Kwart weaved 15 spells with his hands, another 15 with his voice, and everything else with his mind.
The contenders had infused their spells with willpower so that they could use them as both attacks and shields. A single drop of blood was all that it took to lose the competition, making defense of paramount importance.
Lith, instead, had managed to cast barely over 35 spells of which 10 from his mind, hands, and voice each while the rest came from body casting. He had 19 years of magical training, whereas Kwart had over 25 of them.
To make matters worse, Lith's time had always been spread thin between the many disciplines he practiced whereas during the last few months Kwart had devoted himself solely to this duel.
Unlike him, Lith had no training in using so many different kinds of casting methods at the same time. It required him a focus that kept him frozen in place like a scarecrow.
The only reason why Lith managed to last after the second volley was that the hard light shields that he had conjured before the start of the fight as a part of the first volley of spells had tanked Kwart's attacks in his stead.
'I can see why you like beasts more than humans. They taught you Light Mastery, something I've been begging Manohar to share ever since we were still students at our respective academies. I hope your fall will make that jackass suffer.' Kwart thought.
'Fuck me sideways, the problem with casting while moving is that I need to actually move but the King warned me that if I perform something that even resembles a physical attack I'll be disqualified.' Lith thought.
'On top of that, there's little space in here, and focusing to produce so many spells in so little time from four different sources is really hard!'
Lith gritted his teeth seeing the bright purple light burning inside Kwart's eyes as he unleashed a third volley of over 50 spells, making the jaws of the spectators fall onto the ground.
"50 spells at the same time? Deca-casting is already hard, but five times that? Is that even possible?" Even the Awakened hidden among the Court members looked at the Chairman of the Association with respect, remembering why fake mages couldn't be underestimated.
Yet glory and admiration were wasted on Kwart whose aim was to finish the match quickly, not to impress a bunch of sheep.
'This should have been over from the first volley! The longer this goes on, the more people will see Lith as the amazing mage that he is. If it keeps up like this, even if I win, he will not be humiliated in the least!'
Lith pumped more mana into his shields, strengthening them as he took a small step forward that conjured 3 more spells. The backs of his hands touched, producing 5 more, all the while his fingers never stopped tracing runes from what was an awkward position.
Then, Lith brought his hands apart while quickly sidestepping an air blade that had gotten past his defenses, producing 10 more cantrips, for a total of 53 spells.
Only thanks to his mental fortitude and strict training did Kwart manage to not blurt out a "What?" that would have interrupted his casting. The spectators stared with their mouths agape, realizing that even though the number of active spells cast from either side matched, Lith had moved to the offensive nonetheless.
Unlike Kwart, he had carried over his shields from the first volley. Every spell that they intercepted allowed Lith to send one of his own against the Chairman who couldn't afford to ignore them.
Kwart used air fusion to sidestep while using a part of the newly conjured spells to defend himself. Lith mirrored his movements to always remain at the opposite side of the field and also to weave five light bullets, bringing his spells to 58.
With each step that Kwart took to dodge, he also allowed Lith to move around and cast more spells. Soon all the Chairman could do was to focus on defense whereas Lith had found his rhythm.
'Thanks, jackass. I had almost forgotten that while you just use magic, I am magic!' He thought as he weaved runes through the beating of his heart and the blood flow in his veins.
Once over 70 of Lith's spells filled the air, Kwart raised his hands in surrender.
Lith, however, pretended to not notice and didn't stop. He made the cantrips strike at the Chairman all at the same time so that the First Blood array wouldn't stop them. The swarm of spells turned into a wave comprised of blunt objects that drowned Kwart.
Bruises didn't shed blood and neither did cracked bones. A crunching sound akin to snapped twigs filled the air as the magical tide lifted the helpless Chairman in the air due to the collective strength of their hits.
"You must stop the fight!" Onia grabbed Meron's arm, obtaining only a glare and two heavy hands on her shoulders for it.
The Royal Guards brought Onia onto her knees for touching the King without his permission.
"What did you say?" Meron's stone-cold voice echoed through the hall. "Did you really had the gall to give an order to the King?"
"Your Majesty, please, I beg of you. Stop it. It's just a massacre now. Verhen is exploiting the rules. Don't let him taint these hallowed halls with blood." Onia kneeled while hitting the ground with her forehead in a plea for mercy.
"Exploiting the rules. Why does this sound familiar?" Meron took his time thinking while Kwart suffered internal injuries from Lith's relentless onslaught that now filled the space inside the dome.
"I hope this will teach you a lesson. Actions have consequences and even though I'm no tyrant, I'm the King. Bend my laws and I'll bend you in more ways than you can conceive." Meron said, addressing the entire room, not just Onia.
"But you are right. We've seen enough death already and we are here to celebrate, not to hold a funeral. Archmage Verhen, stop!"
An air blade cut Kwart's cheek, activating the First Blood array and making Lith's victory undeniable.
"The winner is Spellbreaker Archmage Verhen! It's no wonder you managed to achieve so many amazing feats with such a talent for magic." The King said while a group of healers took away the unconscious Chairman and cleaned the abundant blood that had started spilling from his mouth.
"Many say that your height makes you quite attractive, but I think that your real charm is your eyes. Why don't you show my guests what I mean?" Meron said with a warm smile as he removed the magical seal from Lith's clothes.
'Son of a gun! I had almost forgotten what Mirim told me. The King is a fake Awakened which means that even though he has no Invigoration, he still has Life Vision.' Lith thought while finally letting his mana reach his eyes that shone of a deep violet.
The entire room gasped in amazement as they realized what Meron had known all along. Even though people had no concept of cores, after centuries of magical studies, the fact that the glow in someone's eyes matched their raw strength was well known.
