Chapter 145 - King's Game (13)
Ricocheting a spell with his wand, Asterion was already beginning to feel bored. The Spanish team was disappointing in every way, except for the team captain; the rest of the members were at best considered mediocre in his eyes.
When he was about to end the game and return to his team, Asterion stopped, looked at Ana, and smiled as he saw lightning surrounding her figure.
"Finally, something interesting," he whispered, his red eyes narrowing with an intrigued look.
Ana, feeling that her team was going to lose in a disgraceful manner, stopped thinking about conserving magical energy and used her innate technique. She didn't want to return to her country in such a humiliating way.
"Innate Spell Manipulation – Princess of White Thunder – Negative Lightning Manipulation," Ana murmured. Her body was covered in white and blue lightning, her hair stood on end, and her gaze became extremely sharp. The air around her crackled violently.
*Fussshhh!*
Ana disappeared from where she was and almost instantly reappeared behind Asterion, her hand covered in lightning reaching for the neck of the special-grade sorcerer.
But what happened next made Ana's eyes widen to the extreme.
Asterion dodged the attack, and as Ana's figure passed by him, he charged his fist with magical energy and showed no mercy just because Ana was a woman. His fist struck the young woman's back without hesitation.
Ana fell to her knees, her expression filled with pain. She breathed heavily as she looked at Asterion in disbelief. She felt some of her bones break, and a shortness of breath struck her, preventing her from breathing normally.
She might not have been confident when it came to strength and power, but when it came to speed, she dared to say that even first-grade sorcerers couldn't come close to the speed she could reach.
But in front of this fourteen-year-old boy, she felt useless, the same feeling she had while watching helplessly as a cursed spirit devoured her mother before her eyes.
It was a feeling she had sworn never to experience again, yet here she was, kneeling and feeling like a piece of trash for losing to someone much younger than her.
But Ana didn't have more time to reflect on what had just happened; she felt a strong, agonizing pain in her head, her brain seemed to tremble, and her vision blurred and doubled.
Asterion had kicked Ana in the face with an indifferent expression, but Ana didn't fall unconscious. She activated her innate technique once more and retreated, holding her head, her expression pained as she looked at Asterion with a determined gaze.
The smell of ozone lingered in the air as lightning crackled around the body of the Spanish team captain. In her hands, lightning danced like serpents as her hair stood up in the air.
Asterion showed an intrigued look; this was indeed a good innate technique. If Ana were a Special Grade Witch, he would have treated her with caution; her speed would certainly be surprising.
As Asterion was thinking, Ana moved. The lightning in her hands transformed into two short swords, the crackling sound reverberating around.
Feeling the lightning in her hands trying to get out of her control, Ana's eyes became focused. Manipulating lightning was not the easiest task, especially with such a volatile element.
Exhaling warm air from her mouth, Ana took an attacking stance and pointed at Asterion, who seemed genuinely interested in her next moves.
She didn't want to admit it, but that expression of interest on her enemy's face left a bitter taste in her mouth. It was as if he hadn't considered her an enemy in the first place.
"Since you don't consider me a worthy enemy, I'll make you see me as one," Ana said, looking at Asterion, her eyes filled with a determination that surprised the Black Heir.
"Then show me, don't hold back, come at me with the intent to kill," Asterion responded to her words with a smile, his voice tinged with a touch of appreciation and interest.
When Asterion said this, Ana suddenly raised her head, and the ground around her cracked and sank.
"Don't spare any magical energy, release it all and don't stop," Ana thought. Just as she was about to attack, she felt her magical energy start to rise and expand uncontrollably. Her innate technique subtly changed, and her power increased.
The sounds of thunder reverberated deafeningly above the sky, black clouds condensed, shining with serpents of electricity swimming within them.
"Congratulations, you're now a Grade 1 Witch," Asterion said, a black pentagram appearing in his eyes, his gaze entirely focused on Ana's Ascension.
It was the first time he had seen someone advance in level besides himself. He hadn't figured out the mystery of advancement when he was a child, but this time was different.
His second Innate Technique made him realize that what Salazar Slytherin and Rowena Ravenclaw theorized might be very real, particularly the existence of planes overlapping the real world or even the plane where all magic originated.
In his eyes, Ana, using her innate technique as an anchor, deepened her connection with this mysterious existential plane, allowing her to advance in level and reach Grade 1.
"Fascinating. Can I use this existential plane to achieve my ambition?" Asterion thought excitedly. At that moment, he only wanted to finish this tournament as quickly as possible and lock himself in his basement to study the information being transmitted by his second innate technique.
Unfortunately, he couldn't leave the tournament at that moment; losing his magic was completely unacceptable—he would rather die than lose his magic.
*BOOMMMM!!!*
A sound reverberated across the sky, and Ana, who heard Asterion's words, knew she had advanced to a level that few ever reached in life.
Grade 1 Witch!
She was nineteen years old, and considering it, the chance of her reaching Special Grade was about 15%!
If she managed to reach the peak of Grade 1 before the age of thirty, that rate would increase to an impressive 30%!
It might seem low to many people, but compared to the rest of the witches and wizards in the world who had almost no chance of reaching Special Grade, it was an incredibly high rate!
Not everyone was a monster like Rose and Asterion, becoming Special Grade while still teenagers.
Asterion summoned his armor, finally taking the Spanish team captain a bit more seriously. The red eyes on the armor seemed alive, moving and blinking, making anyone feel a profound fear just by looking at them.
Ana, looking at the terrifying armor, clenched her fists, feeling a sense of strength and satisfaction bubbling in her chest. She finally felt confident again. Dispersing her lightning swords, Ana waved her hand, and a pillar of lightning fell where Asterion stood.
Asterion easily dodged the attack, but the terrain within twenty meters wasn't as fortunate; the ground sank at least three meters and shattered into countless pieces. A burnt smell lingered in the air, mixing with the scent of ozone.
"Did I do that?" Ana murmured, seeing the aftermath of her attack. She hadn't used much strength; it was just a casual strike, but that casual strike was stronger than any attack she had made before.
Before Ana could process it, Asterion appeared in front of her and punched her with his fist covered in black gauntlets. Ana only had time to reinforce her body and raise her arms before the impact came.
*Boom!!!*
Feeling the impact, Ana was sent flying backward but quickly balanced herself in the air and slid on the ground, leaving trails where she landed.
Ana was shocked by her reflexes and resilience. She finally understood why Asterion could dodge her attacks so easily; this kind of reflex was no different from a mysterious sixth sense, making the world around him seem slower than normal.
If she was like this, Ana couldn't imagine how absurd the reflexes of Special Grade witches and wizards were. Probably, to any outsider, watching a fight of Special Grade would be no different from seeing nothing. They would be so fast that the human eye couldn't successfully capture their figures.
Activating her Innate Technique to the fullest, Ana felt confident about facing Asterion or at least not getting beaten as badly as before.
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Next Chapter Second Volume: Chapter 146 - Second Phase of the King's Game (1), Chapter 147 - Second Phase of the King's Game (2), Chapter 148 - Second Phase of the King's Game (3), Chapter 149 - Second Phase of the King's Game (4), Chapter 150 - Second Phase of the King's Game (5), Chapter 151 - Second Phase of the King's Game (6), 152 - Second Phase of the King's Game (7), 153 - Second Phase of the King's Game (8), 154 - Second Phase of the King's Game (9), 155 - Second Phase of the King's Game (10), 156 - Second Phase of the King's Game (11), 157 - Second Phase of the King's Game (12), 158 - Second Phase of the King's Game (13 e And), 159 - Death of Arcturus (1), 160 - Death of Arcturus (2), Chapter 161 - First Phase of God's Creation Plan (1).