Silence

“Since everyone’s here, perfect. Saves me the trouble of hunting you down one by one.”

The muscles across his body swelled and knotted at a visible rate. Blue arcs of electricity crackled wildly over his skin, bursting with sharp pops.

“Today, I’ll be the one to clear the field.”

A terrifying pressure erupted outward. Rubble and dust were swept away by an invisible shockwave, and everyone present felt a suffocating weight settle over them.

Qin Wu and the captain of North City Academy’s pupils contracted sharply. In unison, they shouted, “Fall back!”

An Changqing’s sword was already drawn, its blade humming as he readied himself.

Long Ao, however, advanced instead of retreating. He clenched his fists in excitement, battle intent blazing around him.

“Good. Just what I wanted!”

The veins in Charles’s neck bulged and twisted like knotted earthworms. The blue drug coursing through his body had ignited an endless supply of power within him.

From where he stood, a powerful blast of air mixed with blue lightning spread in all directions, sending stones and dust flying.

“Fall back.”

There was an unprecedented heaviness in Qin Wu’s voice. He and the three fourth-year students behind him had already formed a defensive formation.

On the other side, North City Academy’s captain, Bai Huanran, said nothing. With only a glance, he signaled his teammates to subtly join the people from Huaqing Academy in a pincer formation.

Temporary enemies could always reach a delicate understanding when faced with an even more dangerous threat—especially when he and Qin Wu were old rivals.

An Changqing held his sword horizontally before his chest. Its blade reflected Charles’s face, twisted by power, as he murmured to Long Ao beside him.

“Don’t be reckless. He’s trying to provoke us and disrupt our rhythm.”

Long Ao’s knuckles cracked, but the corner of his mouth curled into a grin brimming with fighting spirit.

“Rhythm? My rhythm is knocking him flat.”

Charles ignored everyone else. His gaze passed over the crowd and fixed firmly on Chen Guan.

He ran his tongue over his dry lips, cracked from excitement.

“Since you really did take care of that useless Kōji Aoba, then as a reward, I’ve decided you’ll be the first one I send out of this match.”

Chen Guan drew his scythe. “You can try.”

In the past year, he hadn’t run into this many loudmouthed show-offs. Yet today, at the Four-Academy Tournament, they seemed to be everywhere.

Perfect. Chen Guan also wanted to see just how strong the power of the Nine Dragons truly was.

“If you want to touch him, you’ll have to get past my fists first.”

Long Ao could no longer hold himself back. He shot forward like a cannonball, crimson energy blazing behind him in a long trailing streak.

“Pill-popping freak, I’m your opponent.”

An Changqing sighed, but did not stop him. His sword pointed forward, ready to provide support at any moment.

“Buy one, get one free?”

Charles wore a derisive smile as he faced Long Ao’s thunderous strike. “I’ll take it.”

He raised his right fist, wrapped in blue electricity, and met the attack head-on without dodging.

Before their fists even connected, the force of their punches compressed the air between them, producing a piercing sonic boom.

Crimson and azure—two utterly different colors of power—collided at the center of the square. The impact compressed the air to its limit, sending visible ripples surging outward in every direction. Sand, dust, and shattered stones were swept up, forming a gray tidal wave.

At the point where their fists met, Long Ao’s knuckles cracked under the immense force. Yet there was not the slightest hint of retreat in his eyes, blazing with fury.

The manic expression on Charles’s face froze. The scene he had expected—his opponent being blasted away by a single punch—never came.

What came through the other man’s fist was a brutally pure force, powerful enough to shake mountains. There was no flourish to it, yet it left Charles’s entire arm numb and tingling.

“Is that all you’ve got?”

Long Ao forced the words through clenched teeth. He pivoted and threw several more punches in rapid succession. The muscles in his arms bulged again, and the crimson aura around him surged three feet higher, forcing Charles back half a step.

“Interesting.”

A low laugh rumbled from Charles’s throat. The surprise in his eyes was swallowed by an even more frenzied hunger for battle.

“Warm-up’s over.”

He withdrew his fist, but instead of retreating, he advanced. His fingers spread, and the flickering blue lightning in his palm transformed into dozens of snake-like electric arcs that lashed toward Long Ao’s entire body.

Crackling arcs tore through the air.

“Watch out!”

An Changqing called out a warning.

But Long Ao had already been prepared. He pushed off the ground, his body tilting backward at an angle that seemed to defy the laws of physics, narrowly evading the lethal web of lightning.

A few arcs grazed the hem of his clothes, instantly scorching blackened holes into the fabric.

“All you know is cheap tricks like that.”

Long Ao steadied himself with a swift backward flip, a contemptuous curl appearing at the corner of his mouth.

“It’s more than enough for you.”

Charles thrust both hands forward. More blue arcs were drawn from within his body, weaving together into an impenetrable net of lightning that sealed off every path of escape.

Bai Huanran, captain of North City Academy, wore a grave expression. “Qin Wu, that second-year from Huaqing is a real fighter—but he’s too reckless. What a shame.”

Qin Wu ignored him, his gaze fixed on An Changqing. If things truly became impossible, someone would naturally step in.

And sure enough, An Changqing moved.

The longsword in his hand traced a smooth, circular flourish, its tip lightly tapping the air before him.

“Shifting the Stars.”

An invisible force field quietly spread outward from the sword tip. The lightning net that was about to swallow Long Ao twisted strangely the instant it touched the field, redirecting itself toward the outer wall of an abandoned building nearby.

Boom!

A massive section of the concrete wall was blown into dust, exposing twisted steel reinforcements that hissed as black smoke rose from them.

“Beautiful!”

Seizing that fleeting opening, Long Ao roared and charged in again. His straight punch, wrapped in crimson flames, smashed heavily toward Charles’s face.

“Annoying fly.”

Charles spat. Faced with Long Ao’s heavy blow, he had no choice but to abandon his attack and cross his arms in front of himself.

Bang!

This time, the force of the impact cracked the paving stones beneath Charles’s feet. His body slid backward out of control for seven or eight meters, his feet gouging two deep trenches into the ground.

The veins bulging along Charles’s neck twisted grotesquely like evil spirits. Beneath his skin, blue lightning crawled wildly in a spiderweb pattern, swelling his body another size larger.

“Die! All of you!”

He had completely abandoned all technique, allowing the power within him to erupt without restraint.

A thick pillar of blue lightning shot skyward from his body, instantly dispersing the storm clouds above the plaza. The terrifying pressure made everyone’s breath catch, as though an invisible hand had clenched around their hearts.

“This is bad—he’s overdosed on that potion, hasn’t he? I knew it, anyone who relies on drugs is an idiot!”

Qin Wu’s expression changed drastically. He could no longer remain in the rear and hold the line. He gathered the force of his fist, ready to join the clash.

“Silence.”

The one who acted was Su Yuehe.

As her words fell, Charles discovered in horror that the power inside him had been sealed away in an instant. His previously terrifying aura vanished without a trace.

“Perfect opportunity!”

Long Ao, who had been watching Charles’s condition closely, naturally would not let this chance slip by. He strode forward, preparing to finish him with a single blow.