Vivian moved fast, his hands glowing as he threw spears of different elements like a storm.

Ice spears cut through the air, lightning cracked, fire burned bright, and even dark and light spears flew together.

It looked like the sky itself was falling on the professor.

But the professor's face didn't change at all.

His calm eyes held no fear, no anger, only a strange emptiness.

He stepped forward through the storm, his body moving smoothly as if he had done this a thousand times before.

Whosh. Whosh. Whosh.

Each spear missed him by an inch as he dodged and twisted through the deadly rain.

Bits of light and smoke flashed around him, but not a single attack touched his skin.

Vivian's eyes burned with excitement as he watched the man walk closer.

A wild grin spread across his face, his blood boiling with a sudden sense of thrill.

"Come," he muttered, his voice low but filled with challenge.

At this point in the fight, Vivian was far from unharmed.

A few of his ribs were cracked from a brutal kick.

His left hand was slightly fractured from blocking the professor's powerful blows.

His jaw throbbed with sharp pain every time he moved it.

Yet, despite the damage, a strange spark of excitement flickered inside him.

He was actually starting to enjoy it.

Before, he had one goal in mind when he told Charlotte to prepare that spell, to hold the professor back long enough for her to finish it.

That was the plan from the start.

But now, both of them were far from their best.

Vivian's body was battered and bruised.

Bones ached with every breath.

The professor, though still strong, his body was also injured.

Vivian could've kept dodging and defending, just buying Charlotte more time like he planned.

But something inside him shifted.

The more they fought, the more the pain faded into the background, replaced by a rising heat in his chest, a thrill he couldn't ignore.

This thrill of the fight began to take over.

The pain only made his blood race faster.

Each strike, each narrow dodge, felt like a challenge whispering to him.

His grin returned, wild and fierce, as his eyes burned brighter with fighting spirit.

Vivian moved like lightning itself, his speed now no weaker than the professor's.

The air around him trembled as he clasped both hands together, forming a tight fist.

"Fire, lightning, light!" he roared.

The moment he spoke, a wide grin spread across his face.

Flames, blinding light, and raging bolts of lightning swirled around his hands, merging into a chaotic storm of power.

The ground cracked beneath his feet from the pressure.

Across from him, the professor focused his mana, coating his great sword in layers of freezing ice.

The blade shimmered with a deadly blue glow as frost spread across the ground wherever he stepped.

In a blink, the distance between them vanished.

Vivian leapt high into the air, lightning wrapping around his body like armor.

"Let's see who can take more!" he shouted, his voice booming across the battlefield.

His body became a streak of light as he dived down from above, looking almost divine, like a thunder god descending to strike.

The professor swung his great sword upward with terrifying speed, the cold air slicing through the battlefield.

And then—

BOOM!!!

The moment their attacks met, a blinding explosion tore through the battlefield.

Smoke and dust filled the air, hiding everything from sight.

When it finally cleared a little, the professor's body came crashing to the ground, blood spilling from his mouth as he was sent flying backward.

Vivian didn't come out any better.

His right arm was twisted at an unnatural angle, and cracking sounds echoed from his body with every slight movement.

Pain shot through him like fire.

Cough, cough.

He spat blood onto the ground, forcing himself to stand.

His left hand grabbed his broken right arm, holding it tight.

"Haa… that really hurts," he muttered through gritted teeth, but the grin on his face didn't fade, it grew wider.

With a sharp twist—creak!—he forced his right arm back into place.

The sickening sound echoed in the silent air.

Vivian rolled his shoulder, exhaled sharply, and smirked.

"You're one hell of a strong guy," he said, his tone half admiration, half thrill.

His eyes locked on the professor, whose chest was dented inward from the earlier clash.

Yet the man's face showed no sign of pain.

Without hesitation, he charged forward again, his great sword raised.

"Hmph." Vivian snorted coldly, lightning bursting from his body once more.

In the next instant, his figure blurred, he was gone from sight, leaving only trails of electricity crackling across the ground as he shot toward the professor like a living thunderbolt.

In an instant, Vivian closed the distance, his body flashing like lightning as he swung his fist with all his strength.

It collided head-on with the professor's sword.

Boom!

The impact sent him flying backward, blood bursting from his mouth.

But he didn't stop.

Even as pain screamed through his body, he pushed off the ground and charged again.

Boom!

Once more, he was thrown through the air, another mouthful of blood spilling out.

Yet his steps never slowed.

He kept moving forward, attacking again and again, each strike faster and heavier than the last.

It was hard to tell if he even felt pain anymore.

His face showed nothing but wild determination.

But his body told another story.

Bones cracked with every blow.

A deep gash had opened across his stomach.

Blood flowed freely down his torn clothes.

Still, he refused to fall.

His body, now four times stronger than before, held together under the brutal beating, allowing him to keep going.

Every hit that should've broken him only made his battle intent burn brighter, like a flame refusing to die.

A few moments earlier, the professor had already sensed something dangerous.

He could feel Charlotte in the distance, gathering a huge amount of mana, something that could very well kill him if it went off.

He knew he had to finish the fight quickly.

But that maniac in front of him, Vivian, just wouldn't stop.

Again and again, Vivian came charging in, throwing himself into attacks that any sane person would've avoided.

The professor had tried to end it several times, his blade aiming for lethal points.

But Vivian always dodged by the smallest margin, just enough to survive.

Both of them were reaching their limits.

The professor's breathing grew heavy, his movements slower, his body trembling slightly from overuse of mana.

He could feel his strength fading, yet he couldn't afford to stop.

Then, after one particularly heavy strike, Vivian was slammed into the ground with a dull crash.

Dust rose, and for a moment the professor thought it was finally over.

But before he could even step back, Vivian pushed himself up, blood running down his chin, eyes still burning with that same mad excitement.

Without a word, he rushed forward again.

The professor sighed inwardly, his empty gaze locking onto the oncoming figure.

Having no choice, he tightened his grip on the great sword and moved toward Vivian once more, his calm and hollow eyes reflecting the madness of the fight.

Meanwhile, in the distance, Charlotte's heart pounded as she watched Vivian being beaten into a bloody mess.

Every hit he took made her flinch, and her grip on the staff tightened until her knuckles turned white.

She wanted to help, to rush in, but she couldn't.

The spell she was working on wasn't something that could be cast halfway.

It was complex, dangerous, and unlike any normal elemental spell.

There were no short chants or easy formulas, one mistake, and it would collapse completely.

"Just hold on a bit longer, Vivian…" she whispered under her breath, forcing herself to keep going.

Her voice trembled slightly, but she didn't stop chanting.

Bit by bit, mana gathered at the tip of her staff, pure, raw energy with no element or form.

It shimmered with a strange grey light, pulsing like a living thing.

The more she chanted, the brighter it grew, spreading waves of pressure through the air that made even the ground tremble beneath her feet.

She could feel the spell nearing completion.

But every second felt like an eternity as she watched Vivian struggle to stay standing.

As the grey light reached its peak, Charlotte's eyes flared with determination.

She raised her staff high, her voice ringing out across the battlefield.

"The law of time cannot be broken… but I, Charlotte von Indrath, offer some of my own lifespan to bend that rule!"

Her words carried weight, echoing through the air like a vow to the world itself.

Then she swung her staff downward, the tip glowing brighter than ever as she aimed it straight at the professor.

Both Vivian and the professor turned at her voice.

The professor's calm expression finally cracked, his eyes widened as he sensed the overwhelming mana building around her.

Without hesitation, he rushed toward her, desperate to stop the spell.

Vivian's gaze hardened.

For a split second, his bloodied face softened as he looked at Charlotte.

Then, with a fierce gaze towards her, he darted forward, lightning bursting from his feet as he blocked the professor's path.

Charlotte noticed his look, her chest tightening.

But there was no time to hesitate.

She took a deep breath and whispered the final word, her voice barely audible—

"Time."

The instant the word left her lips, the grey light exploded outward.

It shot through the air faster than sound, twisting the space around it, and in the blink of an eye, it reached the professor, like time itself had leapt forward to strike.

Whoosh—

The professor swung his sword instinctively, trying to block the incoming light.

But the instant the grey beam touched him, everything stopped.

His body froze midair, his cloak fluttering slightly before going still.

He didn't fall.

His sword hung motionless in his hands.

Even the faint wind around him seemed to pause.

Time itself had stopped for him.

Seeing the spell had worked, Charlotte's tense face brightened with relief.

"Now!" she shouted, her voice echoing across the battlefield.

Vivian didn't turn to look at her.

His eyes stayed locked on the frozen professor, his chest rising and falling with uneven breaths.

A part of him burned with frustration, she hadn't told him what this spell really was, or what it would cost her.

But this wasn't the moment for questions or anger.

He pushed those thoughts aside, exhaling slowly to steady his focus.

Then, in a deep, steady voice, he muttered,

"Intuition: Xi Realm."

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