SAINTESS [Chapter 173: Losing at lightning speed.] (Patreon)

Wind and fire were two elements with excellent synergy to begin with. Wind could greatly amplify fire's power while tearing its targets apart.

These were Alfonso’s two strongest elements. Renowned as the Church’s undisputed genius, he had cultivated an affinity for both to the [Excellent] rank and had mastered their use with exceptional proficiency.

Meanwhile, everyone knew that Winnie's specialty was ice. It was rare, but not absurdly overpowered, and it just so happened to be countered by the elements Alfonso excelled in.

Under these circumstances, even if Winnie was somewhat stronger than him, there was no way he could win.

Besides, that was not the full extent of Alfonso's confidence.

The enchanted twin blades in his hands possessed the effect of “Mana Drain,” allowing him to seize control of the elements wielded by his enemy. In other words, the moment his twin blades touched Winnie's ice, the dual-element storm would become a tri-element storm.

Winnie's own magic will be used to defeat him.

Of the enchanted twin blades in Alfonso's hands, one raged with roaring flames while the other howled with hurricane winds.

He crossed the two blades together. Hurricane and flame merged into one, and three fiery tornadoes surged into the sky. Terrifying heat erupted from them, melting the ice crystals all around.

At the sight, Alfonso smiled, finally putting his heart at ease.

Based on his observations, although Winnie’s previously cast infinite ice-armament spell was frighteningly powerful, it had one critical weakness: it relied on ice and snow as its fuel.

In other words, unless Winnie was already in an extreme environment covered in ice and snow, he first had to create one. Otherwise, that spell could not be activated.

As ice was Winnie's best element, his affinity with it could only be [Excellent] at most, the same rank as Alfonso's affinities with fire and wind.

With their roughly equal strength, the dual-element storm Alfonso unleashed would undoubtedly melt Winnie's ice.

And once that happened, Winnie would no longer be able to use his strongest spell.

Three blazing hurricane dragons soared into the heavens, dyeing the sky above the arena crimson. The stands instantly became unbearably hot, and at that moment, the arena barrier rose to isolate the heat.

“You've talked plenty. Try taking this attack first!” Alfonso shouted, raising his twin blades high.

Then he brought them down in a crossing slash.

The three flaming tornadoes split off in different directions, attacking Winnie from three sides and reducing everything in their wake to scorched earth.

[Windfire: Dual-Element Storm]

The aggressive heat washed over Winnie's face, carrying the stench of scorched earth.

With a single glance, Winnie saw that his surroundings had become a sea of flames. Within it, fiery dragons could vaguely be leaping and writhing.

The terrifying heat fired the ground black and rotten like flames ravaged the entire arena.

The hurricane flames continued to gain power as they spun, until they seemed capable of setting the whole arena ablaze.

“As expected of one of Rescaine's Twin Stars,” the spectators exclaimed in amazement.

“With power like that, is he a Master too?” Franklin watched with his arms folded, his brow furrowed.

Alfonso grinned.

He was certain Winnie could not withstand this attack.

At the beginning of the battle, he had cast [Symphony of Clashing Holy Blades]. Its effect made him stronger the longer he fought, causing the power of his magic to stack higher and higher.

By now, its power had already accumulated considerably. Combined with the ultimate technique of the elements he excelled at most, victory was within reach.

He admitted that this impostor had some intimidating tricks.

But this was as far as he went.

Seeing this, Winnie lifted down at the [Frost Fang] in his hands.

Just as Alfonso had deduced, all the ice and snow in the environment had melted. Winnie truly could no longer use [Frost Sovereignty].

However, [Frost Sovereignty] was never his only ultimate technique.

Winnie shook his head.

He had assumed he would not need to go all out before facing the heroine chosen by fate, much less use that particular trump card.

But plans could never keep up with changes.

Who could have expected him to be forced to fight at full strength in the quarterfinals, unable to afford the slightest carelessness?

Winnie admitted that doing this might be a little rash. Perhaps he could still win without using this move.

But this was the Chosen One Contest.

Even a lion uses its full strength when hunting a rabbit. Now that he had encountered an opponent in the Master realm, he needed absolute certainty that he would win.

Indeed, Winnie had not expected Alfonso, a third-year student, to have reached the Master realm.

Just as Alfonso had no way of knowing that Winnie was not an Beginner Master, but an Intermediate Master.

What Winnie was about to use was naturally the enchanted-weapon spell that had repeatedly saved him from the brink of death:

[Road of Frozen Earth].

Winnie stepped into a forward stance and gripped his spear in both hands.

A four-clawed ice dragon coiled around the shaft of the [Frost Fang], spiraling from the butt of the spear all the way to its tip.

He still remembered that [Road of Frozen Earth] had already been the size of a lesser dragon back when he was only at the Warlock realm.

And now, he is an intermediate Master.

He thrust out his spear.

The strike roared forth with majestic momentum, like a streak of light tearing across the azure heavens and a thunderclap splitting the clear sky. It seemed as though even the clouds high above had been sealed in frost.

The spectators had not even had time to marvel at Alfonso's dazzling display before they quickly fell silent.

Winnie's spear summoned ice and snow, transforming the arena into a frozen world. Had the arena barrier not blocked it, even the stands would likely have been caught in the aftermath.

The spectators simultaneously looked toward the sky above the arena.

It was actually hailing.

Every last one of them stared, dumbfounded and slack-jawed.

The ground that had just moments ago been swallowed by a sea of fire was wrapped in a thick cocoon of ice. The temperature plummeted, changing from scorching heat to bitter cold in an instant.

Alfonso stared at the man-made glacier before him in shock. He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

He could only watch helplessly as his hurricane flame dragons appeared pathetically small before the four-clawed frost dragon.

The colossal beast seized them one by one, twisting off their heads with its claws. Their half-severed bodies collapsed to the ground, their remaining flames fading away.

That was right.

His most powerful technique had suffered more than just a defeat in a magical confrontation.

It had been flattened like a speed bump.

How could "be?!"

They had fought for so long, and he had received an enormous boost from [Symphony of Clashing Holy Blades]. On top of that, he had unleashed a dual-element storm, which should have been far more powerful than Winnie's high-powered single-element spell.

His elements even countered Winnie's.

The difference in their strength was not supposed to be that great either.

So how?!

Alfonso suddenly realized something.

Perhaps Winnie was not a Beginner Master as he had imagined.

Perhaps he was even stronger.

The frost dragon, its body covered in ice crystals, let out a roar. When Alfonso saw that beast, with teeth larger than door panels, lunging toward him, he knew he had no chance of turning the tables.

All resistance was futile.

At the critical moment, the referee grabbed Alfonso by the collar and hauled him out of the arena, tossing him into the stands.

Still shaking, the referee stared at the frozen battlefield and the blue-haired young man standing proudly at its center.

A scene like this was still within his ability to handle, though only barely.

Of course, part of that was because the young man named Winnie had held back at the final moment.

The blue-haired youth knew his limits, and his control over magic was truly terrifying.

Truthfully, the referee had already felt immense pressure during Zane and Aesphyra's match. He knew this year's Chosen One Contest was extraordinary.

He had never simply expected it to be this extraordinary.

“The match is over! The winner is second-year student Winnie Varelis!”

“Winnie Varelis advances to the semifinals!”

After rescuing Alfonso in time, the referee caught sight of the latter's shattered belt and announced the result.

Now Aesphyra was no longer the only one who had become famous in a single battle.

Anyone with eyes could tell that Winnie had already reached the Master realm.

The spectators had gone numb. Quite a few of them were complaining about just what kind of monsters this year's second-year students were.

As for Alfonso, ever since the referee had hauled him into the stands, he had remained silent, no one knew what he was thinking.

The students around him who also had Church backgrounds were similarly quiet.

Winnie had long since stopped caring.

If they wanted to report his deeds to the Radiance Pope, they were free to do so. That old bastard of a pope had already been scheming against him anyway.

At this point, exposing his strength no longer mattered.

Rather, exposing it was exactly what he wanted.

Winnie pocketed his scorched earring and walked out of the arena, leaving the battlefield to the construction bros, who were silently cursing their luck and their mothers.

When Winnie returned to his section of the stands, he discovered that while he had been away, a silver haired furball had spontaneously appeared in his seat.

He was not surprised. He simply found another seat.

Only then did he notice that all the card players were staring at him in silence, exchanging glances without saying a word.

“What's with all of you?” Winnie asked, taking a bite of the hash brown Fred had brought. “Don't sit there in silence like you've all swallowed cockroaches. Act normal. You're scaring me.”

“Brother Winnie, y-you were freaking awesome.” After a long silence, Andre was the first to speak, giving Winnie an enormous thumbs-up.

“What's that supposed to mean? Was I not freaking awesome before?” Winnie asked with amusement.

“But we never knew you were this freaking awesome, Brother Winnie!” Aiden couldn't help exclaiming. “No wonder you managed to attract the Tyrell Empire's First Imperial Princess. Brother Winnie is the real deal!”

“With Brother Winnie's strength, beating up the top ten fourth-years would probably be a piece of cake.”

“Obviously! What else do you think attracted Isatia? It had to be his strength,” the card-game addicts chattered among themselves.

“Enough already. Just act natural,” Winnie said with a laugh, letting out a curse. “Whenever you start sucking up to me like this, it usually means you want something. If that’s the case this time, don’t even bother. I’m in no position to help you.”

“Congratulations, Winnie,” Shikondell said, truly happy for him.

“Tch! You fought pretty well. You're quite strong,” the foolish tsundere Milian also commented, offering Winnie some rare praise.

“Thanks, Milian. But I think you should focus on cheering for yourself next,” Winnie said, shooting her a teasing glance.

“Don’t underestimate me! Just you wait. I’ll win for sure and prove you wrong!” Milian shot back indignantly.

“Oh? Then I'll look forward to it.”

With that, Winnie stopped paying attention to Milian. He turned toward Aesphyra beside him and found that she was looking at him as well.

“Were you nervous just now?” Winnie asked.

Even he did not know exactly what he was referring to.

“Giggle... I was fine at first, but after watching your match, Winnie, I'm not nervous in the slightest anymore,” Aesphyra replied with a beaming smile.

"Don't boast too soon."

Winnie naturally understood what she meant.

She was saying that she had initially thought facing Winnie might take some effort, but after considering that match, she felt defeating him would take no effort at all.

The result was already a foregone conclusion.

“I'll have you know that reaching the Master realm is merely the minimum qualification to meet this young master. In that match, this young master did not even display a tenth of his true strength. Do you understand?” Winnie snorted.

“Oh~? Is that so? But it looked as though you were already having a rather difficult time, Winnie. You're struggling this much in the quarterfinals. Are you sure you'll be all right~?” Aesphyra asked with concern written all over her face.

“Tch, you're the one who struggled! When you fought Zane, you hit him with three spells and still didn't knock him down. Did you skip breakfast or something? Your attacks were so weak and limp that I almost wondered if someone else had logged into your account.”

Winnie promptly began teasing Aesphyra in return.

“The final match of the quarterfinals will be between second-year student Milian Dawnwind and third-year student Mirexia Pavone.”

“The match will begin in twenty minutes. Both contestants, please proceed to your respective preparation areas for inspection and await further instructions.”

As soon as the announcement ended, Milian stood and made a face at Winnie before heading toward the contestant preparation area.

“Just watch, you jerk! I'll definitely make it into the semifinals and teach you a lesson myself! Don't get scared when the time comes!”

"Oh no, I'm so scared."

Winnie had always treated bratty little-girl lines like Milian's as free entertainment.

Come to think of it, Milian versus Mirexia...

This was a blonde bombshell showdown.

Winnie was also quite curious about what Milian's [Divine Blessing] was. This match was the perfect opportunity to find out.

However...

The facts prove that Winnie had still overestimated Milian.

Compared to the previous three matches, this one ended extremely quickly.

It ended with Milian being hurled out at the speed of light.

Yes.

Milian didn't even have time to use her [Divine Blessing]. Her longbow was sent clattering across the ground, and she lost the match.

He had to admit, Milian had hidden her trump card rather deeply.

She had actually managed to get eliminated before Winnie could even discover what her [Divine Blessing] was.

All right, jokes aside, Winnie truly had not expected Milian to lose so quickly, or so thoroughly.

Although he had considered the possibility that Mirexia would most likely win in a matchup between the two of them.

As Mirexia's childhood friend, he naturally knew how strong she was.

Or perhaps Mirexia had simply taken her opponent too seriously. She activated [Wrathful Dragon's Blood] right at the start and went all out.

Milian, meanwhile, had entered the match intending to conceal her strength, playing her cards one at a time.

Her tactical choice had been completely wrong.

That kind of fighting style only worked when both sides were evenly matched.

The result was that Mirexia, whose raw strength already far surpassed Milian's, unleashed her full firepower and beat Milian so badly that she yelped nonstop, utterly unable to react.