Chapter 128: Beatdown

Words : 1031 Updated : Sep 21st, 2025

Chapter 128: BeatdownAs expected, Donner shot Hal a dumb, mocking look, hoping to provoke a reaction from him. But Hal couldn’t care less about the airhead’s provocations. He hadn’t expected a new draw to occur during the quarterfinals, but he welcomed it, as it meant he would only face Pierro, Ennya, or Felix in the Grand Finals, depending on who advanced. For now, his focus was on Aurora, whom he would be fighting in his quarterfinals match. Only then could he worry about Donner. No one counted him out anymore, not after his performance against the fifth-seeded Vyse. This time, it was Hal’s turn to step onto the stage first. Perhaps his victory would give Ennya the slight boost of confidence she needed to defeat Pierro. Ascending to the stage after being called by Akari, Hal locked eyes with his opponent. Aurora’s gaze was as cold as her frozen fragments, striking fear into the hearts of everyone who dared look into her eyes. But Hal wasn’t afraid. Like Liora, he had already encountered Fellkins and had even slain one. The young miss of an aristocratic wizardry clan did not faze him in the slightest. He also didn’t plan to play around with her for too long, knowing that revealing more of his cards to Donner, Pierro, and Felix wasn’t the wisest move. ’I’ll probably rack up a lot of points after this competition anyway,’ he thought, ’so there’s no need to be too stingy with my [Rare]-tier spell card charges...’ Hal maintained eye contact with Aurora without backing down in the slightest, watching as the young miss drew out her Ice Elemental Staff and the timer counted down. People were slowly beginning to appreciate his unwavering self-confidence. Looking back at his fights and verbal back-and-forth with some of the other competitors, they began to realize that he had never once seen himself as inferior to others, regardless of the seedings. He had never been intimidated by mere numbers, to be exact, and had always believed he had a chance to win. What made his résumé even stronger was that he delivered every time. Hal was quickly becoming one of the fan favorites. Soon, the battle began. Two lethal shards of ice immediately flew across the main stage, shooting straight for the neck of their caster’s opponent and ending up clashing instead. Frozen fragments scattered in all directions as neither spell gained the upper hand. The crowd gasped, however, at the realization that there was also a [Fireball] right behind Hal’s [Glacial Shard], interrupting Aurora’s cast for her second spell. ’Tch.’ The young miss clicked her tongue in annoyance as she momentarily followed the ball of flames with her gaze before shifting her focus back to her opponent. To her bewilderment, there was already a [Wind Cutter] in front of her. ’Three spells in such a short time?’ she thought inwardly in disbelief, forced to use one of her defensive spells, Ice Wall, to block the cutting projectile. Just when the young miss was thinking that it was her turn after this, the ground lit up beneath her, from which a translucent, blackish-purple magic circle lit up, conjuring chains that tried to latch onto her. "Annoying!" she exclaimed, gritting her teeth in anger at being overwhelmed before blinking away to escape. Naturally, Akari was at the edge of her seat at the sudden turn of events. Hal’s fighting style was usually the brawly, back-and-forth style. He usually survives his opponent’s onslaught first before mounting a crafty yet vicious counterattack that would send his opponent scrambling to defend themselves. This time, however, he went all in on offense, showcasing yet another combat style he was capable of and revealing another layer of depth to his prowess. "C-Competitor Hal goes on a ferocious offensive! He’s not stopping!! What would Competitor Aurora do to reverse the situation?!" In her earlier matches, Aurora had been mostly using defense, hiding the fact that she could use Blink for her semifinal match against Donner. She didn’t like the fact that she had to use it against this no-name freshman. Successfully reappearing a few dozen meters from her original location, the frustrated young miss exclaimed: "You’re pushing it too far!" exclaimed the furious Aurora, managing to cast a Glacial Shower on Hal’s location. But he had long repositioned, and before the young miss even realized, a piercing light was already shooting her way from the left. Aurora barely managed to dodge by tilting her head to the side with gritted teeth. However, the next moment... "ARRGH!" she screamed in pain as she felt a bite on her wrist. It was Hal’s Spirit Wolf. "Get the hell off me!" Before she could blast it with a Glacial Shard, however, dark hands suddenly emerged from beneath her, holding her down. Aurora tried to rip it off by desperately flailing her entire body. Unfortunately, her strength was nowhere near enough to snap the elastic black hands. "HAL FENNEC!!" The young miss could only roar in anger and defiance as two magic circles appeared, one silvery-blue above her and one vermilion in front of her, from which a rain of frozen shards and a flaming tornado emerged, engulfing the bound Aurora under the crowd’s bewildered gazes. Soon, the white mist produced by the clashing elements of ice and fire began to clear, revealing the unconscious young lady. "W-W-WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?!" Akari roared at the top of her lungs, her voice cracking slightly, which should have been embarrassing for a young pop star like her. However, she couldn’t have cared less. She was over the moon with satisfaction after such a sudden and unexpected beatdown. "C-Competitor Hal reveals a sudden shift in combat style! With a flurry of small attacks mixed with immaculate control-type spells, he obliterates his opponent with a Glacial Shower and Flame Tornado combo! From who? From who else could we hear such an absurd combination of skills?! After going on an unexpected rampage, Hal Fennec, once seeded sixty-fourth, advances to the semi-finals to clash with Donner Rakurai! The Grand Magic Academy bares her fangs and sinks them deep into the aristocracy’s neck!"

Chapter 128: Beatdown

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