Intense pain.
That was the sensation that Cedric felt when the Sea God’s Trident collided with his shield.
Until now, he was confused about how Ethan was able to overpower him in both might and magic.
However, the pain coming from his dislocated shoulder slapped him to reality, letting him realize that he wasn’t dreaming and that everything was real.
‘Damn it!’ Cedric gritted his teeth as he endured the pain.
Flapping his wings made of light, he prevented himself from falling outside of the arena, barely managing to land on its edges.
He wanted to tend to his injury, but before he could do anything, a purple fireball appeared in his vision.
It was already too late for him to cast a spell to counter it, so the only thing he could do was use his sword as a shield to protect himself from the spell.
Using all the strength he could muster, he did just that and braced himself for the impact.
A loud explosion erupted, and the Second Year was blown off from the Arena, the sight of which made the students of Nightfall Academy cry out in worry.
Ethan hovered in the air, his fairy wings flapping behind his back.
His weapon, the Sea God Trident flew back to him, and he casually grabbed it, holding it firmly in his hand.
The handsome young man then looked down at his opponent with a calm expression on his face.
Cedric no longer looked like the composed Prodigy that everyone believed him to be.
Right now, the blonde teenager was in a sorry state. His entire body was covered in soot and dirt.
“Are you going to concede?” Ethan asked. “Or do you want me to continue beating you up, Mr. Prodigy of Nightfall Academy?”
Ethan’s tone didn’t contain any hint of arrogance in it, and yet, Cedric, Nero, and the students of Nightfall Academy felt like he was mocking them all at the same time.
Blood seeped from Cedric’s lips, not because he suffered from internal injuries, but because he was biting it too hard.
This was the first time he felt such shame, humiliation, and anger, which was a very bitter pill for him to swallow.
He still had the will to continue the battle. He also understood that if he didn’t find a way to overpower Ethan, he would only just be prolonging his suffering.
Suddenly, an idea appeared inside his head.
Using his right hand, Cedric took something out from his storage ring.
The Second Year looked at the Elemental Tablet in his hand, which had been gifted to him by his father on his eighteenth birthday.
It was one of his Trump Cards, which also served as a Life Saving Artifact.
The Tablet would allow him to summon a Large Light Elemental that would fight for him.
Truth be told, using these kinds of things in Magical Duels was unheard of, but it wasn’t illegal.
Of course, normally, they would first need to get the permission of the event organizer to use such artifacts for the sake of fairness.
But since the one that organized the duel was Nightfall Academy, and no such rules were implemented, Cedric could use it without receiving any backlash.
However, by doing so, it would be akin to admitting that he was unable to defeat Ethan using his own power, which would be a stain on his reputation.
This caused him to have an internal battle.
Whether to use the emblem or just surrender.
Ethan, who was hovering in the air, didn’t attack Cedric and simply waited for him to make a decision.
Sebastian had already informed him that his enemy was holding an Elemental Tablet, and it was also a High-Ranking Elemental.
Even so, that didn’t mean that Ethan couldn’t defeat it.
After all, he still hadn’t used his Partial Resonance in this battle.
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Also, he wanted to try something else.
Something that he had only used once in his lifetime.
Ignoring the pain in his body, Cedric finally came to a decision.
He crushed the tablet in his hand. A dazzling light instantly illuminated the arena, causing everyone to temporarily cover their eyes due to how blinding it was.
When the light receded, the audience gasped when they saw a Large Light Elemental standing behind Cedric.
The light Elemental was six meters tall, and it looked like an angel made up of light, with its wings spread wide.
It looked like a moving sculpture, a masterpiece for everyone to see.
However, this masterpiece was actually a very powerful being who wielded one of the most powerful elements in the world, and that was Light.
Ethan stared at the Large Light Elemental as he raised his wand pointing to the sky.
Gathering all the Faerie Magic at his disposal, the handsome young man was preparing an all-out attack to defeat the enemy that appeared in front of him.
A moment later, a silhouette of a fairy that was two meters tall appeared behind Ethan.
Although it was a distance away, almost everyone could tell that the fairy was actually a man instead of a woman.
This silhouette was holding a spear in his hand, which was burning with Faerie Fire.
The Fairies watching this scene all shuddered. This might be the first time they were seeing the figure behind Ethan, but they instinctively knew that it was the image of their King.
“Oberon…” the purple-haired Fairy, who acted as the leader of the Fairies in Nightfall Academy, muttered.
“Oberon.” Another fairy said the name softly as her heart started to beat wildly inside her chest.
“Our King…”
Suddenly, one of the Fairies fell into a trance and started to sing.
“In the realm of faeries, where dreams take flight,
Oberon, the king, in the soft moonlight
With a crown of starlight and a scepter of fern,
He rules the enchanted, where the shadows yearn.”
One by one, all the Fairies started to sing, and a power that Ethan had felt long ago started to gather around him.
———————
‘T-This is the Power of Faith,’ Sebastian gasped. ‘Ethan is gathering the Power of Faith!’
‘Calm down,’ Ethan’s Other Half commented. ‘This isn’t his first time doing this. Also, this happened in the Lands of Alastor before he left, right? Why are you so surprised?’
‘Gathering the Power of Faith in the Lands of Alastor is normal. The Tide Bringer is a God to his people. They pray to him, so their Faith is strong. But, this… how is he able to gather the Faith of Fairies?’
‘That’s because he is borrowing the power of the Fairy King, Oberon.’
‘T-The Fairy King?! Do they know each other? This shouldn’t be possible. This is Sovereign Magic we are talking about! A Magic that is exclusive to the rulers of a race. Using this kind of Magic is a crime. If the King of the Fairies finds out about this, he will definitely hunt Ethan down and kill him!’
‘Don’t worry. I think he has already earned the recognition of that guy.’
‘Are you sure?’
Ethan’s Other Half smiled. “’Well if he doesn’t like it, I’m sure he will appear in order to stop it.’
———————
While Sebastian was feeling anxious, the Power of Faith from the Fairies was making the Silhouette behind Ethan clearer.
“Again?”
A bored voice reached Ethan’s ears.
“It seems that you really like Fairies, huh? You’re fighting against a Large Light Elemental? Very well. I give you permission to destroy such a disgusting being. How dare it appear in front of my presence?”
The Fairy King, Oberon, granted Ethan permission to use his Sovereign Magic.
In that instant, the Silhouette behind Ethan gained corporeal form, and the spear in its hand shone like a miniature sun.
—————————
The light Elemental under Cedric’s Command finally reacted. It gathered the light energy from the surroundings in preparation to unleash a beam of light that would annihilate the young man, who dared to face its Master.
“Destroy him!” Cedric ordered.
Immediately, the Light Elemental unleashed its attack without showing a shred of mercy.
“Vanish from my Presence,” Ethan said in a voice that didn’t belong to him.
This voice belonged to the Fairy King, making everyone know that no one in his surroundings had the qualification to stand in his presence.
“Oberon’s Descent!”
The Fairy King threw his spear, which collided with the beam attack of the Light Elemental.
When the two powerful attacks met, the Beam of Light was instantly split in half, and the spear flew straight towards its target without losing its momentum.
Professor Lockwind immediately waved his hand and teleported Cedric away to safety.
A moment later, the Grand Arena shook as the Fairy King’s attack obliterated the Large Light Elemental, leaving a crater that was hundreds of meters wide, and destroying half of the arena in its wake.