The combat between the first two contestants lasted for the full five minutes. Neither opponent managed to inflict serious harm on the other, sticking strictly to the basics and failing to utilize their divine energy as they should have.
They traded simple fire, wind, and water spells, resulting in nothing more than a few minor physical injuries.
Number 583 was a teenage boy and Number 6 was a young woman in her twenties. Neither possessed overwhelming power, but they had had enough skill to make it this far. Yet when the chronometer signaled that five minutes had passed, everyone stood frozen in place, nervously anticipating what would come next.
The golden chronometer had been summoned by Eagle right beside the arena, resembling an ancient, shining clockwork horologe made of pure gold.
Eagle waved his hand, and both contestants froze instantly where they stood. The surrounding crowd watched them, eyes wide with fear.
He smirked, then spoke: "First combat is complete. Number 6 and Number 583, both of you are eliminated from the competition."
Even at that moment, both contestants looked as though they assumed he was joking. They refused to believe every word he had spoken; they were disappointed about losing, but the concept of death didn't even cross their minds as a real option.
Eagle snapped his fingers. Suddenly, a sharp, burning smell began to fill the air around the two frozen contestants. They tried to look in every direction to locate the source, but saw nothing, until contestant Number 54 began to scream frantically, "They are on fire! They are on fire! We have to help them!"
Number 54 was spiraling into complete panic, and his desperate shouting prompted several other candidates to step forward to try and save them.
"THE FIRST PERSON WHO STEPS NEAR THEM WILL JOIN THEM!" Eagle's voice cut through the air like a blade.
Just like that, everyone froze in place, forced to watch as both contestants were consumed by flames. Eagle looked at their stunned, horrified faces and chuckled softly. "Well, I certainly don't mind having extra grilled meat."
His sick joke made Ethyl's stomach churn at what was unfolding right in front of her. This cruel dictatorship, these barbaric rules, the overwhelming urge to suppress and exploit them the moment they leveled up; she remembered Linen's words, and in that moment, her resolve became absolute.
She knew she could easily fight Eagle right here and now, but she forced herself to restrain her power. If she lashed out now, she would ruin all her credibility and destroy the future waiting ahead of her.
Taking down a single instructor here would not serve her bigger picture, the grand plan she had meticulously executed for the sake of her ultimate freedom.
Eagle gave them no time to process or mourn what had just happened. He simply announced the start of the next combat as if nothing had occurred. The bodies of the two eliminated contestants remained standing, held upright by his freeze spell, until they slowly began to collapse into ash.
Neither of them had been able to scream or attempt to run away, a detail that felt unnatural and deeply unsettling to Ethyl. But for now, she had to focus on her own survival and nothing else.
That was the reality of the final evaluation: everyone had to fight as if their lives depended on it, because they literally did.
Jivan and his opponent were the tenth pair called to the arena. His opponent was a seventeen-year-old boy. Jivan had no desire to fight a kid, but the boy possessed impressive power and was determined to win at any cost. The youth even summoned a spectral warhound and sent it lunging toward Jivan to finish him off. Seeing that, Jivan realized he couldn't just back down and let himself be slaughtered; he had too much left to accomplish, and he had to survive.
Jivan found himself struggling on two fronts. He wanted to overpower the boy, but he couldn't risk exposing his true capabilities to the watching mages. Instead, he summoned a simple sword and used it to strike down the boy's warhound.
He focused entirely on defensive maneuvers, losing track of time as his emotions played him like a puppet. He was on the verge of running out the five-minute timer without securing a victory when a voice shouted from outside the arena barrier: "You only have one minute left!"
Jivan couldn't believe it; the girl he had helped during the previous test was shouting to remind him of the time.
Gridlocked by his self-imposed limits, he knew he could win effortlessly if he unleashed his real power, but causing fatal injuries would bring unwanted scrutiny. Acting fast, Jivan lunged forward with his summoned blade and stabbed the boy through the chest. He controlled the strike carefully, ensuring the wound was severe enough to drop him, but not fatal.
The blow landed deep enough to bring the boy to his knees just in time.
Eagle promptly declared Jivan the winner, then executed the wounded boy on the spot before he could bleed out.
Jivan immediately walked over to Ethyl, a smirk returning to his face. "Nice cheering, kiddo!"
Ethyl didn't bother replying to his remark. Jivan kept moving until he reached the shade of the oak tree, sitting down to rest while the remaining fights played out.
Richard won his combat, as did Simon and several of Isiah's other colleagues.
When Ethyl's turn arrived, she finished her fight in less than two minutes. She created a localized sphere of water and moved it directly over her opponent's head, cutting off his air supply until he began to suffocate. The moment she knew he was on the verge of passing out, she released the spell, letting him collapse unconscious onto the stone. It was executed rapidly and with minimal effort, designed specifically to hide the true extent of her abilities.
The tournament continued relentlessly until all the matches concluded two hours later. Out of the original crowd, only thirty contestants successfully survived the third part of the evaluation. None of them felt like celebrating, but a quiet relief washed over them simply for having survived such brutal conditions.
The ashes of those who died were teleported into another place right after the exam ended.
" Congratulation, you leveled up", Eagle said with a smile on his face then he walked away with no further explanation.
" I guess that's it"Samuel said while hitting Garen's back, he added " We did it"