CHAPTER 18: COMPETITION – SIEGFRIED’S SHOCK

After several other fights, Isolde finally ascended the platform. Her opponent was a blue-haired girl who had already demolished her previous challengers with the overwhelming firepower of her summon.

"I know you’re strong, but I won’t submit to a queen who is controlled by a humanoid summoner," the girl spat. "For that, I don’t recognize you as Manhattan’s Queen." Lucy’s scowl deepened as she raised her hand. A dark-blue summoning diagram blossomed from her palm, spinning and widening. From its depths emerged a unicorn.

Its spiraled horn was formed entirely of blue crystal, sharp and jagged with a natural curve, glinting like a weapon forged from frozen lightning. The creature’s very presence exuded majesty and danger.

"Gemstone Unicorn! Elite Tier, 4.4!" the referee announced.

Lucy swung herself onto its back with practiced ease. A spear of gleaming blue gemstone formed in her hand, while twelve crystalline spearheads hovered above her and her unicorn like an arsenal of floating death.

The unicorn reared up on its hind legs, neighing like a warhorse at the head of an army. The gemstone shards launched forward, whistling through the air. Yet Isolde merely waved her hand, and the deadly shards, each capable of piercing an armored vehicle, shattered to harmless dust before they could reach her.

Snarling, Lucy hurled her gemstone spear as her summon charged across the platform like a thunderbolt.

Isolde clenched her fist and struck. The spear, which carried enough force to tear down a fortress wall, shattered against her knuckles.

But the shards did not fall. Instead, they whirled back into motion, cutting through the air faster than before. One shard grazed her face and struck her eye, forcing her head back.

"What kind of queen are you now?" Lucy sneered, only for her expression to falter. Isolde lowered her head again. Her eye was perfectly intact.

Her golden-orange eyes gleamed, glowing faintly, and in the next heartbeat, an oppressive weight descended on the platform. Lucy’s body froze. Her unicorn collapsed beneath her, its proud legs buckling as it was crushed flat against the stage. Foam frothed from its mouth like a dying beast. Lucy slumped in the saddle, then fainted outright.

"That’s... Dominion." Snow narrowed his eyes. His voice carried a rare gravity. "It’s a summoner’s skill, like Echo or Exchange. It projects the aura of a great summon directly through the summoner’s eyes. In some cases, it can even kill outright, depending on the summon’s power, and the target’s will." He recited the same words a lord tier told him.

From the shadowed window of a building overlooking the arena, Yuan, the Asian upperclassman known as the Knight to Manhattan’s King, clapped softly.

"She’s a monster. She might even be as strong as you," he remarked, turning to Jon, who stood silently at his side.

"She’s stronger," Jon said flatly. "She has two summons."

In the secluded staff section of the arena, Teacher Edwin glanced at the combat instructor, who stood with arms crossed. "Dale has done nothing but fry his opponents, Snow has dismantled his without effort, and Isolde doesn’t even need her summon. Who is this dark horse of yours? No one else here comes close."

Even as the tournament carried on and other students fought, whispers of Isolde’s dominance lingered in the crowd. Only when fighters like Cecil and Orwen entered did the audience briefly shift focus, yet in the end, even their efforts were measured against Isolde’s display.

Snow’s opponents were left flailing helplessly, striking at illusions until he knocked them unconscious with casual slaps. Dale electrocuted his challengers without mercy, sending them all to the nurse’s ward.

Godfrey, too, fought twice. And now, he was called again, for his deciding match. This was the battle that would determine whether he advanced to the quarterfinals or lost his chance.

The prize for the top three was immense: high-level dungeon cores, treasures that could vastly accelerate a summon’s growth.

As Godfrey stepped onto the platform, silence swept across the arena. His opponent was Siegfried.

Gasps and whispers rose. Everyone remembered the story: on Godfrey’s very first day in Manhattan, he had crossed Siegfried, and later on Siegfried had bashed his head into a wall. That beating had left Godfrey absent for a full month, said to be recuperating from both the injuries and the trauma.

"You made it. Good." Siegfried’s grin was cruel. His Jade-Eyed Wolf padded beside him, its eyes glowing with white malice. "Summon that 4.0 knight of yours. Let’s see whose summon is superior, your 4.0 Knight or my 4.6 Jade-Eyed Wolf." He cracked his neck, a predatory gleam sparking in his eyes.

"I would have loved to be the one to bash him," Dale muttered with a relaxed smile from the stands. "But I guess no one can do the job better than Siegfried."

"Siegfried’s summon is built for both offense and defense," Cecil said. "With that balance, it can even challenge a 5.0 at its peak. Godfrey isn’t walking out of this one." Her eyes flicked toward Isolde, who sat silently, gaze locked on the two figures facing each other on the platform.

At Godfrey’s call, Mountain materialized. The Knight loomed tall.

’Use Black-Out State.’

At once, Mountain’s golden armor darkened, turning a sinister crimson as though drenched in fresh blood. His longsword’s steel shifted into obsidian, absorbing the light.

The referee’s eyes bulged. "Knight-Captain of the Golden Order... Elite Tier—5.0!"

"What?!" Siegfried’s composure shattered. Dale’s smile contorted into disbelief, while Snow’s expression darkened.

A jump from 4.0 to 5.0? It was absurd. If this was an innate skill, then the Knight was far more than what any of them had ever realized.

"Isn’t that the boy we saw sitting with Isolde at the cafeteria?" Yuan asked, squinting. Jon only gave a faint nod.

Mountain hefted his obsidian longsword and began to march forward.

The Jade-Eyed Wolf roared, slamming its forelimbs into the platform. From the stone erupted a forest of jade spikes, racing toward Mountain.

But golden lightning arced across his armor, Lightning Infusion, and he was gone, vanishing from the danger zone.

"You’re dead!" Siegfried howled. He descended from above, claws aimed at Mountain’s helmet.

Mountain did not dodge. His entire armor shimmered, transmuting into blood-jade. Siegfried’s claws scraped harmlessly across its surface, sparking like metal on stone.

The Knight’s shield swung upward with brutal force, striking Siegfried squarely and launching him back several meters. Before the boy could recover, Mountain unleashed a surge of mana through his obsidian blade.

"That’s... Mana Slash!" a student shouted as a beam of raw energy erupted from the sword. The Jade-Eyed Wolf leapt aside, but the beam still carved a deep gouge into the platform, stone exploding in every direction.

Snarling, Siegfried slammed his palm into the ground. Four jade walls shot upward, boxing Mountain inside. His wolf struck the floor with its forelimbs, and within the prison, jagged spikes erupted upward.

"Jade Prison!" Siegfried’s grin widened, manic triumph flashing in his eyes.

But his expression froze as the wolf convulsed, holes splitting open across its body. It howled in agony.

The jade walls collapsed, revealing Mountain crouched on his great shield. The spikes had struck him, but the damage had reflected back onto Siegfried’s summon.

Furious, the Jade-Eyed Wolf turned its rage on Godfrey, sprinting at him. It spat a jade spike.

But in the instant before impact, Godfrey swapped positions with Mountain. The Knight raised his shield, reflecting the spike’s force again. He followed with a clean, merciless slash, tearing a massive gash across the wolf’s crystalline hide.

Meanwhile, Siegfried charged Godfrey himself, rage distorting his features. But Godfrey’s calm eyes turned on him and once again, they switched places.

This time, Siegfried found himself staring directly at Mountain’s charging form. A wall of steel and blood-jade thundered toward him like an unstoppable tank.

Blood-red spikes erupted from the ground on either side, sealing off any path of escape.

Siegfried’s blood ran cold. Mountain was using his summon’s innate skill, better than he could himself.

"How... how is this possible?!" His voice cracked with panic.

....

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