"Level Two Water Magic — Geyser!"

I had observed another contestant use this spell against Mei Gui earlier, and managed to learn it, somehow. Tai Yuan's Mizu Shield could block all around him in a dome shape, but he was completely vulnerable below.

I dropped back to the ground and slammed my hand into the arena's floor, channeling my mana into it.

Tai Yuan looked down as the floor below him began to stir. He was confused as to what it was, and frowned in puzzlement.

But then, a crack appeared in the stage, and he realized as his eyes widened.

However, it was far too late.

A powerful torrent of water surged upwards from the crack, piercing through the floor and directly into Tai Yuan's large body. It carried him upwards , flying high into the air, before instantly dissipating. Its victim fell heavily back onto the ground, knocked unconscious by the impact.

The announcer whistled loudly. "Tai Yuan is unconscious! The winner is… Lan Xiao Su!"

I grinned and walked off the stage.

*****

(Xuan Kai's Perspective)

"Nicely done," I complimented as Lan Xiao Su walked into the room.

"Hehe, thank you~" she giggled at my praise, then walked over closer. "U-Um… the reward…?"

I smiled and patted her head gently. She blushed happily. Together, we watched the next match in the defenders set - it came to a close relatively quickly, with both contestants being nowhere near Xiao Su's level.

"The final battle of the first set is here," Feng Mian said after the duel concluded. "It's your turn next, Xuan Kai."

I nodded. "I know. My opponent is… Peng Yao, huh?"

She nodded and pulled up a profile on the screen.

Name: Peng Yao

Gender: Male

Race: Human

Role: Leader

Rank: Ancestral Mage

Elemental Affinities: Fire, Water, Sky, Earth, Sound, Space

"So? Can you beat him?" Xiang Peng taunted, smirking from a distance away.

I rubbed my chin. "Who knows…"

"When he says that, it usually means he's certain he can beat them," Yu An Yan sighed.

"Not true," I replied. "I don't have much info on him apart from this extremely abstract and brief profile screen. He could have a trump card I don't know about. Though… if he's really just a normal Ancestral Mage, I can take care of him."

"Hm… careful as always, I see," she muttered in reply.

"Something's just been bothering me in the back of my head," I explained. "It's related to the Midnight Syndicate…"

"Hm? How so?" the girls asked in curiosity.

"Back during the final fight at Shenzhen, I had faced off with this knight-like person, wearing full silver armor. At the time, I managed to defeat him, but not kill him. When he escaped, he left behind a few words that were quite… disturbing."

"What did he say?"

"'We will meet again' or something like that," I sighed, rubbing my nose bridge.

"Classic evil villain line!" Qing Yue exclaimed, cackling.

"Hm… so you think he's here, in Shanghai?" Feng Mian murmured thoughtfully.

I nodded. "Precisely. Though, it doesn't seem he's made a move yet."

"He's from the Midnight Syndicate, you say?" Xiang Peng raised an eyebrow. "This place is governed directly by the IMF. It would be difficult for a massive criminal organization like that to station themselves here."

"On the surface, sure, that's true, but… perhaps they are hiding in plain sight?" I suggested.

"It's possible… but even then, I don't think they'll try anything at this tournament with this many people watching," Lan Xiao Su said, tilting her head. "Still, it's a good idea to be on guard."

I smirked. "Don't worry. I'm always on guard."

We ended up forgetting to watch the next match in the Defender bracket, but whatever. A short while later, the IMF employee came to our room once more and called on me.

"Mr. Xuan Kai, you're going next."

Sighing, I stood up from my chair and headed for the door, slipping my mask on.

"Good luck~" the girls said collectively, smiling at me together.

Beneath my mask, I grinned slightly. What a heartwarming scene this was.

*****

"Best of luck," the IMF employee said to me as the pitch black walls opened up to reveal a pathway forward.

"… Thanks."

With this brisk reply to his words, I walked forward and stepped onto the stage. My opponent, Peng Yao, did the same. For some reason, he had sweat on his forehead, despite the battle not even starting yet. Strike one.

He kept glancing around, eyes never once meeting mine. Strike two.

He had an uncomfortable smile on his face as he tried to appear nonchalant and confident, but his other two symptoms gave this away. Strike three.

Conclusion: he was nervous. Not only this, he was definitely attempting to hide something from me.

We've never even met before. I wonder… what could he be trying to conceal?

"The first clash between leaders is finally here!" the announcer shouted in excitement. "Undoubtedly, this will be the most exciting and intense fight yet, with both contestants being the strongest member of their respective teams! How will this battle turn out?"

"…"

"…"

I continued to stare at Peng Yao, who averted his gaze, seemingly nervous about me looking at him so intently.

"Well, it seems both contestants are ready!" the announcer declared after seeing the two of us both remain silent, neither attempting to talk with the other. "Great — without further ado, the match will now… BEGIN!"

A loud buzzer sound filled the arena, signaling the match's start.

Without waiting for him to attack first, I took the initiative and went on the offense immediately.

"Level Two Fire Magic — Twin Dragons."

Met with my two enormous beasts made of pure mana charging directly towards him, Peng Yao's eyes widened at the color and size of them.

Quickly, he brought his hands up and cast a spell of his own to defend against mine.

"Level Three Water Magic — Water Reach!"

He opened his palm, shooting a powerful jetstream of water out of it. It struck my dragons, and both spells evaporated into thin air.

Hm… not bad. My spells are amplified by 8 times, but a Level Three spell's mana density is equivalent to that of ten Level Two ones. Thus, he was able to counter my attack.

Peng Yao seemed to be surprised at his Level Three spell only managing to block my attack, which was a whole level lower, instead of outright piercing through it.

"The hell…? Why's your magic so weird?" he asked, frowning.

I smirked, though he couldn't see that from under my mask. "If you tell me what you're trying to hide first, I'll answer you."

His eyes widened a bit, realizing he was already exposed.

"Tch… how'd you find out?"

"Find out?" I scoffed. "Please, it was as clear as day. Your acting skills are far from perfected."

"Well, it's not like I'm trying to become an actor or something!" he yelled. "Wait, that's not important… anyway, it's my turn now!"

He clasped his hands together and grinned.

"I call this move… Four Element Trap!"

Saying this, he began chanting his first spell name.

"Level Three Fire Magic — Blazing Trail!"

Lobbing a massive rocket-shaped projectile of fire at me that had a trail of fire behind it, Peng Yao didn't stop.

"Level Two Space Magic — Blink!"

He immediately appeared to my left, right after the fire attack left his hands.

"Level Three Water Magic — Hydrones!"

As he launched a plethora of tiny explosive water drones towards me, he quickly repositioned himself using Blink once more, this time behind me.

"Again! Level Three Earth Magic — Sand Bomb!"

I followed him with my eyes as he changed his position one final time, this time — quite predictably — to my right.

I sighed.

Naive, thinking this is going to trap me.

"Level Three Sky Magic — Spear of Lightning!"

As all four elemental attacks came flying towards me at the same time, I closed my eyes, opened them again, then slowly shifted my gaze to where Peng Yao was, standing triumphantly.

"Ha! Take that!"

"Space — Eliminate."

I jumped up as I erased the space above me, causing me to end up high in the sky.

"Flight."

Right before I fell down, I activated flight mid-air, right as the four different elemental attacks crashed into one another below, generating a powerful and colorful explosion.

I could kill my opponent easily right here, but I wanted to know what he was trying to hide. Putting my knife to his throat wouldn't work either, since the judges would just call the match.

Therefore, I dove downwards at immense speed, flying straight through the remnant smoke from the explosion and sinking my foot into Peng Yao's stomach. He had not been expecting me to come at him from above, since the smoke had blocked his vision.

His eyes bulged from the impact as he was sent flying backwards, crashing into the specially-reinforced glass walls of the arena.

Not wasting any time, I made my hand into a blade-like position and cut forward.

"Level Two Space Magic — Reality Sever."

A black, crescent-shaped attack flew out of my fingers, slowly expanding as it traveled. This spell cut space itself, therefore nothing could block it. After all, this attack didn't target the object itself — it targeted the space in which the object was located, hereby erasing it as it cut through.

Peng Yao, faced with this slow-traveling but deadly attack, quickly fumbled out some kind of elixir from his cloak's pocket.

"D-Don't look down on me!"

And right before my space-severing cut hit him, he downed the mysterious liquid whole.