The first light of dawn was just about to hit the Holy Grail dimension.

But before that, the selected champions of Dragonhold had gathered in their hall and were battle ready for the last day of the first stage.

Oberon stood before them. “This is it. Stage One ends today. Win, and we move forward. Lose, and everything we’ve fought for means nothing.”

He paused, then added, “Stay together. All thirty-six of you will move as one unit. No spreading out. No individual engagements unless absolutely necessary.”

The champions nodded.

On the Xathia side of the fortress, Syra had also been selected today to be among the champions, and though she said nothing, the other Xathian mages seemed relieved to have her with them.

In Elandria’s section Queen Arnarra herself was also dressed for today’s match in combat robes. Her long light-green hair was tied back, and her pointed ears were adorned with simple silver rings. She carried a staff carved, and a sword was strapped to her side.

One of her daughters said “Mother, it still surprises me you’re going out there”

Arnarra smiled. “I am still a champion of Valaross, am I not?”

Even she, did not want flukes today, and as Elandria’s most powerful elf, she chose to represent.

—

Dawn broke, and the teleportation activated causing all thirty-six champions of Valaross to appear outside their fortress in a single cluster.

Every Valaross champion got the same instruction that Oberon had given to his people. So they knew exactly how to act today.

They soon began walking forward into the Inner Zone as a group ready for war.

But then, without warning, something changed.

An elf mage was the first to notice. She had been preparing a magic circle in her palm, keeping it ready in case of an ambush. But suddenly, the circle flickered and vanished.

Her eyes widened as she raised her hand again and tried to cast back the magic circle.

But nothing happened.

Talen from dragon hold was the other person to fall victim to this.

He had been channeling distortion magic passively, a habit he’d developed to stay ready. But the magic cut off entirely, as though someone had severed the connection.

One by one, the mages of Valaross began to realize what was happening.

“My magic—”

“It’s gone—”

“I can’t cast—”

Panic spread through the group like wildfire.

Elena aised her hand and tried to call forth a magic circle, but bothing appeared. She could feel her mana inside her, but she couldn’t reach it.

It was as though a wall had been placed between her will and her magic.

Thamoryn immediately called out as if trying to quell the panic. “Everyone, stay calm!”

But the fear was already there. Nearly all of them had lost access to their magic.

Lysandra raised her hand and tried to cast. A magic circle formed, then flickered weakly and collapsed.

She tried again but it was result and she clenched her fist in frustration.

Arnarra attempted to summon her magic. The staff in her hand glowed faintly, then dimmed. She tried again. Nothing.

But then, a voice spoke up.

“I can still use my magic.”

Everyone turned to see Kayden who had white lightning crackling around his hand. He looked confused, but his magic was intact.

Syra said as well, “Mine works too.”

She had a magic circle appear in her palm, glowing with blue light. She dismissed it and looked around at the others.

Even though they both hadn’t known this yet, but they were exempt due to being on the same power level as the one who cast the spell.

Katherine, who had been sitting on Qasag’s back, climbed down and drew her red sword. She channeled her Qi through the blade, and it glowed with energy. “I can’t access my magic but my Qi is fine.”

The Supreme Asura of Zahka, Tzar, nodded. “Same here. My Ki is unaffected.”

The other Zahka champions, all swordsmen and martial artists who relied on Ki rather than mana, confirmed the same.

The Amazons from Yul’thera, who had never relied on magic in the first place, remained at ready with their weapons.

But the vast majority of the Valaross champions, those who relied on mana-based magic, were completely cut off.

Syra’s expression grew serious. She scanned the battlefield ahead, then turned back to the group.

“This has to be the magic of our enemy,” she said. “Someone among Uweron has done this. So if you cannot fight without your magic, you should not proceed.”

She paused, then added, “It’s better if you walk back and stay closer to the fortress grounds. Those of you who can still fight, follow me.”

Murmurs spread through the group but it seemed the elf had just decided to take charge of the situation.

One of the Xathian champions, a guild captain spoke up. “Who could possibly affect this many mages at once? We’re talking about champions of the highest caliber here. Even Grand Magus level is affected.”

But no one had an answer.

Katherine climbed back onto Qasag’s back and turned the dragon around. “I’ll stay back and watch over those who are affected.”

Kayden sighed. He looked at the group of affected mages, then at Syra, then back at Katherine.

He didn’t like the idea of leaving the fight, but he also knew that Katherine, while strong with her Qi, may also be at a disadvantage without her magic. If something went wrong, she might not be able to protect everyone on her own.

And that would leave to an Elimination they couldn’t afford. After all, the enemy only had to knock six persons off the field.

“I’ll stay too,” Kayden said reluctantly.

Katherine glanced at him and nodded.

A few other unaffected champions also chose to remain behind. They reasoned that it was better to have more defenders for the affected group than to push forward undermanned.

Syra nodded in approval. “Good. I’ll be going with the rest then”

She turned and began walking forward. Tzar, and a handful of other unaffected champions followed.

—

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the field, a cluster of Uweron mages moved forward in coordinated groups.

They had divided into units of 7 mages each, and each unit was positioned at different points around the battlefield.

It was their strategy; encircle the enemy, strike from multiple angles, overwhelm through coordination.

Among one of these groups was Zephron who had adjusted his glasses with one hand and said, “I severed their connection to their mana. Every single one of them. So let’s finish this quickly. The faster we clear this, the better.”

Some members of the group activated flight magic, lifting into the air as they advanced swiftly to engage the affected Valaross champions.

But as they flew forward, Zephron glanced up at the Citadel floating in the sky above the battlefield and adjusted his glasses again

It seemed no one had noticed him still.

But be knew that the sooner he dealt with this, the sooner he could return to hiding, which was exactly what prompted him to use his powers here.

——

High above, on the edge of the floating island, Aiden had his eyes on the battlefield below and found something about it strangely unsettling.

Thera, the Archon goddess who was beside him, watched the same scene. Then she frowned and finally voiced the problem. “Is it me, or is the source of that spell not identifiable?”

Aiden’s eyes narrowed.

She was right.

They could both tell that something had affected the mages of Valaross. The severing of their connection to mana was obvious. But the source of the spell, the couldn’t quite place.

That made no sense.

Aiden’s gaze swept across the battlefield. He scanned the clusters of Uweron mages, moving his eyes from group to group.

As he looked at them, their minds automatically fell open to him, granting access to their thoughts, intentions and their strategies.

But then his gaze landed on one particular group.

And there, among them, was a strange fellow.

He had black and white split hair, purple-tinted sunglasses, and a green pendant around his neck.

Aiden’s eyes locked onto him.

And then something bizarre happened.

The strange fellow flickered in and out of view. One moment, he was there. The next, he wasn’t.

When he flickered into view, his mind fell open to Aiden’s power. Thoughts, memories, fragments of intent, all of it became visible.

But the moment he flickered out of view, it was as though he had never existed at all.

And worse, whatever thoughts Aiden had gleaned from him were immediately reset. As though the information had never been there in the first place.

Aiden’s expression grew serious.

If he hadn’t been at the level of power he was now, this kind of contradiction would have been maddening.

The constant flicker between existence and nonexistence, the loop of information appearing and vanishing, it would have broken most minds.

Even a god’s mind.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep