Two Wings? I Haven't Been One for a Long Time

Not only did thunderous cheers erupt from both schools in the spectator stands, but the rest of the audience burst into applause as well. Amid the excited crowd, the calm Felix seemed especially out of place. Her right hand tightly gripped her gloved left hand. A handsome blond young man stepped onto the arena, clad in a platinum combat outfit as though a prince on a royal tour—and as the eldest son of the Duke of Star Casting, he was practically no different from a prince anyway. He waved toward the stands, immediately drawing countless impassioned cheers and applause. Dimi: fourth-year student at Truth University, vice president of the Truth University student council, heir to the Voslodar clan. In last year's Intercollegiate League, he had won the Meteor Tribulation individually, led his team to victory in the Stars Tribulation, and represented his school to seize the Star Palace Tribulation—the sole winner of all three tribulations in the past ten years! He was the nightmare of every university student in Jialesi over these four years, an insurmountable wall, a back that everyone chased in vain! Compared to Dimi, Negs looked like he had just been pulled from the water, his wet hair plastered down like noodles. He did not even wear a combat outfit, clad only in slightly worn Abyss armor. Yet no one looked down on him for it. As a semifinalist in the previous Meteor Tribulation who had narrowly lost to Dimi, even if he showed up in slippers, people would only think he had personality. "Long time no see, Negs," Dimi said. "I heard your team just subjugated the Molten Steel Abyss on the fifth layer of the Abyss. Impressive." What?! A commotion rippled through the spectators, Lois and Ingrid among them. Adele asked in bewilderment, "Is the Molten Steel Abyss that amazing?" "It's not a matter of amazing or not... You definitely didn't pay attention in Abyss Fundamentals class, did you?" Lois said. "The Molten Steel Abyss is the most vicious zone on the fifth layer. It's completely filled with boiling molten steel at temperatures exceeding 1,500 degrees. To clear that abyss, you have to kill the warden in the center of the molten steel lake..." Adele was dumbfounded. "Wouldn't that mean flying over for an aerial battle?" "An Abyss warden isn't stupid. If sorcerers take to the air, it whips up a tsunami of molten steel to swallow the intruders," Ingrid beside them chimed in. "Generally, you have to enter the lake directly to fight the warden hand-to-hand." "But with temperatures that high, wouldn't you be burned to ashes the moment you go in?!" "Far worse than turning to ashes—a phase-change explosion would rip you apart on contact," Lois explained. "Molten steel is seven times denser than the human body. What's left of you after bursting would just float as ash on the surface of the lake... However, precisely because the molten steel's temperature is so extreme, a water sorcerer can actually cross it." "Why?" "I won't get into the detailed principles, but simply put, when water encounters something heated far above its boiling point, part of the liquid boils and vaporizes violently, forming a gaseous protective layer that insulates the inside from the outside. With proper control, a sorcerer can rely on that gaseous shield to cross the molten steel lake safely! That is why water sorcerers are qualified to conquer the Molten Steel Abyss!" "And the warden is no pushover. A water sorcerer can't handle it alone; they have to rely on their teammates." Ingrid's eyes were filled with admiration. "It takes not only Senior Negs believing in himself, but his teammates entrusting their lives to him, to make conquering the Molten Steel Abyss possible!" ... The clamor in the stands did not diminish the tension on the arena stage in the slightest. Negs looked expressionlessly at Dimi. "You certainly know a lot." "My opponent is you, after all. Of course I had to gather intelligence thoroughly. How could I afford the slightest carelessness?" "Why didn't you participate in the Stars Tribulation?" "My teammates had their own aspirations, so we couldn't assemble the squad." Dimi shrugged. "In my view, you're guaranteed at least a top four spot in this year's Stars Tribulation, and you might even seize the championship. But you should watch out for my underclassmen's team. They're not just cute; they've got real strength." "Hmph, I don't care about small fry like them. My only target is you, Dimi," Negs scoffed. "I originally planned to take my revenge in the Meteor Tribulation, but since the chance has presented itself here, I'll just make you suffer two defeats in a row." "I'm looking forward to it," Dimi said with a smile. "I know you won't disappoint me." With the host's shout of "Begin!", Dimi rested his hand on his sword hilt without making a move. A flash of fury crossed Negs's face, and he snarled, "Still as arrogant as ever, aren't you? Hm? Leisurely waiting for me to make the first move, just so you can unravel every spell and defeat me? Hm? Your showmanship is sickening!" "But this time, I won't give you any chance." Negs crossed his arms and slashed fiercely. A sharp ring on his index finger tore open the arteries at his wrists, and blood gushed forth like an open faucet. The blood sorcery faction... Negs's teacher, the "Rainstorm Singer" Valentin, frowned slightly. There were no academies or institutions for studying blood sorcery in the Starry Country; it was practically an exclusive faction of the Blood Moon Country... Was it a vampire inheritance from the Void Realm? Before long, Negs's blood had washed over the arena. He let out a loud shout, and all the blood converged into midair, coalescing into swords of blood that blanketed the sky and pointed toward Dimi, leaving virtually no gap unfilled! "Swords condensed from bloody water..." Dimi asked curiously. "They don't seem designed for slashing, do they?" "Of course not," Negs replied. "This is a compound blood-water miracle. Even though the blood was stimulated by sorcery spirits, it is still my blood. My control over it far exceeds ordinary water." Dimi nodded. "Blood sorcery and water sorcery are indeed exceptionally compatible factions." "Don't interrupt!" Negs bared his teeth with a grin and declared loudly, "That means my high-damage miracles requiring close contact can also be cast through these blood swords. Guess what miracle I integrated into them?" "I'd guess it's your favorite, 'Steam Burst Red Lotus'?" Dimi glanced around. "Which means if even one of those swords touches me, all the moisture in my body will boil, turning my skin crimson to bloom like a red lotus? Hmm, though with the Death Prohibition miracle protecting me, my head and heart should stay intact." "Has anyone ever told you that your know-it-all attitude is disgusting?" Negs snapped coldly. "Incidentally, I've imbued several swords with 'High-Frequency Water Blade'. Even defensive miracles will be sliced to pieces before your eyes." "Dimi, this is the feast I prepared for you—the twenty-five-meter-radius 'Red Lotus Sword Array'! Pay for your arrogance!" ... As Negs explained his miracle, it not only terrified the vast majority of the spectators, but even Sanctuary Sorcerers were visibly moved. "So powerful," Sonia could not help sighing. "Unless I could defeat Senior Negs before he set it up, once he successfully unleashes this move, my only choice would be to surrender." "If this miracle were cataloged in the Starry Miracle Catalog, it would rank at least Upper True Color," Professor Trozan beside her remarked. "Even Lower Radiant Color isn't out of the question." Radiant Color! Sonia could not help clicking her tongue. Even though she had recently created "Blood Moon Shattered Lake", it was only Lower Radiant Gold. And what did Radiant Color signify? That was a high-tier miracle coveted even by Sanctuary Sorcerers! The crucial point was that Negs was currently just a Two Wings sorcerer! To create a Radiant Color miracle while only possessing Two Wings! Such startling talent made Sonia, who had been feeling a bit conceited lately, realize there was always someone greater out there. That tiny spark of restless arrogance was instantly shoved back down to her ankles. With that thought, Sonia turned her gaze toward Negs's opponent. Honestly, she was actually paying closer attention to Dimi—not only because he was Felix's older brother and Jialesi's most famous noble youth, but also because he was a sword sorcerer specializing in the Wave Sword. The village girl dearly wanted to see just how formidable the Voslodar clan's ancestral Wave Sword system was. After all, she was effectively an unregistered offshoot branch of the Wave Sword school, so she was naturally curious what hidden secrets the main house possessed. Yet judging by the current situation, Dimi looked poised to be carried off in a single wave. "Wait," Sonia suddenly realized something. "If we win both the Center Bout and the Chief Bout, doesn't that mean Truth University loses?" If they won the Chief Bout, Sword Flower University's score would be 3 + 5 = 8, eliminating Truth University's 1 + 2 + 4 = 7! Truth University, the champion of the Star Palace Tribulation for the past ten years running, would actually be knocked out in the quarterfinals by Sword Flower University?! The other contestants from Sword Flower could not contain their excitement either. "No way, are we really going to win?!" "Haha, serves them right for looking down on Senior Negs!" "Truth University, luck just isn't on your side this time!" Yet Professor Trozan did not smile. She kept her solemn gaze fixed on the arena. "It might not be that simple." ... "You truly haven't disappointed me, Negs," Dimi said with a smile. "In that case, I will give it my all as well, and never fail your expectations." "Save the pretty words!" Negs bellowed. "Scream, wail, and die! One hundred forty-four Red Lotus Swords, slay your foe!" The instant the blood swords surged toward Dimi in a swarm, the blond sword sorcerer finally drew his sword. And then, he swung. *Dong—* Like the toll of a bell echoing from a distant shore, every spectator felt a heavy strike against their heart. And then, they saw a sphere. A spatial crystal sphere enveloping the arena. It was as though space itself had been carved into a globe, isolated inside and out. Within that sphere, every blood sword was extinguished and annihilated, the entire stage gouged down by an inch, the surface densely crisscrossed with sword marks. *Snap!* When space snapped back to normal, blood burst from all over Negs's body. His head and heart, however, were guarded by a faint glow, indicating he had triggered the Death Prohibition miracle. The stands fell dead silent; the entire arena went quiet. Until a hesitant, timid voice broke the silence: "Turning Extinction Wave?" Sonia was utterly stunned. She looked at Trozan beside her. "Professor, that was..." "Turning Extinction Wave." Trozan's expression was grim. "An Upper Radiant Color miracle handed down in the Voslodar clan. It looks like a single slash, but in truth, it folds space into a single line, then cuts across every point in that space with one stroke." She paused. "Because it requires severing space itself, demanding at least Silver rank in the spatial faction, only a Sanctuary Sorcerer can master it." Just as the sole place to learn the time faction was the Time Continent, the only officially designated learning ground for the spatial faction in the Void Realm was the third layer: the Distant Sky Realm. No matter how immense one's spatial talent was, one had to wait until reaching the Distant Sky Realm to gain basic entry into the spatial faction. Which meant... Negs, drenched in his own blood, fought through the agonizing pain to raise his head. He looked up at Dimi, who had walked up to him. "You... aren't... a Two Wings sorcerer anymore..." Dimi picked him up and carried him toward the emergency medical post at the edge of the arena, smiling faintly. "Two Wings? I haven't been one for a long time."