120 End of Round

The Five-Force Push was a magic spell that possess the power of five different magicians, it wouldn't be surprising to see the automaton defeated after receiving the full brunt of the attack.

The spell didn't have such grand effects like everyone would expect from a combination spell, not only was the spell silent but also extremely quick. The spell created a beam that followed the automaton even if it tried dodging, it was a spell that hunts a moving target.

"A beam that could bend and follow the target?" Wallace observed the fight interestingly. The particle beam that was being used in outerspace had always been in straight line. It would annihilate any obstruction and leave nothing behind.

The battle of innovation with regards to the particle beams would be it's size, destructibility, and the distance that it could reach.

After seeing the Five-Force Push, Wallace was inspired to integrate the trick to a weaponized particle beam. Although he doesn't have the required knowledge to make it happen yet, he added it on the list of his future innovations.

"Haaa~ That wasn't really fair." Hector couldn't help but voice it out. Of course, he made sure that only their team could hear it. It would be a problem if it was misunderstood by the fans of this Montego's team.

Wallace remembered that he had actually been warned by his mom prior to this competition. She was telling that all the competition that was hosted by Montego always had some dirt or mess.

'It seems that mom warned me correctly. Was that the reason why our school wasn't expecting us to win and just told us to show our best and not mind the result?' Wallace suddenly made some realization. So it wasn't as simple as giving up in becoming a champion in this competition, it could be because they were just aware how the organizers in Montego would act so they didn't set the bar high for the sake of the geniuses in their academy.

It was still a speculation but Wallace thought that it was close to the truth. Anyway, it doesn't detract that much on what this competition aims, they could still perform and show their abilities to people and they even have a chance to improve themselves.

'Now, how long would Kyla last?' It was the question that all members of the Zairus team was pondering about but none of them voiced it out as they only wanted to show their support for her.

They were also curious whether Kyla was still hiding something and would surprise them in this match. After all, she was also a genius and was selected here in this event for a reason.

***

'Calm down. I can't be nervous. It will only lessen my combat ability.' Kyla said in her mind. Although it doesn't show in her face, she was actually feeling a bit nervous because of the huge pressure that the final automaton was emitting.

She could only harden her resolve and face this opponent. She activated her Mana Shell and waved her right hand that wore the Mana Artifact. As she did this, it can be seen that black particles made of Mana was following every movements made by her hand.

"Hoo~ Look at the last participant from Zairus."

"Oh, Isn't she the one who made a breakthrough in her Mana Affinity?"

"Yes, that was her, Kyla Rogers from Zairus who showed impressive progress from the first round. Although people was telling that she was only bluffing and had already reached the level of Inducement Control in the beginning, I believe that the girl had just comprehended the full essence of the skill and completed her breakthrough during the competition."

"It sounded that you're really sure about it."

"Haha. For someone who experienced the same thing, of course, I am."

"It seems reasonable in my opinion as well. We were able to see her crude method on how she utilized her Inducement Control to her advantage during the first round. Now, let's see if there's any improvement.

Look at her selected Mana Artifact, Shadow Command's ring."

"Interesting choice, many low level--or I mean Combat Magician students were unaware of this Mana Artifact. The students these day were only aware of the mainstream Mana artifacts that everyone uses or whatever was being taught in school. But this is an unconventional ring... although it may still prove to be difficult for Kyla in this battle, at least she may have a chance to last 15mins."

As Wallace heard this point, he immediately nodded as he was also one of the students who was unaware of the Mana Artifact that Kyla selected.

The other announcer continued.

"Let's see, the Shadow Command's Ring was full of Crowd Controlling skills that would affect large areas. This ring wasn't that useful if you wanted to deal a large damage to your enemy but can be useful if you just wanted to trap, delay, or if you are just fighting with a large numbers of enemies."

"Kyla was probably looking for a chance to delay the fight and last for fifteen minutes." The announcer said. They seem to be familiar with all the 100 Mana artifacts placed on the shelves.

Wallace noted the Mana Artifact as he tried to remember any mention of it in the books he borrowed but it didn't ring a bell. He was now looking forward to see the skill and what kind of spell it could show.

***

Kyla used a spell called Blurry Fog, a variance of Blinding Fog that Wallace was familiar with, to block the vision of the automaton. The fog spread throughout the whole stage and covered any of the two's presence.

She then made a follow up spell to completely hide her presence and fade into the fog. Turbid Mana Shell, it was an auxillary Mana Spell that aims to change the structure of the Grade 1 Mana Shell. Combined with the Blurry Fog, it was a spell that could easily stop the enemy from targeting you.

Kyla had observed the battles before her and noticed that the automaton wasn't releasing a wide-scale spell and was only using a small but pure spell that targets the core of the enemy's tactic. She was amazed by how the automaton was copping up in response to wide-scale spell being thrown to it.

But because of this, she had also realized that she could take this as an opportunity to have a stand off against the automaton.

She was also one of the strongest participant in her country that was selected here so it was never bright to underestimate her skills.

The battle between Kyla and the automaton could not be easily seen due to the fog.

The people could only see vague figures of shadows that was sometimes clashing.

Elemental spells were also seen being thrown and it could take a part of the fog but it will suddenly be engulfed by the fog and block any visions within again.

The members of the Zairus team seems to focused on Kyla's match as they waited for the result. Some of them hadn't notice the fight that was happening from the other teams.

Wallace on the other hand, was able to fully absorb the battle even with the Blurry Fog's presence. He even have some time to watch the other's match.

The representative from Maja was defeated by the automaton and the one from Virgan conceded defeat due to the helplessness he felt during the battle.

"If we knew this was the case, we might have sent Yuferev in our last match."

"That's right with Yuferev's Stormfire Scepter, he'll surely own the match against the automaton."

"Hah.. This Montego's team really lives up to their reputation." One of them whispered.

Similar complaints can somehow be heard in Maja's team.

"Vitorre, how about the sixth round? Do you think you can defeat that if you were given the chance?" One of the members in Maja's team asked the strongest in their line up.

"It will be tough but as long as I hit that even once with my Lite White Gauntlet, I'll be able to control the whole match." Vitorre commented as he was also wary of the strength that the automaton was showing. Luckily, he didn't have to make a lot of effort and fought against the weakest automaton. This way, he would be able to save his trump card at the last day of the competition.

***

The match ended after 15 minutes. Kyla looked so exhausted as she depleted almost all her Mana.

The Shadow Command's Ring have various spells like Shadow Bind that was used to stop the movement of the target, Shadow Copy that used to have an illusion of yourself within the Blinding Fog, Moon's Frost that aims to slow the movement of the enemy in wide-scale area, Fog's Hold to suppress the enemy when it stayed long within the fog, and there are other spell but it was not effective against the automaton who wasn't feeling any pain or pleasure. Luckily, she was very familiar with this Mana Artifact.

"Great job. I didn't know you have such skills with you."

"You did very well."

"That was impressive. Actually, I only know how to use about 30 of those Mana Artifacts, it seems I still have a lot to learn." Hector commented after having a good watch in Kyla's battle.

With the event having finished, it was now time for lunch and for Wallace to deal with the substitute.