Bab 1297: -1281- Dragon Spirit
Time passed slowly.
Before anyone realized it, the second week of the new semester had arrived, and Hagun Academy had become much noisier and more bustling than before.
Students gathered in small groups, walking around the academy, all with expectant expressions, heading in various directions.
The places they headed to were the training grounds, facilities frequently used within Hagun Academy.
As national assets, Mage-Knights naturally needed considerable combat skills.
Leaving aside international warfare, Mage-Knights also had to contend with terrorist organizations and criminal groups that abused Blazer abilities.
After officially graduating and receiving their Mage-Knight certifications, combat opportunities would be endless. Even those aiming to participate in international competitions had numerous chances to showcase their strength, making combat skills indispensable for Mage-Knights.
Thus, in any Knight Academy, the most important courses were undoubtedly practical combat courses.
In addition to daily training and various official competitions, combat facilities were indispensable for the Seven Knight Academies.
Hagun Academy had several domed arenas scattered throughout the campus. Each had a battle area approximately 100 meters in diameter, surrounded by tiered seating for spectators, making them some of the most crucial and frequently used facilities on campus.
Naturally, the selection battles for the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival, officially starting this week, would also take place in these training grounds.
For the students, this was nothing short of a festival.
The academy used several training grounds simultaneously, scheduling selection battles in different arenas, allowing students to choose which matches to watch. This made the academy's atmosphere quite lively, as the selection battles had officially begun, and students eagerly went to watch the matches.
The schedules, locations, and participants of the matches were posted on the official website, allowing students to browse freely and decide which battles to watch.
From this day until the end of the selection battles, Hagun Academy would host matches almost daily, except on holidays. Students would likely treat this as entertainment, thoroughly enjoying the events.
In this context, one training ground, in particular, was not hosting any selection battles. There were no spectators, and it had been off-limits for several days, sparking much discussion among students and teachers, who were curious about the reason.
The reason was quite simple.
The training ground had been requisitioned by two students highly regarded by the chairman, Shinguji Kurono.
At this moment, these two students stood facing each other in the training circle.
— Rorelai Arnett.
— Stella Vermillion.
These two students were the academy's highest-ranked A-Rank Knights.
Now, these two A-Rank Knights stood facing each other, their bodies emitting astounding magical power.
"Let's begin."
Rozen, observing Stella, who was exuding even greater magical power than he was, smiled briefly and urged her on.
"Alright."
Stella answered resolutely, taking a deep breath.
"Thump thump...!"
At that moment, Stella's chest pounded with powerful heartbeats.
"Boom...!"
Simultaneously, Stella's crimson hair floated up, and flames flickered around her hair, emitting intense heat that distorted the surrounding air and enveloped the entire arena in a searing glow.
The princess of the Vermillion Empire radiated light from within her very bones, synchronized with her powerful heartbeat.
Finally, a mark appeared on Stella's chest.
A glowing scar, like a branding iron, appeared on her chest.
Behind her, the phantom of a giant dragon emerged.
Then...
"■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■—!"
Stella opened her mouth wide, revealing her fangs, and roared at the sky.
The sound was not something a human could produce.
The booming noise, like crashing waves, formed sound waves that turned into a storm, sweeping in all directions.
At that moment, Stella abandoned her human form and transformed into a dragon.
This was Stella's true power—
"Dragon Spirit!"
Stella awakened her dragon power, maintaining control over the energy erupting from her body without succumbing to frenzy. The light and heat rolled off her in waves.
Seeing Stella like this, a glint flashed in Rozen's eyes.
Next...
"Here I come!"
With this warning, Stella's strong legs suddenly stepped forward and then came down.
"Boom!"
With an explosive sound, Stella crushed the ground of the battle circle, melting the shattered stones into lava, turning the ground beneath her into a fiery pool.
Stella, bursting with such power, shot forward. The dragon's phantom behind her spread its wings wide, making Stella appear like a dragon herself, streaking towards Rozen like a fiery meteor.
"Bang!"
Almost simultaneously, the ground around Rozen shattered.
Silver-white chains erupted from the ground, surrounding Rozen and spinning rapidly, forming a tornado-like barrier.
The chains created an impenetrable cage, preventing any outside attacks from reaching Rozen.
Combined with the unique properties of the Injunction Shackles, which could not be broken by anything less than divine force, Rozen could protect himself by surrounding himself with the spinning chains. Stella had no chance of breaking through this barrier.
This had been proven countless times in their previous practice matches.
However, Stella ignored this and charged straight into the chain tornado without summoning her Device, Lævateinn. She simply raised her fist, which emitted an intense heat that distorted the air around it.
"Haahhhhhhh—!"
In the next second, Stella let out a loud shout, raising both her fists and slamming them into the chain tornado before her, unleashing a blow that evaporated the air.
"Boom—!"
When Stella's blazing fists struck the spinning chains, a thunderous roar echoed, and the force of the wind expanded like a storm in all directions.
The power of this punch was astonishing.
Under such tremendous force, the silver-white chains directly clashing with Stella's fists trembled violently and were sent flying.
"Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang—!"
Stella's fists turned into countless heavy blows, each impact accompanied by a terrifying roar, sending all the silver-white chains flying.
Then, Stella closed in on Rozen.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone