Chapter 80: The Winner Takes It All

Watching both Amazons locked fully in battle, Mark finally grasped just how genuinely unmatched their strength and skill actually were. He’d never witnessed anything that came close to matching the sheer brutality on display here, not by even the smallest margin. Then again, maybe that simply reflected how little real combat he’d actually seen up to this point.

Still, in every meaningful sense, the two of them looked genuinely unstoppable. Standing anywhere near their sparring ground carried real risk, their fight alone capable of leveling everything around it without much effort, Mark included, if he wasn’t careful.

Still, he noticed something telling in how deliberately restrained they both remained, watchful, careful never to let the fight spiral entirely out of control. Neither seemed interested in triggering total chaos or fully gutting the chamber around them. Their focus stayed locked entirely on each other, nowhere else.

Cassandra had already begun weaving elements of the ancient battle art known as Diane’s Dance into her movements, sharpening her combat efficiency and syncing herself directly to her opponent’s rhythm, and the technique was clearly paying off in real time.

She raised one leg, foot extended into a sharp, slashing arc, opening a fresh line of blood across Penthesilea’s side. By this point in the fight, both Amazons had already sustained wounds severe enough that an ordinary person would have bled out or blacked out from the pain alone.

Yet somehow, both of them seemed to genuinely relish it, pressing forward with undiminished energy regardless. That held especially true for Penthesilea, raised from birth on battles exactly like this one. If anything, her stamina only climbed higher the longer the fight dragged on, her overwhelming strength never once dimming.

Next, the barbarian wrenched a long stone shaft free from a nearby pillar, tearing it clean from both its base and capital, sending the once stable structure tilting and groaning dangerously above them. She spun the improvised weapon twice through the air before launching it forward in a heavy, sweeping arc straight at Cassandra, who was already closing the distance herself.

The two collided with explosive, bone rattling force, dust and shattered debris erupting upward into the air. A heartbeat later, jagged fragments of stone scattered in every direction as Cassandra deflected the barbarian’s improvised weapon cleanly against her own gleaming bracers.

Penthesilea’s skin shifted suddenly, darkening into a hardened, steel gray sheen as a solid metallic coating spread rapidly across her body, reinforcing her arms in particular. Another boon unlocked through her Super Mode. She slammed both fists down hard against the ground, the resulting impact sending violent, earth shaking waves rippling outward across the entire chamber like a localized quake.

Mark clung desperately to a shuddering, vibrating pillar nearby, while Cassandra simply leapt clear the instant the shockwave reached her position. Thin arcs of crackling electricity began dancing steadily across her body, rippling over bare skin before she surged forward in a sudden, buzzing streak of motion.

Penthesilea met her head on, iron hard fists clenched and gleaming, ready to shatter anything unfortunate enough to land within reach. The moment they closed into striking range, sharp arcs of electricity leapt straight off Cassandra’s body and onto the barbarian’s freshly metallic frame, the hardened surface acting as a near perfect conductor for the surging current.

Before Penthesilea could react or pull free, the full force of the lightning had already spread through her entire body. She convulsed violently under the mounting current as Cassandra’s eyes blazed brighter, steadily cranking the intensity even higher.

Penthesilea let out a pained, guttural groan as the lightning continued tearing through her system without pause. Cassandra held the attack steady for several long seconds before finally easing off, cutting the flow entirely.

Penthesilea’s eyes rolled back in her skull as her knees buckled beneath her, sending her crashing down hard before slumping forward, face first against the cracked stone floor. Thin wisps of smoke curled upward from her motionless body, the sharp, acrid smell of scorched skin and superheated metal hanging thick in the air around her.

And yet Cassandra hadn’t even tapped a quarter of the electrical output she genuinely had available. Penthesilea’s decision to activate her metallic form had handed Cassandra a decisive advantage outright, turning what should have been a defensive boon from her own Super Mode into a critical, exploitable weakness against an opponent who could freely manipulate lightning.

Mark stayed quiet for a moment, glancing once more toward the dungeon core still resting in his palm. He began weighing exactly who had actually won this fight, and by extension, who now held the rightful claim to the reward. The winner, after all, took it all. ℯℯ𝑙.

Something finally clicked fully into place for him in that moment. Cassandra operated almost like some kind of raw natural force, seemingly built specifically to overcome even a genuinely seasoned veteran like Penthesilea, despite the barbarian’s staggering combat experience and legendary reputation earned across countless battlefields.

***

Samantha was busy arranging rows of diagnostic medicine along her table when a sharp knock sounded twice against the door. She glanced toward it with a faint frown, already wondering who could possibly be showing up this time.

The moment she pulled the door open, her expression froze entirely at the sight of Mark standing there. Their eyes met, and he offered up a small, hopeful smile, which only made her own eyes narrow further, a tired sigh escaping her lips.

"Alright, what is it this time? Let me guess. Got tangled up in another problem with some other jerks and showed up looking worse for wear again?"

Mark shook his head.

"Nah, not this time, actually, and it’s not even about me. Both of my summons kind of went through something rough that needs looking at, so I figured maybe you could patch them up."

Before Samantha could respond, two Amazon women materialized above the bed in a swirl of scattering sparks. Even reduced down to their smaller, shrunken forms, their combined weight proved more than enough to collapse the bed frame flat beneath them on impact.

The school nurse simply stared, utterly frozen in disbelief, before an involuntary shriek tore free from her throat, echoing sharply off every wall of the ward.

Mark scratched the back of his head with a nervous, apologetic chuckle, eyes squeezed shut, a single bead of sweat rolling slowly down his temple.

***

Up in the topmost room of the student administrative block, Arnold sat comfortably, one hand propped beneath his chin, a satisfied expression settled across his face. Kai sat directly across from him, a chessboard scattered with half finished moves resting on the table between them.

Goro and Thalia occupied seats on either side of the School King, while Harry remained absent for the time being. Kai’s expression stayed carefully composed as he waited on Arnold’s reply, having already delivered his full report.

"Mind if we pick the game back up? Your move, technically, though you’ve been sitting there in silence for quite a while now," Arnold finally said, gesturing lightly toward the waiting board.

Kai shook his head.

"So, what’s the verdict on that little delivery I handled for you, regarding the Phoenix girl? How’d I do? Living up to proper School King standards yet?"

Arnold let out a light chuckle before lifting his glass and taking a slow sip.

"Oh, genuinely, I appreciate the help. My mistake, almost slipped my mind entirely. And yes, there’s a real, measurable probability you could end up a viable candidate for my seat someday. If Harry were actually here, he’d probably have the exact figures ready for you already, like always."

He paused, studying Kai’s expression carefully before glancing briefly upward, thinking.

"Funny, though, you don’t look particularly thrilled talking about the Phoenix girl joining our league. What’s going on there? If anything, this should be a decent opening move, pulling her attention away from... hmm, what was that his name again?"

No response came.

Arnold quickly registered that the room’s temperature had plummeted violently, dropping to an extreme cold intense enough to rival the opposite end of unbearable heat. Glancing around, he found everyone else in the room had been transformed into perfectly still, unmoving sculptures of solid ice.

Goro and Thalia, ranked fourth and fifth respectively among the King’s inner circle, sat frozen completely solid where they’d been seated moments earlier. Even Kai hadn’t escaped, caught fully within the spreading frost mid sentence.

Only Arnold remained entirely untouched, standing safely within a small, deliberately preserved circle where the creeping frost had conspicuously failed to reach him.

His expression shifted sharply the instant understanding hit him.

Then the door slammed open with a sharp, violent crack.

Quinn stormed into the room. Her expression carried the exact same icy, unforgiving edge as the frost trap she’d just unleashed across the entire chamber.