The moment the match started, Helia’s opponent, Bram Tombend quickly summoned a massive dome made of earth magic around him, barricading himself in it.
His intention was clear— to stall out the match for as long as possible so that Opal Tempest had more time to recover her mana and to make Helia waste her energy.
Although this kind of defensive strategy isn’t illegal in the tournament, it was frowned upon by the audience because it was boring to watch someone essentially repeatedly hitting a wall.
However, the audience appeared to be quite excited for some reason.
“How many strikes do you think it will take the Crimson Witch to break Bram’s defense this year?”
“She’s broken his defenses with a single hit three times now. I doubt it will be any different this year.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. I heard that the Red Moon Academy had changed their training regimen at the beginning of last year and have shown tremendous improvements since then.”
“Let’s see if that training was worth it.”
After Bram enclosed himself in multiple defensive magic spells, Helia released a low sigh, “You never learn, do you? No matter how many defenses you set up, it won’t stop me from reaching you.”
Despite her words, Helia did not immediately attack his defenses and decided to give him several minutes to prepare.
Once she believed that enough time had passed, she made her move.
“Ready or not, here I come.”
After taking a deep breath, Helia’s body began overflowing with mana, and flames started appearing on her uniform without damaging it.
Her red hair fluttered behind her back like a cape, and her amber eyes changed colors, becoming reddish orange, just like her flames, and they seemed to be alive, almost as though it contained flames within.
The audience were at the edge of their seats once again when they saw this.
“I have been waiting for this moment since the last tournament! No matter how many times I see it, I am always excited!”
Many of the spectators knew what Helia was trying to do because she had used this same strategy to defeat Bram on multiple occasions.
Once she had gathered enough mana, Helia began to chant her spell.
“Burn hotter than the sun and melt everything that dares to block your path— Hephaestus’ Flaming Sword!”
Hela lifted her arm into the sky, and a massive 20-meter sword made of pure flames materialized above her.
“Ha!”
Helia flourished the flaming sword directly at the earth dome.
The next moment—
BOOM!
Almost as though a volcano had erupted, flames spewed everywhere during the moment of impact, causing it to rain fire for a brief moment.
The flaming sword was so powerful that it not only completely smashed through all of Bram’s defenses, but it even split the stage in half.
As for Bram, he was sent flying off the stage, and he was knocked unconscious before he even landed on the floor.
“You’re not the only one who’s improved since the last tournament.” Helia mumbled in a low voice before she turned around and walked off the stage, as that one Tier 6 magic spell had just drained her of most of her mana.
When the medical team on standby went to check Bram’s condition, they found out that he had several broken bones, but besides that, his life wasn’t endangered.
The audience erupted with cheers after Helia’s overwhelming victory.
“As expected of the Crimson Witch! She’s definitely worthy of being called the strongest witch within the Four Witches Academy!”
Indeed, Helia was considered the strongest magic student in the Four Witches Academy by many, and her performance today only solidified that belief.
Since Helia destroyed half of the stage, the staff there had to fix it using magic.
“Good job, Helia.” John and the others said to her when she returned to them.
“It wasn’t much. I was only able to defeat him because of his niche antics that allowed me to take my time and use Tier 6 magic.” Helia said in a humble manner.
She turned to look at Leo the next moment, but she didn’t say anything, her thoughts obvious.
“Looks like she’s challenging you.” Lilith suddenly said.
“Why?” Leo asked, as he couldn’t understand Helia.
“From what I heard, she’s been trying to get the Headmistress to teach her for years now, but she would always get turned away. Perhaps she’s a little jealous that you got the Headmistress to train you when she’s been trying to do the same for so long. Furthermore, she might see you as a rival now that you also have fire magic affinity.”
“I see…” Leo mumbled.
While they waited for the stage to get fixed, Eve spoke, “Kevin, you can go next.”
However, to everyone’s surprise, Kevin shook his head and refused, “Sorry, but I don’t want to go. Send Leo instead.”
“What is your reasoning for your decision?” Eve didn’t get angry and asked in a calm manner.
Kevin turned to look at Leo and smiled, “I want to see what he’s truly capable of and how long he’ll last.”
“I would like that as well.” Helia suddenly said, and she continued, “I want to see why you think he qualified to join our side of the tournament, Headmistress. And until he loses, I won’t enter the stage.”
“…”
Eve turned to look at John and Valery for their opinion on the matter.
pᴀɴᴅᴀ-ɴ0ᴠᴇʟ Valery silently nodded her head.
“I will follow Valery’s decision.” John then said.
Eve rubbed her eyes and sighed, “Alright, but don’t blame me later for not letting you guys get more screen time on the stage.”
She turned to look at Leo and continued with a smile on her face, “You heard them, Leo. Starting now, you will be the first and last person on the stage— at least until you lose. Do you understand?”
“Seriously…?” Leo mumbled in a dazed voice.
“Isn’t this what you wanted? Now you can finally go all out.” Lilith chuckled.
“I guess.”
Leo said a moment later, “I understand. I will stay on the stage until the end of the tournament then.”
