Cæ had to an extent anticipated Virlyd's strategy, of course. If he could prevent people from casting incantations, then the probability of his defeat would be much lower. The way to go about it was simply to allow themselves to tire themselves out against his impeccable defenses and attack them when they took the time to launch an incantation.

Incantations took time and took mana-motive force over a period of time. And in order to get the full benefits of incantations, one needed to halt using other magic in the meantime. This made them vulnerable and allowed him to either knock them out of the combat arena or force them to abandon the incantations and use magic circles or body-casting to defend.

"Damn…" Cæ moved around the combat arena with a displeased expression as he used the darkness element to hide himself from Virlyd even as he restarted his incantations.

The darkness element made it so that Virlyd's domain magic wasn't as much of a threat because Virlyd's magic needed him to know the location of the target.

This was one of the broader strategies that Cæ had come up with while brainstorming how to take on Virlyd.

It was also a strategy that was too dangerous to use at the very start of the fight, for there were too many mages on the combat arena, and getting hit by a stray spell was not unlikely.

With two contestants knocked out and four of them off the ground and in the air, fighting Virlyd together, Cæ stood a chance of being able to recite an incantation and gather the magical energy into a single attack to take Virlyd down.

Naturally, Virlyd was not stupid.

His eyes grew intense as several magic circles appeared before him while he pointed his open-palmed gauntlet towards the ground.

He intended to wipe out everything on the surface of the combat arena with such force that it was not just likely to land but also likely to eliminate Cæ in the blink of an eye, so that he could get rid of any potential threats.

BANG!

His jaw rattled as a swift, yet heavy punch landed on his chin.

POW POW POW!

A barrage of blows peppered his body as Mira used her speed magic to distract him from casting magic, so that Cæ wouldn't be eliminated by Mira's powerful magic.

Virlyd's eyes flashed towards her as he unleashed a broad, wide-scale attack, covering a lot of area with the sole intention of tagging his opponent.

And yet, she wasn't his only opponent.

BOOM!

A blinding beam of light blasted into him from behind, barely giving him any time to defend against it with his body-casting.

He turned to find none other than Miranda Walyn casting several magic circles as a stream of magic emerged from her body, flowing to a small, winged human-like figure the size of one's hands.

It was an almost immaterial creature, comprised of bright magical energy.

Bright, magical energy created from light energy.

"Woah, isn't that a pixie!"

"It's a light spirit. I've only ever seen that in our textbooks!"

"Man… these creatures really exist, huh?"

Miranda sharpened her gaze as she cast several more magic circles, passing on commands to her contracted spirit as the spirit mobilized its energy, unleashing attacks on Virlyd in the blink of an eye without any magic circles.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Virlyd held tight as he defended against the various attacks by hardening his body and using heaven barriers that deflected any and all attacks that reached him, even as he navigated through the airspace above the combat arena, careful not to get near the edges.

CLING CLING CLING!

Kyrell's rattling chains drew closer and closer to Virlyd as they whipped towards him with great speed and power.

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!

Virlyd gritted his teeth as he faced a hail of attacks from three of the five contestants still participating in the battle. Mira's swift blows and heavy, charged attacks were troublesome despite the fact that they were the weakest physically.

Despite the absence of power, her speed made it so that if he offered her even the slightest opening, she would leap at the opportunity to knock him out or toss him out of the combat arena. With her speed, the tolerable margin of error of his timing was very low.

Miranda remained far away as he used her spirits to launch long-range magical attacks on Virlyd with the light element while Kyrell's chains continued to attack and pursue Virlyd from a mid-range distance, threatening to coil around him in the blink of an eye.

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Cæ, on the other hand, expanded the zone of his darkness magic to hide his location as he continued maintaining his incantations. Because he was casting defensive, speed, and a wide-scale stealth magic spell, the amount of time that he needed to simultaneously muster all the mana needed for a super-powerful hexa-elemental tenth-circle magic spell had increased even more.

He needed the other three to keep Virlyd at bay so that he could come up with all the power that he needed to make sure that he blasted Virlyd once and for all.

An implicit pact had been formed with the four mages that faced Virlyd, as they didn't bother even trying to attack each other, and instead focused entirely on the strongest among them.

It didn't look like they needed to team up to take him out, but once they defeated him, they were each confident of their chances of looking good enough to remain in contention in the final set of candidates to be chosen from seven mages.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Virlyd defended himself from a barrage of destructive light beams unleashed by the light elemental spirit that Miranda was contracted with, only to find himself face to face with Kyrell's chain attacks.

BANG BANG BANG!

"Rgh…!" Virlyd grimaced, expressing pain for the first time as he took on a powerful attack at point-blank range when least prepared for it.

He left himself just a little vulnerable for just a moment.

And yet, that was enough for Mira to worm her way through and land in a heavy, speedy strike into his torso.

BOOM!

Her little fist dug deep into his gargantuan torso, inflicting a bruise on his body. Virlyd staggered midair as a beam of light struck him with even greater power, scorching his defenses and leaving some wounds on his body.

The three of them leaped into action, unleashing all their power against him in the hopes that he would be overwhelmed and disqualified.

And yet, their opponent was Virlyd Mir.

Mira surged in with a fiercely fast attack from behind him.

Vilryd's eyes sharpened as his fist simply outstretched before him, as if he was offering a fist bump to someone.

BANG!

Mira's eyes widened as her small torso crumpled with an indentation burrowing deep into it.

Virlyd had effortlessly transmitted his attack onto her through his domain magic.

His eyes met hers for just a moment before the second strike struck.

"You're predictable."

BANG

Her eyes rolled backwards as he transmitted the impact of a hook to her jaw, knocking her out then and there.

Kyrell and Miranda gritted their teeth as they unleashed all their magic against him.

Vilryd's expression hardened.

"Two is not enough to keep me pressured."

His hands balled into heavy fists as he unleashed an onslaught of attacks midair against nobody visible.

And yet, his attacks struck hard and true.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

"Rgh…!" Kyrell gritted his teeth.

"AHHHH!" Miranda screamed in pain as she struggled to defend against the onslaught of attacks converging on her.

The two of them used vastly different defenses to defend against Virlyd's attacks, and yet the two of them could barely keep up with the offensive that Virlyd unleashed upon them.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Virlyd's burly, heavy fists moved shockingly fast as his Martial Magic enhanced his power to a great extent. Even his speed was elevated above the norm, causing the impacts that they dealt to be truly overwhelming.

Kyrell wrapped himself in chains that hardened and were strengthened, serving as an external armor while Miranda's elemental pixie spirit covered her in what appeared to be a barrier made from the magical energy comprising of the spirit's body.

And yet, despite the fact that his offensive was divided between two people, he was still able to land a large barrage of attacks on his enemies, oppressing them with his great offensive power.

"He's not even using magic circles!"

"He's so strong!"

"He's definitely the strongest!"

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Kyrell and Miranda held out as they diverted all their power to defense, trying to last as long as possible. Tanking Virlyd's offensive power for as long as possible was definitely a good accomplishment that could potentially keep them in consideration.

And yet, they themselves were truly shocked at just how powerful Virlyd was. His powerful Martial Magic and his domain magic that allowed him to project it anywhere within a certain range were truly a fearsome combination.

His eyes sharpened as several magic circles emerged from behind him as he increased the onslaught of attacks he launched down at the ground at Cæ, who hid within a cloud of growing darkness, continuing his incantation while desperately avoiding being struck by Virlyd's attacks.

It became clear that three other top seven students were simply inadequate to contain him anymore.

CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK

Kyrell's real and conjured chains began cracking as the sheer force with which Virlyd struck them proved to be too much for them to withstand over a long period of time. While Kyrell's chains cracked, Miranda's light barrier began fading away with each attack it withstood.

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!

CRACK!!!

"Argh!" Kyrell's face morphed with pain as his chains shattered under the sheer force that Virlyd unleashed against him.

His eyes, however, shifted not to Miranda, but to the cloud of darkness that had begun rising in the combat arena, redirecting the surplus of power against the hidden Cæ.

"Let's see how long you can scurry around."

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

The sheer onslaught of attacks that he unleashed against Cæ was so intense that it began sending tremors across the entire vertir, causing the students to widen their eyes with shock.

"Incredible!"

Cæ, on the other hand, put everything into defense, withstanding the absurdly intense barrage of attacks that Virlyd unleashed at random across the entirety of the darkness in hopes of tagging Cæ even once.

Virlyd knew that Cæ hadn't mastered the fundamental form of automation, which meant that he couldn't make his magic act autonomously from his own will. Which meant that if he suffered enough pain and was distracted, the darkness magic would instantly dispel, allowing him to target him once more.

Cæ knew this too.

That was why he gritted his teeth.

Even when Virlyd's attacks struck him, he gritted his teeth.

SPLAT

His eyes grew bloodshot with pain as a heavy blow crashed into his defended guard, causing him to cough blood. And yet, he continued his incantation, unwilling to let go of all the progress that he had made until then as his eyes grew more intense.

Miranda, on the other hand, had a weak defense.

One that could not withstand extensive destruction.

BOOM!

With a final attack, her defense shattered, causing her unconscious body to fly out of the combat arena.

Leave only one combatant left.

Virlyd's eyes sharpened as the cloud of darkness spread across the entire combat arena.

"I had a feeling that you would be the last one left, Cæ." Virlyd's voice was heavy. "Now then, let us finish this battle and determine the winner."

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