The sheer contempt in that relaxed smile made Umar's blood boil.

"Oh? You're pissed?" Terrence chuckled. "Good. Anger's fuel—it makes your strength burn hotter."

Yara stepped forward, spear in hand, her breath steady, eyes sharp. She didn't take the words as mockery. For her, they only stoked the fire in her chest.

Terrence sighed, almost regretfully. "Shame Axel's not here to push you over the edge. Maybe we should wait a little longer?"

But then he flexed his hands, and his aura surged.

The pressure hit like a tidal wave. Umar felt the air tighten in his lungs.

This guy's Force has to be over 2500.

Yara didn't hesitate. She lunged, spear flashing. Umar blurred into shadow and struck from the other side.

.....

High above, on the Landscape Scroll, the audience erupted.

"Octavius killed instantly? With one strike?!"

"Wait—Axel's a support-type Awakener. How the hell is he this strong in close combat?"

"And that blade—did you see it? It's an Original Instrument."

Across the peaks, students from a dozen academies buzzed with disbelief.

On Cavalier's Honor's peak, silence stretched. At last, Raymond exhaled. "So he wasn't even serious when he fought us."

.....

"Showing his fangs already?"

On Eagle's Crest Command's mountain, the team traded uneasy glances. They had just fought Stormwatch the day before—they knew exactly how tough Octavius was. Weakest of his group or not, he still ranked in the academy's top twenty. A genuine fourth-tier powerhouse.

And yet he'd been dropped in one strike… by a supposed support.

"Holy shit. Sergio, you called it. If this keeps up, is Stormwatch about to take a hit?"

They weren't rooting for Bloodstone Warfare, not really. If anything, they knew Stormwatch better, even had friends on that team. But if Stormwatch got humiliated? That would be a story worth laughing about later.

Sergio only pressed his fan against his chest, lips curling. "Interesting."

The noise died down as the memory of yesterday returned—Terrence standing alone, taking Eagle's Crest's assault and flipping the entire battle on its head. That image burned too vividly in their minds.

Axel's display was shocking, yes. But few actually believed it meant Bloodstone Warfare could win.

"Let's wait and see," one student muttered. "Octavius underestimated him. Psychics are glass cannons—powerful, but fragile. Terrence won't go down that easy."

....

"…Am I okay?"

At that same moment, Octavius reappeared on Stormwatch's mountain, freshly teleported out. He blinked, half expecting to feel a gaping wound in his chest. But no—he was fine.

"You're not hurt," a flat voice said beside him. "But you've been eliminated."

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Bradley stood there, expressionless as ever.

Octavius flushed with shame. Eliminated… by a support Awakener? If word of that spread, how could he show his face again?

"That's bullshit!" he snapped. "I'm not even injured! The rules say you're only eliminated if you're seriously wounded. What kind of shady crap is this?!"

"Shut your mouth."

Bradley's roar shook him to the bone. Octavius flinched despite himself, glaring back with smoldering resentment.

"If that blade had landed," Bradley said, his tone ice, "you'd be dead."

He vanished in a flash, leaving Octavius standing there, pale and shaken.

"…That man. Was he really that terrifying?"

........

"Two more out?"

Not long after Octavius had been dropped in a single strike, the sky shimmered again. Just moments after Percy's name faded, Umar's vanished too.

"I need to find Yara, fast." A knot of urgency twisted in Axel's chest.

It was still three against three, but the enemy's strongest—Vaughn and Tadeo—were untouched. If Yara went down next, even if he teamed up with Richard, they wouldn't have the firepower to stand a chance.

Axel pushed deeper into the snowfield, veins flaring with energy as he cycled his Force, drawing constantly on his Original Veins.

This was when the advantage of a powerful Original Vein truly showed itself.

Seven or eight minutes later, the energy he'd burned with the Red Flame Blade strike was nearly replenished. His ears twitched—the clash of weapons carried through the snow, violent and unrelenting, broken by ragged breathing and guttural roars. It sounded less like a duel and more like two bulls slamming into each other.

"Richard?" Axel sprinted toward the noise.

Two minutes later, he spotted them. Richard and Vaughn, both swollen with power, bodies several sizes larger than normal, were colliding like titans in the snow.

Sweat streamed down their faces, their roars mixing with the crash of impact. Each clash forced a grunt of pain out of them—but Richard's grin widened the moment he saw Axel a thousand meters off.

"Axel! Over here! Hah! This bastard's almost as strong as me. Let's finish him together—"

The words hadn't left his mouth before Vaughn's bulk smashed into his chest like a wrecking ball. Richard's eyes went wide as the air left his lungs, pain blooming across his ribs. He gagged, then spat a mouthful of blood onto the snow.

He froze. Just seconds ago, they'd been evenly matched. Now Vaughn was tearing through him like paper.

Cracking his neck, Vaughn dusted his hands off with a smile that was far too casual. "Finally. Acting weak for this idiot was exhausting."

A green glow spread across Richard's body, dulling the pain, but not the humiliation etched on his face.

"Axel… I'm sorry. I didn't see through it…" His voice cracked.

When the fight began, Richard had thought he was done for, outclassed. But as the battle dragged on, the gap hadn't seemed so big. He'd even started to believe Vaughn was overrated. Seeing Axel arrive had lit a fire in him—until Vaughn dropped the pretense and revealed his real strength. He'd been strung along like a fool.

"It's fine. You've done enough." Axel's voice was calm, steady. He was already stepping past him, eyes locked on Vaughn.

Vaughn blinked. "So the little Healer's decided not to hide behind his team? You're coming at me yourself? Good. Saves me the trouble—I'll crush you too."

With a roar, Vaughn's body surged again, skin hardening to a granite-green sheen. He was a walking fortress, his frame ballooning to monstrous proportions. Then he lunged, a human juggernaut thundering forward like a freight train. The ground shook beneath each step.

Richard's stomach dropped. He was certain now—Vaughn had been toying with him.

"I wonder if Yara's facing Terrence right now…" Axel muttered, oddly distracted, hand tightening on the Red Flame Blade.

"Axel, watch out!" Richard yelled.

The blade sang. Axel's strike was clean, precise—metal against stone, sparking red as it sliced across Vaughn's arm. Axel slipped past him effortlessly, sidestepping the hulking charge.

Richard's jaw dropped. Vaughn had reached for Axel, missed—and then froze, staring at the shallow cut seeping blood along his armored skin.

"You—broke my Stone Armor?" Vaughn's disbelief echoed through the snow.

He hadn't used an awakened skill, hadn't unleashed a flashy power. Just a blade, and raw strength. And it had cracked his defense.

"That's a damn C-grade Original Instrument, isn't it?" Vaughn's eyes narrowed as the truth dawned. That weapon wasn't ordinary. No other explanation fit—because his Stone Armor, which coud attach a powerful layer of protective armor to his body, was supposed to stop everything short of a heavy, full-powered awakening skill. And yet here it was—pierced clean through.

Vaughn's gaze dropped to Axel's gear—his boots, his long sword, and the three black cannons strapped to his arms—and a pang of envy twisted in his chest. Who the hell was supposed to be the rich kid here? Because right now, Axel looked wealthier than him.

"You've got Original Instruments? So do I." Vaughn's face darkened, humiliated that his first strike hadn't flattened Axel. With a snarl, he slipped on a pair of massive brass knuckles, the steel gleaming under the snowy light, and lunged again.

Axel only shook his head. He could end this quickly—cut Vaughn down and move on to find Yara—or… he could use him. After a heartbeat of hesitation, he chose the latter. His blade flashed as he stepped aside, carving another line across Vaughn's back.

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