He felt death. Felt the coldness of metal on his jugular.
For the first time in his life, Damian Von Taurus tasted real fear.
Maria pressed harder, forcing the blade completely through his aura to trigger his necklace and end the match.
But Damian... he didn't let himself lose.
At the last moment, pure survival instinct awakened in him. His crushed pride turned into endless fuel.
He didn't scream; he exploded.
His fear turned into anger. Burning anger.
"GET LOST!"
Damian released "Wind" magic without any formula, without any control, just with raw psychic pressure.
The shockwave, like a truck collision, lifted Maria off his chest and slammed her ten meters away.
Maria rolled on the ground and dragged face-first on the sand. The taste of blood and dirt filled her mouth. She stood up with difficulty. Her ribs hurt.
Damian stood up coughing. Oxygen had returned to the environment, and he breathed greedily.
He put his hand on the scratch on his neck. Looked at his bloody fingers.
His body trembled.
His face was contorted with rage. The veins on his forehead bulged, and blood flowed from his nose (excessive and sudden pressure of wind magic).
"You... dared... to spill my blood... you dirty rat..."
He raised up his hands, trembling in rage.
The ground shook beneath his feet. Pebbles floated.
A combination of fire and lightning, larger and wilder than anything seen before, formed above his hands. An unstable, blinding plasma sphere that screamed.
"Magical Fusion: Thunderous Sun!"
Magic far greater than the "Plasma Sphere" he used against Arthur.
Maria stood and narrowed her eyes.
Arthur's shield broke... mine will break too. Defending means losing.
She fixed her gaze on the center of the magic. Where the energy was concentrated.
Every structure has a balance point. If I hit that point...
She raised her left wristband. Opened all safety valves.
"Give it all to me!"
Mana Edge: Maximum Density.
Instead of making a shield, she transferred all the wristband's mana with high density to the tip of her dagger. Mana extended beyond the dagger tip, resembling a short glowing spear.
Damian screamed and fired his magic.
Maria didn't retreat.
She roared and slammed her glowing spear straight into the heart of his magic.
Impact!
A terrifying sizzling sound rose.
Spectators watched in disbelief as Maria's slender spear was piercing Damian's massive sphere. Like a needle into a balloon.
The plasma sphere began to warp and shudder. Damian went pale.
Impossible... she's neutralizing it?!
Maria was clenching her teeth. The skin on her hand was burning. The sudden exit of mana from the wristband had made its circuits unstable and hot.
Just... a little... more...
But the law of nature was ruthless. The ocean of mana drowned her mana.
Damian's energy volume was so great it swallowed Maria's spear.
Maria's wristband, under pressure, got hotter. Turned red.
And burst.
The plasma sphere, now unstable, detonated outward in a wild shockwave.
Maria and Damian were both thrown backward.
Damian, who had activated his shield at the moment of explosion, rolled on the sand.
Maria's Academy protective necklace activated. Red light covered Maria's body to survive, but the impact force wasn't neutralized.
Maria hit the stone wall at the end of the arena and fell motionless to the ground.
Smoke rose from her melted wristband.
Her protective necklace broke and fell to the ground.
The thick smoke from the collision of two great forces slowly settled, revealing the burnt and glass-like ground of the arena.
Damian Von Taurus stood in the center of this destruction.
He was alive—but no longer untouchable.
He was panting. His shoulders rose and fell with every heavy breath. Dark blood flowed from his nose, dripping onto his chin. His magnificent uniform was torn, and a trace of soot sat on his white face.
On the other side, Maria had fallen by the stone wall. Unconscious, with hands whose skin was burnt and blistered. Her silver wristband had melted into shapeless metal.
The referee, dizzy from the explosion himself, came forward. He checked her pulse. Alive—but unable to continue.
Then, hesitantly, raised Damian's hand.
"Winner... and First Year Champion... Damian Von Taurus!"
Applause and cheers were expected to explode the stadium.
But... no sound came.
Absolute silence.
Thousands of spectators were transfixed. They weren't looking at Damian; gazes were locked on the small body of the girl who, without a shred of magical talent, had taken the genius of the academy to the brink of death.
Damian looked at the crowd.
No admiration, no flowers thrown. In the crowd's eyes, "fear" and "respect" rippled, but not for the winner.
Damian pulled his hand out of the referee's grip and lowered it.
Placed his trembling hand on his neck. Where the thin scratch of Maria's dagger still burned.
If Maria was one second faster...
Damian whispered under his breath, with a voice only he heard:
"Dangerous... very dangerous."
At this moment, the dam of silence broke, but not for cheering.
The medical team ran toward Maria with a stretcher. And along with them, two others jumped the rails and ran toward Maria: Arthur (whose hand was still bandaged) and Sarah.
The crowd was worried about Maria.
Damian took one last look at his unconscious rival. Then turned his back and limped, alone and in silence, toward the exit tunnel.
He had won the cup, but it tasted like ash. Today, he had tasted the bitter flavor of "mortality."
***
The familiar smell of medicinal herbs and the orange light of sunset.
Maria opened her eyes.
The white ceiling of the infirmary was the first thing she saw.
Here again... this ceiling is getting repetitive for me.
A burning pain twisted in her wrists. She looked. Both hands were wrapped up to the elbows with thick magical bandages.
"She's awake!"
It was Sarah's voice. Her eyes were puffy (she had cried again).
Arthur was there too. Sitting on the chair next to the bed, looking worriedly.
"Maria... are you okay?"
Maria tried to sit up. Her body ached, but not enough to be unbearable.
She looked at her bandaged hands.
Remembered the last moment. Wristband explosion. Damian's scream.
Sarah said with a lump in her throat:
"You lost... but it's okay. You were amazing. Everyone saw."
Arthur lowered his head.
"Sorry, Maria. That was so close"
They expected Maria to cry. Expected her to be angry about losing in the finals, especially when it was so close.
But Maria...
Smiled.
Not a bitter smile. A real, satisfied smile.
She stared at the ceiling, and her eyes sparkled.
"The wristbands melted... because the 'Heat Transfer' formula was wrong."
Sarah and Arthur looked at her in surprise.
Maria continued:
"But until the last moment... it worked. I broke Damian's shield. I put the blade to his throat."
Maria looked at her burnt hands, but this time with love.
She hadn't lost. She had proved something real.
A theory proven in blood and burned circuits: science could wound magic. It only needed refinement.
She turned to Arthur and Sarah.
"Don't cry, Sara. This isn't the end. This was just 'Test Number One'."
She took a deep breath.
"Next time... Damian falls."
Arthur smiled, seeing the fire still in her eyes. Sarah wiped her tears.
Maria looked at the window, where the sun was setting and shadows were lengthening.
The first chapter of her new life had closed. She had survived, found her friends, and knew her path.
Wait for me, world. I'm just getting warmed up.
***
Across the Academy, in Damian Von Taurus's luxurious room...
Damian, with a bandaged neck, stood in front of a large blackboard. On the board, there were no formulas of his own magic (fire and lightning). On the board, the schematic design of "Maria's Wristbands" was drawn with precision.
One of his henchmen entered the room with fear:
"Sir... your father sent a message. He said if you want, he can arrange that girl's expulsion tomorrow."
Damian, without turning around, broke the piece of chalk he was holding.
"Tell my father not to interfere. He doesn't understand."
Damian drew a line through the word "Magic" at the top of the board with chalk. And next to it, wrote in large letters: "Friction, Conductivity, Energy Discharge."
"I didn't lose because of noble blood or less mana. I lost to a 'New Law'."
Damian smirked, a smile not at all like a ten-year-old child.
"And until I learn that law and use it against her... the game isn't over. Second year... I'll kill her with her own sword."