Chapter 359: Inter-Academy Tournament (XI)
The battle erupted in full force the moment Adrian gave the order.
Ronan, who had been standing near the edge of the group, suddenly noticed the gauntlets that Mariinne had dropped earlier rolling toward his foot.
His eyes lit up with excitement.
"These are mine now!" he shouted, quickly grabbing the gauntlets and slipping them onto his hands.
The dark metal fit perfectly, and he felt a surge of power run through his arms.
"Time to show you guys what I can do with these!"
He charged forward with a loud battle cry, his fists glowing with concentrated mana.
He threw a powerful punch, and a dragon-shaped aura of energy burst from his gauntlet, roaring as it flew toward Gray.
**ROAR!**
The dragon punch was fast and powerful, but Gray simply stepped to the side with minimal effort.
The attack missed him by inches and slammed into the wall behind him, creating a small crater and sending dust flying.
Ronan didn’t stop.
He kept rushing forward, throwing punch after punch with the gauntlets.
"Take this! And this! And this! I’m the new dragon fist master now!" he yelled, his voice full of excitement as he tried to land a hit.
Gray dodged each punch with lazy movements, his hands still in his pockets.
He didn’t even draw his rapier. Every time Ronan got too close, Gray would lightly tap his shoulder or chest, sending him stumbling back without any real effort.
Meanwhile, Adrian moved forward with his sword drawn.
He was a four-elemental mage, and he used his sword as a wand, channeling his mana through the blade.
He swung it in a wide arc, sending a wave of fire, wind, water, and earth energy mixed together in a devastating slash.
"Take this!" Adrian shouted.
The multi-elemental slash cut through the air toward Gray. Gray finally moved his hands out of his pockets.
He raised one hand and simply flicked his fingers.
A small wave of his own mana met the slash, neutralizing it completely. The attack dispersed into harmless sparks that faded away before reaching him.
Adrian’s eyes narrowed, and instanly, followed up with a thrust of his sword, sending a concentrated beam of lightning through the blade.
Gray tilted his head slightly, letting the lightning pass by his ear. He then stepped forward and lightly tapped Adrian’s wrist with two fingers.
The sword flew out of Adrian’s hand and embedded itself in the wall behind him.
Adrian stumbled back, shocked.
Selene moved next.
She drew her sword, and a cyan aura immediately surrounded the blade.
She had already manifested sword aura, which quite surprised Gray.
Fwoosh!
Then, she dashed forward with graceful speed, her sword cutting through the air in precise, powerful strikes.
Gray met her attacks with his bare hands.
He blocked each swing with his forearms, the cyan aura clashing against his skin without leaving a mark.
He then grabbed her sword blade with one hand, stopping it completely, and gently pushed her back.
"You’ve improved," he said quietly.
"But not enough..."
He also took the time to wink at her, causing her face to flush slighly.
Selina was right behind her. She raised her staff, and a powerful wave of water magic surged forward, forming sharp water blades that spun toward Gray.
Gray simply stepped through the water blades, the water parting around him as if it didn’t want to touch him.
He appeared in front of Selina and lightly flicked her forehead. She stumbled back, her eyes wide in surprise.
Claire attacked with fire magic. She raised her staff and sent a barrage of fireballs and flaming spears toward Gray.
The heat was intense, but Gray walked through the flames without a single burn on his clothes. He reached Claire in a blink and tapped her shoulder, sending her spinning backward.
Katia, staying at the back, opened her curse book and began chanting. Dark purple energy gathered around Gray, trying to curse his movements and weaken his body.
Gray simply glanced at her and flicked his fingers. The curse magic shattered instantly, dissipating into nothing.
Katia’s eyes widened in shock.
Mariinne stayed on the ground, watching everything with wide, lovestruck eyes.
"My prince is so strong..." she whispered happily, completely ignoring the fight around her.
Maelis and Cassandra remained where they were.
Maelis didn’t move to attack, her expression complicated as she watched Gray. Cassandra simply sat on her rock, her grey eyes calm as she observed the battle without joining in.
Gray stood in the middle of the chaos, completely unharmed. He hadn’t even drawn his rapier.
He looked at the group with a calm, almost bored expression.
"Is that all?" he asked quietly.
The remaining students who hadn’t attacked yet hesitated, their confidence shaken after seeing their strongest members dealt with so effortlessly.
Adrian clenched his fists, breathing heavily as he picked up his sword again.
"We’re not done yet," he said coldly.
But even he knew the truth.
Gray was on a completely different level.
Adrian quickly glanced at the others and shouted,
"Everyone, together! Don’t attack one by one! Coordinate!"
The group immediately moved as one.
Swoosh!
"Elemental Slash!"
Adrian raised his sword and channeled his four elemental magic through it, sending a powerful combination of fire, wind, water, and lightning in a wide, swirling arc toward Gray.
At the same time, Selene dashed forward with her cyan sword aura blazing, her blade glowing brightly as she aimed a precise slash at Gray’s side.
Selina raised her staff and unleashed a torrent of high-pressure water blades from the side, while Claire followed up with a barrage of fire spears from the opposite direction, creating a crossfire.
Katia opened her curse book and chanted rapidly, releasing a dark purple curse that targeted Gray’s movements, trying to slow him down and disrupt his mana flow.
Lira, the emotionless assassin with long black hair, moved silently from the flank, her daggers glowing with sharp wind mana as she aimed for Gray’s blind spots with quick, precise strikes.
Ronan, wearing the stolen gauntlets, charged from the front with a loud battle cry, throwing powerful dragon-shaped mana punches enhanced by the gauntlets’ power.
The attacks came from all directions at once.
The coordinated assault filled the corridor with flashing lights, roaring winds, and the sound of clashing mana.
Gray didn’t draw his rapier.
He stood in the center of the storm, his expression calm and lazy.
’...Three O’clock...’
He sidestepped to the right, bending his waist just enough to let Selene’s sword aura graze past him.
"Nullification."
Then, he raised one hand to disperse Adrian’s multi-elemental wave with a flick of his fingers, before taking a step back, twisting his body to dodge a backstab before quickly tapping Lira’s daggers away with his palm, sending her stumbling back.
"Ugh?!"
Swoop!
He sidestepped Ronan’s dragon punch and tapped the back of his head, making him crash into the wall.
THUMP!
When Katia’s curse tried to wrap around him, he simply shattered it with a small burst of mana from his fingertips.
"Nullification...!"
Selina’s water blades and Claire’s fire spears came next, but Gray moved through them like they were nothing, the elements parting around him.
He lightly grabbed Selina’s staff mid-swing and spun her around before gently pushing her away.
Claire’s fire was met with the same effortless dodge, and just then, he took the opportunity to softly whisper into her ear:
"Your breasts have grown bigger... will you let me feel them later?"
Her face instantly flushed bright red, a momentary distraction that he used to kick her ass, sending her rolling away across the ground with a surprised yelp.
"W-What the?! Gray, you pervert!" Claire shouted as she tumbled, her face burning with embarrassment.
The others didn’t waste the opening.
Adrian’s eyes sharpened as he quickly shouted orders.
"Now! Trap him together!"
It was clear they had adapted on the spot.
Adrian swung his sword in a wide arc, channeling all four elements at once through the blade.
A powerful slash of fire, wind, water, and lightning surged forward, but this time it wasn’t meant to hit directly.
Swiishhh...!
It curved and spread out, forming a cage-like net of elemental energy around Gray, trying to restrict his movements from all sides.
At the same time, Selene dashed in from the left with her cyan sword aura blazing, slashing rapidly to force Gray to stay in place.
Selina raised her staff and summoned thick, swirling water chains that wrapped around the elemental cage Adrian created, reinforcing it.
Claire, still flustered but recovering quickly, slammed her staff into the ground and sent a wave of fire that merged with Adrian’s slash, turning the trap into a burning, spinning vortex.
Katia flipped open her curse book and chanted rapidly, releasing dark purple curse threads that tried to latch onto Gray’s limbs and slow him down even further.
Lira moved like a shadow from the right, her wind-enhanced daggers cutting through the air in precise, rapid strikes to keep Gray from escaping the formation.
Ronan, still wearing the gauntlets, charged in with heavy dragon-infused punches from the front, trying to keep Gray occupied while the others locked the trap in place.
The coordinated attack was fast and well-timed.
In just a few seconds, Gray was surrounded by elemental energy, water chains, curses, wind blades, and heavy physical pressure closing in from every direction at once.
The trap was tight, leaving almost no room to move without getting hit.
Gray stood calmly in the center of it all.
However... he didn’t draw his rapier.
Instead, he raised his right hand, fingers spread wide as crackling blue lightning began to gather around his palm.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"[Nine Heavens Thunder Claw]"
Craackle!
A massive claw-shaped lightning burst exploded outward from his hand, tearing through the coordinated trap like paper.
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!
The elemental cage shattered, the water chains evaporated, and the curses were blasted apart.
Lira and Ronan were forced to retreat as the lightning claw swept toward them, while Adrian and the others had to jump back to avoid the shockwave.
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