The audience was stunned. They had never imagined that Haruki Aizawa—a man they had pegged as a pure swordsman—could unleash a technique that looked more like high-level sorcery, manifesting a literal firestorm.
His partner, Julis, was the most shocked of all. Seeing Haruki wield the power of flames—an element she knew more intimately than anyone—left her frozen in place.
Haruki's movements didn't falter. Using the Ser-Veresta as a focal point, he condensed a massive volume of resonance. He was performing an elemental conversion at a speed that defied logic.
Haruki's understanding of Waves had always been deep, but he had lacked the final bridge to convert that resonance into raw elemental destruction. Now, he had found that bridge: the Star-Pulse Arts of the Dragon Gate. By treating his body as a conduit for the "flow," he had filled in the missing piece of his Asura path.
Right now, Haruki was releasing an elemental wave so potent it eclipsed the natural output of born pyrokinesis users like Stella or Julis.
"Explosive Flame!"
From Haruki's hand, a pillar of fire erupted like a volcanic vent. The searing heat blanketed the arena, turning the air into a shimmering haze.
"Haruki... just who are you?" Julis whispered, her eyes wide.
Haruki didn't answer. He maintained precise control over the burgeoning energy, waiting for the Li twins to react. He had a mission from Fan Xinglou: to show these arrogant disciples that there was always a "higher heaven."
"You... what the hell is this?!"
Haruki's display had successfully rattled the twins. They finally realized the sheer scale of the monster they were facing. But they weren't ready to give up. Despite the gap in power, they braced themselves for a final, desperate resistance.
"By the Laws, I command—Obey!"
Shenyun's hands blurred through a series of complex mudras. Space itself seemed to ripple, and a massive wall of thick, black smoke erupted across the stage.
"A smokescreen?" Julis noted, shielding her eyes.
The twins were trying to hide, hoping to obscure Haruki's vision so his attack would miss. Haruki didn't care. He didn't even try to stop the incantation. He simply continued to compress the flames around his blade. The fire on his sword wasn't growing larger; it was becoming denser. The red hue shifted to a brilliant, blinding white—the color of a miniature sun.
The smoke didn't last long. In the Phoenix Festa, obscuring the view of the audience for too long was a punishable offense. The tournament existed to entertain, and the crowd began to boo the moment they couldn't see the action.
The smoke vanished as quickly as it had appeared. But Shenyun wasn't done. He performed another seal, twisting space to create three identical mirages of himself. Each one radiated the same Prana signature.
"The Clone Art...!" Julis recognized the technique from her research. It was Shenyun's specialty. The illusions were so perfect it was impossible to tell them apart from the original. With only a one-in-four chance of hitting the real body, most opponents found themselves fighting a losing battle of attrition.
"My turn," Shenhua added. She performed her own seal and her form dissolved into the air.
This was her Invisibility Art. Like her brother's clones, it masked her breath, her sound, and even her Prana flow. To a normal knight, they had both become phantoms.
Against anyone else, this would have been an easy win for the Dragon Gate. But to Haruki Aizawa, who perceived the world through the "Wave," their tricks were meaningless. He didn't need eyes to see the vibration of their souls.
However, Haruki didn't plan on using his sword skills or his Wave Perception to hunt them down. He was going to follow his master's orders: beat them in their own domain.
"Are you ready?" Haruki asked, his voice eerily calm. "Because it's my turn now."
He swung the white-hot blade in a sweeping horizontal arc.
"Explosive Flame Wave Sword!"
BOOM!
The moment Haruki swung, a literal wall of fire roared across the stage. It wasn't just a wave; it was a tidal surge of incinerating heat that devoured the space between them.
Julis, standing well behind Haruki, was forced to raise her sword and brace herself. Even with her natural resistance to fire, she felt her skin prickling from the sheer intensity. She broke out into a heavy sweat instantly.
If Julis was struggling, the twins were in hell.
The moment Haruki lunged, they threw out a flurry of Ofuda (charms), attempting to erect defensive barriers. These charms were conduits for their Star-Pulse Arts—disposable but potent tools for any situation. The twins were masters of setting "invisible traps," using their stealth and clones to lure enemies into a killing zone.
But Haruki's attack was the definition of "One force to break ten thousand laws."
The flood of white flame didn't care about traps. It didn't care about delicate barriers. The defensive fields the twins had erected shattered like glass the moment the heat touched them.
"Th-This power...!"
Shenyun's confidence evaporated. His pride wouldn't let him forfeit, but his body was screaming at him to run.
"Shenhua! Everything you've got! Guard!!"
The twins channeled every scrap of their Prana into a combined shield, creating a desperate dome of energy. But the Explosive Flame Wave Sword covered the entire arena. It hit the clones first, vaporizing the mirages in a heartbeat.
"Impossible!" Shenyun shrieked. He watched his perfected illusions vanish like mist in the sun. He couldn't comprehend how a student from Seidokan could wield such absolute destructive force.
CRASH!
The main wave of energy finally reached them. The "Explosive" part of the technique wasn't just flavor text; the impact carried a massive kinetic shockwave.
"AAAGH!!"
Shenyun roared in pain. Even behind his shield, the temperature was high enough to sear his lungs. His skin turned a bright, angry red as he fought the pressure.
Beside him, Shenhua hit her limit first. Her mind snapped under the pressure of the impending incineration. With a cry of pure terror, she tore the badge from her chest and threw it to the floor.
"I FORFEIT! LET ME OUT!"
The tournament's emergency system recognized the forfeit and initialized her teleportation. But Shenyun was stubborn. He gritted his teeth, refusing to lose to a "swordsman."
Then the white fire hit the center of their dome.
KABOOM!
The blast was so violent it threw Shenyun across the stage. He hit the far wall of the arena with a sickening thud. As he looked up, coughing blood, he saw the final surge of flames descending upon him like the maw of a dragon.
"NO! STOP! DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!!"
The boy who had spent his life toying with "prey" finally learned what it felt like to be a worm on a hook. His arrogance was gone, replaced by a hollow, gut-wrenching despair.
Haruki didn't stop. He couldn't. The wave was already in motion.
The white flames engulfed Shenyun. For a split second, he was a silhouette in a world of blinding heat.
Fortunately, the Phoenix Festa's safety protocols were top-tier. The moment the system detected a fatal energy threshold, it forcibly warped Shenyun out of the ring.
He was safe from death, but the psychological scar was permanent. He had looked into the abyss, and the abyss had worn the face of Haruki Aizawa.
The Quarter-Finals were over. Haruki stood in the center of the scorched ring, his blade slowly cooling. Another victory. Another step toward the peak.
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