Fun Surprise

Zack lost complete control of his body as he was pulled down to the ground at an extreme speed. He tried to use his own magic to counteract this effect yet for some reason he just couldn't pull away from being dragged down. He knew that his magic was working as there was a slight pushback yet no matter how hard he tried he was powerless to fight back against this oppressive force.

Gwen's mischievous smile showed up on her face as Zack was falling down at extreme speeds. As Zack was about to welcome his demise, closing his eyes and bracing for impact, he immediately stopped just an inch above the ground. Zack slowly opened his eyes to see that he didn't turn into paste, instead, being a mere inch before death.

"Hah… hah…" Zack took in deep breaths as he finally realized that despite only being a Tier 2 Mage, her mana control was terrifyingly rigid. Although he was clearly in a higher realm than him, her mana capacity seemed to be even greater than his as she easily suppressed him with her reserves. To this, Gwen cheated, by using the mana stored in a Holy Artifact, she was tapping into an outside force to completely oppress Zack.

As Gwen was enjoying showing off, Felix came up to right behind her and took her Glimmering Dagger away.

"Felix! Give it back!" Gwen was too focused on playing with Zack that she completely neglected Felix's actions. She was far too naïve to think that Felix wouldn't ruin her fun.

"Prince Zack, Gwen cheated so it didn't count. You can continue." Felix kept the Glimmering Dagger in his hands while Gwen was trying to forcefully take it away from his hands. Ever since Felix broke through to Tier 5, his growth was exponential, strengthening his body and aura to the point that Gwen was powerless without an Artifact to use.

"She… cheated?" Zack was still in shock from earlier but still tried to keep up his royal appearance.

"Hehe…" Gwen scratched the back of her head as she tried to laugh it off.

Zack didn't know why Felix was acting like this, "I lost regardless. I'm already three tiers higher than Lady Gwendolyn, even though she used a Holy Artifact, it doesn't exponentially increase someone's strength like that."

"About that…" Felix started waving the Glimmer Dagger around and explained. "You see, Gwen has a little quirk about her. She's as strong as the Artifact she holds, this Glimmering Dagger's Tier 4 so she's also Tier 4."

"That still shows that she's that much better than me. I'm still a tier higher than her which means that despite the disparity, I'm weaker." Zack didn't make up any excuses as to why he lost. Hearing it even more from Felix, he fully understood that if she was Tier 2 that could power up to being Tier 4, while still dominating people above her realm then she was truly powerful.

Gwen was still trying to take the Glimmering Dagger back, refusing to believe that she won't be able to take it back. She even desperately used her sword technique, "Second Sword: Beyond the Stars."

Gwen slashed at Felix's arm, trying to take it back from him yet he merely pinched her sword with his thumb and index finger using his other hand. The first force wasn't too bad as he could easily dispel the momentum of the sword. The second force was slightly more troublesome as he could feel his fingers numb from the impact. Finally, the third and last force which was four times stronger than the initial strike finally gave Felix some trouble, he used all his fingers to clench down on the sword to lock it in place.

"Felix! Let go!" Gwen tried to take her sword back as well yet it she was unable to. Felix's firm grip on his sword with his overbearing strength made it impossible for Gwen to take it back.

'Dammit, Tier 2 Mage? She should've just become a Swordsman like her older sister.' Without any buffs from any Artifact, Gwen was stuck with her flimsy foundation as a beginner Tier 2 Mage. As weak as she seemed, she still had her family's sword technique mastered to a terrifying degree, well beyond what she should be able to learn.

"I'll give it back to you if you beat Prince Zack without cheating."

"Tch! Stop holding my sword then."

Felix awkwardly smiled as he asked, "Aren't you a Mage? Why do you need a sword?"

"I told you I was going to show you something fun! Then here you are stopping me from using it." Gwen pouted in anger as she was still trying to rip away the normal iron sword that Felix was holding unto.

Zack prepared himself once more, seeing that he had already lost and tacitly come under Gwen, he just decided to let them be. Felix was clearly stronger than Gwen right now, yet he was unable to even touch the hems of Gwen's skirt, the disparity between them was just far too vast.

After Felix relaxed his grip, Gwen almost fell down from Felix unexpectedly letting go. She managed to stabilize her foothold and looked at Zack, "Remember that barrier you made? Yeah, you should make a stronger one. Here, I come."

Hearing this, Felix was slightly surprised, 'Just what could Gwen still have to say that? She should be completely suppressed right now.'

From Zack's perspective, he didn't look down on Gwen, instead, he fully understood that she still had something even more terrifying hidden within her sleeves. He took his time erecting another barrier, a tier higher than the previous one. The rubber exterior was no longer there, instead, it seemed to have been replaced with a slimy casing, similar to the viscosity of molasses.

Gwen winked at Felix and made her move, "Third Sword: True Point."

Felix's eyes had never bulged this much ever since she learned that Gwen was essentially a living anomaly. To use the Third Sword meant that Gwen's understanding of the Way of the Sword was well beyond his and her terrifying talent could only be matched by Mia Aria, the sword of pure destruction.

The multiple motes of light around Gwen's sword started to condense into one singular point at the tip of her sword. Slowly, the mist started to form all around her, mystifying her appearance, making her extremely illusive. Within this mist, one singular point could be seen, this was the tip of Gwen's sword, everything else was shrouded in mystery, unable to be seen.

Zack felt an extremely ominous aura of death as he stared at this unassuming point of light. From its extremely small, almost minute size, it grew suddenly to the point that Zack felt that this orb of light would pierce through him.

Felix immediately interfered, he used the Glimmer Dagger in his possession to block that singular source of light in the mist from piercing through Zack.

Clang.

The Glimmering Dagger from Felix's hand suddenly flew out as Felix tried to calm down the shaking from his hand. The pure piercing force behind that strike was well beyond what anyone under the Archmage or Auric Swordsman realm could achieve. Fortunately for them, Gwen purely used her swordsmanship and didn't buff her physical attributes when using this technique. Adding on the fact that she used a completely normal iron sword to push away a Holy Artifact, the strength behind that one singular strike was bone-chilling.

As the mist faded away, Gwen was there, on the ground, facing the dirt and rocks directly. Her body was completely exhausted from using that one singular move. Even the iron sword she was using shattered into multiple pieces.

"…help…"