The moment the referee’s voice rang out,

“BEGIN!”

The forest came alive. A rush of wind whipped past as Vela’s ice-forged arrow exploded from her bow like a white comet, humming with force as it charged towards Elara, hoping to take her down quickly and turn it into a 2v1.

~BOOM!~

The arrow detonated into the ground where Elara was just standing, erupting into a cone of icy wind that crystallized the vines and bark behind him.

“Vela’s not holding back!” the announcer’s voice rang out, “She launched that without hesitation! Opening with pressure, classic Stormvale aggression!”

But her smile faded once the blast faded, and she realized she couldn’t see Elara nor could she see Albedo. The blast of the arrow had to of cloaked their movements, and she immediately went on high alert.

From the stands, students squinted at the glowing figure darting through the trees while the Professors were impressed by what Albedo had done, recognizing his skills.

“Where is he?”

~KRA-KOOM!~

An explosion of crimson flame ripped through the underbrush to Vela’s left, melting vines and incinerating ferns, the bark of trees exploding off of their trunks.

“THERE IT IS FOLKS,” the announcer shouted as the students cheer,” Albedo’s signature weapons, DUAL Pistols. He’s the only student to use Pistols in Myth Class in over 300 years.”

Vela skidded back, growling in annoyance, “Tch, fine, you want a real fight?”

She summoned a barrage of arrows and fired in succession, her bow glowing as Wind and Ice fused into storm-forged projectiles.

Each arrow twisted in midair, forming a net of homing projectiles, arcing through the trees toward Albedo’s last known location.

They pierced the jungle canopy, tearing through vines, lichen, and shadow, but they were stopped, exploding against a mana barrier.

Elara was standing in the distance, a pale green light pulsing around her fingertips.

“ELARA VANCE with the defensive intercept!” one caster gasped, “Her Gift lets her track battlefield patterns and predict projectile trajectories, she blocked all of them without moving!”

Back on the offensive, Albedo didn’t give them time to reset.

He kicked off a low root, spinning midair as he fired again, this time a twin burst. One bolt from Havoc in Infernal Mode, and one shot from Ruin, now in Graviton Mode.

~BOOM!~

The fire blast scorched forward in a broad cone, while the Graviton slug hit a stone next to Garrick, and then imploded, creating a localized pull that yanked his massive body several paces to the side.

“WHAT A SHOT! Albedo’s weapon seems to be using gravitational distortion to disrupt Garrick’s footing!” the announcer’s voice cracked with excitement, “He’s forcing him into exposed zones in the terrain!”

Garrick growled, slamming his shield into the ground with a seismic BOOM that created a shimmering gold dome around him.

“Enough,” he rumbled.,”Let’s close the distance.”

His massive boots dug into the mossy earth, and with a burst of Solar Force, he charged through the vines, shrugging off the next shot of Infernal flame that grazed his plated pauldron.

“Sunshade’s armor is built to withstand Amethyst-level flame! That’s imperial steel with mana-thickened fibers, he’s not going down to just heat!”

However, Albedo was never trying to burn through his armor, he was just trying to direct him.

“Three degrees right,” Elara’s voice echoed through their mental transmission link, and Albedo responded instantly.

He pivoted right, and dashed towards a cluster of tangled roots beside a sunken patch of swamp.

“CHASE HIM, I’LL COVER!” Vela said, pulling back on her bow and unleashing a frost arrow that quickly multiplied itself until a flood of arrows was chasing Albedo.

Garrick also continued the chase, but as he passed by the cluster of tangled roots, he stepped on something, the roots beneath him caved slightly, and then collapsed, sinking his lower half into a pit of mud.

“WHOA! WHAT A BAIT!” the caster shouted. “Albedo led him straight into a natural sinkhole.”

The flood of arrows that followed Albedo all crashed into Garrick’s shield at full power, putting him even further on the backfoot while at the edge of the pit, he raised both Havoc and Ruin.

~BOOM~BOOM!~

The Infernal burst detonated above Garrick, igniting the canopy and raining burning foliage down. The Graviton slug collapsed into Garrick’s shield, compressing its weight and pinning him lower into the swamp.

Garrick’s roar echoed, reverberating through the forest like a falling mountain.

Vela snarled from the treeline, retreating high into the jungle canopy, “You’re good. But you’re not unbeatable.”

Her bow glowed blue as she activated the technique again, her shot blooming into more and more arrows.

~TWIP!~

The first arrow hit the trunk below Albedo and bloomed into fifty.

Arrows screamed through the mist, ice crackling in their wake.

Elara activated her barrier again, two layers this time, glimmering green fields snapping into place. But even as they blocked the first wave, it had quickly been broken, and Albedo found himself shooting down arrow after arrow to protect her.

Meanwhile, Vela had finished within the forest once again

“She’s switching tactics!” the caster cried, “From bombardment to guerrilla strikes, she’s using the tree canopy and obscuring herself with wind magic!”

Vale continued moving like a ghost, hopping from one treetop to another as she relentlessly fired off arrows that sliced through the forest like a blade.

The jungle canopy hissed as another volley of wind-forged arrows screamed down through the trees.

~SHHHHHNK!~

An arrow slammed into the bark inches from Albedo’s head, freezing it in a sheath of glacial mana, but he didn’t even flinch.

He twisted sharply and ducked under a low branch, boots skimming across swampwater as he sprinted through the jungle…

…with Elara held tightly in his arms.

He had saved her from a rain of Vale’s arrows and was now carrying her, Elara’s arms were wrapped around his neck. Though visibly flushed, her eyes remained focused, flickering with glowing runes of terrain insight.

“She’s locking the upper canopy, trying to herd us into kill zones,” Elara said quickly, fingers glowing as she continued using her Gift, Battle Map. Mana patterns flickered through her sight, the forest around her transforming into a strategic blueprint.

“Take the right fork. Roots are weak on the left. You’ll sink.”

Albedo didn’t question her. He turned immediately, blasting a Graviton slug behind him to slow their pursuer. The gravitational implosion bent the air with an audible whump, shaking the trees and dragging several of Vela’s arrows into the dirt.

~TWIP!~

Another arrow came, this one sharper and faster.

Albedo immediately fired Havoc in Infernal Mode upward, and with a boom, the flames roared above, detonating in a midair wave that incinerated the ice arrow in a bloom of vapor and fire.

“Albedo…” Elara said softly, her voice steady despite the chaos, “Put me down.”

He didn’t slow, “You sure? What if you get hid while I’m closing the space?”

“I won’t. Not with this terrain. I know where they’ll be before they do. You’ll need both hands free, and I can guide from range far better than being carried like a sack of potatoes.”

He skidded to a halt behind a thick ridge of moss-covered stone, arrows slicing through the air behind them.

For a moment, he simply looked at her, his cold blue eyes locked onto her calm green ones.

Then he nodded.

“Don’t die.”

She smiled faintly, “Only if you don’t get yourself stabbed.”

He placed her down gently behind a half-rotted log, and Elara immediately pressed her hand to the earth, Battle Map activating with a low hum.

From her position, she could now see everything across the battlefield.

Vela’s movement patterns above.Garrick’s heavy footsteps emerging from the mud pit and even the weak elevation slopes, twisted tree roots, and high-visibility chokepoints.

Albedo, meanwhile, walked forward alone into the open, his coat flaring slightly, his pistols shimmering with shifting runes.

“ALBEDO’S CHANGING GEARS, FOLKS!” the announcer howled, “No more retreating, he’s taking the fight to them! The girl’s staying back, oh wait, she’s directing him! We’ve got full-blown tactical orchestration unfolding!”

Vela caught sight of Albedo and smirked, “He’s wide open.”

She fired again, this time it was five arrows, each enchanted with wind, to correct and hone in on her target.

Albedo didn’t dodge.

He raised Ruin, now set to Mana-Drain Mode, and fired three precise shots.

Each slug collided with an incoming arrow, detonating in small bursts of siphoning mana that neutralized their elemental charge and turned them into harmless shards.

Vela’s smirk faltered.

BOOM!

A blast from Havoc scorched the tree she was perched on, setting it ablaze. She leapt midair, and that’s when a green pulse appeared under her.

A glyph. Hidden in the moss. Set by Elara five seconds earlier.

~CRACK!~

The tree root beneath her detonated with compressed wind mana—redirected from her own arrows.

She tumbled in midair, barely landing.

Albedo was already in motion. He surged forward, shooting from the hip,

One Infernal blast to scatter cover and one Graviton slug to send debris flying into Vela’s pathway.

“Damn it!” Vela growled, shielding her eyes. “Sunshade, NOW!”

Across the field, Garrick had finally pulled himself out of the pit. Mud covered his chestplate, but his expression was a wall of fury. He activated his Solar Core, and sunlight flared from his shield like a miniature sun.

He charged.

“Big guy incoming,” Elara said coolly through the mental link, “Veer left in three, two, NOW!”

Albedo sidestepped just as Garrick’s shield smashed into a tree beside him, staggering him just enough for Albedo to fire an infernal shot towards him.

The knight roared, stumbling back, but his armor held.

Albedo didn’t stop though, kicking off a root and firing three more shots in rapid succession.

First: Graviton Mode, to Garrick’s left foot.

Second: Mana-Drain Mode, to his right knee.

Third: Infernal, right at his chest.

Garrick raised his shield just in time, but the gravity shot destabilized him. The mana-drain knocked out his barrier. And the Infernal round? That one sizzled against his armor and ignited his tabard.

~FWOOM!~

The flames spread, clinging to his gear with magical hunger.

Garrick bellowed, throwing himself into a shallow pool to douse the fire.

Above them, Vela leapt again, charging a massive arrow laced with wind, frost, and piercing mana.

She released it.

It flew toward Albedo like a javelin from the heavens.

But Elara had already seen it coming far before it even got close to the range to enter Albedo’s mana senses.

“In 4 seconds, Duck. Roll. Counter. Fire to the north west side.”

Albedo obeyed like a machine, just like Elara instructed, rolling to the side just as the arrow missed by a hair, and as he rose, he lifted Ruin, back in Mana-Drain, and shot her mid-flight.

The slug struck Vela dead in the ribs sending her crashing to the ground, barely conscious, and Albedo kept up the pace, piling on the pressure.

BOOM! Infernal flame – clearing brush, burning cover.

WHUMP! Graviton slug – slamming Vela out of sight.

TCHAK! Mana-drain round – stripping Garrick’s reserves with every block.

Back and forth, the two opponents began to falter. Vela, barely conscious, tried to limp away while Garrick’s shield was cracked and his armor was hissing with intense heat, all the while Albedo hadn’t taken a single hit.

As for the crowd? They were losing their minds.

“HE’S TURNED IT INTO A DANCE!” the announcer screamed, “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE ARE WITNESSING AN ABSOLUTE DOMINATION AS THE COMMONER FIRST-YEARS ARE TAKING APART TWO GOLD RANKS LIKE IT’S TACTICAL PRACTICE!”

Back in the battle, Garrick panted heavily, knees half-bent, shield arm trembling as he tried to lift it one more time. His armor was dented and glowing from residual heat, every breath he took rattled through cracked ribs.

Across from him, Albedo walked calmly through the smoke.

Each step deliberate as he spun Ruin once in his hand, switching back to Graviton Mode, and lifted Havoc in his left, its barrel glowing bright with Infernal flames. The runes pulsed like a heartbeat, eager for one final strike.

Garrick roared and raised his shield, pulling in the last of his mana for one desperate charge.

But Elara’s voice came through the link, sharp and calm.

“Now.”

Albedo didn’t hesitate.

BOOM!

He fired Havoc, a wide infernal burst that seared the earth in front of Garrick, obscuring his vision.

WHUMP!

Ruin followed, a Graviton slug slamming into the ground beneath the knight’s feet, compressing and distorting.

Garrick’s charge halted mid-step as the very ground imploded, sucking his legs downward with crushing force.

His eyes widened as he realized.

‘Too late.’

Albedo leapt forward, closing the gap in a single burst of mana-powered movement, then spun midair.

And fired.

Point-blank.

~KRA-KOOM!~

The twin blast detonated with a shockwave that flattened nearby ferns and vines. When the smoke cleared, Garrick was flat on his back, unconscious, his shield cracked down the middle and his body smoking from residual impact.

Vela, who was barely conscious, tried to draw one last arrow out of her mana, but before she could,

~CLICK!~

Albedo pointed Ruin at her temple, mana humming at the tip.

Her fingers froze.

She sighed, breath hitching, and collapsed back with a wince. “…I yield.”

Silence.

For one heartbeat, the entire stadium was dead quiet.

Then

“AND THAT’S IT!!” the announcer screamed, his voice peaking through the magical speakers as the arena erupted with noise, “ALBEDO NEVERWINTER AND ELARA VANCE TAKE THE VICTORY!! FIRST-YEARS WIN AGAIN!!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep