章 66: Unleashed
Was Adrias' entrance that impressive?
Not only the audience, but even the announcer was unable to speak.
Then, someone in the VIP seats cleared their throat, and the announcer finally regained his composure and spoke up.
"Yes, I have confirmed the participation. Now, let the first match of the Round of 32 begin! It's Dienne Alben versus Adrias Cromwell!"
Finally, with a proper start announced, the crowd erupted in cheers.
Those who were worried about not being able to witness Dianne Alben's dazzling magic were overjoyed by Adrias' appearance.
Among them, there was not a single person who predicted Adrias's victory.
Their only hope was that he could endure for as long as possible and provide them with an entertaining spectacle.
As Dianne walked towards the center of the arena, she looked at Adrias and asked, "What happened to you?"
"I had some business to take care of," Adrias calmly replied, drawing his sword from his waist.
Watching his actions, Dianne raised an eyebrow and said, "Give me some time. It's not in my nature to attack an unprepared opponent."
"Are you afraid?"
"What?"
"I'm always prepared. Enough with the talk, let's get started."
Adrias' provocative words ignited a spark in Dianne's eyes.
How dare he dismiss her words of consideration like that?
"Fine. If you insist..."
Mana began to gather around Dianne.
Her talent for mana surpassed mere manipulation, and the preparation process for her magic was extraordinary.
"I won't hold back."
A massive fireball appeared, obscuring the sun with its presence.
The problem was that it wasn't just one or two fireballs; it was a total of five.
The astonishing sight made even the judges, who were responsible for overseeing the match, tense up.
"On my part..."
In contrast, Adrias, with a relaxed demeanor, lowered his sword to the ground as if he were about to leap forward.
"I won't hold back and will give it my all."
Bang!
Adrias swiftly darted forward with unexpected speed, and in response, Dianne unconsciously launched a poorly prepared spell towards him.
Whoosh!
An incredibly hot fireball poured down like a rain of fire from hell.
Adrias managed to dodge the first four fireballs with his physical abilities, and with a swing of his sword, he deflected the fifth fireball.
Boom! The flame burst apart upon contact with the sword, engulfing the surroundings.
Through the torn fireballs, Adrias could be seen, his eyes wide open and a smile on his face.
His appearance was akin to that of a monster who enjoyed fighting.
"What in the world...?"
Dianne struggled to remain calm in the face of this incomprehensible phenomenon.
How was Adrias able to manipulate knight's mana, and was he really Adrias?
She pushed those thoughts aside for now and focused on preparing her next spell.
Once again, Adrias approached her with explosive speed.
However, Dianne's next spell was not an offensive one.
Swoosh!
As Adrias swung his sword, realizing it had struck nothing, he laughed again.
Unexpectedly, he had experience in manipulating spatial magic.
Dianne quickly distanced herself using spatial magic, raising her tension to its peak, erasing any complacency.
At this moment, Adrias had to be considered a knight.
However, judging by his physical condition, he wasn't at 100% capacity.
Dianne was confident she could defeat him.
"Lightning Magic."
She prepared a spell for the use of great knights.
If she could unleash it within a wide range, there would be no way for even Adrias to evade or deflect it.
Zap, zap!
Lightning mana danced from Dianne's eyes.
Observing the lightning attribute mana, Adrias swiftly charged towards her.
But Dianne's spell was faster.
"Thunder Cobra."
Tremendous currents flowed from Dianne and crawled along the ground.
As Adrias approached, it seemed as though the massive currents would entangle him.
Crackle!
Adrias casually erected a stone wall to protect himself from the current that was about to entangle him.
Crackle.
Dianne's Thunder Cobra, while an intermediate-level spell, couldn't break through the earth magic and dissipated.
Normally, Dianne wouldn't have made such a mistake, but she was too taken aback and momentarily forgot that Adrias had earth magic at his disposal.
"Disaster..."
Having already used her turn, Dianne could only watch as Adrias approached, ignoring the Earth Shield she had erected.
"Do you give up?"
Adrias' words stung her pride for a moment.
How could she, the descendant of Alben, lose to someone like him?
She couldn't tolerate it.
Oooom.
The resonance of mana reverberated throughout the arena.
Among those seated in the VIP section, individuals who were considered powerful couldn't hide their surprise.
"Incredible mana resonance!"
Dianne's heart pounded as if it would burst.
Dianne had unleashed techniques she had been unable to reproduce despite deliberate efforts.
"The Explosive Flame Lance and..."
In front of her, a lance made of flames materialized and shot towards Adrias.
However, Adrias evaded the straight-flying lance without much effort, continuing his advance.
...or so he attempted.
Kwaaaang!
With a massive explosion, Adrias, engulfed in flames, dispersed the black smoke that enveloped him.
Although he had protected his body with mana, he still received significant damage.
Dianne's magic was not limited to just the flame lance.
She had performed double-casting, a difficult technique, using spatial magic to transfer the lance of flames, hitting Adrias. It was a calculation and mana arrangement that most mages would find challenging to attempt.
Adrias' smile grew even wider.
'That's it, Dianne.'
Adrias found pleasure in Dianne's growth.
Her growth as a player was as rewarding as his own growth.
Whiiing!
But Dianne's magic wasn't over yet.
As if the precasting was complete, various spells began to be cast through double-casting.
With no signs of struggle or exhaustion, she flawlessly handled the double-casting with her own skills.
Adrias' smile turned into a bitter laugh.
'This is going to be a challenge for me too.'
His combat talent allowed him to read the signs in his opponent's movements and predict their next actions.
However, Dianne's spatial magic involved transferring the space itself, making it unpredictable.
Finally, with spatial transfer magic, spells poured in from all directions.
As Adrias, his only option was to move his body as much as possible to prevent Dianne from tracking him with her eyes.
Kwaaang!
Crackle.
Dianne was not simply called a genius for nothing.
Although she couldn't track him with her eyes, her tremendous mental calculation allowed her to predict Adrias's movements and use magic accordingly.
Even if Adrias managed to catch up to her, she used spatial magic to create distance.
Eventually, with accumulated damage, Adrias suddenly came to a halt.
Taking advantage of this moment, Dianne's calculations became smoother, and she unleashed magic like a maniac.
"Haah!"
Swinging her sword, she unleashed spells that Adrias had to either sever or block.
Adrias, panting, took a deep breath after evading or blocking Dianne's onslaught.
To defeat the awakened Dianne, he needed to take special measures.
His mana took on a dull nature.
He swung his mana, gathered tightly together, with his stiffened sword.
Kwa-gagagak!
The earth split apart.
Adrias' sword wind tore through the ground, shattering the terrain of the arena and shaking the ground where Dianne stood.
Dianne, who was attempting to avoid it through spatial movement, lost her balance and collapsed from the crumbling ground.
Ah...!
Her concentration broke, and the double-casting came to an end.
In the first place, she didn't have much mana left.
Dianne sensed her impending defeat.
Even though she had participated in tournaments every year since her second year and had experienced numerous losses, she thought this time would be different.
Especially in this fight, she believed her skills were at a level that could defeat the winner of last year's tournament.
'But I still lost.'
She couldn't deny her disappointment, but at the same time, she was satisfied with the abilities she had acquired through this fight.
She had become stronger.
Although she lost this time, she thought that next time...
"Match over!"
The sudden voice of the referee snapped Dianne out of her contemplation, and she looked around in confusion.
What happened? Did the match end just because I didn't do anything?
However, the voice of the announcer that came again perplexed her.
"Winner! Blue Corner! Dianne Alben!"
Only then did she notice Adrias, who was standing there, bloodied and impaling his sword into the ground.
Those wounds were already there when he arrived here, but they seemed to be affected by the magic she had cast, causing the previously healed wounds to be re-injured.
"I can't accept this."
Unconsciously, Dianne murmured to herself.
This isn't my victory.
If he had been in perfect condition, the one lying on the ground right now would have been none other than herself.
"I can't accept this!"
As she shouted and approached the referee, someone suddenly blocked her path.
In an instant, Dianne looked at the person who appeared before her with trembling eyes.
"Father..."
"You did well. It was an excellent battle."
"No, this isn't me winning. I never intended to win like this..."
"Dianne."
But Bart's strong voice interrupted Dianne's words.
"In battle, there is no 'if.' Adrias not taking care of his body is also a form of skill. The consequences are solely his responsibility, not something you should worry about."
"At the very least, ending a match like this doesn't make sense. Look! Adrias is still standing and hasn't given up. Why is the match being halted, and the winner being decided?"
In response to her words, Bart gently caressed his daughter's head.
Then he took her hand and walked together towards Adrias, who was being examined by the referee.
"Dianne, that aspect of yours is truly commendable. Being just is a rare virtue."
Approaching closer and confirming Adrias' condition, he smiled.
It was hard to understand what made him so satisfied.
Laughing brightly, he was still unconscious in that state.
It was surprising enough that a person could be unconscious while standing, but seeing his expression, Dianne thought that she never wanted to fight him again.
Adrius was enjoying a fight, even after he had probably already fought.
'Perhaps... a pervert?'
Dianne had a random thought, unrelated to victory or defeat.
.
.
.
.
Kwa-gagagak!
Witnessing the sword wind, mixed with sword energy, shattering the floor of the main arena, Bart unknowingly rose from his seat.
However, the people around him who were watching the match with bated breath also didn't notice.
Fortunately, the sword wind only shattered the ground and didn't harm Dianne.
'No, he intentionally controlled his power.'
Bart, who was still standing, perceived it through the magic used in his eyes.
That damn Adrias deliberately held back his power because he was afraid that Dianne might get hurt.
Even if that was the case, it was still astonishing.
The floor of the main arena was not ordinary.
As the place where the tournament took place, the material itself, as well as the magic circle that Bart personally designed, made it nearly impossible to leave a scratch.
And now, Adrias had shattered the floor with his reduced strength.
This fact would probably be known to everyone sitting in the VIP seats.
'He decided not to hide it... The storm is about to come.'
And it felt like it wouldn't be a mere breeze, but a precursor to a typhoon.
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