Chapter 20: Chapter 20: Final Exam(6)

Adam came face to face with the attack his stood there unmoving, violet light reflecting in his calm eyes. His silver hair drifted as if in zero gravity, violet strands pulsing faintly.

Grace raised her arm, the phoenix screamed diving toward him with the force of a blazing comet.

Flames filled the arena, drowning everything in light and beat.

And in that blazing inferno Adam disappeared.

The Phoenix descended like a falling sun.

Flames raged across the arena it’s crimson light downing the crowd in blinding brilliance. Heat seared the stands despite the protective wards, students shielding their faces as the fiery wings tore through the air.

“It’s so hot!”

“As expected from the daughter of the Flame Monarch, the no.1 Guild of the kingdom!”

The dome’s runes flickered under the sheer force of the attack, the ancient enhancements groaning as if they might shatter.

And in the very heart of the blaze, Adam reappeared.

His body shimmering into existence, space folding back into place around him. Though singed, he was still calm and collected as if the intensity of the heat didn’t bother him at all.

(“If I didn’t use my scales I would’ve been in trouble”) He thought

Adam let out a deep breath his silver hair still gleamed, violet strands burning brighter than before. He raised his arm and the firestorm warped.

“Collapse.” He muttered under his breath

The Phoenix’s body contorted, flames bending drawn towards the collapsing points of gravity, it’s wings cracked and fractured like a shattering glass scattering sparks across the arena.

Gasps rippled through the crowd, they didn’t think that Adam would survive the inferno that engulfed his whole being.

Even the people from the VIP section assumed he would fall here under the torrent of flames, all but the Vice-Headmaster and the Headmaster who looked calm during this whole ordeal.

But grace wasn’t finished, still hovering in the storm her red hair whipped by rushing winds, her eyes burned like molten steel.

She spread her arms wide, fury and pride fueling her aura”

“You think I’ll be crushed by your void?” She shouted, voice echoing over the roaring flames. “Fire doesn’t yield it devours!”

She thrust her palms forward, and the phoenix re-formed in an explosion of fire. The air itself split with the force of her will and the flaming bird shrieked as it dived again, faster and fiercer.

Adam just smirked as mana gathered around his lungs and let out a huge roar that echoed all throughout the arena.

* ROOOARRRRRRR!!!!! *

The whole area trembled and the phoenix faltered under the force of the roar it’s form fracturing just for a bit.

The roar that Adam let out was primal and everyone felt it through their whole being, they’ve heard battle cries before but this one was more intense.

Adam clenched his fist, his dragon’s pride flaring out like a beacon.

Space then folded inward, ripping cracks into the arena floor and for heartbeat the phoenix frozen caught between the collapsing dimensions.

“I didn’t want to use this here but my pride just can’t allow it… Spatial Collapse”

Then it’s flames exploded outward breaking free, the backlash ripping through the arena. The ground split open, jagged lines racing toward the stands. The audience screamed as the protective runes sparked, barely holding against the destruction.

“To think his mastery of space has reached such a degree in just a day, she would be proud.” The Vice-Headmaster muttered in a low tone.

High in the VIP box, the Headmaster who was silent and unmoving all this time rose, robes fluttering as he spread a reinforcing barrier across the crowd. His voice thundered: “Hold the wards! Do not interfere!!”

The crowd fell silent, realizing that what they were witnessing was no ordinary duel between two applicants for the academy.

This was like a battle between two veteran awakened fighting for more than just honor.

Adam’s knees bent, his breath steady despite the tremors running through through his body. His violet glow pulsed rhythmically, space around him rippling like a disturbed pond.

Grace descend in a whirlwind fire twisting with wind into a spiraling tempest of blades. Flamming cyclones slice into the floor, carving molten scars into the obsidian tiles as she charged straight for me.

Adam thrust his hand, the cyclone hit and vanished. The entire tempest collapsed inward, sucked into a void singularity that flashed and disappeared.

“It seems the fire you spoke so highly of, didn’t devour this time but got snuffed.” he muttered under his breath but she could hear it.

But grace wasn’t discouraged at all, her laughter rang out from above fierce and defiant. “You think swallowing a fraction of my fire means victory? The game this—!”

She clasped her hands together pulling every flame, every gust, every shred of her aura inward.

The arena’s temperature skyrocketed, sweat beading on the brows of those in the crowd.

Her power condensed into a spiraling Crimson Tempest, a vortex so immense it clawed at the runes in the dome threatening to tear them apart.

The vortex screamed like a living storm, it’s core blazing with white-hot fire.

Adam’s eyes narrowed,.his violet strands flared like starlight. His aura deepening, darkening.

He spread his arms wide, and space itself seemed to cry out in response.

The whole crowd could feel it, an unbearable pressure pulling at them, dragging their very souls.

The crowd clutched their chests as gravity seemed to warp, the arena itself creaking as if it were about to collapse inward.

Adam thrust his hands forward, violet rifts tire open in the air. Jagged and endless, leading into nothingness.

One by one, they spread, encircling the arena pulling at the vortex, clawing at its flames.

“Void Rend.” He said.

Then the storm and the void collided.

The explosion was blinding, fire clashed against collapsing dimensions. Wind screamed against gravity, the sound of a deafening roar that shook the academy to its foundations.

Tiles shattered, stands cracked, runes burst in flare of light. For a heartbeat,.the entire arena was nothing but chaos, flames and void devouring one another, neither giving away.

The Headmaster’s Barrier trembled, sweat dripping his brow and he grinned at the outcome “This power… It’s beyond them both. Their pushing past the limits of their ranks”

And then—

Adam staggered, the storm tore through his defense, flames consuming the last of his barriers as it collided with his scales burning through his clothes.

He was blasted backward his body slamming into the shattered floor, dust and sparks erupting around him. His silver hair scorched, his breath a bit ragged, violet light flickering weakly.

But under all that he grinned his aura erupting faintly and his power rising.

Hovering in the air, wreathed in fire grace threw back her head and screamed. Her voice triumphant and wild. The crimson tempest roared around her, feeding on her fury devouring the very oxygen in the arena.

The arena then erupted in cheers and gasps, some crying in her name, others staring in disbelief.

She hovered above him, golden eyes blazing. “It’s over! Your space s nothing but emptiness! My fire is life it will consume you, and you’ll fade into nothing!”

Dust swirled around his battered form, for a moment it seemed she was right.

Then through the smoke, a faint violet light shimmered.

Adam rose slowly, his form bruised blood dripping from his mouth. His silver hair floated weightlessly, violet strands glowing brighter than ever. His eyes burned, not with fire but with calm endless resolve.

The crowd then fell silent, they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

From the depths of the dust, his voice rang clear:

“Fire consumes, Space is endless and endured. And I will show you… The infinity you can’t burn away.”

The ground trembled, violet light flooding the cracks in the floor, as if the entire arena were responding to him.

And for the first time she hesitated.

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