The Vane twins didn't waste any time talking. They attacked instantly, working together with perfect coordination.
The green-haired twin dashed forward first. The wind magic swirling around his legs made him incredibly fast. He closed the distance in a single second, throwing a high kick aimed directly at Rias's head.
Rias leaned back, letting the kick pass right over his nose.
But the attack was a distraction.
The red-haired twin leaped into the air right behind his brother. He gathered a massive amount of fire in both hands and slammed them down toward Rias.
The green-haired twin kicked the fire, using his wind magic to fan the flames.
The two elements combined perfectly. The wind fueled the fire, turning a normal blast of flame into a roaring, compressed tornado of pure heat. It shot toward Rias like a cannonball.
Rias didn't swing his sword. He quickly stepped back, using [Phantom Step] to glide out of the blast radius.
The fire tornado hit the ground where he was just standing. The dirt exploded, leaving a massive, blackened crater in the arena.
"Stop dodging and fight!" the red-haired twin yelled.
They rushed him again, throwing a rapid combination of wind blades and fire punches.
Rias easily dodged their strikes, stepping side to side. He didn't attack back right away. He kept his eyes locked on their hands and feet.
'They are combining wind and fire to increase the destructive power,' Rias thought, watching the red-haired twin compress another fireball.
'They force the elements together right at the moment of impact. It is a smart trick. But what if I compress the elements inside my own body before I strike?'
Rias smiled.
He didn't need to learn a specific spell. His talent allowed him to master the concept of magic instantly.
He lowered his black sword. He clenched his left fist tightly.
He pulled ambient fire mana from the air and forced it into his knuckles. Then, he pulled wind mana and wrapped it tightly around the fire, compressing the two opposing elements together.
The energy in his hand instantly became highly unstable. It glowed with a terrifying, blinding mixture of orange and green light. The air around his fist began to distort and crackle with raw, destructive power.
The Vane twins stopped attacking. They stared at his glowing fist in absolute horror.
"What is he doing?!" the green-haired twin panicked.
"He is mixing elements directly in his hand! It's going to blow his arm off!"
Rias grinned. The compression was complete.
"I call this the Overload Punch," Rias said.
He dashed forward, his boots kicking up a cloud of dust. He moved so fast the Vane twins didn't even have time to blink.
Rias appeared right in front of them. He pulled his glowing left fist back and threw a single punch directly into the empty space between the two brothers.
He didn't even hit them directly. He hit the air.
*BOOOOOOM!*
The compressed elements violently overloaded and exploded outward.
A massive shockwave of roaring fire and slicing wind erupted from Rias's fist. The blast hit the twins like a solid wall of iron. Their defensive auras shattered instantly.
They were thrown backward into the air. They flew completely over the heads of the remaining fighters and crashed violently into the stone wall at the very edge of the stadium.
They slumped to the ground, completely unconscious.
[Enemy defeated. +2,000 EXP.]
[Enemy defeated. +2,000 EXP.]
[New Skill Created: Overload Punch (Lv. 1).]
Rias lowered his fist, blowing a wisp of smoke off his knuckles.
He turned around to face the rest of the batch.
There were only a few dozen fighters left standing in the white ring. The explosion from his punch had completely terrified them. They dropped their weapons. Some of them actually fell to their knees, raising their hands in surrender.
They had given up.
Suddenly, the loud magical gong echoed through the stadium again.
*BONG!* *BONG!* *BONG!*
"Stop fighting!" the head referee yelled from the podium. He pointed a flag toward the center ring.
"Exactly fifty fighters remain in the boundaries! Batch A is officially concluded!"
The massive crowd in the stands remained completely silent. They were still trying to process what they had just watched. The Leonhart boy hadn't just survived; he had completely dominated the entire match without taking a single scratch.
Down in the dirt, Rias finally let out a long sigh of relief.
He dismissed his black sword, sending it back into his soul. His shoulders dropped, and a wave of heavy fatigue washed over his muscles. Using [Phantom Step], fighting the entire crowd, and creating the Overload Punch had drained a massive amount of his stamina.
But the fatigue didn't last long.
[Ding!]
[Emergency Survival Quest Completed!]
[Rewards Distributed: 1,000 System Coins, 10,000 EXP.]
[Ding! Experience Threshold Reached!]
[Initiating Breakthrough...]
Rias closed his eyes as a fresh, roaring wave of energy exploded from his core. The experience points Converted into energy leading to breakthrough. The fatigue vanished instantly, replaced by a surge of incredible, overwhelming power.
[You have leveled up! You have reached Gold Lv. 5!]
[You have leveled up! You have reached Gold Lv. 6!]
[You have leveled up! You have reached Gold Lv. 7!]
Rias opened his eyes. He clenched his fists, feeling the dense, heavy energy circulating perfectly through his body. His tired strength had returned to the absolute top, and he was even stronger than before.
He looked up at the royal balcony.
Princess Amyra was staring down at him, her hands gripping the crystal railing so hard her knuckles were white.
Rias offered her a polite, mocking bow. He turned around and walked out of the dirt ring, heading back into the dark tunnels.
He had survived the first round. And he was just getting started.