As an earth-element mage, Jura's defensive capabilities were clearly exceptional. His title, "Iron Rock," spoke for itself.
Usually, a single wall of stone he summoned was enough to halt his enemies in their tracks. But now, to block Charles's attack, he had conjured an entire small mountain.
Even so, the mountain's edges were melting into lava from Charles's flames.
The others had also taken cover behind Jura's mountain. Faced with Charles's unleashed power, they instinctively banded together.
Lyon rode a massive ice eagle into the air, hoping to find an opening from above. But he forgot an old saying: the shot hits the bird that sticks its head out first.
He hadn't risen far before his mount began wobbling like a drunk. He looked down and saw that the eagle's head and part of its wings had already melted. That was expected—because the heat was already upon him.
Before he could react, a flash of red light shot past, followed by a tremendous force landing on his shoulder. Lyon was slammed downward, crushing the partially melted ice eagle and crashing into the ground.
After kicking Lyon down, Charles looked down from above and immediately noticed Minerva, hands clasped together.
The space around Charles distorted slightly, and a spherical field of space trapped him within.
Minerva's magic, "Absolute Territory," was a high-level spatial spell. Not only could it manipulate space, it could also imbue it with various properties—like magic drain, heat, explosions, and more. But this time, she didn't have the resources for fancy effects. Just binding Charles required her full power.
"Well done!" praised Jura, who then unleashed his own magic.
Three giant arms made of rock burst from the ground, spiraling into the air and seizing Charles tightly.
"Raijin's Charged Particle Cannon!"
"Freezing Black Thunder Sword!"
Orga and Rufus seized the chance to attack—Orga with concentrated black lightning, Rufus with a blade laced with crackling black arcs.
A massive explosion erupted midair. Shards of ice and stone rained down through the thick black smoke, accompanied by the sound of lightning crackling.
"Is it over?" Lyon, climbing to his feet, asked.
Jura shook his head. "Don't let your guard down. He's not that easy to take out."
Just as he spoke, a crimson glow flared inside the smoke, which was blown away by heat, revealing Charles at its center.
"Don't you know what no damage in smoke means?" Charles landed on the ground and looked at his opponents. "Now it's my turn!"
Everyone instinctively began to retreat, but Charles had already launched his attack.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
His flame breath shattered Jura's team formation, scattering them.
Charles moved—his first target: Orga.
To his credit, Jura had some integrity. As he retreated, he quickly summoned a stone wall in front of Orga.
But that wall was instantly shattered by Charles's brute force. Orga couldn't dodge in time.
What followed was his body twitching unnaturally in place, pummeled by a flurry of invisible punches.
Eyes rolled back, Orga collapsed—clearly done for.
Minerva steadied herself and tried once more to bind Charles with space magic—only to be horrified when she found the space around him completely unresponsive.
"What? That's impossible!"
According to her intel, Charles was a Fire Dragon Slayer. He shouldn't have any ability to interfere with space.
Jura's brow furrowed. "It's the flames! His fire is so hot it's destabilizing the space itself. Your magic isn't strong enough to control chaotic space like that."
Minerva didn't feel reassured at all. That kind of phenomenon was beyond absurd.
Jura continued, "Charles's magic amplifies his power through fire. We have to weaken the flames first!"
Rufus pressed a finger to his forehead. "Understood. Leave it to me."
"Blizzard of the Lost!"
Rufus unleashed his magic at full power across the arena. The weather itself changed.
First, a gentle snowfall drifted down with the wind. Then the wind surged, and the flakes thickened into a storm.
He had conjured a full blizzard with his magic—his intent: to suppress Charles's flames.
But before the snowflakes even touched Charles, they evaporated into steam.
Amid the raging blizzard, Charles's flames flickered slightly. But instead of suppressing his fire, the storm had the more effective result of obscuring his vision.
Still, Charles didn't rely heavily on sight in battle. Through magic sensing, he soon picked up several sudden reactions.
"Frost Sword Saint!"
Countless giant ice warriors emerged from the blizzard, surrounding Charles.
"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!"
Charles swung his arms, and the suppressed flames erupted violently, the spiraling fire vaporizing the incoming ice warriors.
Yet one of them slashed through the fire with a greatsword and charged in.
"So that's the plan."
Most of the ice soldiers were Rufus's creations, made with Memory Make. But one was Lyon's.
Their power levels were on different tiers. And Lyon had used the distraction to close in.
Charles complimented the two on their teamwork, then reached out and caught the ice greatsword barehanded.
Crack! Crack!
Though made of ice, Lyon's blade had the hardness of steel. Still, it shattered piece by piece under Charles's grip.
He stepped forward—then in the next second, he appeared behind the ice warrior.
The warrior shattered as if struck by a cannon shell, and Lyon went flying as well.
Charles turned to Rufus. The latter was momentarily dazed, as if seeing a dragon with outstretched wings roaring at him.
When he snapped out of it, Charles was already in his face.
Charles grabbed Rufus by the head and slammed him into the ground.
Standing upright, Charles glanced down at the extravagant hat with pink fur trim that had rolled to his feet.
With Rufus down, the blizzard ceased. Charles's vision cleared again.
Only Minerva remained—and she was clearly exhausted, barely able to stand.
Yet she smiled smugly. Charles noticed it too—countless spatial spheres had appeared around him.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM...!
The spheres all exploded at once, their combined force concentrated entirely on Charles.
It took a long time for the explosions to die down. Minerva collapsed to the ground and stared hopefully at the blast zone.
Then she heard footsteps—and her expression fell.
Charles emerged, tearing off his scorched shirt. "Not bad... but not quite enough."
"I'll finish what's left!" came a voice.
Charles turned to see Jura standing in another direction.
Scattered stones on the ground suddenly lit up with magical light and flew toward Charles.
Minerva's earlier magic had not only created those explosion zones—it also cloaked Jura and his spell's buildup.
That's why Charles hadn't noticed Jura's magic surrounding him.
"Dominating Rock Smash!"
The moment the stones encased Charles, Jura detonated the magic embedded in them.
"Man... what is it with you guys and using explosive finishers?"
Even Jura was visibly shocked. But his battle instincts kicked in, and he made the right call.
"Mountain Warrior!"
A giant golem made of rock appeared behind Jura, blocking Charles's Fire Dragon's Iron Fist.
This wasn't some decorative wall like a Mud Wall—it was a fully powered-up construct with real defensive strength.
Even so, the golem shattered from the blow.
Jura didn't retreat. Holding onto the pride of a Wizard Saint, he charged in.
Their fists collided, and the two immediately entered close combat.
Jura's title wasn't for show. His immense combat experience let him blend magic and martial arts seamlessly.
His strikes were laced with erupting stone pillars and spears, creating a unique rhythm.
Charles made a huge leap backward to dodge a burst of rock lances, then blocked Jura's punch.
Grinning, Charles opened his mouth toward Jura—
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
The fiery torrent surged, forcing Jura back.
"I'm fired up now!"
Charles said, his hands charging with the ultimate form of Dragon Slayer Magic.
Facing the attack, Jura pressed his palms together. The earth trembled from his immense magic.
"Very well. Let's settle this fair and square, Mr. Charles!"
Jura cast "Echoing Stone Warden!"
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Crimson Lotus Exploding Flame Blade!"
The flaming spiral collided with the seismic shockwave, and the explosion of magical energy turned everything white.
It was a long time before the light faded and the scene became clear.
Jura was on the ground. Charles stood, bent over and panting.
It looked like he had paid a heavy price to defeat Jura... at least, that's how it appeared.
In truth, Charles had indeed used a lot of magic—but not nearly enough to be breathing like that.
He adjusted to the sudden dimming of his vision and glanced at the weakened version of himself standing nearby.
"As I thought... you guys finally showed up—Raven Tail!"
What the audience was seeing was a forged image, created using illusion magic. The purpose: to prevent others from seeing what was really happening.
And the only ones who'd do such a thing—were the ones lurking in the shadows all this time... Raven Tail.
(End of Chapter)
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