Dark Magus Returns

Chapter 1460: The Final Challenger

The first match between Wilton and Central Academy had ended, and the result was clear. Liam’s victory reverberated throughout the arena. For Lee Roy, sitting among the crowd, relief washed over him. Liam winning had taken some of the sting out of his own earlier defeat. At least now, people would whisper, maybe Lee Roy would have beaten George too, if he’d faced him instead.

And who knew? Perhaps he had simply drawn the short straw, ending up against the strongest fighter in the entire event. Still, the tournament wasn’t over. One more match remained, and if Central Academy managed to win it, the crowd would be treated to a final clash, a deciding battle that would determine everything.

Guests in the stands stirred with excitement, voices rising in speculation. Many assumed the voting stage would open once more. For the audience, casting their guesses on the next winner had become one of the most thrilling parts of the event. Yet this time, no screens flickered to life. No ballots appeared. No voting was cast.

“Could it be?” one guest whispered to another. “Is Central Academy worried? Did they stop the voting because they’re afraid everyone would side with Wilton?”

“Maybe,” another replied, leaning forward with interest. “But wouldn’t it be better to prove us wrong? Imagine if they let us all bet against them, and then Central Academy still pulled out the win. That would silence every doubt.”

The crowd speculated endlessly, but none of them knew the truth. The reason lay with Ibarin himself. After tense conversations with the other principals, he had given the order: no voting this round. He had his reasons.

Deep down, he feared what the results might show. If the numbers revealed Wilton as the overwhelming favorite, could he restrain himself? Could he sit in that booth, calm and composed, while the academy he led was overshadowed, diminished, humiliated? His carefully crafted image, the position of power he had fought tooth and nail to maintain, he couldn’t risk it crumbling before his eyes.

It had been a very long time since Ibarin had felt such raw, destabilizing emotions. Perhaps that was why he found them so difficult to control.

Still, the spectators continued their discussions. Many began to conclude that the swordsman Wilton had kept in reserve must be their hidden ace, the secret weapon they had been waiting to unleash. Surely, he would be the one to challenge Kayzel. And when that happened, the two would face off in a final clash, the duel of the tournament.

Meanwhile, George was recovering. After a brief round of healing, he was finally awake again. He remembered everything, every humiliating moment of the battle. Fortunately, the damage wasn’t critical. His body had been battered, but the wounds were mostly external. No internal damage, no lingering injuries.

Yet that fact made it worse. The attacks he’d suffered hadn’t even been devastating spells. They had been physical, simple blows amplified by Qi. For George, this was the most bitter pill to swallow.

He had to walk back into the waiting room, head lowered, body aching, the weight of failure pressing on him with every step. He knew what awaited him. Disappointment. Scorn. The eyes of his fellow students filled with judgment. And when he pushed open the door, he was not disappointed.

“You embarrassed us, George!” Bones snapped the moment he entered. His voice was sharp with anger. “That guy wasn’t even someone famous. No one even knows his name! What happened out there? Was his wind magic really that strong?”

George’s lips tightened. He wanted to respond, but he didn’t have an answer. He didn’t understand it himself. None of his magic had worked. His gravitational field had been severed as if it were nothing. Could mere wind magic really cut through gravity? And even if it could, how had Liam endured the crushing weight in the first place?

No matter what excuse he might give, it would sound hollow. It would sound like weakness.

“My opponent was strong. Far stronger than me,” George finally admitted, his voice low but steady. “Did it ever cross your minds, after everything we’ve seen here, that maybe there are people out there better than us?”

Silence followed. Nannan lowered her gaze, recalling the sting of her own loss against Safa. She thought of how easily she might have been humiliated had they fought longer. She remembered their failure in the portal expedition, how everything they had touched seemed to slip away. Maybe George was right. Maybe they had overestimated themselves.

But Kayzel was not so forgiving. He sneered, stepping forward.

“Stupid, stupid!” Kayzel snapped. “You didn’t work hard enough. I thought you were different, George. I thought you were one of the greats. That you were destined to stand at my side. With your gravitational magic, you could have become one of the next Grand Magus. But after this? After losing here? It means you just weren’t up to it.”

George clenched his fists. Was this really all it took, one loss, one stumble, for Kayzel to look down on him? He wanted to shout, to explain, to remind them all that he had done his best. But he swallowed it. There was no point.

Instead, he raised his head and spoke quietly but firmly.

“Kayzel, didn’t you already mess with two of the Wilton students earlier? The ones you tried to test? I think those might have been the weakest of their group. Call me whatever you want. Say I’m a failure. But answer me this, what will you do, if you lose this fight?”

His words cut through the air like a blade. For a moment, silence reigned. Kayzel’s eyes narrowed, and his lips curved into a cold smile.

“That’s something you’ll never find out,” Kayzel said flatly. Without another glance, he turned and strode toward the walkway as the display screen flickered, calling for the final participant.

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