"Yuna, tomorrow Iâm going to the Combat Arena with Kiyomi."
"In the afternoon I have to go to the Forbidden Library."
"So I probably wonât 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 hadnât 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 Zhouâs 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 Zhouâs progress was pretty fast.
But that wasnât surprising.
Void Zhou had already comprehended Third-Tier Origin Magic before, so he hadnât 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, itâs been a while. Iâve already reached Level 4 Mage recently. What about you?"
Rei shrugged.
"I didnât reach Level 4."
"You still havenât comprehended Third-Tier Origin Magic?"
"No, I already did."
"Then why arenât you Level 4 yet? Donât tell me you canât 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.
Pfftâ
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!
Waitâwerenât you supposed to be a genius mage?
Why did you suddenly switch careers and become a warrior?!
"Brother... arenât you wasting your mage talent a little?"
"No. Iâm talented in every profession."
Void Zhouâs mouth twitched.
He suddenly felt the urge to punch someone.
Was that even something a human should say?
"Brother, since youâre here..."
"How about we fight? I still donât have any ideas for my Fourth-Tier Origin Magic."
Rei nodded.
"Sure."
"But I should warn you first. Iâm a lot stronger than before."
Void Zhou laughed loudly.
"Haha! Then youâre probably underestimating a Level 4 Origin Mage."
"Iâve 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 Reiâs fist.
"Tempered Magic Martial Arts â 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 upwardâ
It directly struck his higher-dimensional body within the Void.
BANG!
With that single blow, Void Zhouâs body exploded like a balloon.
Battle over.
The eye in the center of Void Zhouâs forehead widened in disbelief.
He had just been...
Instantly killed?
And the opponent hadnât 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 â Chaotic Star Barrage."
SWISH!
Four massive stone arms appeared in the sky simultaneously.
"Grand Stone Titan Fist · Invincible Style: Third Form â Army-Breaking Cleave."
WHOOSHâ
Four colossal fists descended like giant swords.
Void Zhou felt a violent shockwave travel through his bodyâ
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 â Demon-Binding Lock."
SWISH!
The moment lightning vibrations surged through his body, Void Zhou was instantly restrained.
Immediately afterwardâ
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 Reiâs 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 nowâ
The moment the battle started, he was immediately killed.
Just how fast had Rei grown?
"Still want to continue?" Rei asked casually.
Although Void Zhouâs 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 couldnât 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 couldnât 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."
"Thatâs all."
"Thatâs all?"
To do that required deep knowledge of Void biology, precise control, and understanding of life structures.
That kind of knowledge wasnât something someone could just casually obtain.
"Well... normally I wouldnât tell anyone secrets like this."
"But since weâre brothers."
Rei didnât mention everything.
In truthâ
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 creatureâs 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 didnât expose themselves, others couldnât attack them.
Of course, that was their racial trump card.
They normally wouldnât reveal it.
SWISH!
Suddenly, a small figure appeared in the center of the arena.
"Oh, sheâs here."
Void Zhou looked curiously at the black-haired girl.
"Rei, whoâs 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? Havenât seen you for a while."
Kiyomi gave no response.
Insteadâ
She vanished from Reiâs sight.
A professional assassin indeed.
She wouldnât talk to her enemy during battle.
However...
Rei casually stepped backward.
SWISH!
He easily dodged an attack that hadnât 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 Kiyomiâs illusions.
Daylight Inferno itself also carried burning power.
However, it couldnât 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 couldnât just burn an entire street.
But inside the arenaâ
There were no restrictions.
[Resonance Thunderfield (Tier 4) (LV:301)]
Wherever you hide...
If I cover the entire area, it wonât 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 neckâ
But the sound was like steel colliding with iron.
The attack pierced slightly into his skin.
Yet it caused no actual damage.
Kiyomiâs pupils shrank.
Her mind filled with shock.
She couldnât...
Break his defense?
PUCHI!
In the next momentâ
Rei counter-thrust.
A spear of ice formed instantly and pierced straight through Kiyomiâs body.
Rei had never taken damage inside the arena before.
So he had been curiousâ
Just how strong had his physical body become?
His End-Sense hadnât 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 wasnât 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 roundâ
The second round began immediately.
This time, Rei didnât use wide-area magic.
He allowed Kiyomiâs illusions to appear.
"Flash of Instant Light · Tempered Magic Martial Arts: Fourth Form â Phantom Step."
BANG!
Illusions appeared from every direction.
But at the exact moment they appearedâ
A streak of light flashed across space.
It traced a bizarre zigzag pathâ
And instantly killed every single illusion.
So fast!
Far faster than before!
Kiyomi suddenly realizedâ
The speed Rei had displayed previously wasnât even close to his limit.
It could practically be called...
Playing around.
SWISH!
A downward kick smashed from above her head.
Kiyomiâs body exploded instantly.
She couldnât understand.
Why could he see her?
She was a Traceless Assassin.
He shouldnât have been able to detect her.
She had even suppressed her presence as much as possible.
So what went wrong?
Despite being an assassinâ
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 Reiâ
The battlefield exploded outward like a massive fireworks display.
BOOM!
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOMâ
Every illusion of Kiyomi was chased and bombarded by hundreds of spells.
Insane.
Completely insane.
Back when she was Level 3, she couldnât defeat Rei.
She had thought that after reaching Level 4 she might finally have a chance.
But nowâ
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 opponentâs mentalityâ
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 diedâ
Only to feel Reiâs 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 Kiyomiâs 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 Kiyomiâs 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 assassinsâ 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 werenât just standing still eitherâ
They were moving.
Performing Reiâs signature actions.
Raising staffs.
Pointing fingers toward Kiyomi.
Suddenly, an extremely fast figure streaked past behind her.
Kiyomiâs perception snapped to attentionâ
But realized it had only been a passing illusion.
Wait...
Where was Reiâs real body?
Within the vast fog, faint phantom bubbles floated everywhere.
Rei had disappeared.
Nowâ
Why did it feel like she was the one who had to find him?
Who exactly was the assassin here?
..
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