The Wizard's Pursuit of Truth

Kaze Antuun and the Kelan Wizard exchanged a look, nodding to each other in greeting.

His eyes then met Wang Ya’s, and a smile touched his lips. ”For this Battlefield duel, Hades will be your opponent. We have selected the Life Arena. You have no objections, I presume?”

”I’ll leave the choice of battlefield to you. Let’s add another rule: if no winner is decided within half an hour, we’ll call it a draw. How about that?”

Wang Ya recalled the Wizard Contract he had signed a few days prior. He already knew the relevant rules.

Victory meant winning everything; defeat meant losing everything. In the event of a draw, both parties would simply exchange their stakes.

This meant the Black Sun Badge would be handed over to the other party, who in turn would give the shops and Magic Stones to Wang Ya.

Every angle had been considered. As the head of a Wizard Clan, Kaze Antuun was undoubtedly highly competent.

The onlookers’ expressions grew complicated. This new rule was clearly more favorable to the one who proposed it.

Still, since the Antuuns had initiated the challenge, giving the Illusory Dream Wizard some face was understandable.

”Agreed!”

Wang Ya’s lips twitched. ’Since they’re so confident,’ he thought, ’I’d be a fool not to take advantage of it.’

He had already gathered some intelligence on Hades Antuun. According to information from the Glowing Corridor, his opponent was an Elemental Wizard who specialized in Water Element Witchcraft, which would seemingly counter him.

However, the counter between water and fire was mutual. If he held the advantage on the battlefield, the Power of Water Element Witchcraft wasn’t necessarily enough to suppress Fire Element Witchcraft.

Kaze Antuun took out two prepared Wizard Contracts. The one signed a few days ago had been private; these were the public ones.

An ancient, enormous Stone Gate slowly creaked open, and Hades and Wang Ya stepped through it together.

The other Wizards who wished to spectate also paid the fee in Magic Stones and entered the Battlefield.

Experiencing the Battlefield firsthand was a completely different feeling from merely spectating.

A screen of light appeared before Wang Ya, displaying many choices for the battlefield. He finally selected the image on one of them.

It was a scene of burning fire and erupting volcanoes, with searing magma spattering across the ground. The environment was undoubtedly extremely dangerous, but it was also a battlefield that would empower Fire Element Witchcraft.

Hades was very tall, standing at about six-foot-six. Since entering the Battlefield, he had simply stood with his arms crossed, silently waiting for Wang Ya to make his move.

His features were unremarkable—an average face, just like his Wizard Qualification. Like most ordinary Wizards, he was a far cry from his younger brother, Zack.

But hard work and a sound plan for his development as a Wizard allowed him to continue steadily down the Wizard Path.

Fifty years to advance to Level 3 Wizard Apprentice wasn’t fast, but it wasn’t the slowest, either.

He wouldn’t surprise anyone, but he wouldn’t disappoint them, either.

He would not disappoint his father today. The Black Sun Badge had to be recovered. Even if the victory was less than honorable, he couldn’t afford to care about that now.

His eyes gradually grew cold. He had already decided that as soon as he entered the battlefield, he would unleash his most powerful techniques and defeat Wang Ya Harak with absolute Power.

The Life Arena was different from the Death Arena. The moment a combatant lost their ability to fight, they would be teleported away immediately.

With the battlefield selected, the surrounding environment underwent an astonishing transformation.

The temperature began to rise, and the very air they breathed grew scorching. Ravines gradually split the ground, and within their fissures, one could even see steaming magma.

Billowing black smoke spewed from the volcanoes surrounding them, shrouding the sky. Not a single plant or hint of green existed here—only the most desolate, deathly, scorched earth.

Jets of Earth Fire erupted from the fissures from time to time. On a battlefield like this, the environment itself was just as great a danger as the enemy.

The area where the two stood, encircled by numerous volcanoes, spanned a full ten thousand meters.

This was their battlefield.

The figures of the spectating Wizards stood at the edge of the ten-thousand-meter battlefield. Of course, the two combatants were unable to perceive them.

Even if they could, neither of them could afford to be distracted. All of their focus was fixed on each other.

The atmosphere grew heavy as they released their Biological Force Fields, which began to collide.

Cracks appeared on the ground, caused by the intense pressure.

HISS!

An invisible medium of intense heat distorted the air, blurring their vision.

At the center of the clashing Biological Force Fields, sparks drifting up from the Earth Fire were instantly extinguished, turning to dust and vanishing without a trace.

Kaze Antuun and the Kelan Wizard stood together, conversing with calm expressions.

”It seems your preparations were quite thorough, Kaze Wizard,” the Kelan Wizard said, his gaze fixed on Hades, his tone heavy with meaning.

The residual aura of a recent advancement could not be hidden from an Extreme Wizard Apprentice, and Kaze Antuun was already prepared for this to be noticed.

”It was due to an unavoidable factor. Nothing could be done,” he replied, his words watertight. When the duel was arranged, Hades had indeed been a Level 2 Wizard Apprentice. That was indisputable. He had only even attempted the breakthrough during the final month of the three-month period.

The timing of the advancement was an uncontrollable variable. On this point, not even the Kelan Wizard—or any of the other Official Wizards, for that matter—could find any fault.

The Kelan Wizard said no more. On the ten-thousand-meter battlefield, a new development was taking place.