How to Survive as a Mage Inside a Game-Chapter 61: Sky Sword Castle (6)

Hurst glanced over toward Karl.

And just in time—Karl was already looking back at him, and their eyes met.

Karl gave a small smile and mouthed something silently.

'Didn’t I tell you? There’s always an ‘if’.'

It was exactly what he had said when trying to persuade Hurst before departing for Sky Sword Castle.

Now, that hypothetical had turned into a perfectly accurate prophecy.

If Karl hadn’t brought her along, this duel would’ve ended in a catastrophic defeat.

After Remic, the remaining eleven would’ve been flattened one after another.

'So that’s the kind of monster you were hiding.'

The same blazing red hair as the Castle Lord.

It wasn’t hard to guess that she must be the heir to Sky Sword Castle.

Now it made sense why the Castle Lord and the other high-ranking martial artists had been so smug and relaxed the entire time.

With a monster like that on their side, it didn’t matter if the other nineteen were total novices.

“...Hmm.”

Hurst looked back at Karl, now with a touch of concern in his eyes.

After witnessing that duel, he honestly wasn’t sure Karl could beat her either.

“At this rate, we’ll be here till sunrise. No one else coming? If you’re scared, you can just all come at once.”

After a defeat like Remic’s, there was no one who could realistically stand against her.

The Altius students felt humiliated by her taunt, but none dared to step forward.

'Guess I’ll take the stage now.'

Karl glanced over at Bashon.

He saw Bashon faintly raise the corner of his lips and give him a subtle nod.

Karl nodded back and was just about to step into the arena—when Sharon suddenly grabbed his shoulder.

“...?”

He turned his head to see Sharon, staring intently at Akion with a stiff expression.

Then she spoke.

“I’ll go first.”

“...Didn’t you just see that? She’s not your opponent.”

“I know. I want to try anyway.”

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Karl stared at her for a moment before nodding.

“Well, suit yourself.”

This duel would be over the moment he stepped in.

No harm in letting her go first.

Karl stepped back and watched as Sharon climbed into the arena.

He had trained her yesterday, so he had a good sense of how much her skills had improved.

She might not win, but at least it’d be a more entertaining match than Remic’s was.

“Knew it’d be you.”

Akion nodded slightly as Sharon stepped onto the dueling platform.

Alongside Remic, she had been one of the few whose aura felt noteworthy.

“Draw your sword.”

Akion grinned as she heard Sharon’s icy voice.

Her own hand still hadn’t even touched the hilt at her waist.

“You too? If it’s # Nоvеlight # hurting your pride, then try and make me draw it.”

“......”

Sharon said nothing more, simply drawing out her mana.

Akion smirked and got into stance for the duel.

Whoooosh!!

A gust of wind swirled violently around Sharon—and then launched a flurry of razor-sharp wind blades forward.

Akion casually twisted her body, dodging them. The final massive wind blade that came flying at her was caught and crushed in her hand.

“...Oh.”

She looked down at her hand and muttered in faint surprise.

She hadn’t channeled much aura, but the hand that blocked it still tingled.

The mana was far more refined than Remic’s.

Sharon immediately followed up with another spell.

Akion, clearly expecting the same tactics as in the last duel, didn’t bother defending herself.

Fwoooosh!

A jet of fire erupted from the magic circle and blasted the spot where Akion had been standing.

But this wasn’t ordinary fire—its crimson hue burned with an intensity that felt almost unnatural.

Akion had already leapt aside—but the flame, having struck the ground, bounced off and homed in on her again.

This time, she didn’t dodge.

BOOM!!

Wrapped in aura, Akion punched directly into the center of the flame, blowing a huge hole through it with the resulting shockwave.

Amazingly, the fire didn’t dissipate even after being shattered.

Instead, it grew larger—then slowly reformed and charged at her once again.

A vision spell—Breath of the Phoenix.

As long as the caster maintained control, it would never extinguish.

Meaning unless Sharon fainted or voluntarily released the spell, the flame would keep burning.

Even if she wasn’t strong enough to unleash its full potential, it was still more than threatening.

Fwoooosh!!

The fire split, rebounded, and scattered—relentlessly pursuing Akion.

Dozens of streams of flame swirled around the arena, hounding her from all sides.

Not just because it was vision magic—but because Sharon’s incredible control made it possible.

'Wow, okay...'

This magic’s a pain in the ass.

Akion’s honest thoughts as she kept dodging.

Even when she punched it apart, it just reformed again.

'If I try to block it with aura, it’ll cling to me and keep burning. Yeah, this really is dangerous magic.'

Tired of running, Akion decided to end it.

Unquenchable fire or not—if the mage who cast it goes down, it’s over.

Fwoosh!

With a single shift in direction, Akion closed the distance to Sharon in an instant.

It was a clear display that everything up until now had just been her playing around.

No matter what spells Sharon cast, Akion could push through them at will and reach her.

And Sharon knew that, too.

CRACK!!

A sudden blast of cold erupted from beneath Akion’s feet—freezing her legs in place.

It was an ice magic barrier Sharon had been silently spreading across the ground while simultaneously pressing her with fire.

Akion realized it a beat too late and failed to dodge.

The trailing flames surged forward—and engulfed her completely.

WHOOOOM!!

A vortex of roaring, crimson fire.

Sharon watched in silence for a moment, then let out a quiet sigh.

Soon, Akion emerged from the flames, her entire body seemingly ablaze.

Looking closer, it wasn’t her body that was burning—just the flames clinging and flickering along the aura wrapped around her.

"Put that out. Before I start hitting back."

"......"

Sharon withdrew the spell.

There was no point in continuing a duel where her flames couldn’t even pierce the thinnest layer of aura.

"Well, better than that guy from earlier. At least you were strategic. That stubborn flame magic was kind of impressive too."

"......"

"I take back what I said about your magic being flashy and trash. It’s not just showy. Some of it’s more dangerous than I thought—"

"Hey."

Sharon cut her off mid-sentence.

"Don’t get cocky."

"...What?"

"You think you’re the best in the world, don’t you? That arrogance is gonna crush you when someone finally beats you."

Akion made a dumbfounded face, then suddenly burst out laughing.

"Is this the part where the loser clings to her pride? Sorry, not really something I need to hear."

Sharon didn’t respond. She just trudged off the stage without another word.

Even if the result had been inevitable from the start, the sense of powerlessness still clung to her.

That’s when she felt a hand tap her shoulder.

It was Karl.

"Nice job. Way better than I expected."

"......!!"

He left her with that short praise and stepped straight onto the dueling platform.

"...?"

Akion, who had been smirking at Sharon’s back, turned her gaze toward Karl.

"Still more of you? Quit dragging it out and just have the rest come up at once."

Karl gave a small laugh before answering.

"Actually, this duel ends with me."

"Oh? So you’re saying you’re admitting defeat?"

"That’s what’ll happen—if you can beat me."

That answer caught Akion off guard. She blinked.

Then let out a scoff and scratched her head, eyeing him curiously.

"Okay, what the hell is this? Did you just wake up from a nap or something? You’re gonna beat me?"

"I don’t get why you’re so shocked. What, you really thought you’d go your whole life undefeated with just that level?"

'Just that level?'

Akion, who had been more amused than anything, started to feel irritated.

And then—she noticed something.

Despite losing both previous duels so badly, the Altius students didn’t look defeated.

In fact, they were staring at him—with eyes full of hope and expectation.

"......"

Akion looked back at Karl again.

He didn’t seem to have the same forceful presence as Remic or Sharon, but—something about him felt... strange.

When she first met him, she’d brushed it off as just a weird vibe. But now, she wasn’t so sure.

"Hah... So that’s how it is? The other two weren’t the real deal. You are."

Karl didn’t bother replying.

Instead, he jerked his chin toward her waist.

"Draw your sword."

Akion smirked and crossed her arms, clearly amused.

"No thanks. Why don’t you try and make me, if you’ve got what it takes?"

"Yeah?"

Karl’s lips curled up, too.

"Sure. Let’s do that, then."

KWAANG!!

The moment his sentence ended, an invisible shockwave exploded toward her like a bolt of lightning.

Akion’s eyes snapped wide open, and she twisted her body in panic.

The spot where she had been standing just seconds ago erupted as though a giant’s foot had come crashing down.

'What the...'

The force and speed were unlike anything she’d experienced before.

She had no time to think.

Before she even landed from her evasive dive, another shockwave was already tearing toward her.

"......!!"

No way to dodge this one.

On instinct, she drew her sword and slashed through the incoming mana.

But it didn’t stop there.

Her instincts screamed again.

Unlike the previous attacks, an overwhelming surge of magical power was now building around Karl.

【Warhammer Strike】

A colossal hammer of pure magic came crashing down in an instant.

For the first time in this duel, Akion went all out—pulling up her aura to maximum.

A thick, blood-red blade of aura formed along her sword, and she swung it with full force toward the hammer.

And then—

CRASH!!

Her sword shattered into pieces.