Some time earlier,
Lyena, with her Domain, overwhelmed Elena and Penlope. A Domain considered the throne of a Mage, a level only a handful of people could ever reach. The ice within Lyena's Domain moved like threads, constantly shifting and changing form.
Penlope tried to escape the attacks with the help of Elena's wind propulsion. Every ice needle pursued them endlessly. The Domain had its limits, yet every time Penlope or Elena tried to flee, Lyena blocked their path by forming walls of ice that looked like igloos.
"You cannot escape," Lyena said.
Penlope leapt closer to Elena and whispered, "This is bad. If we stay trapped here, our plan will fall apart. I will destroy the ice wall and throw you out."
"What? If you do that, you will lose my magical support and be exposed to Lyena's attacks," Elena said, hesitating.
"Yeah, but you are more important to the plan than I am. Once you are outside the Domain, she will focus on me and give you time to chant your spell," Penlope said. With her whip, she shattered the ice wall and hurled Elena outward.
Lyena noticed immediately and tried to seal it off, but Elena managed to escape before it closed completely. When Lyena attempted to expand her Domain again to capture Elena, Penlope stepped in to stop her.
"Hello, senior," she said, throwing the ice thorns created by Lyena back at their owner. However, the ice stopped in midair, as if obeying Lyena's will.
"You are mistaken if you think you can delay me," Lyena said as she launched a relentless barrage of ice spikes at Penlope.
Penlope reacted swiftly, smashing every ice spike heading toward her. A small smile formed on her face even as her arms trembled from enduring the repeated impacts.
Each shattered ice spike came at a cost. Her whip began to show fine cracks, while the skin on her palms bled from the violent Mana vibrations. Yet Penlope did not retreat a single step.
"Hurry, Elena…" she whispered softly.
Outside the Domain, Elena floated in the air with both hands raised. The flow of wind around her no longer spun wildly. Instead, it was drawn inward, compressed until the air itself appeared distorted.
Not wind blades.Not an explosion.
It was silence.
Elena's Mana did not burst outward. It was swallowed inward.
Penlope suddenly let out a quiet laugh.
"Hey, senior…" she said unsteadily. "Do you know the greatest mistake smart people make?"
Lyena turned sharply toward her.
"They think everyone wants to win the same way."
In an instant, Penlope slammed her whip into the ground.
Not to attack, but to pin herself at the center of the Domain.
The ice beneath her feet spread upward, freezing half of Penlope's body. Lyena's Domain, ever obedient, bound her without hesitation.
Lyena flinched.
"What are you doing?!"
Penlope smiled widely, blood trickling from the corner of her lips.
"Prepare for an avalanche," she said, lowering her head.
Elena opened her eyes.
The compressed air was not released forward. Instead, it was dragged into Lyena's Domain through the Mana connections linked to Penlope.
A reverse pull.
The Domain, which should have expelled everything, was forced to accept it.
Fine cracks appeared across the sky of the Domain.
Not shattered.Not collapsing.
But overfilled.
Lyena felt something impossible. The Mana within her own Domain was no longer balanced.
"What… are you doing…?" she whispered, her voice wavering for the first time.
Elena slowly raised her hand, blood flowing from her nose due to the overwhelming Mana pressure.
"This…" she said in a trembling voice. "Is flipping the chessboard."
She clenched the air.
Lyena's Domain began to tremble.
The ice that once obeyed her now moved without command, freezing and melting at the same time. The boundary of the Domain pulsed like a heart forced to beat too fast.
Penlope laughed weakly.
"Now, senior… try maintaining your Domain."
The wind sphere that destroyed the Mana balance between Elena and Lyena caused much of the arena to glitch. Everyone watching from outside witnessed it. The cheers fell silent.
Among all the Trials of Harmony that usually felt routine, this one felt like a real battlefield. The mentors watching from their rooms smiled in satisfaction. This was the Arx Lumina Academy, not a children's playground, but a simulated battlefield.
The arena began to collapse as snow froze and melted repeatedly, completely reshaping the landscape. The wind waves created by Elena formed a snowstorm that sent both teams flying.
POV Leon
I stood atop a snowy mountain, ropes and pitons embedded into the ground. I wore a red mantle I bought from Arold's shop, a special item that almost completely erased the wearer's presence.
The item was called Mantel of Enigma. It was supposed to be obtained after defeating a Secret Boss inside the academy's hidden lab. However, it could also be crafted if one knew the materials. Of course, I had memorized all of them.
I observed everything from above. My current position was the exit of Lyena's team, opposite to my team's exit.
I had anticipated Lyena would immediately use Magic Sense, so the moment the gates opened, I told Elena to throw me here.
"Ouch…" My head still hurt from crashing into a wall, but it was worth it.
Now I knew the location of their flag base. What I asked from Misty was a magnet with a special polarity, a device that could detect the magnet's position using a specialized needle. It was extremely expensive, and I was sure Misty would regret giving it to me without charging a fee.
Using the magnet, I secretly planted it on Lucas and Jamina. Lastly, on Maurice.
"Now, I know where their base is."
I took out the three flags. From the start, I had been holding the real ones. I asked Elena to distribute the fake flags, making Lyena believe our team had split up to search for their base.
Edward was extremely meticulous, so to prevent him from informing Lyena, I instructed them to separate Edward from her. That way, Lyena would decide to use her Domain.
"Everything is going exactly as planned."
Damn, I really am smart at this game.
Due to the magical clash between Lyena and Elena that shook the entire arena, I was certain that Lyena's team members who were unaware of it would be thrown away from the base they were guarding.
I planted the flags one by one and then noticed someone's legs sinking into the ground.
"Someone? Hey, help me!"
The legs struggled back and forth. From the voice, I was certain it was Lucas, an annoying guy who loved looking down on Arthur in the game. Still, unlike Leon, who constantly belittled Arthur, Lucas eventually became a trusted ally.
Two bases had already been planted, but the third base was still far away.
That was the place guarded by Maurice.