Wizard: Starting from the Skill Tree-Chapter 602: Challenge

Those entwining sand tentacles sensed Balza’s outbreak and did not resist directly, instead instantly softening and dispersing, transforming into countless streams of sand sliding away with Balza’s struggling force, only to reconvene immediately, making them extremely troublesome.

Though the Yellow Sand Fortress was damaged at its front, it simultaneously extended more sand streams, constructing temporary flowing sand shields in front of Duke, buying him precious charging time.

The charging time seemed prolonged, yet all of this happened in the blink of an eye.

Just as Balza’s outburst scattered some of the sand, Duke’s charging was already complete.

The Blazing Sun Judgment seemed to transform into a miniature sun core, the sword body becoming so incandescent that it was blinding, its core with an awe-inspiring golden glow resembling the awakening dragon’s pupil, targeted at the fatal old wound crack at Balza’s back.

The surrounding air was distorted and ionized by this extreme light and heat, emitting a low hum.

Every sound seemed to be devoured by that sword-tip erupting torrent of blazing white, as solid as the Celestial God’s Spear.

This beam was no longer a simple energy beam; it contained an absolute will of purification and destructive power. At its core was that dignified and profound gold, scorching traces even on the virtual arena space as it passed.

The speed of the beam surpassed thought, precise as destiny itself, piercing through the crack under Balza’s shoulder blade the instant it broke free from most bindings, yet before it had time to completely turn around or gather its strongest defense.

The moment the beam hit the crack, Balza’s heavy lava armor met its nemesis like snow, beginning to melt and vaporize at a visible speed from the opening.

The abyssal flames within the armor and flesh, before this supreme pure Power of Light, evaporated instantly like mist under the blazing sun.

"No—!!!!!!"

Balza let out a wail of utter despair, filled with pain, unwillingness, and a deep-seated fear of this holy power.

Its massive body was hit by the terrifying kinetic energy within the light column, staggering forward, trying to resist using the hellfire within.

But it was all in vain.

The power of the Light Judgment, through the perfect breach of the old wound crack, surged into its body like the fiercest termites, destroying and purifying its energy structure from within.

Its body radiated piercing gold and white light from the inside out, as if turning into a lantern about to shatter.

Finally, in a silent yet soul-shaking energy immolation, the enormous body of the Flame Demon Commander Balza completely disintegrated, turning into countless ashes flickering with the last flames, and even the ashes were purified into nothing by the remaining Holy Flame, as if it had never existed.

In the arena, only the slowly dissipating trail of the blazing white beam remained, and the fresh scent lingering in the air, akin to the sky after a storm, starkly contrasting the hellish searing sulfur smell from before.

A grand, cold voice echoed:

"First challenger, Flame Demon Commander Balza, defeated."

"Second: from [Eternal Ice Abyss]—Frost Banshee Cersei!"

The arena transformed into a world of eternal ice blue, freezing cold that could freeze the soul.

Cersei’s figure drifted unpredictably in the blizzard, her song seemingly a deadly soul-freezing spell.

...

The battles came one after another.

Top-Level 1 peak powerhouses from different planes, each with unique characteristics, took turns on stage.

Duke’s combat style grew increasingly varied and efficient. He no longer adhered to fixed routines but flexibly combined Wizard Magic, Knight Combat Techniques, Talent Magic, and various Witchcraft Artifact powers based on opponent characteristics.

Light and darkness, elements and physical, defense and burst, became more seamlessly integrated through practice.

Though each battle was anything but easy, with massive consumption, he always found the key to victory, overcoming each one with strong adaptability.

While Duke was fighting on the virtual battleground, an unusual stir gradually emerged in the hall of the Anvil Castle practical evaluation and training center.

A few young wizards, wearing standard robes of the Seville Empire Royal Academy and sporting badges of different levels on their chests, entered together.

They had an extraordinary demeanor, with sharp gazes, clearly elite students of the Academy, today here to temper themselves using the Witch Array simulated battleground.

A blonde youth leading them prepared to register for connection, his gaze inadvertently swept over the largest public crystal screen in the hall’s center, showing real-time high-difficulty challenge dynamics, and his steps suddenly halted.

"Look!" he whispered in astonishment, pointing at the screen.

The others followed his direction and saw, on the screen, a notification strip with striking dark golden sheen scrolling at the top.

[Level 1 Ten Star: Final Trial] is underway.

Current Challenger: Anonymous (ID C2-19).

Opponents Defeated: 7/10. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Current Status: Engaged in Battle.

Comprehensive Real-Time Evaluation: S+ (Extremely Excellent)

"Level 1 Ten Star? Someone is challenging Ten Star at Level 1? And they’ve already defeated seven?!" a petite female apprentice with glasses gasped, her face full of disbelief.

"How is this possible? That’s prepared for those old monsters who have fought for hundreds of years at the frontier and other planes, right? Even those freaks in the Academy only dare to occasionally attempt Nine Star!"

"Not only challenging, look at the evaluation, S+! Is this evaluation system malfunctioning?" Another male student, burly and with obvious metallic modifications on his arms, scratched his head.

The blonde youth leading them, Rein Hossen, was from an imperial noble family and was himself a Level 1 Crystalized Wizard, slightly famous within the Academy.

He stared at the screen, his eyes gleaming: "The system won’t be wrong, at least not on such core data. An S+ evaluation means the challenger’s performance has exceeded the system’s regular judgment standards for Level 1 peak... approaching the theoretical limit."

He turned to look towards the service desk, where other wizards and knights, drawn by the screen’s information, were gradually gathering, discussing in low voices.

"ID C2-19... can’t discern the identity from this ID either." Rein quickly filtered the information in his mind, "An outsider? Or someone from the Academy?"

"Who cares who it is, getting to the Level 1 Ten-Star seventh round and maintaining S+ evaluation, that’s definitely monster level!" The metal-armed male student got excited, "Shall we go take a look? We should be able to see non-confidential basic combat energy projections at the Zone C entrance hall, right? Even if we can’t see exactly who it is, we can get a sense!"

This proposal immediately gained everyone’s approval.