From the ground, the apprentices could feel it.

They felt a sudden shift in the air. There was a familiar source of energy above them, and it made them pause for a bit.

"Hmm?"

"What's going on?"

Even amidst the chaos of battle, with Chaos Beasts causing problems and spells detonating across the valley, the presence of their master was unmistakable.

Yna looked up, her eyes squinted as she spotted the distant silhouette floating before the lead airship. Her breath caught.

"OHhh… So that's why… That's Master…" she muttered after recognizing the figure.

Halem, standing nearby, followed her gaze. "He's confronting them directly?"

Ral, his claws soaked in Chaos blood, also realized what was going on.

They didn't expect that their master would come up like this. Though they were expecting reinforcements, they didn't expect it would be their master.

Soon, the group of apprentices heard the voice of their master. It was telepathy.

"He told us not to interfere with his own duel..." Yna muttered. "Did everyone hear Master's words?"

"Yes…" They replied.

Though they couldn't reply since their Master blocked the link of Telepathy, they would surely follow his orders.

"But they're still attacking… " one of the apprentices shouted, ducking as a Chaos Beast's tail slammed into the ground nearby.

Bam!

The battlefield was still like a storm of violence. The Chaos Beasts hadn't stopped. If anything, they were growing more aggressive, as if sensing the shift in momentum.

Yna clenched her fists. "We hold the line. That's what he trained us for."

Halem nodded. "Maybe he's buying us a chance. We don't waste it."

The apprentices tightened their formation…

Their curses, spells, and beast arts surged once more…

They couldn't afford to look up again. They could only trust that what their master was doing was for their own good.

For now, they had to survive and defend the city…

***

Far from the city, beyond the smoke and the reach of siege fire, there was a vast plain that had been selected to be the battlefield...

Here, there was no sound of war, screams, or explosions. There was only the cold wind coming from the west…

Thud…

Sreas landed first, his four arms relaxed at his sides… The ground beneath him darkened from the slow expansion of his Aura...

Whom~

Slowly, darkness rippled outward like ink in water. It then started forming a subtle perimeter around his stance.

Thud…

At this time, Gyn descended opposite him… His robes glowed with a hint of purple light as his boots touched the ground. He didn't wear armor.

He didn't need it. His Chaos Energy was already active, forming a wall of protective energy around his body.

"I hope you're not expecting a fair fight," Gyn said with a casual tone... "I don't waste time on warm-ups."

Sreas didn't respond. He simply shifted his weight, his lower arms flexed as if preparing to intercept something unseen…

Then, without a signal, the duel began.

Gyn raised both hands, and the air around him fractured…

It was the Chaos Divinity at work…

Soon, a barrage of Chaos Bolts erupted… Each one was strong enough to create disruption fields meant to destabilize movement and arcane energy flow.

They weren't aimed to kill, but they were meant to test Sreas. However, even Gyn knew that fighting the Asura in close range was a terrible idea. He wanted to see how Sreas would deal with him.

However, to Gyn's surprise, Sreas didn't dodge.

He moved through them.

His body blurred… Then, some sort of dark energy extended from his back and arms, catching the bolts mid-flight and redirecting them into the ground.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Explosions occurred across the plain, but Sreas kept advancing.

Gyn wasn't exactly sure if that was dark arts or just another asura technique. However, it was good to know that Sreas didn't just have four arms, but he had other techniques that could act like arms as well.

"Interesting." Gyn muttered as he confirmed that the Asura wasn't just all about brute force with its muscular physique.

Then, as he planned to switch tactics, he noticed a wave of powerful energy coming at him.

It was an invisible attack from Sreas!

Gyn raised a Chaos Veil, a reactive shield that absorbed any form of attack coming at him...

Whom~

The veil was activated in time as it blocked Sreas' energy…

Bam!

The shield held, but the impact left ripples across its surface, like something had clawed at the very fabric of space…

He lowered his arms slightly, recalibrating his casting flow.

"That wasn't a spell," he muttered. "That was… Intent? I thought only Combat Arts Practitioners have something like that… Interesting."

Sreas didn't answer… He didn't even know that the Combat Arts Practitioners, especially the swordsmen here, knew about the Intent or, in their case, Sword Intent…

Sreas just started moving.

His four arms shifted into motion...

His upper right arm formed a guard, intercepting the chaos energy scattered to slow him down. His upper left started tracing something in the air…

It was an Asura script, a combat glyph that amplified his own energy…

On the other hand, his lower arms extended forward, palms open, and he started releasing compressed bursts of energy pressure that tore through the ground like mines.

This was Gyn's first time fighting an Asura, and it was unique! It felt as if he was fighting against a Mystic Arts Practitioner, a Combat Arts Practitioner, and a Runemaster!

Gyn leapt back, casting a displacement field beneath his feet to redirect his momentum mid-air. He landed smoothly, then raised both hands and cast six Spells at the same time!

"Let's see how you handle this," he said.

The Spells he cast swallowed Sreas almost instantly…

They were Black Rain Spell, Disruption Wave, Void Grip, Rot Field, Split Fang, and Chaos Coil…

First came the Black Rain Spell, a storm of corrupted mana shards that fell from above like razors…

Then, Disruption Wave rippled outward from his feet, fracturing the terrain… It wasn't meant to damage… It was meant to break the Asura's rhythm and for him to fail dodging his other spells.

Void Grip followed, trying to bind Sreas' limbs and slow his reaction time.

The ground beneath Sreas turned black as Rot Field activated.

Then came Split Fang, a dual-cast projectile that split mid-flight, one shard targeting Sreas' chest, the other his neck…

And finally, Chaos Coil... It didn't aim for Sreas directly. It formed a cage or a trap!

In just a moment, the battlefield transformed.

However, it was at this time that Sreas' eyes turned red…

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