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Damian’s actions were quite simple.

As the judge declared the start of the duel, he charged toward Jerkin simultaneously. Jerkin, too, prepared to attack at the declaration, but unfortunately, the problem was that Damian’s movements were faster than he had anticipated.

There was nothing wrong with Jerkin’s casting speed.

He was a wizard of such a level that he could manifest magic merely with his thoughts and stood in a spot that ignited excitement and thrill at the opening of the Sacred Festival, allowing him to cast spells even faster than usual.

‘Huh?’

The issue was that Damian was just too fast.

By the time Jerkin registered Damian’s position, he was already punching right in front of him.

It was a survival instinct, perhaps, that kicked in before the word “panic” even flowed through his mind. Jerkin quickly deployed his defensive magic. The magic was hastily conjured, yet he was a seasoned wizard, so there were no mistakes in his casting.

With the successful casting of magic, Jerkin sighed in relief, but all of this transpired in less than 10 seconds since the duel was declared.

And it was also within those same 10 seconds that Jerkin lost consciousness.

Jerkin’s defensive magic had indeed been successfully cast.

It was just that Damian’s fist crashed through it.

There were no skills or tricks; it was merely a result of overwhelming strength that shattered the magic. Damian’s fist pierced through Jerkin’s defense and landed directly on his face, thus creating the current scenario.

Even a wizard who could process information a few seconds faster than others found it hard to comprehend, so what could be said of the other spectators? The venue fell silent in the blink of an eye.

It was a silence born of the time required for people’s brains to process what had just happened.

“Winner! Damian Kraus!!”

As the judge’s proclamation of victory echoed, the tranquility that settled over the venue was soon filled with the roar of the crowd.

The fight was neither extravagant nor could it be deemed a high-level match, but the intense impression left by Damian on the audience overshadowed everything else.

What kind of place was this?

It was not just a simple duel, but rather a gathering of the Empire’s finest talents competing to see who was the strongest—a true showcase of the Sacred Festival.

The audience knew.

They understood that those who stood atop were not mere stragglers.

Only the greatest of geniuses, filtered through the trials of Academia, could stand in this place.

And the audience was here to witness how these geniuses would fall and to see who among them would be the best.

Wasn’t the conclusion a bit anticlimactic?

No, that’s exactly why they were so excited.

To have an overwhelming outcome in a place where only a minuscule number of meticulously selected geniuses could stand; such an outcome implied that what they desired was indeed very close to the best.

Therefore, it was only right to offer appropriate praise.

“Oh my….”

The impact of Damian’s overwhelming victory did not only affect the audience.

While they were merely spectators, the students who had to face such an opponent couldn’t help but feel naturally intimidated by the thought of fighting someone like that.

Each participant had their own reasons for joining the duel, whether to prove their growth or to confirm their current standing, etc. But if they ended up not being able to show anything like this, the audience might delight in it, but for the participants, it could only feel hollow.

If that were the case, the children were not unaware that their shortcomings were the cause, yet it was still disappointing.

Of course, not every child was intimidated by Damian.

Reinhardt smiled, impressed by Damian’s bold display, while Noel replayed the brief match in her mind, pondering what she might have done and finding answers.

Those who were thinking about battling Damian were certainly not inserting the word “defeat” into their minds. After all, when participating in a duel, one should only be thinking of victory; the eyes of the children already showed no signs of wavering.

An exception was…

“Wow, that thing broke… How strong is he?”

Orcus Estellia was quite astonished.

Orcus, staring at the broken floor of the venue where Jerkin had collapsed, looked at Damian with a bewildered expression.

The Sacred Festival was, after all, an event of the Imperial Family, so it was only natural that the heir, Orcus, was involved in the preparations. He had made several decisions regarding the festival, but he did remember what was laid down on the ground.

At the Sacred Festival, the highlight was undoubtedly the duels of students, so how could he have neglected the maintenance of the venue where such duels took place? Although it was a venue for student duels, it was not something to be taken lightly, and the arena could not be easily destroyed. The arena was crafted from dense rock known for its hardness.

Even if active knights and wizards clashed there, scarring would be the worst that could happen. To have a hole made in it entirely; knowing this truth, Orcus looked at Damian with a mixture of admiration and concern.

“Wow, he really came prepared. Damian.”

Since Orcus often interacted with Damian, he was somewhat confident that he knew his character well.

He was not someone who typically cared a great deal about competition with others, but he also wasn’t devoid of a will to win; whatever he set his mind to, he would accomplish, or so Orcus believed about Damian Kraus.

Therefore, when he heard that Damian would participate in the festival’s duel, it was only natural to think that he would aim for the victory. However, seeing the results he produced made him realize that even though he understood Damian would act sincerely, it was nonetheless somewhat intimidating.

Orcus had thought that he wouldn’t fully display his skills in sparring matches, but he hadn’t anticipated such an overwhelming gap. It would be a lie to say he was not at all intimidated.

Most significantly, while Orcus was indeed an excellent wizard, he wasn’t specifically trained for combat. This meant he hadn’t practiced magic as a means of force.

His strength was only a byproduct of his scholarly understanding of magic, so even if someone might laugh at this notion, Orcus didn’t particularly enjoy the idea of hurting someone in a fight.

It was unreasonable to expect a warrior’s fighting spirit from Orcus like that of Reinhardt or Noel.

While he did have a basic desire to win and showed some interest in victory, it wasn’t an intense yearning. For him, simply participating in the Sacred Festival’s duel was already significant enough; he didn’t harbor aspirations for victory.

“This… is making me lose confidence… Well, I still need to put in the effort.”

Nevertheless, he was a man who would bend but not break.

Orcus surveyed the venue and took in the sight of the audience that was elated by Damian’s victory. Was this why he had to rise up there? No, that wasn’t it. He shook his head at his own questions and looked again at the fallen Jerkin.

To him, winning in the Sacred Festival didn’t hold great value. However, Orcus decided to set that as a goal, at least for now.

He was someone who had a well-developed sense of self-awareness, and he understood that there were others, not just Damian, who fought better than him. He had already calculated the odds in his mind, but for now, he chose to wipe all of that away.

He had come to be recognized.

He wanted to become someone who could hold his head high, not for others, but for himself.

He had made a promise to someone before.

Even if he sensed defeat, he would not give up and would challenge until the end. The image of himself who shamelessly gave up right after doubting his presence still tormented him to this day. Thus, it was time to break free from that.

He already knew it was a hard fact that winning was unlikely. Therefore, he had been working hard until now. He had to reap at least some reward for all this effort.

Even if that reward ended up being similar to Jerkin’s finish in the duel just now.

Either way, he certainly had to confirm the results.

With that resolve, Orcus examined who his opponent was. And then he said this without hesitation.

“Oh, this is bad.”

[Group B First Match]

“Orcus Estellia vs. Elena Edelweiss”

 

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