12 Chapter 12: The Great Wall

Teacher Fielding regarded me for a moment, and then he nodded.

"If you're sure you can still fight."

"I'll be fine," I assured him, still sitting on the ground. My injuries were so debilitating that I could hardly stand, so I gave up after a while. Fortunately, it appeared that the bleeding had stopped, so I wasn't in any danger of passing out from massive blood loss.

It would be great if I could join the unconscious (and horribly burned) Hal Gunther in getting treatment from Teacher Cure, but that would disqualify me from further participation. Now that I had finally summoned Vermillion Phoenix, I wasn't going to be satisfied until I had my fill of fighting.

Teacher Fielding gave me one last glance before he jumped off the stage. I suddenly realized that he had been completely unaffected by the flames. Sucking in a deep breath, I glanced at Vermillion Phoenix.

My summoned beast met my gaze with its crimson eyes, and with a flap of its wings, the entire arena reverted back to normal, all the flames extinguished. The heat dissipated slightly, but the surroundings remained warm.

"Thank you."

The huge, burly guy who was almost two meters tall stepped onto the stage. He bowed his head slightly.

"I am Chang Cheng of Crowley Grand Arcane Academy, and a representative. Right now, I am a second-year student. I specialize in defensive magic."

At least he had manners, unlike Hal Gunther.

Offering him a frail smile, I returned his polite greeting with an introduction of my own. However, I remained seated, not because I was arrogant but because I currently did not possess the ability to stand. Not with these injuries.

"Richard Huang, Jing Tian Magic Academy. I'm also a second-year student. I'm afraid I'm not a representative, though. I'm merely the bottom-ranked student in my school."

Fortunately, Chang Cheng didn't seem to mind my lack of manners. He merely smiled good-naturedly.

"That's hard to believe."

"It's the truth, though." I shrugged. "If you don't believe me, you can check the school records, or go online and search for my name. The official school ranking should be available online. You'll see that I'm ranked at the bottom."

"I'll just take your word for it."

Chang Cheng didn't elaborate more. Unlike Hal Gunther, he wasn't going to underestimate me, or it would result in another humiliating defeat. Already Hal Gunther's defeat had been broadcasted to the Federation. The holographic screen that displayed our match to the spectators in the main hall also doubled as a recording device, and from what I knew, all matches and recordings were usually broadcasted live to the rest of the Global Federation and made available online through video streaming websites such as YouTube.

Yes, YouTube still existed in the 30th century. I'm not kidding. It evolved and underwent a lot of transformations throughout the years, but it continued to serve as the premier online video streaming or viewing platform for the masses.

In other words, Hal Gunther's shameful match had been screened live to the rest of the Federation, and even those who didn't managed to catch the real-time broadcast could easily view it at a later time because the video was available in YouTube and other viewing platforms. Yay, I guess?

"Are you sure you'll be okay?"

Chang Cheng seemed the type to have a conscience, for he was looking at me in concern. I nodded.

"Yeah. Sorry for not being able to stand up, but as you can see, I am a summoner. So I don't really need to be in peak physical condition to fight."

"Good point," Chang Cheng said dryly, and then he turned to Teacher Fielding. The teacher-referee glanced from me to Chang Cheng, and then sighed. He raised his hand.

"Both fighters, take your stances!"

I remained seated, closing my eyes briefly in an attempt to block out the sharp pain that continued to stab my body from all over.

Opposite me, Chang Cheng planted both feet firmly into the ground and raised his hands in a defensive posture. I could feel a mountainous amount of magical energy swirling inside him, threatening to erupt.

Fortunately, I was the same. I could feel the superheated magical energy coiled up within my Vermillion Phoenix above, ready to explode catastrophically at my command.

"Ready…" Teacher Fielding swung his hand down. "Begin!"

Both Chang Cheng and I began at the same time.

Immediately, the arena burst into flames, the Vermillion Phoenix unleashing a destructive inferno across the stage and bathing it in a sea of fire.

Simultaneously, Chang Cheng cast his ultimate defensive spell. Several translucent layers made out of dense, solid magical energy materialized in front of him, taking the form of a fortress. They resembled thick, armored walls, curling over him and rapidly accumulating one atop another in a protective network.

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The Great Wall. This was the supreme defensive spell that earned Chang Cheng his nickname. Running across the entire stage was a snake-like wall that brought to mind the ancient Great Wall of the past, an eternal structure that was acknowledged as one of the top wonders of the world (at least during my time).

Some even claimed that the Great Wall was the only manmade structure that could be seen from outer space. Of course that was an exaggeration, but these myths were often based upon how majestic and titanic the actual Great Wall was.

Chang Cheng wasn't replicating the ancient Great Wall that existed in China for millennia. Instead, he was constructing his own Artificial Reality and imposing upon the material world his own ideals of what a defensive wall was.

Layers upon armored layers formed up around him, transforming into a formidable fortress that was proof against any attack.

"…"

I studied him, even as my Vermillion Phoenix's flames lashed out and scorched the pearly white walls that stood between me and my opponent. Chang Cheng didn't have time to cast a complete defensive spell, so his fortress was currently incomplete. However, his way of casting was pretty unique – instead of taking the required time to cast a full spell at once, like I did with my summoning spell, he was casting bits and pieces of his spell at a time.

He focused first on erecting the most powerful defenses to protect himself. Once he had constructed the Great Walls to render himself impervious from his enemy's attacks, then only would he begin assembling the remainder of his spell. Probably cannons on battle emplacements to bombard his opponents from safety.

Fortunately, that would take a bit more time.

"You can attack me, you know."

Chang Cheng sounded confident, even though he was hidden behind his fortress. All this while, I had been allowing him to cast his defensive spell uninterrupted, and he was gradually strengthening his defenses by adding more layers. The more time I gave him, the more formidable his defenses became. In that respect, he resembled me.

He seemed to have misunderstood something. I wasn't like Hal Gunther, who stupidly gave his opponent time to complete his ultimate spell. It was just that I was aware of how formidable Chang Cheng's defenses were. Crowley Grand Arcane Academy was pretty famous, and their representatives even more so. I had seen Chang Cheng's defensive spell take on what seemed like apocalyptic blasts without suffering a scratch.

So if I wanted to penetrate his defenses, I needed an even more powerful spell of my own. Taking a deep breath, I nodded at Vermillion Phoenix.

It wasn't as if my Vermillion Phoenix had been idle all this time either. It had been preparing an attack of its own.

With a shrill cry, it spread out its wings and unleashed an enormous torrent of flames upon the Great Wall before it. The spectators and even I myself were blinded by the searing flash of light almost as bright as the sun as the Vermillion Phoenix launched its ferocious flames and bathed the durable fortress beneath it.

The Great Wall didn't even last ten seconds.

Boom!

"Impossible!"

That was the last word from Chang Cheng before his Great Wall was completely incinerated. The inferno rolled over the armored walls, scorching it and disintegrating it into ash. One by one, Chang Cheng's complex network of defensive buffers and walls fell, disappearing at an alarming rate as the ravenous inferno consumed them.

And then Chang Cheng found himself engulfed by flames. He shrieked before vanishing in the middle of the fireball.

"No way! How did those flames break through my Great Wall so quickly?!"

I didn't answer. I merely watched as the raging inferno expanded outward from where the ferocious stream of flames had struck Chang Cheng.

Vermillion Phoenix's attack was almost akin to a plasma blast, harnessing the power of a caged star and launching it in a single superheated blast that reached temperatures comparable or exceeding those of the sun itself. No manmade structure was going to withstand that. Not unless Chang Cheng possessed divine protection from the heavens themselves.

"You've got to be kidding me…"

The handsome guy gripped the armrests of his chair and stiffened his back as he gawked at the incredible sight.

"It appears…that thanks to Hal's blunder, we are in for a very hard fight."

Cecilia's expression was extremely grim.

"It's not over yet!" the girl with shoulder-length hair cried out. "Chang Cheng hasn't lost yet!"

After what seemed like an eternity, the flames stopped. A burly figure staggered out of the inferno, singed and charred. Fortunately, unlike Hal Gunther, Chang Cheng's uniform was still somewhat intact. A good thing his Great Wall absorbed the majority of the damage or he would have ended up like Hal Gunther.

Even so, Chang Cheng had reached his limit. He looked at me, his face scorched and blackened, and nodded once.

"Your summoned beast is very strong," he murmured.

Then he collapsed.