The family steward announced the next match, his clear voice carrying across the vast arena:
"Next match… Dion Dainhart versus Leo Dainhart!"
The moment those two names reached the ears of the spectators, the atmosphere in the stands changed.
Whispers erupted from every direction, quickly blending into a storm of overlapping voices. Some sounded genuinely surprised, while others carried unmistakable amusement and mockery.
"Leo Dainhart against Dion Dainhart?"
One spectator laughed under his breath.
"The outcome is already decided."
Another immediately chimed in.
"Looks like Leo already used up all his luck when Lionel surrendered against him."
A burst of laughter came from somewhere nearby.
"Hahaha! Do you really think he has even the slightest chance?"
More voices followed.
The name Dion Dainhart alone was enough to stir the crowd.
After what he had demonstrated in his previous match, no one was willing to regard him as merely another member of the direct lineage anymore.
He had crushed Aurelius within moments, displaying overwhelming physical strength alongside formidable magical power.
That single battle had been enough to force many people to reconsider his true level.
And Leo…
Leo possessed nothing in the eyes of most spectators except an old, disgraceful reputation.
A failure.
Someone who had supposedly failed to even reach the Upper First Circle.
Therefore, to the majority of the audience, this match was nothing more than a matter of time.
The question was no longer—
Who would win?
It was—
How long would Dion need to defeat him?
---
A few moments later, the two contestants made their way toward the arena.
Dion entered from one side.
Leo came from the opposite direction.
As soon as their feet touched the battlefield, the noise gradually faded.
One by one, countless gazes turned toward them.
Dion stopped in place and stared at Leo for several moments.
His eyes were sharp, carrying a faint trace of provocation.
Then he spoke.
"I have to admit… I'm impressed that you had the courage to come."
His voice was not particularly loud.
Yet it carried clearly enough for Leo to hear.
Leo raised his eyes toward him.
His expression remained indifferent.
"I have no reason to run."
A brief silence followed.
Neither said anything more.
Dion was not a man who enjoyed wasting words.
And Leo…
Certainly wasn't either.
Yet while Leo observed his opponent, his thoughts were already moving rapidly.
Lower Second Circle magic should be enough.
His gaze remained calm.
And with my ability to perceive attack trajectories… I shouldn't have much trouble dealing with him.
Leo had no intention of revealing his true strength.
Not now.
There was no reason to use more power than necessary against an opponent he could handle while remaining within the Second Circle.
All he needed was Second Circle magic.
That, combined with his ability to perceive the trajectories of incoming attacks, should be more than enough to avoid Dion's most dangerous strikes.
But…
While Leo calmly calculated his approach, something else was beginning to stir within Dion's chest.
Anger.
It was not overwhelming yet.
Not the kind of rage that blinded the mind.
But it was steadily building.
And the reason was painfully simple.
Dion had seen something he despised.
Someone looking at him…
without fear.
Leo's eyes contained neither anxiety nor tension.
There was not even the caution Dion had grown accustomed to seeing in the eyes of his opponents.
Instead, there was only a calmness so profound that it almost seemed to convey a single thought.
You are not a real problem.
To Dion, that alone was an insult.
Yet Dion was not the kind of man who wasted time arguing.
And neither was Leo.
Therefore…
There was only one place where they could settle this.
The arena.
The family steward raised his hand.
The entire battlefield fell silent once more.
"Prepare yourselves…"
Both men settled into position.
"Begin!"
The instant the final word left the steward's mouth—
Dion moved.
His speed was astonishing.
He gave Leo barely enough time to breathe.
Mana erupted around his body.
His hand rose.
Then—
"Second Circle Magic… Frost Arrows!"
Whoosh!
Dozens of icy arrows shot through the air.
They were sharp.
Fast.
And deadly.
They came from multiple angles simultaneously, forming a freezing storm of blades that sought to seal off every possible route of escape.
But…
Leo's expression did not change.
He did not retreat.
He did not panic.
He simply watched.
The moment the arrows began moving, their trajectories appeared before his eyes.
Leo did not perceive the attack in the same way ordinary people did.
He could see the path each spell would take before it reached him.
The trajectory of every arrow.
The angle of every strike.
The exact point where each one would collide.
And based on that—
Leo raised his hand.
"Second Circle Magic… Barrier Shield."
Magical circles appeared around him.
Then dozens of small defensive barriers manifested in the air.
One after another.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
The Frost Arrows slammed into the barriers.
They shattered.
Fragments of ice scattered across the battlefield.
Some arrows were deflected.
Others broke apart completely upon impact.
And within moments…
The entire assault was over.
Leo stood calmly amid the scattered shards of ice, barely scratched.
His gaze moved across the fragments surrounding him.
Really…
Second Circle defensive magic is this primitive?
His eyes briefly examined the remaining barriers.
It can't even cover my entire body with a single casting.
To Leo, it was nothing more than a passing observation.
To the spectators…
It was anything but ordinary.
The whispers stopped.
For a brief moment, the entire arena seemed frozen.
Then—
"What?!"
"Since when could Leo Dainhart use Second Circle magic?!"
"Did you see how quickly he formed that spell?!"
"And the precision… How did he block every single arrow?!"
The same question echoed through countless minds.
How?
How could someone whose name had been synonymous with failure possess such precise magical control?
In one of the higher viewing platforms, the patriarch narrowed his eyes.
He said nothing.
But his attention toward Leo had clearly intensified.
Elsewhere, old Eldric's lips slowly curled into a broad smile.
"Hahaha…"
He watched the battlefield with unmistakable satisfaction.
"Just as I expected."
His smile widened.
"He really is an interesting one."
But the battle had not ended.
Dion was not the kind of person who allowed surprise to cloud his judgment.
His expression hardened.
He gathered his strength.
Mana surged around his body with greater intensity.
The air itself began to spiral.
Then, within his palm, a miniature vortex formed.
The mana compressed within it was dense and violent.
And judging from its sheer power—
It was clearly a spell at the peak of the Second Circle.
"Take this!"
Dion thrust his hand forward.
Whoooosh!
A gigantic blade of wind shot toward Leo.
It was no ordinary gust.
It was an almost invisible blade compressed from violently rotating wind, sharp enough to tear through anything unfortunate enough to stand in its path.
In terms of raw destructive power alone…
It was comparable to a Low Third Circle spell.
Yet the instant Leo noticed the attack—
His hand moved.
He did not retreat.
Instead, he simply gestured toward the space behind him.
A series of magical barriers appeared before him.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then five.
Then ten.
Ten Lower Second Circle barriers materialized one behind another, arranged in a perfectly straight line.
Leo was not attempting to stop the attack with a single barrier.
He was layering his defense.
One shield after another.
And in the next instant—
BOOM!
The wind blade collided with the first barrier.
Cracks spread across its surface.
Then—
CRACK!
It shattered.
But the wind blade did not stop.
It struck the second.
BOOM!
The second barrier shattered.
Then the third.
The fourth.
The fifth.
One after another, the magical barriers were annihilated beneath the overwhelming force of Dion's attack.
The spectators watched in growing silence.
The sixth barrier—
Shattered.
The seventh—
Destroyed.
The eighth—
Broke apart in a storm of magical fragments.
The wind blade had torn through eight complete barriers before its strength finally began to fade.
Yet the final two barriers remained standing.
Dion stared at the scene with widened eyes.
His expression twisted with disbelief and anger.
"How the hell are you creating that many barriers so quickly?!"
Leo did not answer immediately.
His eyes lingered on the eight shattered barriers before returning to Dion.
His expression remained calm.
Almost unnervingly so.
Then he said quietly:
"I believe it's my turn to respond."
Leo raised his hand.
The flow of mana around him changed.
There was no enormous magical circle.
No earth-shaking explosion.
No overwhelming display of power.
Only a simple gesture.
And suddenly—
Dozens of small rocks appeared in the air.
They hovered above the battlefield for a brief moment.
Then—
They fell.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
The rocks descended like a violent rainstorm.
Dozens of projectiles shot toward Dion from different angles, striking the ground around him and steadily shrinking the space in which he could move.
Dion's expression changed.
"Damn it!"
His hand immediately went to his waist.
In the next instant—
Shing!
He drew his sword.
He lunged forward and began swinging with all his strength.
One strike!
Then another!
Then a third!
Every slash shattered a stone or knocked it off course.
Dion managed to deflect most of the incoming projectiles, and his swordsmanship was clearly competent.
But…
There were simply too many.
No matter how fast he was…
He could not block everything.
One stone slammed into his shoulder.
Another struck his side.
A third passed dangerously close to his face, leaving a shallow cut across his skin.
Dion staggered back.
One step.
Then another.
His face was now filled with unmistakable irritation.
He lowered his sword for a moment and stared at Leo as though he could no longer understand what he was seeing.
Then he let out an exasperated breath.
"What the hell is this…?"