Chapter 200: Day 1 Phase 3

It wasn’t a sound, but a absolute physical weight that slammed down onto the entire enclosure like the fist of a god. It was pure, undiluted pressure, the pressure of a being who had stood on mountains of corpses.

Instantly, all forty five students in the Aether section dropped. Their knees slammed into the stone floor with a collective, sickening thud that echoed off the awning.

Julian was flattened instantly, his chest pressed flat against the cold ground, his eyes wide with utter terror as his lungs refused to expand, as his vision went white at the edges.

He tried to scream but no air came out. Sol gasped for air, his face buried in the dirt, all thoughts of jealousy, all thoughts of Raven, erased by a primordial, animal instinct to survive, to breathe, to live.

The professors weren’t spared. Professor Henry’s knees buckled immediately, despite his frame and decades of combat training, forcing him down onto one knee as he cracked the flagstones under his boots to keep from collapsing entirely, his face contorted in shock.

Professor Selene gasped, her cold composure shattering like glass as her hands slammed onto the stone floor to catch herself, her glasses falling off her nose, her silver hair falling forward.

Professor Mira fell straight to her knees, clutching her throat, her bright smile gone, replaced by wide eyed, silent panic.

Only Professor Rose managed to stay partially upright, dropping to a deep single knee stance, her teeth gritted tightly as her legs trembled violently, her entire body shaking like a leaf in a hurricane.

Her intense, private sessions with Lynx had built a higher tolerance in her body, a familiarity with the edges of that darkness, but even she was forced down, her hand slamming against the pillar to stay up.

Lynx tilted his head slightly, his eyes now open, glowing with a faint, cold light, and pushed the output to barely thirty percent for a single, deliberate second. Just to make a point.

The pressure surged exponentially. It was no longer just weight. It was malevolence. The air in the enclosure grew thick, smelling faintly of iron and absolute oblivion, of blood dried on a battlefield centuries ago.

The professors remaining strength buckled, Henry’s second knee hit the ground hard, and Rose felt her chest compress so hard her vision flickered black at the edges and she let out a small, choked whimper.

It lasted exactly five seconds.

Lynx pulled it back, locking it away completely. He blinked, and his eyes returned to normal. The weight vanished as if it had never been there.

Silence descended on the enclosure. Absolute silence, broken only by ragged, desperate breathing. Forty five students lay or knelt on the ground, gasping violently for air, their chests heaving as if they had just been dragged from the bottom of the ocean.

Cold sweat drenched their clothes, soaking through uniforms and robes. Some were crying silently, tears streaming down their faces without them realizing it.

Beyond their enclosure, the effect had leaked out. Across the immediate surrounding stands, thousands of spectators had gone completely dead silent for those five seconds, clutching their chests without understanding why, looking around in confusion and primal fear, feeling as if Death itself had just walked over their graves.

"What... what was that?" a spectator three rows up stammered, looking around in horror, clutching his child. "Did you feel that? I couldn’t breathe! I couldn’t breathe!"

"What kind of monster is in the arena?!" another yelled, looking toward the stage, his voice hoarse.

In the Void Blessed Academy enclosure some yards away, separated by a wide stretch of empty guards and officials, Queen Kimberly Vane snapped her head toward the Aether section.

Her expressionless, perfect face flickered for the briefest fraction of a second, the first crack anyone had seen in days, her grey eyes locking directly onto the silhouette of Lynx Azarion sitting calmly on his bench, arms spread, as if he hadn’t just forced forty five people to kiss the floor.

Back in the Aether section, the students were slowly pulling themselves up, trembling as they wiped sweat from their faces, their legs refusing to hold them steady.

They looked at Lynx with new eyes. Not admiration. Not jealousy. More like Awe. And terror.

Eleanor pulled herself back onto her bench with the help of Layla, her lips pale, her royal composure completely shattered.

Her hands were shaking so badly she had to clasp them together. "That... that was the most terrifying aura I have ever felt in my life," she whispered, her voice shaking slightly, barely audible. "Only the Headmistress... only she has ever felt anything close to that. That does not feel... right."

Julian, still lying on his hands and knees, slowly pushed himself up, his forehead pressed against the cold stone. He didn’t look at Lynx.

He didn’t say a single word. He just nodded silently, once, his face completely drained of color, his entire worldview rewritten in five seconds.

Professors Selene and Mira stared at Lynx with wide, completely altered expressions.

The casual way they had viewed him as a talented, cheeky, overly confident student was gone, burned away in that pressure. It was replaced by a profound, terrifying realization of what was actually sitting among them, wearing their uniform, winking at them.

Lynx simply leaned back against his bench, resting his hands behind his head, completely at ease again, as if nothing had happened. His breathing was even. A faint, lazy smile touched his lips.

Just then, the giant floating screens in the center of the stadium, which had been dark while the officials prepared, lit up with brilliant, blinding magic light. Runes spun and danced across their surface, forming letters.

The grand commentators voices, amplified by massive mana crystals, echoed through the massive speakers, booming over the noise of the two hundred thousand spectators who were still murmuring about the strange pressure wave.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THE WEEK OF WAITING IS OVER! WELCOME TO THE THIRD PHASE OF THE SUPREME BLESSED TOURNAMENT. PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR THE OPENING MATCHES OF DAY ONE."

The screens crackled, and the first match ups began to spin.

Lynx rested his eyes on the screen as the names began to randomize, a faint, cold smile gracing his lips, his earlier lazy demeanor now understood for what it truly was, the patience of a predator.

"Let the show begin," he whispered.

The giant floating display suspended above the center of the Grand Void Arena thrummed with raw magical density.

The complete Phase 3 bracket was already generated and locked across the massive crystal board.

Two hundred thousand spectators roared from the towering stone stands, their voices merging into a physical wave of sound that shook the ground beneath the arena.

High above the ring, the central screen flared with a heavy crimson border, highlighting the first official 1v1 match on the pre set board.

[KEVIN BANKS - HEATHER BLESSED ACADEMY VS. DRAKE VANCE - BEACON BLESSED ACADEMY]

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WELCOME TO PHASE THREE!" The lead commentator’s voice boomed through the array speakers, echoing off the colossal stone arches surrounding the arena.

"The bracket is fixed! Today we open with five brutal individual bouts! First up on the grand stage, Heather’s Year 4 student Kevin Banks faces Beacon’s heavy tank, Drake Vance!"

The crowd erupted again.

Down in the Aether enclosure everyone was settled well now, Lynx sat quietly, his elbows resting on his knees. Ava, Lira, and Ophelia sat beside him, their expressions sharp and focused.

None of them were laughing, none of them were talking. They already knew the truth about Void’s cheat rings. There was no need to waste breath talking about it. Their only focus was the battle ahead.

Lynx’s eyes remained fixed on the stage. The atmosphere was different from the earlier rounds. There were fewer fighters now. Every remaining student had survived multiple battles, and everyone still standing had something to prove.

The crowd understood it too. There was no room for weak fighters anymore. One mistake could end everything.

The referee signaled the start of the match.

Drake Vance stepped onto the reinforced granite platform first. The giant Beacon fighter immediately raised his massive two handed battle hammer.

The weapon alone looked heavy enough to crush a normal person beneath its weight. His Earth and Fire affinities erupted simultaneously.

Deep red heat radiated from his body as dense molten rock surged up his arms.

Chunks of stone rose from the platform and attached themselves to his body, forming heavy, jagged magma armor across his chest and shoulders.

Drake rolled his neck. CRACK. He grinned.

Across from him, Kevin Banks stepped through the opposite tunnel.

Heather’s senior captain carried no weapon. He didn’t need one. His Fire affinity flared instantly.

A torrent of intense, bright orange fire erupted from his forearms and wrapped around his hands, condensing until his fists looked as though they were forged from living, liquid flame.

Heatwaves rippled from his posture, instantly baking the surrounding air.

The Void referee stepped to the edge of the stage. His silver badge gleamed under the midday sun. He raised his hand flat.

"Begin!"

BOOM! Drake moved first. The massive fighter swung his battle hammer down into the granite with enough force to crack the entire platform.

A shockwave exploded outward. Then the earth beneath Kevin violently erupted. A massive spike of molten earth shot forward, tearing through the granite stage directly toward him.

The heat alone scorched the air. The stone surrounding the attack melted into glowing orange liquid.

Kevin’s eyes narrowed. His boots slammed against the floor. He didn’t retreat directly. Instead, he channeled a burst of Fire affinity through the soles of his boots, propelling his body sideways at a sharp angle.

The molten spike ripped past him. Kevin immediately accelerated, a trail of white hot embers igniting in his wake with every step.

Three meters. Two meters. One.

Kevin thrust both hands forward. The condensed fire surrounding his forearms burst outward like twin jet streams. He drove two heavy, flame wrapped punches straight toward Drake’s chest.

Drake’s eyes widened. "Too fast!" He twisted his torso and brought the broad flat head of his hammer upward.

CLANG BOOM. The fire coated fists struck the enchanted weapon. Explosive heat detonated across the stage. The impact sounded like a cannon going off.

Drake’s boots dug into the granite. Then he was pushed backward. One meter. Two meters. Three. His heels finally stopped him.

Drake looked down at the deep grooves his boots had carved into the stage. Then he looked back at Kevin. Kevin was already coming again.

"You’re not getting away from me!" Drake roared. He pushed his hammer forward. The weapon erupted with Fire affinity. A sweeping crescent wave of superheated red flame exploded from the hammerhead. The attack was so wide that Kevin couldn’t simply step around it. The flames swallowed him.

BOOOOOOM! The entire stage disappeared behind an enormous wall of fire. The crowd gasped.

"A DIRECT HIT FROM DRAKE VANCE! CAN HEATHER’S FIRE SPECIALIST SURVIVE THAT IGNITION?"

Drake breathed heavily. "Got you..." The flames continued burning. The granite beneath them began to glow. Drake raised his hammer again. "You’re finished."

Then something moved inside the fire. Drake’s smile disappeared. The flames suddenly split.

Kevin stepped through. He had gathered his own Fire affinity around his body, creating a compressed thermal shield that repelled the incoming fire storm.

His uniform was smoking, but Kevin himself was completely unharmed.

Drake stared. "No way."

Kevin said nothing. He simply stepped forward. His right fist pulled backward, the flame on his hand burning so hot it turned blindingly bright. Drake instinctively raised his left arm.

Kevin punched.

BOOM!

The fire boosted impact smashed directly into Drake’s forearm. The molten armor cracked under the localized heat and force.

Drake’s entire upper body shook. His feet slid backward. Kevin followed. Another punch.

BOOM!

Drake’s shoulder armor shattered into scorching embers.

Drake grunted. "You little—" He swung his hammer. Kevin ducked underneath it. The weapon passed above his head. Kevin stepped inside Drake’s guard.

He drove a fire boosted elbow straight into Drake’s ribs. CRACK! Drake’s armor cracked. He staggered sideways.

But the Beacon fighter wasn’t finished. His eyes burned with anger. "YOU THINK THAT’S ENOUGH?!" He released his grip on the hammer with one hand.

His left palm slammed against Kevin’s chest. "EARTH BURST!" A compressed blast of molten stone erupted point blank.

BOOM!