Destroyer of Ice and Fire

"This guy wants to squeeze me dry this way."

"Amazing Girl, victory is ours already."

In the field, Ayrin came to a thorough understanding of Werther's plan.

He shook from head to toe and suffered from incomparable pain every time "Wrath of the Wizard Spirit" struck him. His arms, in particular, couldn't stop twitching in pain. Yet happiness surged in his chest.

He absorbed quite a few arcane particles every time "Wrath of the Wizard Spirit" battered him. Deducing the arcane particles he spent on invoking Evil Flaming Eyes, he was in a situation where he consumed his arcane particles at a seemingly exceptionally slow rate.

From Werther trying to win a war of attrition against him, things turned into him trying to run Werther dry instead.

On top of that, though he was cutting an extremely sorry figure trying to withstand the pressure of Werther's invocation speed, his bodily movements and his own invocation speed seemed to be forced into becoming a bit faster as well.

So this was simply like a celebrity-level contestant acting as his sparring partner and making him adapt to the tempo of a celebrity fighter's assault.

…

As time passed by, shock and confusion swept through the stands.

"He invoked another dozen Evil Flaming Eyes! Why aren't his arcane particles running dry yet, why can he still use arcane skills!"

"Evil Flaming Eye is a secret skill from Ciaran, an elite teacher at Holy Dawn Academy. An arcane skill like this definitely won't require a low amount of arcane particles. Even a two-gates arcane master, fighting from the beginning until now, would have used up all their arcane particles."

"Could he fundamentally be more than a one-gate arcane master? But judging from the power of his arcane skills, it's clearly the intensity of arcane particles from an arcane master with one open gate."

"This guy definitely used some secret skill and deliberately sealed his arcane canes, and also deliberately suppressed the power of his arcane particles."

Very quickly, like Rinsyi before them, almost everyone in the stands thought that Ayrin was deliberately hiding his real strength to deceive his opponents.

"Even an arcane master with two open gates would have run dry long ago. He's opened three arcane gates at least!"

Stormy waves were likewise raging in Werther's mind.

At the same time, the trace of a proud smile rippled at the corner of Carter's mouth.

Right now, everyone in the arena, even including existences at Kleis' level, had probably gotten an erroneous impression about Ayrin.

This was precisely the result Carter hoped to achieve.

An erroneous judgment about an arcane master's special abilities could bring dire consequences.

It was precisely so right now for Wild Battlemaster Werther.

With at least three open gates, then there would be many possibilities.

Werther also had three open gates.

What if Ayrin had enough arcane particles left to launch some hidden taboo skill?

What if Ayrin didn't only have three open gates, but four?

Such guesses became complete confusion and perplexity in Werther's eyes.

The more he looked at Ayrin, the more he felt Ayrin's whole person was a giant treacherous trap.

"At his age, even if he had a pure-blooded dragon bloodline, he should have at most opened his fourth arcane gate not long ago. He already went through four fights previously. At this rate of consumption, he has at most about the same amount of arcane particles left as me."

"I'll keep fighting like this. The worst that can happen is both of us running dry. Let's see if you have the patience to keep pretending!"

The bewildered Werther clenched his teeth and finally decided to still continue this fight of attrition.

"The match is over."

Carter released his breath as soon as he saw Werther still persisting with his original strategy. In a quiet voice, he told everyone in team Holy Dawn, "You can get ready to celebrate your first victory in the national tournament."

"What do you mean?" After a dazed stare, Stingham shouted in indignation, "What's the deal with Ayrin, I haven't gone up there yet, how did it turn out like this? It's just our second fighter, they're going to lose already?"

Stingham's shout just then was the greatest taunt for team Mountain Kings and the other teams who'd ridiculed them before.

The other members of the team had long foreseen the victory already. When they heard Carter's words, the eyes of many among them reddened for some inexplicable reason.

They simply couldn't imagine what kind of storm would set off when the news of Holy Dawn Academy's victory over Mountain Kings Academy reached St. Lauren, reached Holy Dawn Academy.

To make all the spectators in the arena burst in astonishment, to radically change the way all the other teams looked at them, this was true glory.

…

"He hasn't run dry yet?"

After launching "Wrath of the Wizard Spirit" again and again, Werther's movements and state of mind were both a little numb.

He was about to run out of arcane particles. The emptiness of his arcane gates caused his body to feel as though it lacked energy.

Yet Ayrin could still fire Evil Flaming Eyes one after another, he could still block his assaults!

"Why is it like this?!"

"I can only risk everything I've got!"

In the end, he crumbled psychologically.

"Eight Wild Axes!"

"Squall of the Mountain Kings!"

All the arcane particles left inside him gushed out entirely from his hands and feet.

Along with wild gusts of wind, his body started flying, while eight axes even taller than himself appeared and revolved all around him!

"He's coming!

"What a formidable aura!"

Facing Werther's final hysterical assault, Ayrin's eyes glinted instead with an extreme warlike and excited light.

"Bring it on!"

A ferocious roar burst out of Ayrin's throat.

He held his breath. His face turned purple as he once again invoked Holy Body Ignition.

"Crown of Ice and Snow!"

Breathing intently, he charged at the eight huge axes hurling in his direction. His clothes flapped in the wind. He fiercely pushed his palm forward in the air.

"Boom!"

A huge white block of ice appeared in front of him.

At the same time, blowing rumbling air waves and creating fearsome vibrations with it, his right fist pounded on the white block of ice.

"Crack crack crack crack crack…" With a series of explosive sounds, the snow-white block of ice instantly deformed, transforming into a white crown of snow and ice lying horizontally in the air, crashing against the eight axes and the wild gusts of winds.

"What a violent power, what a wild fighting stance!"

In this instant, almost everyone's eyes twitched in the stands at the sight of Ayrin's unrestrained figure.

Terrifying sounds of hacking and shattering exploded in the field following that.

The huge crown of ice and snow disintegrated under the collision and the hacking. Countless shards of ice and snow splashed away, covering the entire arena.

Werther broke through from the ice and snow, still surrounded by eight axes, but the sharp shards of ice had torn many bloody wounds on his body.

The chaotic gusts of wind had already dissipated.

All around him, the eight axes were also about to fall down.

He roared wildly and grabbed two of them, continuing his frenzied charge in Ayrin's direction.

"Wait!"

Just then, however, Ayrin suddenly lifted his hand and gestured he admitted defeat.

Seeing his gesture, Werther halted subconsciously, but his brain intertwined left and right with all sorts of complex moods temporarily had a little trouble following.

"What are you trying to do now, what kind of plot are you up to!"

Stopping his steps, Werther couldn't stop himself from roaring.

"It's not that. I really can't fight any longer. My arms are so swollen, I'm already at my limits lifting them like this," Ayrin explained in all seriousness, his aching face etched with an expression that said he had no other choice.

Werther's eyes, everyone's eyes in arena, they all fell on Ayrin's arms.

Everyone saw that Ayrin's arms had swollen to half again their usual size. Apart from the color of bruises, they'd already swollen to the point they seemed filled with water.

"They're so swollen already… Are you really admitting defeat?"

In the suddenly quiet arena, Werther suddenly came to his senses. He won his duel against Ayrin.

Yet, he was suddenly seized by the urge to cry.

His arcane particles had already run entirely dry.

Even if Ayrin admitted defeat, how would he fight the following bout?

He wanted to cry, yet he had no tears. Werther lowered his head and slowly stretched his hand.

…

"Werther is also forfeiting?"

"If so, does that mean Holy Dawn Academy won? Team Holy Dawn beat team Mountain Kings five two?"

"This Ayrin, isn't it simply like he defeated team Mountain Kings all by himself?"

Seeing Werther also making a gesture of forfeit, the entire stands fell still for one second, then erupted in an uproar.

Another upset!

Another dark horse emerged!

The second weeds-level team defeated a strong team, just like the first!

"I knew this guy would give us a pleasant surprise, but I never thought it would be such a pleasant surprise."

Ivan stood up in the stands. He started applauding, a rare smile emerging on his face.

"A spectacular battle."

With a faint smile, Ferguillo started clapping as well.

"These guys really won again!"

Gaskin wore a sullen scowl in team Dragon Breath. "How many meals do I owe now?"

"Another dangerous figure emerged. It seems the road to the cup this year won't be nearly as smooth as we thought." Captain Morgan sighed quietly, then he also started applauding.

The applause was sparse at first, but it shook the entire arena by the end.

"Ahahahaha, we won! We really won!"

Hugged tight by team members wild with joy, Ayrin never stopped his foolish laughter.

There was only Stingham standing unhappy at the side, his face sullen.

"Did I really make the right choice?" Even Rinloran couldn't stop himself from running at Ayrin and beating his chest a couple times. Such a thought kept nagging his mind just then.

"Truly a fool!" In the stands, Rinsyi still had a confident and sinister expression. "He's so swollen, I'm sure there are many broken bones in his arms. With wounds like these, he can't recover even in half a month. He might be absent from the next match just for the sake of beating team Mountain Kings all by himself. You can't be any more stupid than that."

"But the degree of this guy's strength and strangeness, he really can't be underestimated." Beside him, the flirty girl started smiling. "He should really be a threatening enemy for you, right,?"

"He, and team Holy Dawn, they still don't have the qualifications." Rinsyi coldly shook his head. "I already told them when I was in St. Lauren. Just comparing the depth of our benches, a team like theirs simply can't compare to us."