"No fighting is allowed in this area!" a voice broke through the escalating tension between Orion and Alec, Orion looked up to see a black-armoured Mage guard walking toward them.
The guard possessed a Tier 5 cultivation realm, but Orion wasn’t concerned; as he believed he could handle the guard, however, before he could respond, to the guard Alec beat him to it.
"Oh, we’re not fighting, just old acquaintances saying hello after a few months away!" Alec turned to face the guard and said.
The guard stared narrowly at Alec before nodding and walking away.
"Tell me, is that another one of Selene’s dogs, ready to do anything for you now?" Orion seethed in anger.
Alec simply gave him a hard stare before shaking his head.
"I know what you want, you’re trying to provoke me into fighting with you, but the thing is, you no longer interest me, in fact, if we were to fight, I promise you would lose pitifully. So, I’m giving you face, but if you still want to lose your reputation that badly, follow me to the arena."
Orion despised Alec’s tone, but he couldn’t deny the truth in his words.
He truly did want to end the fight with Alec now, and he feared that if he gave Alec more time, Alec might actually surpass him, making it impossible for him to defeat him.
So he Grumpily followed behind Alec with his squad, while Alec’s team trailed behind as well, worried about Alec’s decision.
They believed he could have prolonged the battle until after the inter-academy competition, but Alec had a different plan in mind.
Alec knew that Orion would never cease to bother him, dealing with him now seemed like the best course of action.
As he didn’t want the situation with Orion to escalate further; he was prepared to defeat him thoroughly until he accepted that he was no match for Alec.
As Alec passed by, students were surprised to see him returning with his team to the Academy, they had heard news on how he was to lead ten students to represent the academy, in the inter-academy competition.
However, when they noticed Orion walking beside him, and the direction they were heading was toward the Arena, news spread rapidly.
As countless students rushed to the arena, eager to catch a glimpse of the impending life-and-death battle.
The thoughts of who would emerge victorious consumed the minds of the students, leading a certain group to establish a local betting shop with odds favouring Orion.
As he was the only Tier 5 Mage among the two and someone believed by most of the students to be the likely winner, so almost everyone placed their bets on him.
Collins arrived at the school gates, only to find Alec and his team nowhere in sight, he approached one of the black-armoured mage guards to inquire about their whereabouts, and soon learned that Alec and Orion had headed toward the arena.
A jolt of realization surged through Collins at that moment, as he knew he was in deep trouble.
Selene had explicitly instructed him to bring Alec and the team back, yet it appeared he had arrived too late to intercept them before Orion did.
And If anything were to happen to Alec, the academy’s sole hope for achieving a favourable position in the competition, Collins could only brace himself to face Selene’s direct wrath.
Not only Collins, but other instructors soon received news that a life-and-death battle was about to commence.
Initially perplexed, they sought to identify who had agreed to such a high-stakes confrontation.
But It wasn’t long before they received a briefing that it involved Terran dunce’s disciple, and Orion.
This revelation piqued the interest of numerous instructors, prompting them to fly out from their respective mountain peaks in order to witness the fierce clash.
Behind the scenes, there had been numerous wagers regarding when Alec would meet his demise.
Everyone believed that the fact he was living in Terran’s peak and was his new star disciple, that would surely lead to his untimely death.
Yet, against all expectations, Alec still stood alive and untouched.
But now, he prepared himself to enter into a life-and-death battle against one of the geniuses of the War God Mage Academy, someone of higher rank than him.
So most of the instructors who attended the battle did so with the intention of gloating over Terran’s misfortune when Alec is killed.
"I warned him, but he never listens, i hope he is able to save that boy," Elder Alfred muttered as he settled himself onto his bed properly.
Having received a mental message about the events and recalling his conversation with Terran, Elder Alfred couldn’t help but hope for the best outcome in this perilous situation.
In that moment, Elder Alfred was more interested in sleeping than watching someone meet their demise.
He grumbled and shifted on his bed, a snort escaping from his nose, as he had just received a command from the new Dean, asking him to be present at the arena.
"Damn it! Can’t an old man sleep in peace?" Elder Alfred complained, his frustration evident.
Back at the arena, Alec and Orion stood on opposite sides, their gazes fixed on each other.
With his hands casually tucked into his pockets, Alec spoke up.
"You can back down now, i don’t want your blood on my hands." His cool demeanor infuriated Orion.
"You should be the one begging, because when I’m done with you, you’ll be sorry!" Orion retorted in a chilling voice that made Alec shake his head.
"Well, it can’t be helped," Alec replied.
The crowd surrounding the arena had swelled to sizes greater than usual, with every seat filled to the brim, only the seats reserved for the instructors remained partially empty, as only a few had shown up.
Though Orion’s instructor, who had leaked the news of Alec’s team returning to his disciple so he could seek revenge, was already present, with a satisfied smile on his face.
He aimed to use this opportunity to help his chief disciple regain focus and demoralize Terran further.
To him, it was like killing two birds with one stone, he made sure to be present, confident that his disciple would emerge victorious and that Terran would attempt to intervene to stop his disciple’s execution.
He had promised himself that no matter what attack Terran threw, he would be there to halt him.
Instructor Walter approached Alec with a smile, holding out a scroll of agreement.
This document needed to be signed before engaging in a life-and-death battle, demonstrating that the participants were not forced into it.
Alec raised his Bloody Changdao slightly from its scabbard, nicking his thumb to leave a bloodstain, then stamped his spot with his bloody thumb.
As Instructor Walter then walked to the other side where Orion was, repeating the same process.
Instructor Walter raised the scroll of agreement high when they have both signed and declared,
"With both parties’ consent to this life-and-death battle, I declare it begun!"
He slammed the scroll onto the middle of the arena, instantly triggering the activation of a light, transparent dome that covered the main fighting stage. Orion wasted no time and charged fiercely towards Alec.
Meanwhile, among the crowd, a figure concealed their face while watching the intense battle with a wide, unsettling smile.
At the same time, another individual sitting among the instructors wore an eerie grin.
Although their motives for being there might have differed, it was evident that they shared a common
For one of the participant’s blood to spill in the life-and-death battle.