Lucas charged at Derek before any of the other kids could even react.
But Derek? He simply stood there.. calm, composed, and completely unfazed.
Just as Lucas’s fist was about to land, Derek twisted his body slightly to the side, effortlessly evading the punch. And right after that, he buried a left hook to Lucas’s lat.
Lucas’s feet left the ground as his body flew nearly twenty meters before crashing down with a dull thud.
From the sidelines, Cecilia narrowed her eyes. ’This boy... He’s not just strong. He’s skilled.’
Meanwhile, the remaining three contestants, all of whom were mages, exchanged glances. "That cultivator kid is dangerous," one of them whispered. "Only three of us can pass. Cecilia Duskblade is already out of the question. Even if all of us attacked together, we wouldn’t be able to beat her. But that kid... if we work together, we can surely eliminate him. Then we’ll deal with Lucas. If we work together, he won’t be a problem either."
With silent agreement, the three mages launched themselves at Derek at once.
Arlen who was an ice mage, raised his hand as multiple razor-sharp ice bullets materialized in the air. He thrust his palm forward, sending them hurtling toward Derek.
Derek, who had been calmly waiting for Lucas to make his next move after sending him flying, sensed the incoming assault.
The ice bullets whistled through the air, but Derek’s expression still didn’t waver. Like a dancer in rhythm with an unseen melody, he weaved between them.. fluid, precise, untouchable.
While dodging the attacks, he shot toward Arlen.
But before he could close the gap..
More attacks erupted from the other two mages, crashing down to block his path.
Theo who was a fire mage, had hurled a blazing fireball.
Sylvie, on the other hand, had lightning affinity. Sparks crackled at her fingertips as a lightning bolt shot forward, sizzling through the air.
Two spells from two directions. One target.
He didn’t even flinch.
Just as the attacks closed in, he sprang into the air, flipping sideways mid-flight, and narrowly evaded both the fireball and the lightning bolt in a single fluid motion.
"What?!" Both Theo and Sylvie gasped in disbelief.
Derek was still in motion, unfocused. There was no way, he should’ve been able to adjust and dodge both attacks.
Both Theo and Sylvie froze in shock.
And before the two could recover from their daze, Derek launched forward like a spell bullet himself, faster than their eyes could follow properly.
In the blink of an eye, he closed the distance between him and Arlen.
A devastating punch buried itself deep into Arlen’s stomach before he could cast another spell or even react.
His body collapsed on the ground as he gasped clutching his stomach.
Soon his body slowly shimmered and began vanishing, transporting back to the center of the fighting arena.
From the gallery, Daisy clasped her hands together, her eyes sparkling with joy. "See? I told you he’d be fine!" she beamed.
It hadn’t even been five minutes and already, one of the candidates was out.
And it was her brother who was behind it.
Only she knew just how glad she truly was.
Beside her, Martha also finally let out a long breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding. The tension in her chest loosened a bit.
But Arthur... he still looked worried.
His gaze remained on the panel hovering over the rift Derek has entered.
’The Glaciblade family... they’re no ordinary name. And Cecilia Glaciblade, who is considered a prodigy even in her family is still inside. On top of that, there are three more mages who all seem hell-bent on getting Derek disqualified first... I just hope he can hold on.’
Meanwhile, all the other spectators were baffled as well.
"That kid! He took down a mage this fast?!"
"Who the hell is he?! Which noble family is he from? Or is he... is he someone from the royal palace? Or else how can this be even possible?!" Content originally comes from N0veI.Fiɾe.net
Shocked murmurs rippled in the air.
Inside the rift, Lucas had already stood up by now. His earlier smugness and arrogance were shaken a bit.
’He... he took down a mage that easily?! How?! He is clearly younger than all of us here. And he is clearly nothing more than a cultivator. Then how can he be this strong? How can he be this fast?!’ He wondered with widened eyes.
Cecilia didn’t say anything. She still hadn’t moved a muscle. Only watching Derek.
Theo and Sylvie moved beside Lucas quickly. "If we want to take him out, we should work together. You know yourself.. you can’t beat him on your own," Sylvie said to Lucas.
Now with Arlen already down, she knew she and Theo alone wouldn’t be a match against Derek. Their earlier delusion had totally faded by now.
So, they had changed their plan... at least for now.
Working together with Lucas seemed to be the only option.
Lucas looked at Theo and Sylvie, one after the other... and then gave a silent nod. His only goal was to eliminate Derek now. He didn’t care if any of them were plotting against him.
And then, they moved...
The three spread out, taking positions at different corners of the battlefield, forming a deadly triangle around Derek.
A second later, spells began to rain down on Derek.
Lucas conjured fireballs and hurled them one after another with blazing speed.
Theo did the same. Like Lucas, he also had fire affinity, and their magical strength appeared nearly identical.
Meanwhile, Sylvie’s fingertips crackled with energy as she launched bolt after bolt of sizzling lightning.
Cecilia still didn’t move. She simply watched as the three of them attacked Derek. It felt as if she was waiting for something.
Meanwhile, from the center of the storm, Derek narrowed his eyes.
’What a pain... Looks like I’ll have to go all out. Otherwise... I might actually lose.’