Chapter 197: [197] Against The Odds

Tiberius slowly climbed up the little steps that led to the stage, right next to the wall Ariel had crashed into.

She stood up on shaky feet, small, broken rocks falling off her body as she stumbled forward.

“I—I can still fight…” She spoke through gritted teeth, blood flowing down her lips.

Tiberius shot her a glare. “Get out. I’ll deal with you later.”

Her eyes widened in fear, but she bowed, limping off the stage.

Artie rested slightly on her magic staff as she watched Tiberius walk towards her.

’It’s just like I thought,’ Artie mused.

High elves were crafty creatures. Of course he would not just hand her her membership even though he promised it.

Instead, he would try to play his way around it, creating excuses that would work to his favour.

Thankfully, their deal had been made in the wide open. It would be hard to completely disregard it.

“This is meant to be a magic duel! How dare you dishonour it with your paltry tricks?!” Tiberius barked, glaring at Artie.

’Ahh… So that is his excuse…’

Artie replied dryly. “There was no rule that says I can’t use my hands. Besides, most mages have to resort to physical combat at some point in their lives.”

The mages began to discuss amongst themselves, debating Artie’s words. While the more sensible mages agreed with her, the more conservative mages rejected the idea completely.

That was all the fuel Tiberius needed to push on. “I promised you a membership, but am I to reward your excellent magecraft? Or your brute warrior capabilities?”

“This is a Magic Tower, laggard.” He sneered. “If you want to wrestle in the mud like those brutish swordsmen, the taverns are always open for drama.”

Artie rolled her eyes.

“Would you look at that? A high elf turning back on his word. Well, it’s nothing new.” She shrugged. “High elves act noble, but in reality, they are more vile than demons.”

The hushed discussion intensified; already, some were already giving Tiberius judgemental looks.

There were definitely people who hated him in the tower, and Artie had created the atmosphere to scrutinise his character.

She paused. “Actually, at least demons keep to their word. You are even below that. A goblin then? That will explain your poor understanding of simple English.”

“A g-goblin?! You dare compare me to a goblin—” he was about to retort when he noticed the stares.

Tiberius’s finger tightened into a fist. ’Every second she opens her filthy mouth, she degrades me!’

He cursed internally, then frowned.

“I never said I was going to go against my word. Perhaps you are hard of hearing—”

“Then where is my robe?” Artie asked, sharply cutting him off.

Tiberius responded with silence.

He could not give her a cape because that would mean conceding defeat, something that he could not afford to do unless he wanted to incur the wrath of Azarath.

“Ahh, I see. Just like all other high elves, you’re all just a bunch of aged liars.”

Tiberius’s glare deepened, but he swallowed his retort. He was already under the scrutiny of his fellow tower wizards as well as the grand mage.

Any sudden outbursts could lead to them questioning his self-control.

His hands trembled with rage, his teeth gritted so tightly that he could taste iron.

’I’ll kill her, I’ll fucking kill her!!!’

“Alright.” Tiberius said coldly. “I cannot give you a cloak because we do not approve of your methods…”

“But what about this, if you are able to defeat me, not only will you gain your membership instantly…”

He pulled out a book from his spatial storage ring and raised it up.

— Is that the Imaginarix?!

Someone screamed from the audience.

— He had one of the seven great spell books??

The book in his hand was more than a treasure. It was something that nearly every beginner mage and even more advanced mages desired…

And yet, Artie’s reply stunned everyone in the arena.

“No.”

Picking the Imaginarix was pure folly. Tiberius knew this, that was why he was offering it.

Even if Artie won and got the book, even though it was a lesser treasure, it was still a treasure of the high elves.

They would surely come for it. That book was death.

“I want something else.” Artie said resolutely.

“And what is that?” Tiberius curiously asked.

“Your cloak.”

?!!

Tiberius gritted his teeth, the muscles of his jaw flexing.

Asking for a mage’s cloak was like asking for their life. The winner would claim the mage’s position, title, and rank.

Since the mage could no longer start from the beginning, the end result was expulsion from the tower.

It was a heavy ask.

Artie was of course not doing this out of mere spite alone.

Her reasoning was actually rather solid. An entry mage position would give her access to the most rudimentary spells, meaning she would need clearance to be allowed inside the greater library.

But with a wizard’s clearance, everything would be a breeze.

Tiberius scoffed as a dark brown magic staff appeared in his hand. Then suddenly, his mana swelled.

“Fine.” His voice was low, yet it carried unimaginable weight and unshakable confidence.

Swooosh!

The mages on the front row gasped as they were exposed to a sudden gust of oppressive mana. It felt as though a heavy weight had been pressed against their chest, obstructing their breathing.

His mana, a dark brown aura, burned violently around him in a show of strength.

“It’s about time I put you in your place.”

Artie’s face was stoic as always, but in her mind—

’His mana… it is two… three?’ It was about three times hers.

Normally, it was a very foolish matchup. But if she ran away from everyone who was stronger than her… if she could not face Tiberius, how could she ever hope to defeat Galangher?

It was a fight she could not possibly refuse.

“Then I shall be the judge of this fight.”

To everyone’s surprise, the Grand Mage suddenly appeared in between the two fighters, a small smile on his lips.

Artie immediately stepped back reflexively, staring warningly at the mage.

’How did he get here so fast?’ Artie mused.

“Just as agreed…” He glanced at Artie. “If Tiberius loses this match, he will lose his cloak and be banished from the wizard tower. Miss Artie here will take his place.”

He then floated up above them. “Alright then, let us beg—”

BOOOM!

Before Artie could finish her thought, a large stone hand surged out of the ground, nearly squishing her into paste.

She dashed back, just as more stone hands tore out of the ground. She had to move so fast that she felt her shoes burning.

Then just as she got to the edge of the arena, a shadow flashed in the corner of her vision as a large fist rammed into her back, sending her soaring through the air.

“Ack—!”

Artie gasped as the air was knocked out of her lungs.

’He’s fast!’

Just as she had expected, Tiberius was far above her level. It was like a bull going against an elephant.

This was not a match she could win by pure skill alone.

As she was falling in a parabolic arc, still being carried by the momentum of the strike, Tiberius slammed the butt of his staff into the floor.

Five large balls of earth rose up from the ground and cut towards her like meteors.

[Lightning]

Booom!

Lightning poured out of Artie’s staff, causing reverberations to flow through her hand as the lightning pounded into the rock with a deafening bang.

She flew right through the dust cloud, charging up another lightning spell.

But the moment she got through it, a single large eye was staring at her menacingly, an iron fist cutting through the dust, racing right at her.

If she was hit by that blow… she would die!

’He isn’t even trying to hide it anymore.’

Standing right above Tiberius was a gigantic iron golem that towered up into the sky. It was so large that its head was scraping the magic barrier above, creating sparks as it moved.

Lightning was useless against it.

[Light Distortion Magic]

Artie immediately vanished from the area just as the fist cut past the point she had just been.

Up above the stage, Azarath stared at the point Artie had been with great interest. Only he could see what the others failed to notice.

He ran a hand over his jaw and smiled. ’Light magic?’

It was one of the rarest forms of magic a mage could inherit. Seeing it in the possession of a wood elf was rather disappointing.

Artie suddenly appeared behind Tiberius.

Azarath smiled. “Yet she may impress.”

Two stone hands suddenly appeared by Artie’s sides, already racing towards her, attempting to smash her like a bug.

“Welll, if Tiberius doesn’t kill her first.” He shrugged.

Back on the stage, Tiberius smiled wide. “You thought that trick would work twice??”

’So he expected me to come close…’ Artie thought.

His mana output, mastery over spells, and situational awareness. Everything was top grade, just like you would expect from a high Elven wizard.

“Tsk.” Artie clicked her tongue. “How annoying.”

It was too late to dodge.

BOOM!

She launched a lightning bolt into the first hand and was spinning to stop the second one, but even she knew she would not be fast enough.

Artie was swatted away forcefully, only managing to bring up her shield at the last minute, just in time to mitigate the damage.

She cursed as she stood up, her body a mess of cuts and bruises. It had only been three minutes, and already, it looked like she had been run over by a carriage.

“I have to applaud your bravery. To think you would have it in you to walk straight into your death.”

Vwooosh!

The giant fist of the golem came down like a colossal pillar, casting a shadow over her. Although it looked slow due to its size, it was incredibly fast.

Bang!

Artie managed to blitz away with light distortion magic, but the moment she appeared, a large fist snatched her from the air, keeping her in place.

“That magic of yours.” Tiberius slowly walked towards her in confident strides. “It has a cooldown, does it not?”

“You’re just figuring that out now? I guess you’re pretty slow.”

Tiberius waved his hand and the stone arm squeezed, causing a muffled scream to escape Artie’s lips.

It felt like her body had been put through a vice. Her blood flow was affected, even breathing was a struggle.

“How does it feel? Comfortable?” Tiberius snickered.

The hand tightened, and this time, Artie’s eyes darkened, black spots swirling in her vision.

“Very…” she managed to mutter.

“That tongue of yours. You always have a retort, don’t you?” He had walked close enough that no one else could hear them both.

A crazed smile appeared on his face as the fist once again tightened. “I’ll make you put it to good use. Now scream.”

Artie tried to hold it in, but soon, she had no choice.

She opened her mouth, but instead of screaming, she smiled—

[Light Distorted Magic, Trifold]

Suddenly, she vanished from the grip of the hand, her body flickering into nothingness. Then three Arties appeared around the wizard, their magic staff pulsing with energy.

“Fool. Do you think such paltry tricks can stop me?!”

The fist that had been holding Artie before straightened, the fingers pointing forward.

It drove right into the gut of the first Artie, shattering her like glass.

Bang!

The golem stepped on the second illusion. The ground upturned, a net of cracks spreading in all directions as a loud booming sound cut through the arena.

Finally, spikes tore out of the floor, burying themselves deep into the flesh of the last one. Everything had happened in the space of five seconds.

The first two Arties had been fakes, but the last one…

Blood gushed down like a river as Artie’s body was hoisted into the air, her limbs limp by her sides, her defiant gaze faltering.

“Ha… Ha… AHAHAHAHAHA!” Tiberius’ laughter filled the starkly silent arena as he laughed to his heart’s content.

Still above the stage, Azarath watched with an amused expression, his crimson eyes glowing faintly. He slowly shook his head.

“He has lost…” he muttered in a low tone.

How many times had he told them repeatedly not to underestimate their opponents?

Tiberius was stronger than her in every way, but if he had paid just a little more attention, then he would have figured out the true nature of her magic…

The magic she used was not teleportation.

It was illusions.

Miss Artie was bending light to make it look like she had changed positions, giving herself an extra second to act.

In truth…

She had never really left the golem’s grasp.

The moment he focused on the fakes, that was when he lost.

Behind Tiberius, Artie suddenly materialized, her staff already fully charged with magic.

Her lips curled up in a smirk.

“Who is the fool now?”

The crowd suddenly grew ecstatic, cheers erupting from the arena.

Without realizing it, they had become so invested in the fight that they didn’t want it to end!

But the fight was already over.

Lightning was about to surge out of Artie’s staff, when Azarath discreetly whispered, [Distort].

Her magic immediately grew unstable, the lightning spell erupting and knocking her back.

“W-what the?” Artie exclaimed as she was flung to the floor by her own spell.

VWOOOSH!

The golem was already upon her, its foot hovering over her head.

She tried to move, but her body had been paralyzed by the lightning.

“Hahahahaha! Stomp her down!” Tiberius screamed at the top of his lungs.

Meanwhile, Azarath frowned.

“You were rather exceptional.” He said to himself, watching from a distance.

“But there is an order to things.” His crimson eyes grew dark and he stared down.

…As the foot came down upon her.

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