amir on hearing the sound shot out from his seat, worry etched on his face as he snapped his fingers, the metal encasing around the viewing booth he was in shattered letting him enter the arena.
Before he could act, the crowd was already in a frenzy.
Grey heard the spectators shouting as they pointed directly behind Grey. With a raised eyebrow, he turned around to see a dozen portal opening up in the arena with one directly behind him then…
"Oh shit!" Grey cursed before…
Grey was hit so hard by something that his body was sent hurling back with tremendous speed, his face dripping with blood as his body slammed against the arena's wall.
"ARGH! It's a beast!"
"It's a portal break!"
Hey Magus Legion! I'm sorry for repeating that portal break again. I just needed to capture everyone's panic properly when they saw it.
Now, back to the matter at hand. I really want to thank you all for your support. Really, it was awesome being at top 3 of the collection ranking for twelve hours, then at top 10 for a whole twenty-four hours.