Havier: "..."

He was originally shouting loudly, but at the moment his wrist fractured, he instead quieted down, as if he couldn't believe it at once.

It wasn't until the sharp pain from his wrist transmitted to his mind that Havier's facial muscles twisted wildly, suddenly erupting with a scream sharper than before: "Ahhhhh——!" He seemed to instinctively want to move, but because of the pain, he dared not, so he froze in place, repeatedly shouting, "Broken, broken, my hand's broken!"

Andrew's method of twisting his wrist seemed like a warrior's style, but it was actually still a magical technique.

There wasn't any profound Water Magic involved.

It was just that the fingertips of his index and middle fingers, in a scissor-like gesture, each emitted an invisible stream of Water Magic Power, transforming into two magical little snakes.

The snakes' bodies were small, yet they wrapped around Havier's wrist like giant pythons, tightening fiercely—

And Havier's hand broke.

This was not only because Andrew's Total Magic Power, in a doubled state, exceeded a mage of the same tier by more than tenfold. It was also due to the natural attributes of Water Magic, which inherently possessed a flexible entangling force absent in Fire Magic!

"This..." Barbara, seeing this, hesitated to speak, finally choosing to say nothing.

Leia, on the other hand, looked at Andrew in shock.

She was unlike Barbara, who had witnessed Andrew's combat in the Wildfire Territory. In her impression, the Andrew she knew was just a curious, physically fit guy who, despite being constantly provoked by Havier on the way to Warm Fire City, never lost his temper.

This was the first time she'd seen Andrew take the initiative!

As for Sabye, Debbie, and the others, they were even more surprised that when Andrew made his move, it was so ruthless!

"Though Havier is the weakest among us, he is still a Tier Two Crimson Knight," Debbie, who had felt disdain for Andrew earlier, visibly changed her expression, "A Tier Three Mage against a Tier Two Crimson Knight, while higher by one tier, doesn't actually hold much of an advantage in close combat.

If it were me facing Havier, the most correct way to respond earlier would have been to create distance and use the 'Heart Fire Series' or other Soul Magic, targeting the clear weakness in 'Soul Defense of a Tier Two Professional'!"

Thinking of this, she looked over at Havier, seeing tears rolling down his face from the pain—

Clearly, this wasn't the result of Soul Magic, but simply a fracture!

Debbie couldn't help but look at Andrew again, thinking to herself, what's with this guy? What kind of messed-up fighting style is this? As a mage, facing a Crimson Knight, he neither created distance nor employed Soul Magic, and engaged in face-to-face close combat, then actually... won!?

Little did she know, Andrew wasn't an academic type at all, having never even heard of Warm Fire Academy. His Magic Cultivation was casual due to his personality, and before being attacked by that Female Assassin, his focus wasn't on practice at all, but on market research and product creation.

Debbie was trying to analyze Andrew's behavior with a typical academic mindset, which was bound to lead to confusion.

Havier continued to scream: "Ahhh, my hand, my hand!"

Debbie took a deep breath, her face turning grim, and she looked at Andrew with a chilling gaze: "I heard you're here in Warm Fire City seeking cooperation, right? But what kind of attitude is this? Coming to our turf and daring to hurt our people? Do you still want cooperation?

Let go of him!!"

Andrew, hearing this, raised his eyebrows, showing a mocking expression: "You're talking about 'attitude' with me? Who's really the one lacking any courtesy? Damn it, you all skip proper schooling in the afternoon just to come here and drink, thinking I don't know your scheming?!"

Sometimes, endless patience is useless.

They relied on Barbara's mother's backing and covert instructions, clearly here to cause trouble, and if not retaliated strongly, forget about any business cooperation, it'd be good enough not to be completely exploited! To be taken over might actually be the best outcome!

Andrew's forceful counterattack wasn't impulsive, nor did it mean he didn't want to cooperate.

On the contrary, because he wanted to continue the cooperation, he needed to respond strongly enough!

If there needed to be another reason, it was that Havier was really obnoxious; Andrew had tolerated him the entire journey and couldn't endure it any longer. He wouldn't tolerate it now or in the future!

"You—" Debbie seemed about to say something more.

Andrew, however, couldn't be bothered to argue further and suddenly released the force on Havier's wrist.

Havier, who had been desperately trying to retreat, immediately lost his balance and fell backward sharply, landing on Debbie amid her screams.

The table overturned, the chairs fell, and drinks spilled all over.

The scene descended into chaos, with screams, angry shouts, and Leia's somewhat panicked attempts to mediate.

The young people who were originally seated all stood up abruptly.

Only the burly teenager named Sabye, who was the leader, remained calm. Seeing Andrew subdue Havier with a single move and manipulate him throughout, he laughed instead of getting angry: "Oh? Interesting! But... in the end, it's useless!"

As he spoke, he lifted the hand that had been resting on the table.

He also extended his index and middle fingers in a scissor-like gesture.

But it wasn't to catch or grasp; instead, with a whoosh—

He aimed straight for Andrew's eyes!

Though also a Crimson Knight, Sabye was much stronger than Havier.

Firstly, he was a Tier Three Crimson Knight, incredibly fast.

Secondly, his move was as fast as an illusion, fully utilizing the Crimson Knights' advantage in straight-line speed, while also remembering to defend: as he moved, a resplendent red light flashed across each of his deltoid muscles on the shoulders.

That is actually a type of soul defense unique to the Crimson Knights. It's to prevent Andrew, as a third-tier mage, from using soul magic techniques that other mages before the third tier do not possess!

"Although we Crimson Knights are not as restrained by soul magic as the Flame Warriors, we are still wary of it," Sabye thought to himself.

The main advantage of a third-tier mage, compared to the second, first, and apprentice stages before, is the magic power accompanied by soul power, allowing the cultivation of soul magic. Few mages who reach the third tier fail to fully utilize this advantage.

"This guy named Andrew, going up against that trash Havier, can sit in place and act tough. But thinking he can treat me the same way is pure fantasy."

Sabye was very confident, "No mage can face a Crimson Knight at the same tier without consciously creating some distance! We Crimson Knights are not like those foolhardy Flame Warriors! The consequence of letting us get close is far more terrifying than getting close to a Desert Hunter!"

Indeed—

You could see Andrew, who was originally sitting steadily in his chair, indeed couldn't sit still anymore and moved!

However, just as a "just as I expected" expression appeared in Sabye's eyes, his expression suddenly froze on his face.

Because Andrew indeed moved and couldn't sit still.

But instead of retreating to create distance, he didn't just get up and stand straight; the moment his bottom left the chair, he flipped over the table between him and Sabye with a "whoosh," then charged at Sabye like a tiger out of its cage!!

Sabye: "?"

Debbie, who had just gotten up from being knocked down by Havier, with a face full of anger and hostility: "??"

Leia, who had never seen this side of Andrew: "???"

At this moment, almost everyone on the scene, except Barbara and Ivan, had the same thought: What... is this?

As a mage, facing a Crimson Knight proficient in speed and agility, instead of retreating, he pounced forward?

What kind of nonsense is this?!

It's known in this Flame Realm that the Crimson Knights are the most skilled at close-quarters combat.

The Flame Warriors have enough strength but lack agility.

The Desert Hunters are more agile in a small area than the Crimson Knights, but their offensive tactics are relatively simple. Although they pose a significant threat to mages, especially Earth Fire Mages, in combat-class confrontations, they are actually at a disadvantage because their lethality is not enough.

As for the Frost Knights from the Royal Court, they have clear strengths and weaknesses: the power of frost can slow everything close to them down, which counters the Desert Hunters.

But when facing the Crimson Knights and Flame Warriors, the frost breath is directly melted away, not only failing to decelerate but potentially being smashed into icy fragments by the signature charge thrust of the Crimson Knights or the heavy blows of the Flame Warriors!

Simply put, Frost Knights counter Desert Hunters (like when Ivan matched up against that Wildfire Town Shire who saws through Water Tower Trees).

Conversely, Frost Knights are completely countered by the two major fire-element combat classes. Ice counters water, but in turn, is countered by fire.

But that's getting a bit off track.

In summary, Crimson Knights are very adept at close-quarters combat, with a balanced mix of speed and strength.

So why would Andrew, facing a Crimson Knight of the same tier with incredibly solid basic skills, choose to approach proactively and get even closer?

Everyone quickly found out why.

With a bang, the table that Andrew flipped up was directly pierced through by Sabye.

The thrust power of the Crimson Knight was so concentrated that the table, despite receiving such force, only got pierced without any signs of cracking, proving Sabye's force was entirely contained without any dispersal.

Yet Sabye himself changed his expression drastically after piercing the table.

The table, taking advantage of the situation, "slipped" onto his wrist and began to spin by itself.

With each rotation, the table's weight doubled.

After quickly spinning more than ten times, Sabye felt that what was around his wrist wasn't a table but a lump of lead!

With a clang, the edge of the table hit the ground, dragging Sabye forward in a stagger.

"Damn it, what the hell is this? Is there a magic in Warm Fire Magic that can make things heavy?"

Sabye gritted his teeth, trying to pull his hand out of the table's surface.

But suddenly his whole body stiffened, fixating in place, not daring to move a muscle extra.

Because Andrew had somehow appeared behind Sabye!

Using one hand like a gun, Andrew's finger lightly pointed at Sabye's temple.

At his fingertip, a charged-up "Zero-distance Water Needle" caused goosebumps to instantly rise on the skin near Sabye's temple.

At this moment, Sabye felt like he was plunged into an ice cellar, with every single hair on his body standing on end, no longer having the stance of "everything is under control" that he had earlier!

Because at this moment, he truly felt the first-ever threat of death in his life!

As if Andrew really had a moment where he wanted to kill him!

Andrew's voice came, sounding like a demon's whisper at this moment, seemingly calm and steady as before but with a hint of anger and hostility that Sabye only now noticed! It said, "I won. And you...

are already dead."

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