As Rokshin was speaking, many of the students in the audience had begun discussing the arrival of this Lord.

"Hey hey hey, did you know? Rowan seems to be the son of this Lord Rokshin!"

​​

"Is that so? I was wondering why he would suddenly come to participate in the opening ceremony of the finals!"

"I don't know if there's an inside story...But with Lord Rokshin here, it wouldn't be good for Fike to go all out in the competition!"

Overhearing the doubts of the crowd, Rokshin was unreserved as he addressed the matter.

"Perhaps everyone has some understandable doubts about my arrival. I would like to make something clear.

"That's right, I am indeed Rowan's father, but I am also the Lord of the Royal City of Romon!

"I will not take sides with anyone! I insist on absolute fairness!

"And I do sincerely hope that Rowan's opponent will perform well today!"

Fike was somewhat relieved after hearing the official's words.

Rowan, on the other hand, had started acting a little strange.

Fike cast a quick glance at his opponent, who was currently tightly hugging his body in his arms.

It was as if he was afraid of something.

'I think I know what Serena meant when she mentioned Rowan's weakness!'

Fike thought to himself.

Finally, the three guests went to their respective stands. At this time, the host spoke as well.

"Now, let us welcome our two contestants for the day onto the stage!"

"First up, the strongest berserker from the Melee School, who has yet to lose a match! Rowan!"

Hearing the host introduce his name, Rowan finally regained his calm.

He slowly walked up beside the host in the arena.

"Next, we have a prodigy from the Spell School!

"Yogmo Academy's first dual-faculty student in a thousand years, Fike!"

Fike appeared, prompting an eruption of excited cheers from the girls in the crowd.

"Lord Fike! Go for it!"

"Fike is the best! I love you!"

"Fike! Prove to them who's the best!"

Fike's gaze scanned around at the crowd.

He noticed that Sertia, Senior Molly, and Lan Xi were all sitting together.

"I wonder what will happen later?"

Fike mumbled to himself helplessly.

"Alright! Now, let's invite our two contestants to their positions!

"The finals of the last day of the freshmen trials will soon begin!"

As Fike walked toward his starting position, he looked towards Rowan. His opponent had completely recovered his previous vitality. His fangs were once again exposed.

"The finals will begin in...

"Three!

"Two!

"One!

"Let the battle begin!"

The gong sounded, heralding the start of the final battle.

Having studied Rowan in his previous matches, the second the gong reverberated, Fike summoned all of his speed and flashed directly toward Rowan.

The ground that had been under his feet only a second ago rose up instantly, creating a protruding boulder which now flew toward where Fike was moving.

It was completely locked on to him.

"If that's the case, then I'll see what you can do!"

Fike stomped hard on the ground, throwing himself into the air.

He remained hovering, floating in mid-air.

At this moment, Rowan brandished his Spirit Rock Blade and charged toward him, striking with a heavy blow powerful enough to crumble mountains and split rivers.

Fike swiftly unsheathed his own demonic sword to block the attack in one motion.

As the Hermes' Curse was unsheathed, the demonic eye on its guard opened once again, glowing with a familiar and menacing blood-red light.

However, this time, the crimson light of the demon's eye remained for a long time without dissipating immediately as it usually did.

As the demonic sword collided with the Spirit Rock Blade, the layer of rocks covering the greatsword didn't disappear either.

Seeing this, Fike quickly understood what was going on.

This Spirit Rock Blade was a king-tier weapon left behind from the primordial era.

His own Hermes' Curse's effect of nullifying his opponent's weapons were only effective on weapons below king-tier.

Therefore, it wouldn't be able to help him here.

"Fike! Your strength is indeed different from the other trash!"

Rowan said with a confident smile.

"You're not too bad either"

Fike looked into Rowan's eyes as he responded.

"Then you'll have to properly receive this attack of mine!"

Rowan's body suddenly grew much larger as his eyes turned bloodshot.

[Hidden Information: The opponent, Rowan, has entered a state of mania, which will constantly increase his overall combat power! It has currently already exceeded 400,000! Please be careful! Pay attention to avoiding his attacks! ]

Realizing the danger from the hidden message's warning, Fike smiled.

"Long time no see, this dangerous aura! I haven't felt anything like this since Miracle Forest!"

Fike suddenly felt that the sky seemed to have darkened.

Looking up, he saw that the Spirit Rock Blade had expanded, turning into a towering rock column that covered the skyline.

The material, which seemed to be like bedrock, was incomparably hard and completely impenetrable.

The structure rapidly descended, and was about to pierce through Fike.

Fike pointed the longsword in his hand toward the sky.

With a speed completely undetectable by the human eye, he charged straight toward the solid rock pillar.

In an instant, a huge explosion filled the entire arena.

A suffocating cloud of smoke and dust erupted as rock fragments scattered everywhere and rained from the skies.

When the dust settled, everyone could see that the clothes on Fike and Rowan were both in tatters.

The two competitors were both injured to varying degrees.

This was the first time that Fike had ever suffered an injury to this extent fighting against a human.

However, he was not angry at all. In fact, he was overjoyed to have finally found someone qualified enough to stand against him.

Fike turned around, looking back at Rowan.

The berserker's turban had been knocked off, revealing a hair color that was the same as his.

"Fike! I didn't misjudge you at all!"

Rowan roared.

"I'm glad too, Rowan."

Fike said with a smile.

"You're the strongest opponent I've faced in Miracle."

Rowan finally turned around.

"Now prepare to meet your death, Fike!"

With that, he charged toward Fike again.

Fike responded to each one of Rowan's attacks with a fiery passion.

The Hermes' Curse and Spirit Rock Blade drew streaks of Sword Qi and sparks that glistened even under the bright sky.

Everyone in the stands was encapsulated by the fierce battle going on in front of them, and watched with eyes wide open in excitement.

Lan Xi seemed to be the most immersed.

"Brother Fike! Beat that greatsword kid!"

The others were cheering as well.

Suddenly, Fike managed to land a blow, hitting Rowan hard in the face and breaking his nose.

His opponent fell to the ground, but Rowan quickly got up without any hesitation.

Wiping away the blood from his nose, he continued to shout.

"Fike! I really didn't misjudge you! Hahahaha! It's been a long time since I've had such a good fight!"

Fike raised his blade, aiming the tip in between Rowan's eyes.

"Do you think your little trick will work again?"

Rowan taunted with a smile.