The forest disappeared.
One moment there were trees—
The next, the flat arena returned beneath her feet, the ground smooth and unnaturally even, as if the entire environment had been replaced rather than transformed.
Lily adjusted her stance, still holding Olivia as she scanned her surroundings.
Above them floated the old man in the pointed hat.
"Ho ho."
"I will now announce the winners who will move on to the final battle."
Lily didn't look up for long.
She was already thinking.
"First place—Darius Moore."
Of course.
"And second place—Lily Aedile."
As expected.
Beside her, Olivia stirred.
"…so I didn't win in the end, huh."
"I'll win for the both of us," Lily replied.
Olivia stretched and waved lazily. "I'll cheer for you from the stands."
Lily simply raised her hand in response.
"The final battle starts now."
The arena shifted.
Lily stood at one end.
Darius stood at the other.
Both of them still worn down.
"Begin when you are ready."
"Ice Ring."
The ground responded immediately.
Moisture condensed out of the air in a visible ripple, gathering along a precise circular path before freezing mid-motion. The frost spread outward like cracks across glass, then surged upward, forming a continuous wall of ice. The surface wasn't smooth—it layered rapidly, reinforcing itself with each fraction of a second, giving it density despite its thin appearance.
"Strong Winds."
Air began to circulate, guided along the inner boundary of the ice. The wind didn't blow randomly—it followed a controlled path, accelerating as it looped around the arena. As it passed over the ice, it carried away the cold, spreading it evenly. The temperature dropped not in bursts, but steadily, the air thinning slightly as each cycle stripped away warmth.
Lily watched him.
Let's see how you deal with pressure…
"Dark Rain."
Dark fragments formed above Darius.
They didn't simply appear—they condensed, as if the space itself was thickening. The mana gathered unevenly, forming jagged, imperfect shapes. Each fragment looked slightly unstable, but something held them together, preventing them from breaking apart.
Not smooth.
Not clean.
Each one slightly different in shape and density.
They fell—
But not randomly.
They angled toward her, adjusting slightly mid-air, as if guided after being cast.
Lily stepped aside.
Then again.
Then again.
Her movements stayed minimal.
But her focus—
Wasn't fully on dodging.
The structure… it's unstable… but it holds.
One fragment passed close to her face.
She tracked it.
It's not pure compression like earth…
Not flow like water…
Another grazed her arm.
Her movement paused for just a fraction.
Her fingers tightened around her staff.
The fragment didn't just cut—it dragged slightly, as if resisting her movement even after contact.
It lingers…
She flexed her hand slightly.
The sensation didn't fade immediately.
It clung.
Like something was interfering with her mana, creating resistance where there should have been none.
A small breath escaped her.
"…so this is dark magic."
More fragments came.
Too many.
They overlapped in layers, filling space rather than targeting directly.
She raised her staff.
"Flame Blast."
Fire spread outward, not as a single wave but as a rapid expansion of heat. The sudden increase in temperature destabilized the dark fragments, causing their structure to break apart unevenly. Some dissolved instantly, others warped and split before dispersing.
But a few still made it through.
They scraped across her shoulder.
The contact left a faint, lingering heaviness, as if the mana in that area had been disrupted.
Her body reacted—
But her mind didn't pull away.
If anything—
It leaned in.
It doesn't just damage…
It disrupts control.
The mana flow changes after contact…
Her eyes sharpened.
So that's why his movements feel so clean…
Across the field—
Darius began gathering mana again.
This time, it didn't spread outward. It condensed tightly around him, layering over itself in controlled patterns, each layer reinforcing the next.
More contained.
More deliberate.
Lily noticed.
But instead of urgency—
There was interest.
What is he building now…?
She still acted.
"Flame Burst."
"Stone Sword."
Fire expanded again, but this time in shorter, sharper bursts, distorting the air in front of her. At the same time, stone formed from the ground, compressing rapidly into blade-like shapes before launching forward. The swords weren't perfectly smooth—they retained rough edges, increasing their impact on contact.
Darius vanished.
Reappeared.
Shifted again.
There was no transition—just absence and presence, as if he slipped between two points without crossing the space in between.
Lily watched closely.
Her attacks missed—
But that wasn't what mattered.
Her eyes stayed on the ground.
On the shadows.
There.
A slight distortion.
A dark patch—
Not natural.
The surface there didn't reflect light properly. It looked shallow, but the mana within it was deeper than it should have been.
He's not moving himself.
He's moving space.
Her grip tightened slightly.
Dark magic can do that?
Her heartbeat picked up.
Not from fear—
But curiosity.
So it's not just offensive…
It's structural.
Darius kept shifting.
Avoiding everything.
Lily stopped attacking.
I won't interrupt him in time.
But her thoughts didn't stop.
If dark magic can connect space like that…
Then his next spell—
She felt it.
The way his mana gathered.
Dense.
Layered.
Like multiple constructs forming at once, each connected but independent.
Her lips curved slightly.
I want to see it.
But she also knew—
If I let it fully form, I lose.
She drew in mana.
Fire.
Earth.
Water.
Wind.
They resisted each other immediately.
Fire expanded, pushing outward violently.
Water wrapped around it, suppressing and cooling it.
Earth pressed in from all sides, adding weight and instability.
Wind compressed everything inward, forcing the opposing elements into a confined space.
She compressed them.
Smaller.
Tighter.
The sphere trembled slightly, the surface shifting constantly as the elements clashed inside.
Hold.
Across from her—
Darius raised his staff.
Darkness formed behind him.
It didn't just appear—it stretched outward, forming a base before building upward into shapes.
Then took shape.
Armored figures.
Mounted.
Structured.
Each one formed piece by piece—armor plates, limbs, weapons—held together by dark mana that acted like both structure and binding force.
His own body became covered in armor.
The armor wasn't physical—it flowed into place, locking over him like a second layer of skin reinforced by magic.
A weapon formed in his hand.
"Dark Cavalry."
Lily's eyes locked onto it.
Not the charge—
The formation.
The structure.
"MEN! CHARGE!"
They rushed forward.
Heavy.
Coordinated.
Each step carried weight, their forms maintaining stability even while moving at speed.
Lily didn't move.
Her focus remained fixed.
The sphere in front of her shrank further.
It was unstable.
Like it was about to burst with a light graze.
The surface flickered constantly, small reactions forming and collapsing within fractions of a second.
She stepped slightly.
Adjusted her angle.
Through the moving cavalry—
She found a gap.
She threw it.
It disappeared into the motion.
One second.
Darius focused on the cavalry.
Two seconds.
Something touched him.
He looked down.
A sphere.
His eyes widened.
What—
Too late.
It collapsed—
Then expanded.
The elements broke apart.
Fire surged outward in a violent expansion.
Earth shattered into high-speed fragments.
Water spread, then compressed again under the force of the explosion.
Wind forced everything outward while also redirecting the flow, causing the elements to collide again mid-expansion.
Then—
They interacted.
Clashed.
Shifted.
Reformed.
Fragments hardened mid-air into sharper projectiles.
Others dissolved into unstable mixtures that changed state almost instantly.
Heat and pressure combined, creating bursts of force before collapsing again.
Then separated again.
The reactions overlapped, each one triggering another without pause.
The reactions aren't fixed…
They're adapting…
Inside—
Darius collapsed.
The cavalry vanished instantly as the mana sustaining them lost cohesion.
"STOP."
Lily blinked once.
Then released the spell.
Everything faded, the unstable elements dispersing before they could continue reacting.
Darius lay on the ground.
Unconscious.
Silence.
"THE WINNER IS LILY AEDILE!"