Down at the arena’s boundary where the competitors gathered, the atmosphere in the Blood-Oak camp had curdled into pure, seething hostility. Eryx stood dead still. He didn’t utter a single word, but his jaw was clenched so tight his teeth threatened to shatter. He watched the medics gently load Isla’s limp body onto a stretcher before snapping his murderous glare toward the Black Mire group a few dozen meters down the line. His eyes locked onto Nyx — who, completely oblivious to his killing intent, simply wandered back to her team.

Just then without getting more heated, lumen grabbed everybody’s attention by forcefully clearing his throat.

"Alright, alright! Let’s shake off that chill, folks! The tournament waits for no one!"

Lumen pointed down at the arena floor.

"Representing the Sovereign Monolith, the unbreakable wall of Zenith’s team... Viktor Ashford! And facing him, stepping up for Black Mire Academy, their lethal poison specialist... Morven Shade!"

The crowd finally found their voice again, giving a decent roar to wash away the previous creepy tension.

From the Sovereign Monolith group gathered at the edge, Viktor stepped forward.

And from the Black Mire group on the other side of the edge, Morven stumbled forward.

"Ugh... why me... why did it have to be right after I ate..." Morven groaned.

Lumen raised his hand.

"Fighters... MATCH START!"

Morven didn’t waste time complaining anymore. The moment the match started, his demeanor shifted entirely as he kicked off the ground, jumping backward while swiping both hands out from his cloak.

Smash! Smash!

Four glass vials shattered against the dirt, instantly erupting into a thick, corrosive purple mist that rushed straight toward Viktor.

Viktor didn’t even flinch. He just planted his boots into the dirt and slammed his giant iron gauntlets together.

Clang!

A thick, golden aura exploded from his body, creating a dense physical dome around him. The poison mist washed over it, hissing and aggressively eating at the mana, but it couldn’t breach his defense.

From inside the dense mist, three poisoned throwing knives shot out, moving fast and aiming directly for the tiny gaps in Viktor’s neck joints and visor.

Viktor didn’t dodge. He simply tucked his chin down slightly.

Ping! Ping! Ping!

The blades deflected off his thick steel plates like cheap toys.

Seeing his ranged attacks doing zero damage, Morven clicked his tongue. He used the mist as cover and materialized right behind Viktor, gripping a jagged dagger dripping with highly concentrated green venom. He thrust it hard, aiming right under Viktor’s armpit—the weakest point in any heavy armor.

But Viktor was just waiting for him to get close.

Instead of moving away, Viktor forcefully clamped his arm down, trapping Morven’s hand and dagger tightly against his armored side before the blade could pierce deep enough.

"Shit—" Morven gasped, trying to yank his arm back.

Viktor pivoted on his heel, using his entire body weight, and swung his free arm like a heavy battering ram.

WHAM!

A brutal backhand strike caught Morven straight across the ribs. The sickening crunch of bone echoed over the quiet crowd.

Morven was launched sideways, coughing up saliva and rolling violently across the dirt. He desperately tried to scramble back to his feet, his hands shaking, but Viktor was already there. Moving surprisingly fast for a guy wearing eighty pounds of steel, Viktor reached down, grabbed Morven by the front of his collar, and hauled him effortlessly off the ground.

Morven’s eyes widened. In a last-ditch effort, he took a deep breath and tried to spit a point-blank venom dart straight into Viktor’s face.

Viktor just tilted his head slightly, letting the venom splash harmlessly against the side of his helmet. Then, he yanked Morven in close and delivered a devastating, raw headbutt.

CRACK!

Metal met skull.

Morven’s eyes instantly rolled to the back of his head. His body went entirely limp, dangling from Viktor’s grip like a broken doll.

Viktor didn’t say a single word. He just opened his hand, letting the unconscious Morven drop face-first into the dirt with a heavy thud.

As the purple mist finally cleared, the crowd saw the quick, one-sided beatdown.

Lumen immediately slammed his hand onto his amplification crystal as his voice boomed around the arena.

"And just like that, it’s over! The unbreakable defense stands tall! The winner of the fourth match is... Viktor Ashford!"

Though the way Viktor turned around and walked off he didn’t feel satisfied. As he headed back to his team, his eyes shifted away from the center of the ring and glanced toward the sidelines where the Astraviel group was lounging.

locking his gaze perfectly entirely on Elira.

Over on the benches Elira, Lucian, Sera, and Aria were all casually sitting there, munching on their food.

Taking a bite, Lucian noticed the unblinking stare coming from across the dirt.

"Why is he looking at you like that?" Lucian asked deadpan, chewing his food. "Does he like you?"

Elira didn’t even stop eating. "Don’t know," she said flatly.

Sera swallowed her mouthful and chimed in. "I know. It’s because of the way she threw him and knocked him out in a single punch back in our second exam. I guess his pride doesn’t let him sleep until he beats her."

Aria just sat there quietly, listening and taking a small bite of her own snack.

Ignoring Sera’s explanation, Lucian kept his eyes locked on Viktor as the fully armored guy walked back to the Sovereign Monolith side.

He is strong... But not enough.

Before the crowd could even fully settle down from Viktor’s quick finish, Lumen slammed his hand onto his amplification crystal again.

"Alright, folks! We aren’t changing the flavor just yet! For our fifth match, we have the exact same academies clashing once again!" Lumen’s voice roared through the massive sounding stones, hyping the crowd back to the peak.

"Representing the Sovereign Monolith... the absolute powerhouse, the Undefeated Prodigy... Zenith! And facing her, stepping up for Black Mire Academy, their nasty curse and debuff specialist... Cain!"

The crowd went absolutely feral. Zenith’s name alone was enough to shake the entire stadium.

Down at the arena’s edge, the Black Mire group felt the heavy pressure instantly. Riven looked over at Cain, his usual tired expression replaced by a dead-serious gaze.

"Listen to me," Riven warned, his voice low as he grabbed Cain’s shoulder. "Keep your distance and stay on your toes. Just don’t try anything stupid... and do your best."

Cain let out a dry, nervous chuckle, wiping a bit of sweat from his forehead. "Gee, thanks for the motivation, Boss. Feel a lot better now."

Taking a deep breath, Cain stepped forward from the edge, heading toward the center of the dirt ring.

From the other side, Zenith walked out. She didn’t do anything flashy, but her mere presence was suffocating. She was calm, composed, and radiating an aura so heavy it made the air itself feel thick. She stopped a few paces away from Cain, her face completely unbothered.

Lumen raised his hand high.

"Fighters... MATCH START!"

Cain didn’t hesitate for a fraction of a second. He immediately jumped backward to put as much distance between them as possible. His hands glowed with a sickly dark-purple light as he quickly cast his spell.

"Hex: Iron Weight!"

A heavy, dark purple crest slammed into the dirt right beneath Zenith’s feet. The air around her distorted as a massive gravitational pressure locked onto her body. The ground beneath her boots instantly cracked under the sudden, crushing weight.

Cain let out a breath, quickly forming another hand seal. "Got her. Now to just stack the debuffs until she—"

"Demon Art: Behemoth Tread."

Zenith’s voice was completely flat. Suddenly, thick, pitch-black veins pulsed down her right leg. Her calf and thigh briefly morphed, radiating a heavy, demonic aura that completely shattered the gravity field through sheer, raw physical force.

She stepped forward.

BOOM.

The dirt exploded beneath her foot. She crossed the entire fifty-meter gap in a single blink.

Cain’s eyes went wide. He didn’t even have time to finish his next word. Zenith was already standing right in front of him.

"Demon Art: Basilisk Claw."

Her right hand instantly morphed, expanding into a massive, pitch-black demonic claw with razor-sharp talons. But she didn’t stab him. She just casually turned her wrist and used the massive, flat back of the beast-like claw to swat him like a fly.

WHAM!

The impact sounded like a battering ram hitting a wooden door. Cain was launched through the air like a ragdoll, skipping twice across the dirt before violently crashing into the arena’s low boundary wall.

He slumped into the dirt, entirely unconscious.

In a quick puff of dark smoke, Zenith’s massive claw reverted back to a normal human arm. She didn’t spare Cain a second glance. Her face remained completely unbothered as she turned around and calmly walked back toward her spot at the edge.

Up in the booth, Lumen was frozen for a second before he hurriedly slammed his hand onto the sounding stone.

"O-One hit! She broke through the hex and ended it in a single strike! The winner of the fifth match is the Undefeated Prodigy... Zenith!"