Chapter 381: Auric vs Antonio

The students covered their mouths when they saw Auric engulfed by the flame. Some couldn’t help but laugh.

"Haha!"

"Look at him. He thought defeating Alexander made him great."

"I know, right? Alexander just allowed him to attack. If he had to fight someone on equal ground, it would be clear that Antonio would come on top!"

Katarina and the others who already knew about Auric’s element simply thought nothing about it.

After all, among the elements Auric possessed, there was an absolute flame.

The only problem was whether Auric was willing to reveal it.

Then again, his opponent was Dermania. They already knew about his flame element because of Gloria. Even if he didn’t use it, Dermania might reveal that information out of spite.

Hence, the flame that engulfed him suddenly flared up and rose into the sky.

"!!!" The students thought Auric had just been burned alive. On the other hand, Antonio figured out what was happening inside the flame and immediately jumped back.

"Eh?"

"Why did Antonio..."

Their confusion was answered right away. The flame turned black all of a sudden as Auric emerged from the fire.

His body was also covered in black flame. After seeing his black lightning, everyone reached the same conclusion. Auric actually didn’t combine the dark element with the lightning element. He combined it with the fire element.

"What?"

"Black flame..."

"Don’t tell me he also has a fire element?!"

"So, what elements he hasn’t possessed yet? Water and light?"

Everyone looked shocked, but this was just the beginning.

Antonio poured his energy into his fingertip and waved it forth. A massive phoenix emerged and flew toward Auric, letting out a loud cry.

Auric did the same thing, but instead of a phoenix, he created a black dragon.

The phoenix and dragon collided and turned into one massive fireball. The fireball was red like the phoenix, but there was a black spiral on the surface. The phoenix was trying to overwhelm the dragon, while the latter tried to crush the phoenix.

In the end, the two attacks exploded, neutralizing each other’s power.

Auric was already writing down his Edict. On the other hand, Antonio summoned a pair of wings on his back. The wings stretched for over five meters on each side.

Just looking at him made Auric remember the power Mathias showed back then. He couldn’t help but wonder if their elements were the same. The flow of energy itself was extremely similar, but that was only because their rating was similar.

The characteristics were slightly different.

Suddenly, Antonio leaped into the air and used his wings to remain in the air.

He saw Auric who was still writing his Edict. There was no way he could allow Auric to unleash all that power.

Hence, Antonio flapped his wings, summoning tens of feathers. These feathers fell like arrows, spreading wide enough that Auric wouldn’t be able to protect himself.

Auric, on the other hand, bent his knees. His right hand was still writing the Edict, but his left hand was touching the ground. Roots emerged from the ground.

"!!!"

"He can summon other stuff while using that power?"

"However, that’s not enough to stop Antonio. He will burn those roots easily."

To their surprise, Auric fused the plant element with the earth element, turning them into metal roots.

As soon as the feathers touched the roots, they exploded and engulfed them in a powerful blast. Unfortunately for Antonio, it only melted the surface. It wasn’t enough to break through his defense.

At the same time, Auric had finished writing his Edict.

Creating six lines would be impossible in this scenario. That was why he intended to write only one to three lines in a normal fight.

This time, he had prepared two lines.

Once he blocked the phoenix feathers, Auric retracted his roots and flicked his Edict.

"Go!"

A black flame pillar rose into the sky, trying to engulf Antonio. However, he managed to avoid it at the last moment, letting the flame pillar continue to go up.

As if predicting this would happen, the flame pillar suddenly burst at the top, causing an explosion that covered the arena. Still, because of its height, it didn’t affect the battle in any way... or so people thought.

"One, two, three. Edict!" Auric smiled.

"!!!" Antonio suddenly felt a powerful gust of wind coming from the ground. He suddenly realized that the explosion in the sky would gradually combine with this wind that would turn into a tornado. Auric actually intended to create a fire tornado from the beginning.

Antonio hurriedly flew away, but the suction force of the wind made it hard for him to move. Fortunately, this wind element was only Rank 2. It wasn’t combined with anything else either.

That was why he could get away. Unfortunately for him, the moment he thought that way, Auric waved down his finger. "Four!"

Antonio raised his head, feeling the threat coming from above. It turned out the wind tornado was a distraction. The real attack came from the lightning he concealed in that explosion.

The lightning hit his body, causing his phoenix wings to disperse. Then, the flame tornado caught up and engulfed him.

"Antonio!" The instructors from Dermania were panicking. This was the first time they had seen a fighting style like this.

"What an incredible power." Supervisor Jacob muttered.

Mr. Green agreed. "He first baited his opponent by using that battle technique imbued with the power of fire and dark elements. When his opponent attacked him, he covered himself with plant and earth elements.

"It turned out his battle technique would actually cause an explosion in the sky, which ended up becoming another distraction.

"It made Antonio think that his wind tornado was the real attack, only to be fooled once again. The lightning turned out to be the real attack, which then amplified the fire tornado.

"He had all those elements, making it hard for them to figure out his true abilities. By having so many elements at once, his attack pattern will become more unpredictable. Changing the combination of his elements allows him to change their characteristics. That’s why it’s practically impossible to read him."

Everyone was stupefied. They couldn’t help but wonder how they were going to fight Auric.

This time, Auric had just shown the fact that he not only possessed the ability to take down a Rank 4 student but also the ability to overwhelm a Rank 3 student.

If he ended up participating in the Rank 2 competition, he would win by a landslide. No, he might even win if he participated in the Rank 3 competition.

Still, defeating Antonio was easier said than done.

A pair of wings suddenly emerged from the fire tornado. A single flap was all it took to actually disperse the tornado.

Antonio emerged with some wounds, but those wounds were healing at high speed.

When Antonio drank the alcohol again, that healing speed increased. In an instant, all his wounds disappeared.

"!!!" Auric widened his eyes.

It might be because he didn’t use his element earlier, but Auric finally figured out why Antonio chose to bring alcohol into this battle.

Because he wasn’t injured, the energy didn’t flare up when he drank the alcohol.

This time, however, the energy in his body burst in all directions as soon as it made contact with alcohol.

In other words, Antonio didn’t choose drinking. Drinking chose Antonio.

The alcohol would provoke the phoenix element he possessed, which allowed him not only to unleash more powerful attacks but also increase his regeneration. Basically, people had swords, spears, or other tools as their weapons, but Antonio had alcohol as his weapon.

It was such a bizarre weapon, but it matched his power.

Antonio didn’t plan to let that burst go to waste just for healing. Before the burst disappeared, he flapped his wings forward.

The wings released flame that spread to the entire arena. This flame was much more overwhelming than the phoenix he released earlier. Auric wasn’t supposed to have the ability to stop it even if he combined his flame and dark elements.

Yet Auric chose to clash with the phoenix flame. His black flame also surged and covered the arena.

In the end, the red and black flame covered the entire arena, trying to erase one another.

Antonio narrowed his eyes and muttered, "That black flame... It’s not just the dark element. That fire element of yours... it’s as strong as my flame."

Antonio didn’t expect that Auric’s flame turned out to be such an extraordinary flame. There was almost no chance for him to win against Auric normally.

At the same time, Auric couldn’t help but ask, "You too... You have been hiding your power from the beginning. I guess the Rank 3 competition is not enough to show your full power."

In a way, Antonio might actually win the Rank 3 competition if he really competed with everything he got. It wasn’t because he didn’t believe in Ellia, but because Antonio was simply that strong. His power was a bad matchup for Ellia’s space element.

Any power that could spread endlessly like this was a bad matchup for Ellia, especially in an enclosed space like an arena. It would be a different matter if they met each other in the field, but Ellia would lose seven out of ten times.

Antonio didn’t answer, but he couldn’t help recalling the instructions before the ranking competition.

"Because of what happened with Gloria and the fact that Auric actually possesses a Rank 3 element, I want you to hide your power. It will be fine if we lose the Rank 3 competition.

"We can still blame Gloria for it. During the universal competition, Auric Elfe might challenge you because of what happened. He must want to beat Dermania because of Head Instructor Ryan. That’s when you should unleash your full power."

Antonio frowned. "Why should I care about this? Besides, there’s no guarantee that he will challenge me."

"If he doesn’t challenge you in the universal competition, that will be good. You can hide your power for the survival competition. You will unleash your power at that time and overwhelm him. Your role is to defeat Auric Elfe. You don’t have to think about anything else."

"..." Antonio didn’t exactly like the idea, but it didn’t seem he had any choice. If Gloria was still here, she would have been the one taking care of everything. Meanwhile, he would be able to just enjoy his life here.

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem that rejecting this instruction would do him any good, especially because of what happened with Instructor Ryan. He knew that the Rank 7 human in their country, Ultias, would make a move.

"Fine. I will do that, but I need more alcohol. Not the boring kind."

"It shall be done."

Remembering the instruction, Antonio looked at Auric and muttered, "I don’t have any grudges against you, but it can’t be helped. Sorry!"

Antonio raised both hands as his flame surged even further.