The atmosphere throughout the arena shifted instantly.

Even the crowd sensed the incoming clash, their conversations gradually dying down.

Theo tightened his grip around his umbrella.

The water vortex grew taller and wider, while two different forces spun in opposite directions inside.

Across from him, Darius slowly raised his sword.

The massive green arc trembled violently, having grown to the size of a bus already.

’’Hehehe...’’

Kara bounced around excitedly as she pulled her tiny axe out of the ground.

The blood and fire coating her body thickened even further as she spun around.

CRACK!

Without even a second of hesitation, she shot off straight towards Theo.

Her tiny figure practically vanished with each step she took.

’Fast!’

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

The arena floor exploded behind Kara.

Each step left a crater as she accelerated even further.

’Far above a Silver Core’s speed!’ Theo thought, clenching his jaw. ’I need to act, now!’

Without hesitation, he swung down the massive water tornado.

WHOOSH!

The massive water vortex descended from above like a falling apartment complex.

Kara’s eyes widened slightly.

Even so, she made no attempt to slow down.

Water roared through the arena as tons of water crashed towards her.

The tiny girl’s manic grin only widened.

’’YES!’’ she screamed.

Suddenly, she jumped up, heading headfirst into the water tornado.

BOOOOOM!

The water collided with her.

In an instant, her body was dragged inside and completely vanished.

Theo’s mouth fell open for a moment.

’’What?’’

SHHHRRR!

His arms had stopped moving, holding the water tornado just above the ground.

As the water continued to swirl violently, a thin line of deep red blood began appearing inside.

Theo hesitated for a moment.

’What is this?’ he thought. ’Why is the barrier still not activating?’

He could feel very clearly what was happening inside.

Kara had been caught between the two spinning forces.

Her flames had practically disappeared as even her blood armor was getting torn apart.

Large gashes began appearing all over her body, leaking tons more blood inside.

Even so, the school’s barrier still didn’t power up.

Theo couldn’t help but glance around.

’There are no judges coming either,’ he thought, eyes narrowing. ’I have no choice but to continue then.’

Instantly, he began pouring more mana into the tornado, making it swirl even faster.

That’s when he noticed something.

The crimson flames inside slowly began to grow stronger and stronger.

’What is going on?’ he thought warily.

His gaze quickly landed on his second opponent.

But Darius had remained perfectly still the entire time.

His eyes seemed to be completely focused on the water tornado, even as the gigantic wind arc had stopped growing.

’Something’s wrong,’ Theo realized. ’I need to back off!’

Just as he canceled the mana flowing to the tornado, Darius finally moved.

WHOOSH!

The gigantic arc shot through the air, barely making a sound.

Lightning crackled under Theo’s feet as he abandoned the water tornado.

In an instant, he vanished from his place.

Moments later, the wind arc tore through the falling water.

SWSH!

Countless smaller streams of wind peeled off from the arc, each no thicker than a thread.

The falling water was instantly shredded apart by thousands of razor-thin cuts.

BOOM!

The main arc finally sliced deep into the ground.

Theo reappeared several feet away, his gaze serious.

’That wind element,’ he thought. ’Its mutation must be that extreme sharpness.’

BOOOOOM!

Before he could think any further, a massive crimson explosion erupted from inside the remaining water.

Large clouds of white steam rose into the air.

Finally, Kara’s small figure reappeared, breathing heavily.

’’AMAZING!’’ she shouted between breaths. ’’BUT NOW YOU’RE DONE!’’

The large gashes on her body regenerated at visible rates while the flames compressed themselves and wrapped around her.

’’HAHAHA!’’ Kara’s laugh echoed across the battlefield. ’’YOU REALLY SHOULDN’T HAVE HURT ME!’’

Theo backed off several feet, his eyes narrowed.

His mind raced as he tried to figure out why she seemed so much stronger now.

’Wait... is that her mutation?’ he thought. ’She gets stronger if I hurt her?’

It instantly made sense why she’d been acting like some kind of deranged masochist.

All this time, he’d only been making her stronger!

’There’s no way that doesn’t cost a lot of mana though, especially considering that she’s using two elements at the same time,’ he calculated.

Theo’s gaze landed on Darius, who’d already started preparing another attack.

Clearly, he’d known about this peculiar ability, which was why he’d been staying back.

’So that’s how we’re going to play it.’

Darius fired long-range attacks while Kara kept him occupied in close range.

Theo’s eyes narrowed as a small smile appeared on his face.

A plan had instantly formed in his mind.

’I’ll focus Darius while letting Kara run after me to waste her mana.’

In terms of mana, even with only 70% remaining, Theo was confident Kara would run out long before him.

CRACKLE!

Lightning burst forth underneath Theo’s feet.

Without another moment of hesitation, his body began flickering towards Darius.

’’HEY!’’ Kara shouted.

The tiny girl, who’d only just recovered some breath, dashed forward immediately.

Theo’s eyes widened slightly.

Her speed had grown so fast, he literally couldn’t see more than a blur.

’That!’

Within a second, she’d closed two dozen yards.

Theo immediately changed direction, veering sharply to the side.

BOOM!

Kara smashed through the place he’d occupied a moment earlier.

A deep, molten crater formed underneath her, nearly deep enough to make her disappear.

Theo reappeared several yards away, only to be met by several tons of molten rocks flying through the air.

FLAP!

His umbrella opened, water swirling around it.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

The stones clattered against it, hissing wildly as the water cooled them off.

’I can use this,’ Theo thought immediately.

A large layer of steam had completely masked his body.

With the flick of his finger, two large lightning bolts appeared by his side.

A thick layer of his chaos mana surrounded them, slowly making them invisible just like the Chaos Room spell.

’Let’s see if this’ll surprise them!’

In an instant, they shot up through the steam, soaring high into the sky.

Just then, Kara’s voice rang out again.

’’STOP RUNNING! STOP RUNNING!’’ she shouted.

She launched herself into the smoke, laughing as she randomly sliced around her.

WHOOSH!

At the same time, Theo’s instincts screamed at him to move.

He ducked down immediately, a green flash just barely flying over his head.

’’FOUND YOU!’’

One of Kara’s eyes became visible through the steam, having sliced it away near him.

Theo’s expression shifted and he immediately flapped open his umbrella.

BAM!

A small burning axe cut through the canopy, just barely getting stuck.

Before he could even think, a powerful kick followed, sending him flying out of the smoke.

BOOM!

Theo flew out of the smoke, tumbling on the ground three dozen yards away.

His umbrella had crumpled up completely, a burning axe still stuck inside it.

The entire arena around him was silent.

Then slowly, cheers began ringing out everywhere.

’’He’s injured!’’

’’Knew it’d be his end!’’

’’Arrogant loser!’’

Theo didn’t even hear them though.

Even as Kara’s laughter echoed through the battlefield, his attention was on something completely different.