Draktharion's speed abruptly doubled.
He came at Atticus with even more force, the air barrier shattering, his claws now fully engulfed in flame, blazing with molten fury.
Atticus's eyes flashed. He couldn't block this head on; it would send him flying.
His stance suddenly shifted subtly, his body moving like water. As Draktharion's fiery claws descended, Atticus redirected the attack with a deft motion, using Draktharion's momentum to send him off to the side.
Draktharion's eyes flared in surprise, but Atticus didn't let up.
Before Draktharion could recover, Atticus spoke, his voice calm but deadly.
"Transcendent Slash: Godspeed Grace."
In an instant, Atticus moved. His body blurred, moving at unreal speed, the ground beneath him cracking and breaking apart from the force.
The air tore in his wake, leaving streaks of azure energy trailing behind him. His katana, now enveloped in that same azure light, gleamed with devastating power as he slashed toward Draktharion.
As the blade descended, Draktharion's eyes blazed, his body erupting in a surge of crimson. Heat poured from him in waves, the air warping from the intensity of his power. He muttered under his breath, "Crimson Fang."
His claws ignited, burning with a brilliant crimson glow that cut through the sky like molten blades.
The air seemed to part around him as he unleashed the full force of his power, launching his blazing claws upward to meet Atticus's katana.
The katana and claws collided with a deafening explosion. The impact ripped through the battlefield, sending shockwaves that tore through the ground.
The mountain they stood on quaked violently, cracks spreading like spiderwebs through the rock before it began to crumble beneath them.
However, Atticus and Draktharion were already moving again, their bodies blurring with intense speed and power.
They blitzed through the air, clashing in a violent storm of sparks and energy, each impact creating shockwaves that shattered the remnants of the mountain.
One moment they were above the battlefield, the next they were skidding across it, only to vanish and appear mid strike somewhere else. Sparks flew as claws met steel, the air cracking with every collision.
The human and dragon races watching the live stream were in utter silence. No one spoke, no one breathed— every eye locked onto the two.
They were both utterly and completely shocked, but for different reasons.
The dragon race couldn't believe their eyes. At the same age, a human should not be able to compete with a dragon. It was inconceivable.
They were always the dominant party. Their most powerful youth, Draktharion, embodied this fact. Yet, the problem wasn't Draktharion—it was that human!
Atticus was defying everything they thought they knew.
How was he so powerful?
The most shocked of all was Valkarion, Draktharion's grandfather. His eyes were wide as he stared at the screen, watching the intense battle unfold.
Meanwhile, the human domain was still in denial. Seeing a human hold his own against the dragon race was something they had never thought possible.
At the academy, Kael's gaze blazed, and a crazed smile had already found its way to his face, his battle intent peaking.
In the hall where the instructors were gathered, Jared had already started laughing out loud, but the other instructors didn't bother paying him any attention.
In the White Omen Division, and in all divisions of the academy, along with the Ravenstein estate, everyone watched the battle silently.
However, as it continued, every single one of them couldn't help but feel their blood pumping hard.
Many didn't even realize when they abandoned their food, the majority already standing on their feet, hands clenched, staring at the screen with eyes igniting with hope and excitement.
One thought ran through their heads:
Their apex could win this. He could defeat a genius of the dragon race!
…
If it wasn't clear before, the arena where the battle unfolded had become a literal hell.
The ground was scorched, the peaceful atmosphere long destroyed. Two figures moved at speeds too fast to follow—one bathed in azure energy, the other in a blaze of intense red.
They clashed in the air, their movements so fast they left destruction in their wake.
Volcanoes erupted as they appeared, but by the time the lava reached the sky, both fighters were already gone, the area already left in ruins.
They had both unleashed their second arts.
Atticus carved the sky with brilliant azure slashes, each one painting the arena blue. Draktharion met them with a series of crimson claw slashes, the collision shaking the very arena, obliterating everything in their path.
Draktharion's body was engulfed in flames, the heat searing everything around him.
But nothing touched Atticus.
Draktharion threw flame after flame at him, each attack burning hotter than the last. But Atticus stood, unfazed, as though the fire dared not touch him.
Draktharion manipulated lightning, bent the earth to his will, but nothing made a difference.
'What the hell is he?' Draktharion's mind raced in utter disbelief.
Reincarnator or not, this wasn't normal.
Throughout the battle, Draktharion's emotions constantly shifted—shock, anger, disbelief.
But Atticus… he hadn't even blinked.
He remained cold, calm, his eyes fixed on Draktharion with an unnerving intensity. Every move, every strike Draktharion threw, Atticus read him.
It was as if he knew what would happen before it even began, countering every single time with attacks that nearly ended Draktharion's life.
Draktharion was stronger, faster, and his mana was superior. But it didn't matter. No matter how fast or hard he struck, he couldn't land a hit on this human.
It was maddening. Infuriating.
'How?!'
It was like Atticus could see through every move, as if Draktharion was fighting his own reflection. Each time he attacked, Atticus was already there—perfect, unflinching.
Draktharion's expression twisted into pure rage. His fiery power roared around him, but as the battle raged on, something far darker found its way into his mind.
As his eyes locked with Atticus's cold, calculating gaze, a terrifying, bone chilling truth hit him.
He could lose this battle.