With a graceful leap, Aiden easily sidestepped the incoming solar disk.
"It's useless!"
As if guided by Hyakinthos's triumphant roar, the rapidly spinning disk soared upward, carved a massive arc through the air, completely altered its trajectory, and doggedly chased after Aiden.
"Hmph. Soul's tranquility." Facing the relentless tracking magic, Aiden merely let out a cold scoff. The roaring flames wreathing his body vanished instantly. In the next breath, he swiftly swapped his active enchantment, invoking the magic that rendered him immune to all spells—Silentium Eden.
Under the disbelieving gaze of all of Orario, under the watchful eyes of millions, he reached out his hand and simply "caught" the high-speed solar disk. The devastating sun wheel never actually touched his palm. It was blocked by an invisible, absolute layer of "Silence," spinning madly but utterly unable to advance a single inch.
"Holy shit!! He caught magic with his bare hands!!"
"What the hell am I looking at?! Is that something a carbon-based lifeform can actually do?"
"Pause! Someone rewind that! Did he just... grab a Level 3's ultimate magic?!"
Witnessing this scene, the gods in Babel Tower went absolutely ballistic, screaming in sheer excitement and dancing around in chaotic jubilation. The adventurers down in Orario fared no better, their eyes bugging out and their jaws dropping wide enough to swallow a fist. Catching magic barehanded? They hadn't even heard of such a concept, let alone witnessed it. This completely shattered everything they knew about combat and magic.
"Bastard, it's not over yet! Crimson Flare!"
Seeing the ultimate spell he took such pride in being casually caught barehanded, Hyakinthos's face warped into a mask of pure, unadulterated madness amidst his profound shock. He triggered the spell's final detonation command.
In an instant, the solar disk in Aiden's grasp unleashed an agonizingly blinding radiance, culminating in an earth-shattering explosion. The terrifying concussive force and roaring flames instantly expanded outward, completely engulfing Aiden.
Before the Divine Mirrors, everyone stared wide-eyed, refusing to blink as they watched the zone painted entirely white by the inferno, desperately waiting for the final result. However, the handful of insiders who truly understood the nature of Aiden's magic had already guessed the outcome.
"It's futile... In the face of that woman's enchantment, everything is utterly futile." Back in the Twilight Manor, Riveria Ljos Alf gently shook her head. Having personally faced Alfia in the past, she intimately understood the absolute despair of having all magic rendered impotent before that "Silence."
She murmured softly, "Although Aiden's magic hasn't reached Alfia's transcendent pinnacle just yet, it certainly isn't something a mere Level 3 like Hyakinthos can break through."
Her assessment was spot-on. As the blazing firestorm triggered by the explosion gradually subsided, a figure strode out from within, completely unscathed. The destructive flames parted around him as if they possessed a mind of their own, making him look like an emperor strolling casually through an inferno, wholly untouchable.
Hyakinthos, who had just managed to pull a mocking sneer at the success of his detonation, felt his expression freeze into rigid horror.
"Not a bad spell. Pity it doesn't work on me." Aiden, longsword in hand, took slow, deliberate steps toward the trembling, terrified captain. His voice was devastatingly flat, devoid of a single ripple of emotion. "If this is all you have to offer, then this farce ends here."
He paused, his peripheral vision sweeping over the figures buried beneath the dust and rubble. "Besides, your companions won't last much longer out there."
Those were the members of the Apollo Familia, wiped out in a single wave by his Genos Angelus. But he had ultimately shown mercy; most of them still had a breath of life left in them. As long as they received prompt medical attention, they could be saved. Adventurers possessed far greater vitality than ordinary people, after all. As for the incredibly unlucky few who might have died outright, he could only offer a silent apology in his heart. He wasn't yet skilled enough to perfectly dictate life and death on a per-target basis with a spell of that magnitude. Since they had agreed to participate in this War Game, they had to have prepared themselves for death. Surely, they wouldn't hold a grudge against him. And even if they did, it didn't matter. He wouldn't hear their complaints anyway.
"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" Hyakinthos unleashed a final, desperate roar, like a cornered beast making its last stand. His remaining shreds of sanity completely obliterated, he looked like a hero pushed to the brink of despair, launching a final, suicidal charge against an invincible demon lord.
All of Orario watched this final act with bated breath.
"You can do it!"
"You have to beat that monster!!"
Deafening cheers actually echoed across the squares. However, this wasn't out of sympathy for Hyakinthos, nor were they moved by his tragic fighting spirit. It was purely because—they had all bet their money on the Apollo Familia! If he lost, they were financially ruined!
Aiden raised the slightly dimmed Fire Spirit Sword. Staring at the Third-Class heat-resistant weapon Lefiya had gifted him, he silently apologized to the young elf. Even a Third-Class weapon couldn't survive in his hands for long. After this battle, the blade was due for an honorable retirement, lest it shatter into useless fragments.
In the next instant, he blurred into an afterimage too fast for the naked eye to track. Accompanied by a blinding flash of sword light, he brushed past the charging Hyakinthos.
Crack—
A sharp sound of breaking metal rang out. But the weapon that snapped was not the Fire Spirit Sword. It was the dagger in Hyakinthos's hand, which had already been pushed past its absolute limit.
Slash—
A geyser of blood erupted from Hyakinthos's chest, painting a tragic, beautiful arc in the air behind him. Like a felled titan, he crashed heavily onto his back, the last glimmers of light fading from his eyes.
The wind ceased its howling. The entire battlefield was plunged into a dead, heavy silence.
After a brief stillness, deafening cheers erupted across the entirety of Orario, soaring straight into the heavens. Accompanied by the frantic, urgent banging of gongs atop the ancient ruins, the resonant tolling of the bell declaring the conclusive end of the War Game echoed relentlessly across the city skyline. Countless spectators screamed incoherently, aiming their ecstatic cheers at the white-haired boy standing solitary among the ruins in the Divine Mirror.
"Eina! They won! They actually won!" In the Guild Headquarters' viewing hall, Misha excitedly hugged Eina, jumping for joy. Because of Eina, she was somewhat acquainted with Aiden and the others. Compared to the notoriously disreputable Apollo Familia, she naturally preferred the Focalors Familia to claim victory.
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