Legacy of the Dark Sage

"Are you done transmuting your weapon?" Kyran asked with a smile that did not reach his eyes.

Kairo's eyes widened in surprise. It was one thing if Kyran had used the word 'summoning,' but he used the term 'transmuting.'

This...

Even the audience who heard Kyran thought they had misheard him.

An undaunted smile soon replaced Kairo's surprised expression, and he said, "Oh? I did not think you would realize my trick."

Gasps of surprise filled the gallery. They did not mishear Kyran after all! But transmute? Most of them were mages and would not misuse that word. Did it mean that Kairo was actually...?

Kyran shrugged and said, "Was it meant to be a secret? It was too obvious. I thought you wanted everyone to know."

Kairo's brow twitched. Before he could fully react, Kyran had already made a move and ran toward him.

Light golden magic arrays appeared and circled Kyran's forearms and lower legs.

"Humph," he sneered. Did this kid think he could take him by surprise? How immature.

When Kyran ran toward Kairo, his speed was still average. When the magic arrays appeared, his speed doubled, and he managed to cross the remaining twenty-five meters in a second!

Instinctively, Kairo slashed out his long sword, drawing a flaming arc before him.

Kyran bent backwards, avoiding the flaming arc by a hair. After which, he twisted his waist, letting his upper body face the ground while sending his right leg at the side of Kairo's head.

Seeing Kyran's incoming kick, Kairo gritted his teeth, barely avoiding it by lifting his chin and pulling back his head.

The tip of Kyran's toes brushed past Kairo's chin, grazing him slightly.

But Kyran did not stop after this. As soon as he missed, he dropped his hands on the ground, used them to turn his whole body forcefully, and then sent out his other leg. With the help of his hands, he stretched his body further to maximize the range his leg could reach.

"Ngh!" Kairo raised his flaming long sword to deflect Kyran's other leg.

Ding!

"What--? Gah!"

A momentary surprise caused Kairo to receive the brunt of Kyran's kick and was sent flying a few meters to the side.

The audience was shocked. From their view, they clearly saw Kairo's long sword touching Kyran's calf. But instead of getting sliced, Kairo's long sword bounced back after hitting what sounded like solid metal.

Blood trickled down Kairo's lips from receiving Kyran's kick. The hit ignited his fighting intent, and his eyes glowed brighter. His magic energy rising. He pierced the flaming long sword on the arena's floor to break his momentum.

Meanwhile, after successfully kicking Kairo sideways, Kyran did not stay idle. He dropped to his feet and immediately went after Kairo. The strength with which he dashed forward left a deep crack on the arena's floor.

Seeing the approaching Kyran, the flames on Kairo's long sword burst in different directions, filling the arena's floor with a sea of flames in a matter of two seconds.

Before the flames could reach Kyran, he had already jumped. Then he arched his back and pulled back his right arm, preparing to launch a punch.

Kairo, who finally regained his balance, looked up. He unpierced his long sword on the ground and jumped, meeting Kyran in midair. He waved his flaming long sword horizontally, sending out another flaming arc at Kyran. But Kairo did not stop at this. Using the flaming arc as cover, he pressed onward and followed up a normal strike.

Ignoring the incoming flaming arc, Kyran sent out his right fist.

DIIIING!

As if Kairo's long sword and Kyran's fists were made of metal, a loud metal sound rang out. A shockwave followed, resulting in the sea of flames below being blown away.

With both attacks ending up in a draw, the two separated and landed on the ground with a loud thud.

When the two had separated, most of the audience finally managed to let out the breath they unknowingly held back. Some instinctively looked at the timer above and were shocked to realize that the exchange between the two had happened in only eight seconds!

Kairo's brow furrowed as he stared at Kyran in disbelief.

"You..." he started through gritted teeth. "How come your skin is as hard as metal? What kind of physique do you have?"

Twice he tried to slice him but failed, and both times he heard a metallic sound during the collision.

Earlier, Kyran summoned his magic arrays and let them circle his arms and legs. Obviously, he used his Strengthening magic to strengthen parts of his body. It was due to this strengthening that he was able to speed up and increase his physical strength. But could his innate magic really make his skin as hard as metal?

It was unfortunate that Kairo failed to realize that the magic arrays Kyran summoned did nothing. The reason for Kyran's burst of speed and strength, as well as his physical defence, was because of his Body Tempering technique.

Kyran only replied with raised brows and a small smile. Without further ado, he ran toward Kairo again.

Kairo's stood up and summoned a one-and-a-half meter radius magic array before him. Several short swords appeared within the magic array's border and circled behind him. He raised his flaming sword in a clockwise motion, and as it passed through a short sword, its blades burst into flames. After that, he also charged forward to meet Kyran, the short swords hovering right before him.

With a wave of his hand, Kairo let the short swords fly toward Kyran.

Kyran seeing the incoming short swords, did not pause. Instead, he met each one and struck it with his fist and leg.

Ching! Ching! Ching!

Every short sword he hit had fallen to the ground with a loud clang. Some of them also pierced the floor.

Kairo, who was still advancing, waved his long sword several times in midair and sent out flame slashes at Kyran. At the same time, he summoned more short swords and ignited their blades with flames before sending them out at Kyran as well.

Kyran deftly dodged the incoming flame slashes while also hitting the short swords that came at him in different directions.

Most of the audience was stunned at Kyran's display. It was as if they were watching a combat specialist performing acrobatic stunts. Some already had their jaw hanging open at how agile and skilful Kyran could move around, dodging the flame slashes and hitting the sword shorts.

"Tsk," Kairo gritted his teeth after witnessing Kyran's movements.

He waved his long sword again, sending out more flame slashes and summoning more short blades. However, no matter how many times he did this or how many flame slashes and short swords he threw out, he still could not land a hit on Kyran!

Kyran's movement was not something a normal mage could do! As a matter of fact, even an experienced combat mage or a combat specialist would not be able to move like him. Kairo's short blades and flame slashes were not only embued by Fire magic. They were also embued with Wind magic. Just by this, their skin would be torn even if someone tried to dodge the slashes or the swords. Their clothes would also end up getting shredded to pieces!

As the rain of flaming short swords and flame slashes continued, Kyran started getting annoyed. Was Kairo planning to continue attacking him like this?

Truth be told, Kyran was waiting for Kairo to summon the flaming whirlwind. Earlier, Styx could not do anything apart from enduring the attack's flames. It made Kyran wonder just how fierce it was. After that, he planned on breaking it just to despise Kairo.

However, Kairo did not seem keen on using it. Or could he only summon the flaming whirlwind because of the two long swords he had used? Regardless of the answer, Kyran decided not to dwell on it. He had some things to do, after all.

When he finished hitting the previous set of flame slashes and short swords, Kyran bent his knees and launched himself at Kairo. All the while ignoring the incoming slashes and swords.

On the other hand, Kairo was only ten to fifteen meters away and continuously summoned the short swords or slashed out flame attacks using the flaming long sword.

As soon as Kairo spotted Kyran ignoring his multiple attacks, he pierced the long sword on the ground. A two-meter radius red magic array span out, with the long sword and Kairo standing in the middle. Weblike cracks spread out on the arena's floor. From within the cracked floor, flames spew out.

Boom!

Kyran, who had been ignoring the cracks, did not realize flames would come out of them and failed to avoid the flames' eruption.

Gasps of surprise spread throughout the gallery. Even the Conclave council members, watching the match from the executive booth, were shocked.