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Dark Magic Attack.
Mana's staff whipped forward and a bolt of black-violet energy screamed across the arena, slamming into the Steel Shell Turtle's plated front with a thunderclap that shook the ground.
The turtle didn't budge. Layered steel-gray plating absorbed the impact, dark energy splattering against the shell like water against a dam. When the smoke cleared, the surface didn't even have a scorch mark.
"Ha!" The Moonvale side erupted. "See that?! It took the hit clean! Not a scratch!"
"That's Zane's turtle for you. Even Lily needs time to crack that thing open!"
Mana tilted her head. "Huh. That's new."
She circled the turtle on foot, firing two more bolts in quick succession. One from the left flank, one curving around from behind on a homing trajectory. Both hit. Both splashed harmlessly off the shell. The plating covered every angle: top, sides, even the underside was reinforced. No exposed underbelly like the serpent. No gap in the armor.
"Every side?" Mana planted the butt of her staff on the ground and leaned on it with one hand, studying the turtle with genuine curiosity. "You're like a giant rock. A really, really boring giant rock."
The turtle's response was to retract its head and legs entirely. Full lockdown. A featureless steel dome squatting in the middle of the arena.
"Oh, come ON." Mana puffed her cheeks out. "You can't just sit there! That's not fighting, that's... that's being furniture!"
The Ashenvale students were grinning despite themselves. The Moonvale camp, though, was feeding on hope.
"She can't crack it! The turtle's defense is holding!"
"If the Spellcaster can't break through, the turtle wins by attrition. She'll drain her mana before that shell gives."
Mana tapped her chin with one finger, then smiled. She dashed forward, staff raised, and brought it down on the turtle's shell with a ringing crack that echoed across the arena. Close-range. Full force. The blow left a vibration humming through the plating but no visible damage.
She hit it again. A rapid three-strike combo, staff spinning between impacts, each blow targeting a slightly different angle on the same plate. Clang. Clang. CLANG. On the third hit, a hairline fracture spiderwebbed across the surface.
"There you are," Mana murmured.
The turtle felt it. The shell shifted, the creature inside rotating to present a fresh, undamaged plate. Defense types didn't just tank hits. They adapted.
"Smart rock." Mana hopped backward, creating distance. "But if I know where you crack..."
She raised her staff overhead and began channeling. This wasn't the rapid-fire bolts she'd been throwing. The energy condensed at the tip of her wand, compressing tighter and tighter, black and violet light spiraling into a single dense point that hummed with barely-contained force. A focused lance instead of a spread blast.
The turtle sensed the buildup. For the first time in the fight, it moved. Its massive body lurched forward in a charging ram, the full weight of its armored frame aimed at Mana before she could finish.
"Too slow~!" Mana sidestepped the charge at the last instant, pivoted on one heel, and jammed her staff down into the crack as the turtle barreled past. The concentrated beam fired point-blank into the fracture.
The effect was instantaneous. Where standard Dark Magic Attacks had splashed off the surface, the focused beam punched through the weakened plate like a needle through cloth. Dark energy flooded through the breach and detonated inside the shell.
The Steel Shell Turtle came apart from the inside out.
"QUAD KILL!"
"Don't call him Luke, show some respect! That's sir to you!"
"Look at their faces. Every last one of them. Today was worth it."
Four opponents. Four kills. Levi's Inferno Knight dropped by raw power. Preston's Venomous King Serpent outmaneuvered by a homing spell that found its soft underbelly. Warren's Howling Moon Wolf stripped of its trump card, outfought in melee, and erased by a wide-area Dark Burning Attack. And now Zane's Steel Shell Turtle, the card everyone thought could at least survive, cracked open and gutted from the inside.
"That was a Five-Star Collectible defense card! It's built to survive Six-Star attacks! How does she just... find the weak spot and drill through it?!"
"Since when does Ashenvale have a Card Master this strong?"
Zane's face was blank. He'd known going in that his odds were bad. But he'd expected his turtle to buy time, to force the Spellcaster to show more of her hand, to drain some of her reserves before Lily had to step up. Instead she'd diagnosed the defense, identified the fracture point, adapted her attack method mid-fight, and finished it in under a minute.
The Ashenvale students weren't even trying to contain themselves. Crestfall, Ironvale, Westbridge. All three schools united for once, riding the same wave of vicious satisfaction.
"They don't even know she one-shot a Six-Star Storm Sparrow during the exam," Marcus muttered to Hailey. "These guys are weaker than the practice round."
"Shh." Hailey elbowed him, grinning. "Don't give it away."
On the Moonvale side, desperation had replaced confidence.
"We're not losing to Ashenvale. Lily hasn't gone yet. Once she steps up, it's over." Levi's fists were clenched. Zane and Warren nodded. If the Spellcaster was Six-Star, then it was Six against Six. Moonvale wouldn't lose an even fight.
In the middle of all the noise, Lily said nothing. Her eyes hadn't left the arena.
Breaking through Steel Shell Turtle's reinforced defense by concentrating her attack on a single stress point. She adapted her approach three times in under a minute. That level of combat intelligence is top-tier, and the raw destructive power behind it is frightening even among Six-Stars.
The analysis settled cold and clear.
Even so. I won't lose to you.
Up on the VIP platform, Edwin Pace's smug expression had curdled.
"So this is your trump card, Harlow."
He couldn't identify the Spellcaster. Even a Sovereign couldn't memorize the entire Codex. But the performance spoke for itself: Six-Star minimum, quality far above average, and the combat instincts of a veteran fighter.
"No wonder you took the bet. Seems Ashenvale got lucky this year." Edwin studied Luke rather than the card. Card Spirits were born from their masters' craft. The real variable was always the Card Master. "Congratulations."
"Can't let Moonvale have all the good fortune," Harlow replied lightly.
Inside, he was having the time of his life.
"Interesting." Helena Frost's voice cut through. "I didn't expect Ashenvale to produce a student of this caliber. Quite different from what I remember."
"Times change," Victor replied, savoring every syllable.
"That Spellcaster is Six-Star." Helena didn't phrase it as a question. "It doesn't matter. The winner of this exchange will still be Moonvale."
Iron certainty. Helena Frost didn't waste words on outcomes she wasn't sure of.
Victor's satisfaction went cold. She's still this confident?
Helena wasn't the type to bluff. If she said Moonvale would win, she had a reason.
His gaze drifted to Lily Everhart as she stepped forward through the cheering crowd. He studied her for a long moment.
Commander Realm.
Every other Moonvale student had been Soldier Realm. But Lily had already broken through.
Two summon slots.
Victor's brow furrowed. So that was Helena's ace. This fight wasn't going to be as simple as it looked.