Things are gonna get riled up... and I have nothing much to say except to leave your comments down below! And as always, enjoy the chapter. ;)

~ Artemis University, The Stadium

Here we are at the showdown. In the stadium, there is a large white circle drawn at the centre of the dirt field, which is approximately the size of a standard football field, where the two participants of the duel are supposed to start at each end of. Dirt crunched and seats ruffled in this Colosseum-style stadium, as Lily stood opposite of me, back facing the entrance. Fenjel and her entourage sits on the left side of the stadium, while Ed and Hylia sits on the right. Pion and Lloyd seems to be unavailable at this time, unfortunately, but it doesn’t matter as long as there is somebody from my team here to witness the duel.

“And I thought you would’ve ran away, but I guess you just can’t tell the difference between us. I’ll end this quick for you.” Lily said as she prepared her stance and began to circulate the mana within her body.

Being a third-order, her mana capacity definitely isn’t lacking, but that won’t be any problem. She also has dual-affinity with fire and earth, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem either too.

The wind howls through the pillars of the stadium as the receptionist announced, “Both parties, get ready. There will be only one round. Ready, set, start!“

*DING*

As soon as the sound of the bell reached my ears, I executed the magic I prepared. As expected, she began to launch fireballs… at my images.

I used a technique of bending air in a specific way to refract light and created multiple images of myself in a circle around Lily while my real body is invisible to the naked eye. The rest of the crowd will not be able to see my images, but only me, walking straight towards her while she shoots fireballs everywhere but at me.

As I walked without fear or hesitation towards her, steadily closing in on her from all sides, she began to change techniques and with a swipe of her hand, a wave of fire flew outwards and a wall of rock forms around her. Smart, but not enough.

Raising my hand, I created a vortex at multiple locations of where my images to make them seem as if they are casting the magic. The fire vortex dissipates as they hit the rock wall, destroying the rock wall. As though there wasn’t anything in the way at all, I kept moving and let the images close in slowly, step by step.

Unfazed, she tried to blast her way out but her feet were already embedded into the ground, enforced by roots and hardened with ice. I could see her cursing me, her blood boiling making the entire area warm, but that is only a sign that my plan is working as intended. It was only a few more steps away, but I continued to move the same.

Even after seeing escaping did not work one bit, she still didn’t freak out and rampage. Yes, that’s right, close your eyes and try to detect my mana flow like the smart girl you are… but too bad that all my images also have an artificial mana flow within them. Time has run out for her.

The temperature around starts getting hotter and hotter. Looks like she’s trying to use a large area fire attack now, but it doesn’t matter anymore. I stood an arm’s length in front of her, disabling all my images one by one, and last, my invisibility, while looking down at her.

It’s time for the final move. I raised my hand while she tried to escape as hard as she could, face still not showing a single sign of defeat. But all she needs now is just a little push under the line.

*Tap*

Her eyes immediately rolled up as I gently touched her forehead with my finger. All that took was a little triggering of certain parts of the brain in a specific manner. The area cools with the release of her control of magic.

Her body falls, devoid of any strength, overcame by an unstoppable gush of pleasurable feeling. I caught her in my arms as she turns limp like a slush of jelly. Releasing the trap I had set on her feet, I gently laid her down on the ground, twitching, completely weak and vulnerable.

The receptionist had her mind stuck in awe and horror, but a wave from me brings her mind back to the body, she announces, “Earth… wins the duel!”

The deed is done and I have things to do, good thing this duel ended in about a single minute, so it wasn’t much of a problem. I looked around and see Ed and Hylia still stuck to their seats, while the rest of the entourage rushed down to check the condition of their leader. Fenjel sits with her maid at her side, face clearly amused with the duel.

“Yaawwnn~ Well, that’s that. Let’s go on and continue our original task, Salty.”

“That was a dirty trick but I don’t like her attitude anyway, so she deserved it. Hmpf.” Salty replied.

I walked out of the stadium and heard a familiar voice.

“Hey, Earth! What happened?” The reptilian Lloyd after seeing me coming out of the stadium, ran over and asked me, while Pion at the side was bent over on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

“Oh it was nothing, the duel was settled with me as the winner. Ed and Hylia are still inside, please do go over to revive them. I’ve got things to do now, so bye!” I swiftly pushed the task of explaining to Ed and Hylia. And the reviving part was true, so that’s two birds with one stone!

“You… won against her… that Infernal Queen!? And without as much as a SINGLE SCRATCH?!” Lloyd was in a little shock.

Pion looked at Lloyd with utter displeasure. “See? We should have skipped that boring class and come here to watch instead. You said there were only ten minutes left to the class, and also that it would be a one-sided battle against Earth! Now I have missed all the interesting parts, that’s your fault! Hnngh!”

As Pion said that, his fluffy ears and fur stood straight in anger, and I totally want to stroke it, but it would be really inappropriate right now…

“Guhh… we’ll go check on Ed and Hylia…”

The both of them went into the stadium, so that’s taken care of. I took my bag which I had left at the entrance, and headed on out. It’s time for some cleaning up of the city! Let’s go Salty!

“Let’s not waste any more time…”

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“Your Majesty! I have dire news- argghh LET GO OF ME! PROPHET DROL-NOMED SENT ME!” I tried to warn the king but the stupid guards just tried to hold me back and pull me away from the room. Do they not know how important is the message I have?!

“Send him awa- wait, did you just say Prophet Drol-nomed?! GUARDS! Let go of him, let him speak.” The King commanded in a deep voice, and the stupid guards finally let go of me and returned to their positions. I turned to face the King, then knelt my right knee down on the red velvet carpet to start conveying my news.

“I am here to convey a message by Prophet Drol-nomed, I’m sure Your Majesty knows what this means. Here is what the scroll says, may you please read it.” I handed over the scroll by the prophet to one of the King’s men who brought it up to his throne for him. How great to be a King, you don’t even need to move a finger to take something.

He examined the scroll, and nodding knowing it is the real deal. He reads, “‘Something is awakened, higher than demons, ancient as birth’. This… this is the first time the prophet ever wrote more than two lines in a prophet. And it’s something darker than demons… so it is not about the demons, but something worse or more powerful than them… this can’t be good news. We have to prepare, and this may just be even more than the birth of previous Demon Lords… Gorphos! Prepare the army, you know what to do. Yengel! Prepare the hero summoning ritual and everything we need for the heroes. This is genuine.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!” A brawny dude at the side of the King and a beautiful braided, white-haired lady said in sync, and swiftly moved out of the room to execute their jobs without any hesitation.

The same guy that took the scroll returned it back to me, and my job here is done. “That is all, Your Majesty. I shall take my leave, I have still yet to relay the message to everyone.”

“That is unfortunate, but you have such an important responsibility. Where are you headed next? I shall arrange an Iron Bull ride for you and a carriage to the station, as well as supplies for your mission.”

“That is, the Marth Capital of Magire Kingdom, Your Majesty. I thank for the generosity.”

While keeping my head down, I retreated to the huge wooden door before I lifted my head back up. Phew, that was a little bit tiring. I have the next destination to go to, but the Iron Bull ride will still take four days, and another three days on road from the nearest station of Melm to the capital city of Marth.

That should be plenty enough time to rest. The world must be known of this possible threat, whatever it may be. The prophet never mentioned anything more than those three lines, even to me. However, for such beings to awaken now… what exactly are their purpose? Are they here to bring destruction upon the world? I have got a feeling that they were somehow involved in that event a few years ago… oh well, that’s not my problem anyway. My only problem is to get my job done.

I went outside to the snowy garden, a cliff beyond it. This magnificent castle is built upon a sturdy mountain, and as beautiful as people say it is, but unfortunately I do not have a chance to get a full view of it due to the heavy snow of this season. Nevermind that then. I boarded the carriage that is already waiting for me, and headed off to the Iron Bull station in this city.

*Yaaaawn*

The heating magic in this carriage is so comfortable I think I’m going to fall asleep…… mmm

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