Anita's eyes widened in complete surprise at the unbelievable feat unfolding before her very eyes.
'How is this even possible? How in the world did his injuries heal so completely? And just a moment ago I couldn't sense even a trace of mana from him at all, but right now he's radiating pure mana energy, how?!' Anita's mind raced frantically with confusion.
'Wait... He doesn't have a Grimoire?. No, during our intense fight, I clearly saw a book that was tucked in his leather sachet but now, it's completely gone. Where the hell is his grimoire and why didn't he use it in our fight earlier on?' Anita's fists clenched tightly, her teeth grinding in frustration and anger.
'Don't tell me… has this bastard been toying with me this entire time?' The thought ignited something dangerous in her chest. Then, slowly, her lips curved into a predatory smirk.
"Of course! If the match were to end so quickly, I'd have been sorely disappointed," she declared, her voice dripping with confidence as she remained protected in her shimmering bubble shield.
'I'd have to act fast. Something tells me that mysterious sword he's carrying is bad news,' she thought as she quickly drew open her grimoire, flipping its pages rapidly until she found the spell she actually wanted.
"Advanced Water Magic: Water Explosive Arrow!" Anita cast with deadly precision as a concentrated water arrow projectile, thrice the size of a normal arrow materialized before her and launched towards Damien with blinding speed.
Damien tilted his neck sharply to the right, barely dodging it by mere inches. The explosive arrow passed him and slammed into the reinforced wall of the arena, creating a surprisingly devastating large hole in the stone barrier.
'It's incredibly fast and powerful. It's just like Giovanni's arrows that explode on contact. Which means I can't let them touch me, neither can I block them with my sword. In that case…' Damien thought grimly after seeing the destructive impact it made on the wall. He looked back at Anita and saw multiple of those deadly arrow projectiles hanging menacingly in the air, ready to launch.
Then Damien just closed his eyes calmly. He can use mana now so things have definitely changed. He quickly redirected some of his flowing mana, gradually tracing it upwards through his body until it reached his eyes, and then he opened them fiercely, his eyes now glowing bright red.
'Mana Observation!'
He said as the world around him transformed into shades of gray. He could now see it clearly, the glowing trajectory lines showing exactly where each arrow would strike.
And immediately, the high-speed arrow projectiles launched simultaneously at Damien with lethal intent.
Damien moved smoothly to the right, dodging the first arrow effortlessly. And now, he crouched low, dodging the second arrow by inches. Just like that, Damien kept dodging the arrows with fluid movements as he made his way steadily towards Anita.
Anita's frustration mounted with each missed shot. 'Damn it! Why can't any of them connect? Wait... is he using Mana Observation?' She thought with growing concern.
Suddenly, Damien dropped into a runner's stance, gripping his sword low at his side. Red lightning crackled around his feet and surged across his entire body like living electricity.
With explosive force, he launched himself forward, the ground cracking beneath his feet from the sheer power of his acceleration.
Anita watched him close the distance with supernatural speed, and confidence flickered across her features.
'What is he thinking? Has he forgotten that my bubble shield can block any physical attack? Maybe he still hasn't learned his lessons yet.' she mused, bracing herself for his approach.
Damien hasn't forgotten about her impenetrable shield. Hell, he could still remember vividly the excruciating pain that counter shield made him go through. But after seeing the system's earlier message about the sword he wielded right now…
[Equipment]
[Gear 1: Can slice through elemental magic.]
Damien doesn't understand much about the Gear 1 classification, but right now, since the sword can cut through elemental magic and Anita's shield is made of the water element, his sword will pierce through it.
Damien reached closer to her after bypassing the final wave of those explosive arrows. He gave her the same bone-chilling smirk she had once flashed him before, to her absolute horror, his blade sliced through her supposedly impenetrable shield like it was made of mist.
The sword struck her stomach with such devastating force, sending her flying across the arena in a graceful arc before she crashed to the ground several meters away.
Damien relaxed his weapon against his shoulder with casual indifference, watching as Anita struggled on the ground. He didn't rush to press his advantage, after all, levels have changed completely, and he wanted to savor this moment.
"Oi, come on, princess. Why don't you use your other grimoire?" Damien said smirking confidently.
"Other grimoire? What the hell is he talking about?" Students murmured in confusion, exchanging bewildered glances.
Anita flinched upon hearing Damien's words as she slowly, unsteadily rose to her feet. Actually, the knowledge that a person could wield two grimoires— a Double Mage, was being kept a strict secret by the upper echelons.
Because, the process in which a person can obtain two grimoires is by cross-breeding with other species, especially elves. This abominable act is mostly done by the nobles and royalty and in order not to ruin their precious reputation, they concealed the truth from the outside world.
'And this forbidden act will lead to a major crisis in the future. Anita von Britton must be half-human, half-elf. So hurry up and use your true power already you double mage monster,' Damien thought with dark anticipation.
Anita finally rose to her feet completely, wiping blood from the corner of her mouth. Her face had grown dangerously dark.
"How did you..." she began, her voice barely above a whisper. Then her expression hardened.
"It doesn't matter."
She raised her right hand above her face, revealing a black ring wrapped around her index finger.
"They warned me never to use this, no matter what happens. I guess I have no choice now." A cold smile spread across her lips as she looked at Damien.
Every instinct in Damien's body screamed danger. He instinctively slid backward, muscles coiled and ready.
"Try not to die, Damien!" she called out cheerfully.
With that ominous warning, she pulled the black ring from her finger.
An overwhelming surge of energy erupted from her body like a volcanic explosion. The sheer force of her unleashed power sent students flying across the arena like leaves in a hurricane. The very air seemed to vibrate with barely contained destruction.
Anita's once dark blue hair began shifting to brilliant white-silver. Her clothes transformed to pristine white, and suddenly a silver Legendary Four-Leaf Clover Grimoire materialized before her, radiating otherworldly power.
"What—another grimoire!" a student shouted, shielding his face from the intense windstorm.
"And a four-leaf clover at that! How is that even possible?!" The crowd gasped collectively as waves upon waves of devastating blue mana forced them back.
'Damn, a fucking four-leaf clover. And it's as if her energy just quadrupled. She's easily on the level of a B-rank beast... no, perhaps even A-rank. Just what kind of monster did those nobility create?' Damien's thoughts raced as he braced against the overwhelming pressure.
When Anita was born, she possessed such an overwhelming surge of mana that it threatened her very life. She had been fitted with a Mana-Restraining Ring to protect both herself and everyone around her from her devastating aura.
When she reached thirteen years old, she privately underwent a grimoire awakening ceremony. To everyone's shock, she received two grimoires. While she mastered her water attribute grimoire relatively easily, her Four-Leaf clover ice attribute grimoire proved problematic. Its spells were incredibly high of a level, requiring her to remove the Mana-Restraining Ring to access them.
After two grueling years of training, she discovered she could only remain conscious for ten seconds after removing the Mana-Restraining Ring. Any longer would be life-threatening and could cause her mana core to explode.
But in those precious Ten seconds, she had learned one devastatingly powerful skill from her ice grimoire—one so destructive it would kill anyone on contact.
Her silver grimoire began flipping through pages with supernatural speed until it landed on the spell she needed. She raised her hand upwards.
"Ice Magic."
The moment those words left her lips, the entire arena began transforming into a frozen wasteland. Ice spread outward in crystalline waves, and students who had been trying to flee found themselves frozen solid mid-step. Almost half the spectators became ice sculptures in seconds.
Meanwhile, Giovanni desperately increased the heat of his fire magic, creating a protective barrier of steam and flame to avoid the same fate.
"Ice Dragon Roar!"
An impossibly massive dragon head formed entirely of ice materialized above the arena. Its eyes burned with blue fire as it descended toward Damien with world-ending force. This wasn't just an attack—it was a sentence of death that would freeze anything it touched before shattering victims like fragile glass.
'Damn it, even as it's approaching, my body is already freezing.' Damien knew he couldn't just cut through it with his sword because his hands were already frozen in ice, even the slightest movement would shatter them. So he decided to use his one and only magic skill he received after bonding with his grimoire.
"Chaos Magic: Gluttony!"
As soon as the words left his lips, a surge of menacing red mana erupted from his body, shattering the ice that had been forming around him.
He stretched out his hand and immediately a gigantic black-crimson tendrils burst forth from his hands, swallowing the Dragon ice whole.
But the tendrils didn't stop there. They stretched out uncontrollably, reaching toward Anita herself, beginning to drain her mana at an alarming rate. Until Damien, sensing the danger, quickly dispersed the skill, fearing it might actually consume her entirely.
"Ahhhhhhhhh!"
Anita collapsed to the floor, her breathing ragged and labored. The immense energy she had unleashed was now eating her alive from the inside out.
Damien rushed toward her, his red Aura shielding him from the overwhelming ice Mana as he picked up the Mana-Restraining Ring she had dropped.
'Even just by touching this thing, I can feel it trying to absorb my energy" he observed grimly. "Well, today's your lucky day, princess. I still need you for my future plans.'
In his haste, he accidentally placed the ring on her ring finger instead of her index finger. Anita's eyes widened in shock, and her cheeks flushed crimson despite her weakened state. Her silver hair flickered back to blue as her Mana began shutting down.
Then, without warning, Damien pressed his sword against her shoulder.
"So," he said, looking down at her with that familiar predatory smirk, "How does it feel, losing to a mere commoner like me, princess?"