The duel was meant to be an honor-bound ritual.A spectacle.A test.But honor is a fragile thing in the hands of prideful men.
Thirty Minutes of Silence
Ari hadn't raised his hand once.
He didn't need to.
The Court Mage Leader—a man who had brought nations to heel with spells that cracked continents—was now visibly trembling, though his face remained cold.
Ari's expression never shifted. Calm. Patient. Glyphs slowly coiling in his eyes.
The mage's voice broke the silence.
"Is this mockery, Compiler?"
Ari tilted his head ever so slightly.
"No. This is mercy."
The words stung like flame across paper.
Rage Unbound
With a scream of magic and fury, the Court Mage Leader snapped his staff into the ground.
"All Court Mages, erase him."
Seven figures—the highest-ranking casters of Aurelion—stepped forward without hesitation, encircling the arena. The sky turned black as aether and entropy twisted together.
But something unexpected happened.
From the Vastelune command tents, three Generals, including the stoic Warlord Grellian, leapt forward in outrage.
"This is not a duel! This is murder!"
They moved to interfere.
The Four Step In
Before the Generals could even set foot inside the dueling field, they were halted—not by Ari, but by his four companions, now standing in front of them like divine sentries.
Cerys's staff was already glowing with silver chains.Lysira's hands flared into crackling flame.Primira's illusions shimmered behind her like celestial blades.Eluin's gaze alone slowed the space between them.
Grellian scowled. "Move. Ari could die."
Cerys's voice was frigid and final.
"He won't."
Lysira stepped forward, eyes fierce.
"If you interfere… you insult him."
Primira, ever poised, let her mask drop just enough to show the steel beneath her voice.
"He is not your responsibility. He is ours."
Eluin, without blinking, said the words that silenced every veteran general.
"If you had seen what we experienced inside that gymnasium… you would begin to question your own god."
Their auras surged—not in challenge, but in reverent defense.
Behind them, Ari still hadn't moved. The glyphs around him were now humming, faint echoes of something older than this age, this war, perhaps even this world.
Ari's Eyes Shift
For the first time, Ari looked directly at the seven Court Mages.
There was no hatred. No anger.
Only inevitability.
"You were warned."
He raised his hand.
The glyphs behind his back unfolded like celestial wings—no longer rings, but mandalas, rotating, aligning, and then collapsing inward as if reality itself was being compressed.
The Court Mages hesitated. A ripple of dread passed through the arena.
Then he took a step forward.