Kael unleashed Flamefiend's Grasp—a spell originally Fifth-tier, now mutated to Sixth-tier by the cerulean flames' influence.
A colossal, azure-flame-wreathed palm descended like a titan's strike. The searing coldfire radiated lethal heat, leaving Marcus no illusions about survival.
Terror contorted Marcus's face. Even at Sixth-tier, his severed arm had crippled his prowess. Desperate, he triggered Aura Detonation—seven layered explosions akin to Sebastian's last stand.
The cerulean inferno collided with his aura barrier.
Crack!
Flames shredded his defenses. The flaming palm seized him mid-air, then slammed him earthward. Marcus's final thought: Yang Guo? Who the hell—
Ash.
Only a smoldering five-meter handprint remained. Yuri inhaled sharply.
In mere moments, Kael had crippled Sebastian, obliterated Marcus. The once-familiar mage now wielded eldritch power.
Alone, Yuri calculated coldly.
Kael's staff flared, azure flames sealing the battlefield.
Yuri—keenest and strongest of the trio—met Kael's gaze.
"Flamefiend's Grasp!"
Kael struck first. The mutated spell roared, its incantation compressed to near-silence.
Yuri backpedaled, conjuring Frost Shackles. Ice rings erupted beneath Kael's feet—a binding gambit for escape.
This was precisely Yuri's gambit. Recognizing Kael's overwhelming power, he prioritized retreat over confrontation.
"Fleeing?" Kael's instincts flared. As Frost Shackles coalesced, he leaped—Stellar Steps propelling him six meters clear of the icy trap.
Yuri's pupils contracted. "Six meters?! The Ice Essence reforged his body?!"
Indeed.
Kael himself marveled. The Ice Essence's tempering had granted him a warrior's physique—raw strength rivaling Third-tier fighters.
Yuri's failed spell left him exposed. Flamefiend's Grasp descended.
"Frost Roar!" Yuri countered, but his hasty ice storm shattered against the cerulean inferno.
The battlefield became Kael's azure crucible.
Yuri backpedaled, wind magic accelerating his retreat.
Crash!
The flaming palm cratered earth where he'd stood.
"Slow!" Kael's incantation snapped out before Yuri could breathe—no repeat of Marcus's escape. Letting this schemer live meant endless retaliation. Amelia's safety demanded Yuri's eradication.
Yuri felt his body shackled by invisible weights—his once-swift movements now sluggish as a snail's crawl.
True peril ignited his instincts. Kael's next spell would be lethal.
As Kael began a complex incantation, Yuri pivoted, staff flashing. "Arcane Silence!"
The counterspell's runes surged toward Kael—a gambit to mute his magic and escape.
"Abort Casting!" Kael's sudden retreat via Stellar Steps dodged the silencing wave.
"He baited me!" Yuri snarled.
Precisely. Kael had anticipated this move.
"Flamefiend's Grasp!"
No counters remained. The cerulean palm slammed downward.
Crunch.
Yuri's scream died mid-air, his form disintegrating into ash.
Kael exhaled, scanning the battlefield.
Sebastian lay unconscious nearby. A single Frostbolt ended him—mercy had no place here.
"Done." Kael wiped sweat from his brow. Exhaustion weighed him, yet triumph blazed.
A mid-stage Sixth-level mage annihilating three peers—even accounting for their prior exhaustion against Amelia—would make jaws drop across the continent.
The cerulean flames had been pivotal.
As Kael incinerated the battlefield, he mused wryly: Fire mages truly are perfect for covering tracks.
"Hmm?" His boot nudged two spatial rings—Yuri's and Sebastian's.
Sebastian's hoard proved pathetic: barely a dozen mana crystals, mostly from sub-Fifth-tier beasts. "Typical mercenary pauper," Kael scoffed, pocketing the meager loot.
Yuri's ring sparked anticipation.
Holy hell.
The sheer opulence nearly blinded him. Gems glimmered in mountainous piles—Sebastian's stash was a street beggar in comparison.