"Yuna, tomorrow I'm going to the Combat Arena with Kiyomi."
"In the afternoon I have to go to the Forbidden Library."
"So I probably won't have time to study with you."
Recently, Kanzaki Rei had spent far too much time with Yuna.
As a result, he had barely visited the Forbidden Library.
And his magic training had also fallen behind…
When Iz returned, he would probably tease him mercilessly.
However, in terms of knowledge, Rei had finally mastered the study of Fateology. As for its practical use…
Perhaps it was only useful for people like prophets or fortune-tellers.
"Oh… alright." Yuna replied calmly.
But Rei could still sense a faint trace of disappointment in her voice.
…
Combat Arena
Rei hadn't been here in quite some time.
Ever since finishing the tournament in the City Within the Circle, he had rarely visited the Combat Arena.
He glanced at his friend list.
Only Luluvi and Void Zhou were online.
Void Zhou was actually in the arena?
There was even a spectator option available.
Rei directly chose to spectate Void Zhou's match. After all, his scheduled time with Kiyomi was eight in the morning.
It was only 7:00 right now.
The moment he entered the arena, he saw Void Zhou flashing across the sky in rapid movements.
At the same time, Void magic bombarded a distant warrior with relentless attacks.
Crystal spikes shot outward.
Two Void creatures hovered beside Void Zhou, assisting in the assault.
A massive Void Devouring Collapse formed like a miniature black hole and swept toward the warrior.
BOOM!
The warrior failed to dodge in time.
The Void Devouring attack struck him directly.
He was instantly eliminated.
Already a Level 4 Mage, huh. Void Zhou's progress was pretty fast.
But that wasn't surprising.
Void Zhou had already comprehended Third-Tier Origin Magic before, so he hadn't been far from advancing to a Level 4 Mage anyway.
Rei left the spectator stands and stepped onto the field.
"Void Zhou, long time no see."
"Rei. Yeah, it's been a while. I've already reached Level 4 Mage recently. What about you?"
Rei shrugged.
"I didn't reach Level 4."
"You still haven't comprehended Third-Tier Origin Magic?"
"No, I already did."
"Then why aren't you Level 4 yet? Don't tell me you can't create your own magic!" Void Zhou laughed.
Rei unable to create magic?
That was simply impossible.
"I just leveled a Level 3 Warrior instead."
"And by the way, I comprehended Dual Combat Intent in the Warrior class." Rei said casually.
Pfft—
Combat Intent was something Void Zhou had heard of.
But Dual Combat Intent?
What the hell was that?
He had never heard of it before!
Wait—weren't you supposed to be a genius mage?
Why did you suddenly switch careers and become a warrior?!
"Brother… aren't you wasting your mage talent a little?"
"No. I'm talented in every profession."
Void Zhou's mouth twitched.
He suddenly felt the urge to punch someone.
Was that even something a human should say?
"Brother, since you're here…"
"How about we fight? I still don't have any ideas for my Fourth-Tier Origin Magic."
Rei nodded.
"Sure."
"But I should warn you first. I'm a lot stronger than before."
Void Zhou laughed loudly.
"Haha! Then you're probably underestimating a Level 4 Origin Mage."
"I've improved too!"
Both of them radiated intense battle intent.
Void Zhou sent a duel request.
[Battle Start]
"Origin Body · Flash of Instant Light."
Colorful elemental radiance surged around Rei's fist.
"Tempered Magic Martial Arts — Seventh Form: Charged Mana Convergence Strike."
BOOM!
One punch exploded forward.
The strike instantly shattered the purple-black shield surrounding Void Zhou and pierced straight through his body!
Void Zhou felt a terrifying surge of power rising upward—
It directly struck his higher-dimensional body within the Void.
BANG!
With that single blow, Void Zhou's body exploded like a balloon.
Battle over.
The eye in the center of Void Zhou's forehead widened in disbelief.
He had just been…
Instantly killed?
And the opponent hadn't even used Origin Magic.
"Again!"
Void Zhou immediately issued another duel request.
[Battle Start]
Rei raised a single finger.
"Flash of Instant Light · Staff Style: Fourth Form — Chaotic Star Barrage."
SWISH!
Four massive stone arms appeared in the sky simultaneously.
"Grand Stone Titan Fist · Invincible Style: Third Form — Army-Breaking Cleave."
WHOOSH—
Four colossal fists descended like giant swords.
Void Zhou felt a violent shockwave travel through his body—
Then transmit straight into the Void.
BANG!
The terrifying force shattered his entire body instantly.
Another instant kill.
"Again!"
"Resonance Thunderfield · Tempered Magic Martial Arts: Sixth Form — Demon-Binding Lock."
SWISH!
The moment lightning vibrations surged through his body, Void Zhou was instantly restrained.
Immediately afterward—
A shadow-woven net spread across his entire body.
Rei charged forward with a battle spear.
BOOM!
The strike flashed like a meteor and pierced straight through him.
Instant kill.
Again.
"Not convinced? Again!"
Fourth time.
Instant kill.
Fifth time.
Instant kill.
Sixth time.
Instant kill.
Void Zhou never even got the chance to see Rei's Origin Magic.
Had the gap between them grown this large?
Back then, even though Void Zhou had been weaker, he could at least struggle a little.
But now—
The moment the battle started, he was immediately killed.
Just how fast had Rei grown?
"Still want to continue?" Rei asked casually.
Although Void Zhou's injuries were restored after each fight, he was now drenched in sweat.
The wounds healed…
But the pain of the damage experienced during battle was completely real.
Each time felt like dying.
That was the price of fighting in the Combat Arena.
It was just that Rei had never paid that price before.
No one could break his defense.
Since the first day he fought in the arena, not even Luluvi had managed to damage him.
At most, a few harmless arrows would stick into his skin.
They couldn't even pierce the surface.
Let alone injure him.
"You… how can you attack inside the Void?"
"How did you do it?"
The greatest trait of Void creatures was that they walked within higher dimensions.
Although part of them remained in the physical world, attacks from reality could usually only damage the surface.
They couldn't harm their true essence.
For those Void creatures with powerful bodies, descending into reality made them almost invincible.
"Oh, I studied the Void a bit recently."
"So I figured out how to deal with Void creatures."
"After all, the part you leave in reality and the part inside the Void are still the same entity."
"So I just transmit the destructive force directly into your internal structure."
"That's all."
"That's all?"
To do that required deep knowledge of Void biology, precise control, and understanding of life structures.
That kind of knowledge wasn't something someone could just casually obtain.
"Well… normally I wouldn't tell anyone secrets like this."
"But since we're brothers."
Rei didn't mention everything.
In truth—
He could now attack directly into the Void without using their bodies as a medium.
He even knew how to locate the exact coordinates linking a Void creature's presence in reality with its position inside the Void.
Void Zhou was shocked.
But he also felt relieved.
At Level 4 and above, Void races could actually remain entirely within the Void without appearing in reality.
If they didn't expose themselves, others couldn't attack them.
Of course, that was their racial trump card.
They normally wouldn't reveal it.
SWISH!
Suddenly, a small figure appeared in the center of the arena.
"Oh, she's here."
Void Zhou looked curiously at the black-haired girl.
"Rei, who's this?"
"Someone who came to spar with me. A Level 4 Human Assassin."
Rei explained simply.
"Can I watch?"
"Sure."
Void Zhou nodded and disappeared, moving to the spectator stands.
Kiyomi said nothing.
She directly sent a duel request.
[Battle Start]
"Did you go take missions recently? Haven't seen you for a while."
Kiyomi gave no response.
Instead—
She vanished from Rei's sight.
A professional assassin indeed.
She wouldn't talk to her enemy during battle.
However…
Rei casually stepped backward.
SWISH!
He easily dodged an attack that hadn't even existed within his field of vision.
Light gathered in his hand.
WHOOSH!
Daylight Inferno!
At the same time, violent winds and a raging blizzard swept across the entire arena.
[Blade Storm Zone (Tier 4) (LV:301)]
[Chaotic Hail Blizzard (Tier 4) (LV:301)]
Wind and snow filled the battlefield instantly, shredding all of Kiyomi's illusions.
Daylight Inferno itself also carried burning power.
However, it couldn't burn a single target individually.
If activated, it burned everything within the area.
When Rei first fought Kiyomi, there had been many people nearby.
He obviously couldn't just burn an entire street.
But inside the arena—
There were no restrictions.
[Resonance Thunderfield (Tier 4) (LV:301)]
Wherever you hide…
If I cover the entire area, it won't matter.
Suddenly, a warning sensation struck from behind.
This time, Rei chose not to dodge.
CLANG!
A sharp flash of cold pierced through layers of his magical shields.
CLANG!
The dagger struck the back of his neck—
But the sound was like steel colliding with iron.
The attack pierced slightly into his skin.
Yet it caused no actual damage.
Kiyomi's pupils shrank.
Her mind filled with shock.
She couldn't…
Break his defense?
PUCHI!
In the next moment—
Rei counter-thrust.
A spear of ice formed instantly and pierced straight through Kiyomi's body.
Rei had never taken damage inside the arena before.
So he had been curious—
Just how strong had his physical body become?
His End-Sense hadn't warned him strongly.
Which meant the attack likely posed no real threat.
It seemed that the intensity of danger sensed by End-Sense corresponded to whether an attack could actually threaten his life.
So minor dangers could probably be tanked directly.
Though…
Letting people hit you wasn't exactly a good habit.
Better to dodge whenever possible.
Kiyomi lost decisively.
From the spectator stands, Void Zhou watched the match with a strange feeling of shared misery.
After losing the first round—
The second round began immediately.
This time, Rei didn't use wide-area magic.
He allowed Kiyomi's illusions to appear.
"Flash of Instant Light · Tempered Magic Martial Arts: Fourth Form — Phantom Step."
BANG!
Illusions appeared from every direction.
But at the exact moment they appeared—
A streak of light flashed across space.
It traced a bizarre zigzag path—
And instantly killed every single illusion.
So fast!
Far faster than before!
Kiyomi suddenly realized—
The speed Rei had displayed previously wasn't even close to his limit.
It could practically be called…
Playing around.
SWISH!
A downward kick smashed from above her head.
Kiyomi's body exploded instantly.
She couldn't understand.
Why could he see her?
She was a Traceless Assassin.
He shouldn't have been able to detect her.
She had even suppressed her presence as much as possible.
So what went wrong?
Despite being an assassin—
She never once gained the initiative.
"Again!"
Kiyomi refused to accept defeat.
Rei glanced toward the spectator stands.
Void Zhou…
This girl is just like you.
Stubborn to the extreme.
Why does everyone I beat feel so unwilling to accept it?
Another round began.
This time, Rei used only pure magic.
Nearly a thousand spells erupted from him in every direction.
A relentless bombardment.
Rei could now release more than 430 spells simultaneously.
With Quadruple Casting, that became over 1,700 spells fired at once.
Centered on Rei—
The battlefield exploded outward like a massive fireworks display.
BOOM!
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM—
Every illusion of Kiyomi was chased and bombarded by hundreds of spells.
Insane.
Completely insane.
Back when she was Level 3, she couldn't defeat Rei.
She had thought that after reaching Level 4 she might finally have a chance.
But now—
Only after returning to the arena did she realize something terrifying.
Back then…
Rei had been holding back enormously.
Winning had never been possible.
No…
I have to find a way to beat him!
Rei thought for a moment.
Then he withdrew the Indomitable Battle Will from his aura.
The ability not only crushed the opponent's mentality—
It also suppressed their speed, strength, and even defense.
Meanwhile, Rei himself would perform far beyond his limits against cowardly enemies.
Every combat technique would deal devastating damage.
If he kept using it…
He might actually push Kiyomi into complete despair.
BOOM!
Eventually, Kiyomi was cornered.
Surrounded by blazing earthfire, the round ended with her final struggle.
Several times she had nearly died—
Only to feel Rei's magic suddenly weaken.
That feeling of almost killing her but not quite made her feel even more humiliated.
It made her feel like he still harbored resentment.
Was he still angry about the assassination attempt that day?
Was he really that petty?
A chill ran through Kiyomi's heart.
Perhaps…
It would be best not to provoke him again.
After sitting on the ground to rest for a while, she finally stood up again.
Three deaths in a row had left her sweating heavily.
But assassin training had hardened her mentality.
She quickly suppressed the lingering discomfort.
Oh~
Recovered pretty fast.
Stubborn indeed.
After these rounds, Rei had already tested most of Kiyomi's talent.
She could create eight simultaneous illusions, excluding her real body.
When she had been Level 3, she could only produce four.
So the ability likely scaled with class level.
It was somewhat similar to his Multi-Casting.
"Change the map."
Kiyomi finally spoke.
Normally, she never changed maps in arena fights.
In her view, she could hide herself anywhere.
Map Selected: Misty Forest
She switched the arena to Misty Forest with the Heavy Fog modifier.
The forest was filled with thick mist.
Visibility by sight was probably less than five meters.
Even perception was heavily restricted.
Assassins really loved maps like this.
Rei estimated that on this map, most assassins' win rates would probably double.
Kiyomi melted into the mist.
"But since you like fog… and illusions…"
[Battle Start]
[Dream-Maze Phantom Fog Sea (Tier 4) (LV:301)]
Rei immediately spread his own sea of mist.
[Illusory Dream Bubble (Tier 4) (LV:301)]
One illusion after another appeared throughout the fog.
They weren't just standing still either—
They were moving.
Performing Rei's signature actions.
Raising staffs.
Pointing fingers toward Kiyomi.
Suddenly, an extremely fast figure streaked past behind her.
Kiyomi's perception snapped to attention—
But realized it had only been a passing illusion.
Wait…
Where was Rei's real body?
Within the vast fog, faint phantom bubbles floated everywhere.
Rei had disappeared.
Now—
Why did it feel like she was the one who had to find him?
Who exactly was the assassin here?
..
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