On the other side, Lyena fought Penlope with all her strength. Even though she had the advantage and superior range, Penlope was extremely agile with her whip.
Every time Lyena attacked, Penlope seemed to shrink her body. When Lyena tried to freeze her whip, it became slippery like an eel. Because of that, Lyena chose to freeze the surrounding area and strengthen her defense. By freezing the terrain and creating sharp ice structures that restricted Penlope's movement, the distance between them gradually widened.
She did not stop there.
Lyena formed an ice sword using her magic, and with two swift movements, she cornered Penlope between two walls of ice. To restrain Penlope, whose movements could not be frozen directly, sharp ice spikes grew from the walls, making it difficult for Penlope to move.
"Oh oh," Penlope said as she found herself trapped.
However, before Lyena could strike, the ice walls shattered from a powerful wind attack that destroyed the ice spikes and gave Penlope a chance to escape.
Lyena stood still, facing the direction of the attack.
From afar, she saw the figure of a girl flying in the air. Their eyes met, and Lyena immediately analyzed the situation. It was Elena, and behind her was a single flag pole, meaning she was carrying one of the flags.
"So they decided to split their team. A good strategy. That explains why Helen did not arrive immediately after the signal. Tell me, why couldn't we sense your presence with Magic Sense?" Lyena asked, demanding an answer. Magic Sense could only be disrupted if the opponent's Magic Sense was too weak to be detected.
"For that, I simply absorbed my own Magic Sense and the area around me. By doing the opposite, I can make our presence seem as if it vanished," Elena said as she launched an attack toward Lyena.
However, the wind attack suddenly stopped.
A thick layer of ice formed instantly in front of Lyena, shattering Elena's wind blade into fragments of turbulent air before they dissipated.
Lyena exhaled slowly, her gaze remaining cold.
"Interesting. Absorbing one's own Magic Sense and the surrounding area. That is not merely concealment. That is perception manipulation."
Elena frowned slightly. She had not expected her attack to be stopped so easily. The wings of wind behind her trembled, keeping her suspended in the air.
Below them, Penlope had already moved again.
Her whip struck the frozen ground, creating fine cracks. With a single twist of her body, she slid out of the icy zone like a slick shadow, a sly smile etched on her face.
"Do not focus too much on a single target, Lyena," Penlope said as she raised her whip. "That can be fatal."
Lyena did not reply.
Instead, the temperature around them dropped sharply.
Penlope's breath turned white. Elena's wind wings began to feel heavy, the air currents around her becoming chaotic as if rejecting her magical control.
"Domain," Lyena whispered softly.
The flow of Mana in the area began to change, swirling around Lyena and forming an icy zone under her control. A Domain was one of the abilities that allowed a Mage to force the surrounding Mana to obey them.
Elena swallowed.
Just as Leon had predicted, Lyena used her Domain when cornered. Although it appeared powerful, Lyena could not leave the Domain she created herself. That meant Elena now had to unleash the attack she had trained for relentlessly.
On the other side.
Tohime and Edward exchanged blows. Although Tohime was the one pressing the attack and appeared more dominant, Edward was able to match her strikes.
"So Leon's words were true. Senior Edward can see 0.5 seconds into the future," Tohime thought.
Every one of Tohime's attacks was either blocked or evaded by Edward. He carried no weapon, clearly showing his mastery of martial arts. The ability to see the future combined with refined combat techniques formed a perfect foundation for planning his next move.
Tohime sheathed her katana. As a warrior raised under samurai traditions, she had to show respect to her opponent.
"Even though I already know who you are, allow me to introduce myself. Akira Tohime, eighth generation of the Akira sword technique," Tohime said as she bowed.
"Hm, so you're from the East. I don't really understand those customs. My name is Edward Hood, and I don't remember which generation I'm from," Edward replied with a yawn. Although Tohime realized she was being belittled, she kept her emotions in check.
Tohime drew her sword once more. However, her stance startled Edward.
"Second movement of Akira. Dancing Sakura."
Tohime moved as if she were dancing. Her misleading motions made it seem as though there were many of her. Even the falling snow appeared unable to touch her.
Yet beneath his surprise, Edward was still able to avoid her attacks and counter successfully.
"There is no point. No matter how fast or powerful your technique is, as long as I can see the direction of the attack, I can break it."
Edward was not relying solely on martial arts. He was also skilled at using the surrounding terrain such as snow and elevation to his advantage.
In other words, Edward was someone who excelled at strategic thinking.
"I find it strange. It takes two people to distract Lyena. The same goes for Helen with her agility. Someone like me who relies on martial arts would naturally be matched with a single opponent. Your combat power is clearly focused on attacking. Could it be that you are not guarding your bases at all?"
Tohime fell silent.
Edward had figured it out through a few connected clues. It was true. They were not guarding their bases, nor were they searching for them. Doing so would be meaningless for their strategy.
As they prepared to continue fighting, Edward glanced toward where Lyena was battling Penlope and Elena. His expression changed in shock as he saw a massive vortex of wind, large enough to cover nearly half the arena.
"It seems it has begun," Tohime said as she stabbed her katana into the snow and gripped it tightly.
"What are you talking about?" Edward asked.
Then, with his own eyes, he realized the devastating wind explosion that was about to occur. It was too fast for Edward's body to react.
Mentor Arion, who was monitoring the battle through screens alongside other mentors, noticed the entire arena beginning to shake from the explosion. It was so powerful that it caused changes within the arena itself.
"What are those kids planning?" Mentor Arion muttered.
Even so, he allowed the trial to continue. Glitches like this would be automatically corrected.