Bang!
Olivia's fist crashed into Trissy's face with enough force to distort the air around it.
For a split second Trissy's eyes widened in genuine shock before her body flew backward like a ragdoll. She slammed into the barrier surrounding the arena hard enough to send ripples across its surface. The audience collectively winced at the impact.
Olivia stood there breathing heavily, one fist trembling from the recoil.
Her enhancement magic amplified every part of her body, but even so, punching someone with that much force still hurt. Tiny fractures spread through the skin of her knuckles before her healing magic slowly repaired them.
Still, Olivia barely noticed the pain.
Because Trissy was standing back up.
Slowly.
Unsteadily.
Blood dripped from the side of her mouth onto the white arena floor while her silver hair hung messily over her face. One of her eyes had swollen slightly from the hit, yet despite her terrible condition, her expression remained eerily calm.
Olivia's stomach tightened.
Why aren't they going down?
Most teams would have surrendered already.
But Felix and Trissy looked less like tournament participants and more like monsters refusing to die.
"Sensory Link!"
Corey's voice echoed across the arena.
A magic circle instantly appeared beneath all four fighters.
The invisible connection between Felix and Olivia shattered apart before new threads of mana rapidly formed between Corey, Felix, and Trissy instead.
The moment the link completed, Corey's expression twisted violently.
Pain.
Not normal pain.
Not the kind from injuries during training or sparring matches.
This was something deeper.
It felt as though his nervous system had been ripped from his body and thrown into fire. Trissy's accumulated injuries flooded directly into his mind while Felix's self-inflicted suffering mixed together with them.
Corey nearly blacked out immediately.
His knees slammed into the ground.
"Ghk—!"
The audience stared in confusion.
There were no wounds on him.
No blood.
Yet Corey looked more injured than anyone else on the stage.
Felix slowly lifted his head.
Then he started laughing.
Not ordinary laughter.
The unhinged kind that made people instinctively uncomfortable.
"Hahahaha!"
He clutched his own face while grinning so widely it looked painful.
"Oh this is FUN!"
Beside him, Trissy steadied her breathing.
Unlike Felix, she wasn't laughing.
She looked exhausted.
Olivia immediately realized something.
Felix enjoyed pain.
Trissy merely tolerated it.
That difference mattered.
Trissy raised a shaking hand toward one of the floating fragments of light around her. The shard melted and stretched under her control until it formed a long glowing spear.
Corey's eyes widened.
Wait—
Before he could react, Trissy turned the spear toward herself and drove it through her own shoulder.
"AHHHHHH!"
All three linked mages collapsed simultaneously.
The scream tore from Corey's throat before he could stop it.
The pain multiplied instantly.
It felt real.
That was the horrifying part.
Even though his body remained mostly unharmed, his brain interpreted every injury as genuine. He could feel the sensation of flesh tearing, bones grinding, nerves burning.
Corey curled into himself desperately trying to endure it.
His thoughts became fragmented.
Too much.
This is way too much—
Felix slammed his fist against the floor while laughing harder.
"You think you can outlast us?" he shouted excitedly. "You're amazing! Most people break instantly!"
Corey barely heard him.
His ears rang violently.
His body trembled uncontrollably.
A small terrified thought surfaced in the back of his mind.
What if I actually can't do this?
That thought scared him more than the pain itself.
Because Olivia was still fighting.
If he failed now, she would have to continue against those two monsters alone.
No.
He couldn't allow that.
Corey forced himself to look toward Trissy through blurry vision.
Even she looked strained now.
Her lips were pale.
Her breathing uneven.
Compared to Felix, she clearly had limits.
And that meant they could win.
Originally Corey had intended to threaten Felix and Trissy using the link itself. If necessary, he could force a draw by risking his own life.
But Trissy had instantly understood the same strategy.
Worse, she had more experience enduring pain than he did.
That realization frustrated him deeply.
I'm still inexperienced.
If this was a real battle instead of a tournament…
Corey swallowed hard.
He didn't finish the thought.
Using the arena floor for support, Corey shakily forced himself upright and stumbled toward Olivia.
Olivia immediately turned toward him in alarm.
"Corey?!"
He leaned close and whispered quickly into her ear.
Olivia's eyes widened more and more the longer he spoke.
"What?!" she hissed quietly. "That's insane!"
Corey smiled weakly despite the sweat pouring down his face.
"It's the only way."
"What if you mess up?!"
"I won't."
"You can't know that!"
Corey looked toward Felix and Trissy.
Felix was still laughing.
Trissy was barely staying conscious.
Then Corey quietly said:
"Trust me."
Something in his expression made Olivia stop arguing.
Not because she thought the plan was safe.
But because she realized Corey had already decided.
Olivia hated that feeling.
Hated standing there unable to stop him.
Before she could say anything else, Corey copied Trissy's light magic. Mana gathered in his trembling hand before forming into another glowing spear.
The moment he pointed it toward himself, every instinct in his body screamed at him to stop.
Fear surged through him.
Real fear.
His hands shook violently.
He didn't want to do this.
He absolutely did not want to stab himself.
For the first time in a long while, Corey fully realized how terrifying pain truly was.
Felix saw the hesitation and grinned widely.
"Do it," he encouraged excitedly.
That expression annoyed Corey enough to move.
He drove the spear through his own arm.
Agony exploded through the link again.
Felix dropped onto his back laughing hysterically.
Trissy collapsed to one knee.
Corey nearly vomited from the pain.
His vision blurred so badly the arena spun around him.
Then suddenly—
The pain dulled.
Corey blinked in confusion before noticing Olivia casting a spell toward him.
A curse.
One that interfered with pain signals traveling through the nervous system.
Relief flooded Corey so intensely he almost cried.
The pain didn't disappear completely, but it became manageable.
Meanwhile Trissy looked far worse now.
Her composure had cracked.
For the first time fear appeared in her eyes whenever Felix injured himself.
Felix, however, looked ecstatic.
"This is incredible!" he shouted happily.
Without warning he smashed both fists into the ground hard enough to nearly shatter the bones in his hands.
Crunch.
Trissy immediately gasped in agony.
Corey saw it clearly now.
Felix was fine because he enjoyed suffering.
Trissy wasn't.
And if they pushed her just a little further—
Corey tightened his grip on the spear.
This time there was less hesitation.
If it means winning…
He stabbed the spear deep into his thigh.
Pain detonated through the link once more.
Corey collapsed sideways.
The world spun violently around him while distant screams echoed through the arena.
As darkness overtook his vision, he saw Trissy finally lose consciousness too.
Right before blacking out, Corey remembered one final thing.
Cancel the link.
The mana threads connecting them snapped apart instantly.
Then everything went dark.
Olivia saw Corey collapse.
For one horrifying second her heart stopped.
"COREY!"
She almost ran toward him immediately.
Almost.
But Felix was still there.
And he was already starting to recover.
Olivia's expression hardened instantly.
Mana surged throughout her body as she boosted her physical abilities to their limit.
Strength.
Speed.
Durability.
Her muscles screamed from the strain, but Olivia ignored it completely.
Anger burned inside her chest.
Not just toward Felix and Trissy.
Toward Corey too.
Idiot.
What kind of plan was that?
What if something had gone wrong?
What if he failed to cancel the link?
What if—
Olivia cut off those thoughts.
Because right now there was only one thing she needed to do.
Destroy Felix.
The arena cracked beneath her feet as she launched herself forward.
Felix had only just started lifting his head when Olivia appeared above him like a falling meteor.
For the first time since the match began, Felix's grin widened in genuine excitement.
Olivia threw her punch with everything she had.
Her rage.
Her fear.
Her relief.
All of it poured into that single strike.
Then suddenly—
Felix vanished.
BOOOOOOM!
The arena exploded apart.
Stone shattered in every direction while enormous cracks spread across the battlefield. Entire sections of the stage collapsed inward from the impact.
Spectators screamed as shockwaves blasted through the stadium.
Olivia stared at the destruction breathing heavily.
Then she looked upward.
The referee floated above the arena holding Felix by the leash attached to his collar.
Felix dangled upside down looking disappointed.
"Aww."
The referee sighed before announcing loudly:
"Olivia Holder and Corey Key are the winners of the doubles tournament!"
The crowd erupted into cheers.
Olivia ignored all of it.
Her eyes desperately searched through the rubble until she finally spotted Corey's unconscious body.
The moment she reached him and confirmed he was breathing, relief hit her so hard her legs nearly gave out.
"Why…" she whispered shakily.
Corey slowly opened his eyes.
Even now he smiled.
"We won… didn't we?"
Olivia immediately punched him lightly in the stomach.
"Idiot!"
Her voice cracked slightly.
She hated how reckless he had been.
But more than that—
She hated how terrified she felt watching him hurt himself over and over.
That feeling lingered in her chest long after the battle ended.
Meanwhile Felix casually walked over despite the healers chasing after him.
"Hey," he said brightly to Olivia, "can you punch me again sometime?"
Olivia immediately took a step backward.
Felix tilted his head innocently.
"I'm serious. That was amazing."
Olivia stared at him in disbelief.
How can someone say that after almost getting flattened?
Felix continued talking cheerfully.
"You heal too, right? That's so cool. Healing powers would make hurting myself way eas—"
He suddenly stopped.
"Oh. Trissy says I'm not supposed to discuss hobbies with strangers."
Olivia felt chills run down her spine.
Somehow Felix acting normal disturbed her even more than his insanity during battle.
By the time night arrived, the atmosphere across Bayarm Academy had completely changed.
The tension of the tournaments faded into excitement as students gathered for the enormous celebratory banquet.
Music filled the halls while long tables overflowed with food from different regions.
Lily wandered through the banquet with Olivia while the heavily bandaged Corey awkwardly followed beside them.
Corey kept trying to act normal.
Unfortunately for him, Lily was extremely observant.
"At the banquet, Lily walked around with Olivia who was accompanied by the heroic yet emotionally confused Corey—"
"STOP IT!"
Lily's sudden shout startled everyone nearby.
Olivia jumped before realizing Lily was glaring directly at Leon.
Leon immediately raised both hands defensively.
"What? I'm just narrating reality."
"You are NOT narrating reality!"
Leon leaned toward Isaac dramatically.
"She denies the truth because she fears my insight."
Isaac sighed tiredly.
"I regret knowing you."
Lily pointed threateningly at Leon.
"If you keep narrating people's romantic tension I will bury you underground."
Leon paled slightly.
"…Understood."
Then quietly he added:
"For now."
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
Leon immediately grabbed Isaac and fled toward the food tables before Lily could attack him.
Watching them leave, Olivia laughed softly.
The tension from the battle finally started fading from her body.
Beside her, Corey glanced toward Olivia again before quickly looking away.
Lily noticed instantly.
So did Olivia.
A faint redness spread across Olivia's ears while Corey suddenly became very interested in the nearby decorations.
Lily looked between the two of them.
Then she smiled to herself.
Tomorrow would bring another tournament.
But for tonight, everyone was simply enjoying being young, victorious, and alive.