Kevin’s pupils constricted slightly; the projectile speed was so fast that he didn't even have time to react.
But on the surface, he maintained his insufferably arrogant posture:
"What trash 【Stone Prison】, and this nonsensical debuff! You think you can stop me with stones as flimsy as paper?! Hahaha!"
Trapped inside, Kevin let out a burst of wild laughter, appearing completely unconcerned. In reality, the moment the light entered his body, he had already secretly used his mana to quickly inspect himself.
No pain, no mana stagnation, and no mental interference.
Was it a bluff?
Though nothing seemed wrong, this instead caused his heart to sink.
The unknown was the truly terrifying part. Compared to this nonsensical, amateur debuff...
Creak— Creak—
The stone walls around him, which were constantly shrinking inward and squeezing his living space, caused him a wave of physiological irritation and disgust.
However, he didn't care about these stone walls in the slightest.
"Get lost! Don't touch me!"
To rid himself of this annoyance, he subconsciously channeled the surging fire mana within him, intending to trigger a 'burst from within' and blow these worthless rocks to smithereens.
However...
"Break for me... Uh?!"
Just as he was about to release his mana.
The weird spell he had judged to be "shoddily made and low-efficiency" triggered.
【Frigid Echo】
This spell dealt no actual damage, but it planted a frigid mark inside the target.
Once the target attempted to channel mana or took damage, the mark would instantly drain all surrounding heat, causing an extremely brief but absolutely unavoidable "nerve freeze"!
Commonly known as—an interrupt.
Zzt—
"What?!"
Kevin’s wild laughter came to an abrupt halt, sounding like a duck being grabbed by the neck.
He felt the fire mana that had been as obedient as his own limbs suddenly freeze, as if it had encountered liquid nitrogen.
Immediately following, an irresistible wave of dizziness rushed to his brain.
That was the lack of blood supply caused by his bloodline being momentarily frozen.
"Ugh... ah..."
Kevin’s eyes widened. The churning fire elements within him, having lost their mana supply, extinguished with a soft poof.
His entire being seemed to have been hit by a pause button, frozen in place.
Not good!
Kevin was terrified.
What kind of ghost spell was this?!
He wanted to counterattack, wanted to break free, but the dizziness made it impossible for him to concentrate enough to construct a spell model!
Perhaps he was too used to being a mage and dealing damage from a distance, because at this moment, he actually forgot he had a body full of muscle he could use.
He stood there blankly, watching as the four stone walls slammed shut, trapping him completely!
"10, 9, 8..."
Master Brandon’s countdown sounded like a grim reaper’s pendulum, striking everyone’s hearts one beat at a time.
In the center of the field.
Leon stood calmly, his mouth moving as he muttered to himself.
To make the act look convincing, he was making up a clumsy, poorly-rhymed chant on the fly, even intentionally stuttering occasionally:
"Uh... that... O great fire element... heed my call... get big... get round... get hot..."
While reciting a chant that would make any serious mage want to punch him, Leon watched the immobilized, impotent, and furious Kevin with the look of someone watching a monkey show.
He was barking so loud, but this is all he’s got?
Leon critiqued silently in his mind:
Though that 【Frigid Echo】 looked intimidating, it was actually quite simple to break.
One only needed to control fire elements to perform a micron-level precision burn on the walls of the blood vessels, using the high temperature to instantly flush out the cold. That would have broken it.
Could he not even think of such a simple solution?
Leon sighed.
And yet he’s still howling like that, looking so indignant...
What a pathetic guy. No wonder he was kicked out of a first-rate team.
Of course, Leon was the typical case of it being easier said than done.
Using fire elements for micron-level burning inside one's own body?
Easier said than done!
Without Leon’s bug-level elemental micro-manipulation, if one failed to control the intensity even slightly and burned through a blood vessel, they would be done for...
That wasn't breaking a crowd-control effect; that was suicide!
It wasn't that Kevin couldn't think of it, but rather that even if he did, he wouldn't dare try it!
After all, he wasn't a max-level cheater like Leon!
By the way, how many seconds is the chant for a standard Pyroblast? 3.5 seconds? Or was it 5?
As Leon maintained the fireball that was growing larger and larger in his hand, his thoughts began to wander idly.
Whatever, let's just say it's 3.5 seconds... time is running out anyway.
But since I'm just standing here, and that old geezer insisted on messing with me...
Leon glanced at the smiling Brandon on the sidelines, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly.
Then I might as well add a little extra spice to this Pyroblast during these few seconds!
I already said I was going to put on a "big show" for them, so I'll give that old man a real taste of it!
Thinking of this, Leon’s fingers twitched slightly as he secretly added a trace of highly unstable 【compressed cyclone】 to the core of the fireball.
"7, 6, 5..."
Just as the countdown was nearing its end.
"Dammit! Dammit! DAMMIT AHHH!!"
Inside the stone prison, Kevin’s eyes were bloodshot.
Extreme humiliation triumphed over fear, and at that moment, he actually exploded with startling potential.
If he didn't go all out, he would be humiliated by this country bumpkin!
"Move... FOR ME!!"
He frantically squeezed his core mana, ignoring the agonizing pain of his damaged bloodlines, and forcibly broke through the frozen state.
Exactly one second before Leon’s 【Pyroblast】 was about to be unleashed, Kevin broke free!
Not only that, but the moment he broke free, he displayed extremely high combat literacy.
There was no time to chant a defensive spell!
Kevin’s eyes flashed as he saw the stone walls surrounding him.
"Rise!"
He slammed his staff into the ground, directly and forcibly taking control of the surrounding earth elements. He borrowed the original structure of Leon’s 【Stone Prison】 and instantly reorganized and reinforced it!
Boom!
The four stone walls that were originally a cage slammed together and thickened under his mana infusion, transforming into an indestructible hemispherical earthen fortress that shielded him tightly within!
Using the enemy's strength against them!
He was using his opponent's spell creation to defend against his opponent's attack!
"Hmph! That damn guy almost pulled one over on me!"
Hiding behind the earth wall, Kevin panted heavily, wiping away cold sweat. A smirk of survival after a near-death experience appeared on his face:
"Fortunately, I'm one step ahead! Now let's see you break through this!"
Seeing this, a wave of regretful sighs rippled through the surrounding crowd.
"Ah... what a pity."
"It was so close! If he had been just one second faster, that Pyroblast would have hit."
"Kevin still managed to react in time. This is the difference in foundation; that reaction speed is incredible."
"Though that Pyroblast has impressive power, it probably won't be able to break through that reinforced earthen fortress."
"If that young genius mage had more time to mature, he might have won. But the 【crowned】 rank is still the 【crowned】 rank, and there is an insurmountable gap between it and the 【glorious】 rank."
"Reality isn't a bard’s tale; there aren't that many geniuses who can challenge those of a higher level."
As Brandon continued his countdown, he listened to the discussions around him, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly.
As a master of the 【palace】 rank, he clearly saw more than the others.
And... did that young man’s mouth just twitch upward a moment ago?
Rate on N.U.
