The Corrosion Orb hurtled toward Kael, its trajectory lethal. Yet Kael calmly raised his scepter. The cobalt flames, as if sentient, coalesced into a shield before him.
"Such spell manipulation…"
Even the stoic Austin arched an eyebrow at the spectacle.
"To command a large-scale flame spell with such precision… Remarkable control. Fascinating lad," Austin remarked approvingly.
Mastering spells like Vacuum Flame Sea demanded immense mental fortitude—most mages could only unleash such magic, never truly controlling it. Without finesse, area spells often underperformed compared to focused attacks.
Ethan nodded inwardly. Though Kael had largely self-taught these techniques—a deliberate choice on Ethan's part—the results proved exceptional. The boy's mysterious innovations, while beyond Ethan's teachings, reflected their unspoken synergy.
The cobalt shield resisted the orb's corrosive bite, though dark energy gnawed a gaping hole through its center. As the orb dissipated, Kael's inferno roared anew, tidal waves of flame engulfing Korgoth.
BOOM!
Korgoth vanished within the conflagration. Gasps swept the stands—Kael's dominance seemed absolute.
"Damnation! I bet ten thousand gold on Korgoth!" a gambler wailed.
When the flames subsided, a scorched figure emerged. Korgoth stood trembling, robes charred, skin blotched with burns. A fading Dark Shield aura shimmered before him—a last-moment defense that had barely spared him collapse.
"Damn!" Finn, having easily dispatched his own opponent—a forgettable fifth-tier mage—arrived at Kael's arena just as the Vacuum Flame Sea engulfed Korgoth. His scalp prickled. "Korgoth's completely outmatched? Kael's becoming monstrous… A freshman overwhelming a third-year? Absurd…"
Kael's growth defied logic. Though his tier remained unchanged, each passing week revealed new, unrecognizable depths—a trajectory pointing inevitably toward breakthrough.
Korgoth seethed. Never before had a peer—no, a junior—pressed him so fiercely. The humiliation bit deep.
Nearby, Carlos—last tournament's fifth-ranked Dark Knight—watched intently. One more victory would pit him against today's winner. "I expected Korgoth to dominate. Yet this Kael… To hide his fire magic against Fillet? Clever." His eyes gleamed with anticipation.
"Persistent." Kael frowned. His finishing strike should've ended this.
Korgoth wiped blood from his lip, staff lancing forward as he chanted clipped syllables.
"Mana Disruption!"
A flick of the Sacred Flame Scepter. Korgoth's magic spiraled into chaos, forcing him to abort mid-cast. How does a freshman master both area spells and disruption?
Retreating in ghostly arcs, Korgoth maintained ten meters' distance—a fragile buffer.
"Flame Demon's Hand!" Silver sigils blazed as Kael's spell reignited the arena.
"Corrosion Orb!"
The collision shook the stadium. Energy waves rippled through the air—a deadlock between titans.
Korgoth's stronger than Yuri… Yanhua's elites outclass Lièyáng City's best. Kael recalibrated mid-fight.
Their duel unfolded in lightning exchanges—spells woven at inhuman speed, each clash a symphony of devastation that held the crowd breathless.
Both spells disintegrated simultaneously. Korgoth gritted his teeth, a frosty glint flashing in his eyes.
Now!
He began chanting an arcane, esoteric incantation while retreating further—evading Kael's disruption range. A grand-scale spell brewed within his staff.
Noticing this, Kael retaliated: "Meteor Flame Rain!"
The syllables flowed with razor focus. As his mind sharpened, magical syllables compressed further. The Sacred Flame Scepter blazed with a radiant silver hexagram—another Silver Star Sigil breakthrough mid-casting!
"By the gods! Kael's third Silver Star Sigil mastery!" Vesper gasped.
Finn groaned inwardly. Does this monster ever stop improving?
The accelerated incantation wrong-footed Korgoth. Before he could adjust, the meteor shower descended like fiery hail.
CRACK-BOOM!
Flaming projectiles tore through the air, roaring from atmospheric friction.
"Dark Judgment!"
Korgoth's spell, though rushed, completed just in time. Dark magic coalesced into obsidian blades that slashed upward at the meteor swarm. But against the sheer volume of fiery projectiles—amplified by the cobalt flames' ferocity—even darkness faltered.
CRASH!
The meteors pummeled the arena like divine wrath, the ground trembling as Korgoth was hurled beyond the boundary lines.
"Ugh!" Blood sprayed from Korgoth's lips. He stared blankly at his staff, defeat etched into his ashen face.
Silence gripped the crowd—then erupted into thunderous roars.
"Kael defeats the dark mage Korgoth, advancing to the quarterfinals! This stands as the Grand Martial Assembly's most spectacular mage duel yet!" Vesper proclaimed breathlessly. "Both displayed peerless skill, but Kael's cobalt flames and Silver Star Sigils cement him as Zone 1's prime contender!"
"Kael! Kael! Kael!"
The chants shook the stadium. Triumph over Korgoth had transformed Kael from rising star to legitimate legend.
Approaching his fallen rival, Kael offered a nod. "You fought well."
"You're formidable. I concede." Korgoth's voice rasped, though his gaze held no malice—only the grudging respect of a duelist outmatched.
Two consecutive victories, both against elite opponents, solidified Kael's path to the top eight. As Finn had lamented: Kael was becoming monstrous.