Mo Fan at his best – Versatile Mage

Mo Fan looked at Saeed and smiled. “Hey, stop looking so gloomy. Are you still going to play or not? Is this all the strength your official Egyptian team is capable of?”

Saeed’s face twisted.

He desperately wanted to fight Mo Fan himself, to tear apart that mocking expression and avenge his Death Blade Mummy. But the truth sat heavily in his chest like a stone.

Mo Fan had killed his Death Blade Mummy in one blow.

That was not something Saeed could overcome by relying on anger. Even if he had hidden tactics and special cards, those were reserved for Venice, for the true World Academy Competition. Using them here, in a National Pavilion challenge, would be beyond foolish.

At this moment, someone from the Chinese National Pavilion below spoke up. “He said when he came that if he lost, their challenge would be considered a failure.”

As soon as one person spoke, the others immediately followed.

“That’s right. He said it himself.”

“Egypt already lost.”

“Don’t tell me they want to go back on their word?”

Saeed’s expression became even uglier. His pride was being trampled under everyone’s eyes.

Mo Fan raised his hand and gestured for the Pavilion members to quiet down. Then he looked back at Saeed and said, “I think there are probably others in your team who aren’t convinced. After all, I’ve heard your people are quite shameless. Call them over now. I’ll deal with all of them at once.”

He paused, his smile becoming even more provocative. “Of course, if you can call someone strong enough to pin me to the ground, that would count as avenging your undead.”

“What did you say?” Saeed’s eyes widened, his face flushed with anger.

Mo Fan tilted his head. “You can’t afford to lose? Do you need me to repeat myself?”

“We can afford to lose! It’s just a National Pavilion badge!” Saeed roared.

“Heh.”

Mo Fan looked at him with obvious sarcasm. “As if you can make that decision.”

“You—!”

Saeed was filled with rage, but he could not deny it.

He truly could not make that decision alone.

His Death Blade Mummy had already been destroyed, and if Egypt really left after losing to a single Pavilion challenge, the humiliation would be unbearable. But if they continued fighting and lost even worse, that would be even more disgraceful.

“Hurry up,” Mo Fan said impatiently. “Let me see where you people get the confidence to put on airs here.”

Saeed clenched his teeth and made the call.

They spoke in Egyptian, so Mo Fan could not understand the conversation clearly. However, judging from Saeed’s expression, it was not hard to tell that he was extremely annoyed and unwilling.

Before long, the other members of Egypt’s National Team arrived at the Pavilion.

Among them was a woman whose expression looked especially unpleasant. She had tanned skin, sharp eyes, and an aggressive posture, as if she had already decided that everyone here owed her an explanation.

After learning what had happened to Saeed, her brows immediately furrowed.

She had not expected Saeed to fall into such a miserable state.

Her gaze quickly locked onto Mo Fan.

“It was just a friendly sparring match at the National Pavilion. Why did you kill his undead?” she demanded coldly. “Hand over the essence of the Death Blade Mummy!”

Mo Fan raised one finger.

“One hundred million.”

The entire Egyptian team froze.

“What did you say?!” Mios’ expression changed.

It was only the essence of a Warrior-level undead creature. She had demanded it back simply so Saeed could recover some combat power as quickly as possible. She had never expected Mo Fan to directly make such an outrageous demand.

Mo Fan sneered. “Undead are relentless creatures. Once they attack, they fight to the death. If I didn’t kill it, should I have let it keep wasting my magic energy?”

He looked at Mios with disdain. “As for its essence, you said it yourself—it belonged to the undead I killed. That makes it my spoils. You think I’ll hand it over just because you opened your mouth? Who do you think you are?”

Mios’ face darkened.

Mo Fan continued, “Anyway, if you can’t afford to lose, then challenge me. If you don’t want to challenge me, then get out.”

Mios’ eyes turned cold. “You? I could cripple you with one finger. Get out of my sight before I change my mind. What a backward and rude country. I’m fed up with you people!”

Mo Fan’s smile disappeared slightly.

“Politeness is for people,” he said. “Against dogs, fists are enough. So, are you going to admit defeat and get out, or keep barking?”

The temperature in the arena seemed to drop.

The Chinese Pavilion members all felt their blood boiling. They had been suppressed badly earlier, and now Mo Fan’s words were exactly the kind of retaliation they had been holding back.

Mios’ chest rose and fell with anger.

“If we win, you will return Saeed’s undead essence!” she shouted.

“That’s not impossible,” Mo Fan said. “But if you lose and still want it, the price doubles.”

Before Mios could answer, another Egyptian student stepped forward.

“Saeed is only a mid-to-lower tier member of our team. It’s no big deal if you beat him,” said Shreve, his prominent front teeth making his expression look even more unpleasant. “Let me take care of you.”

Shreve and Saeed had never been on good terms. Seeing Saeed humiliated had actually made him happier than anyone. If he could step forward now and defeat Mo Fan, not only would he recover Egypt’s face, he could also suppress Saeed’s arrogance later.

Shreve walked slowly into the arena.

Mo Fan looked at the dark-skinned foreigner, his ugly teeth, and his even uglier expression. Impatience flashed across his face.

Bai Dongwei hesitated, but seeing that both sides had already stepped forward, he finally announced, “Begin!”

The moment the word fell, Mo Fan moved.

There was no probing.

No courtesy.

No slow exchange.

The fire in his spiritual world surged like a furnace suddenly kicked open. Crimson star trails linked together at terrifying speed, flowing across his body like molten veins. The surrounding air instantly dried out, and the faint humidity left in the arena was burned into thin white steam.

Mo Fan raised his fist.

A bluish-black flame gathered around his arm, first as a spark, then as a roaring spiral. The fire compressed layer by layer, becoming denser and heavier, until it no longer looked like ordinary flame but like a meteor dragged from the sky and clenched in his hand.

Fiery Fist!

The ground beneath Mo Fan’s feet cracked from the pressure of the magic. Heat waves rolled outward, forcing the Pavilion members near the edge of the arena to raise their arms and shield their faces.

Shreve had just opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something arrogant.

But Mo Fan’s fist had already fallen.

Boom!

A colossal burning fist erupted forward.

The flame was not a simple ball of fire. It carried terrifying momentum, crushing through the air with a deep roar. The entire arena brightened as if a small sun had exploded at ground level.

Shreve’s expression changed drastically.

He hurriedly activated his defensive magic tool, and a layer of protective light appeared around him. At the same time, sand and dust rose beneath his feet, forming a crude barrier in front of him.

But the Fiery Fist crashed into him like a flaming war chariot.

The sand barrier evaporated instantly.

The defensive light shook violently for less than half a second before shattering into sparks.

The next moment, Shreve was swallowed by bluish-black flames.

The explosion lifted him off the ground. His body flew backward like a broken kite, leaving a trail of fire in the air before crashing heavily outside the arena.

Bang!

He rolled across the ground several times, his clothes scorched black, his hair half-burned, and his exposed skin red from the heat. Only when the Pavilion staff quickly activated emergency protection did the remaining flames finally fade.

Shreve immediately began wailing in pain.

The entire Egyptian team fell silent.

Mo Fan lowered his fist slowly. The last traces of bluish-black flame curled around his knuckles before disappearing.

“So,” Mo Fan said indifferently, “your little desert produces people like this? No ability, but still barking like dogs?”

The Egyptian team members’ faces turned pale with shock.

They had not expected Shreve to be defeated in one move.

Earlier, all they knew was that Mo Fan had used Light Magic to restrain Saeed’s Death Blade Mummy. They thought Saeed had simply been countered by element advantage and caught off guard. Unfortunately, the Death Blade Mummy had been destroyed too quickly, so Saeed had not gathered any useful information.

Now they finally understood.

Mo Fan was not relying on Light to counter undead.

His Fire alone was terrifying.

Mios’ expression grew darker.

Even so, she still took off her jacket, revealing her tanned arms, and walked step by step toward the arena.

“Mios,” Captain Sind suddenly said in a serious tone. “Why don’t you let me handle this? This guy isn’t simple. He’s probably not an ordinary Pavilion Keeper.”

Everyone’s expression changed.

Captain Sind was actually considering taking action personally?

For a mere National Pavilion challenge?

“Hmph. Do you really think I’ll lose?” Mios turned back, clearly annoyed.

“That’s not what I meant,” Sind said. “I just feel that if I fight, our chance of winning will be higher. Judging from the strength he has shown, your chances of winning are probably less than sixty percent.”

“Less than sixty percent?” Mios sneered. “You really think too highly of him.”

She ignored Sind and walked into the center of the arena.

Mo Fan watched them whispering and said lazily, “What are you discussing? If you don’t want to embarrass yourselves one by one, just send your strongest member up.”

Mios was instantly enraged.

But she seemed to forget that they were the ones who had first shown contempt and disdain toward the Chinese Pavilion.

Standing on the battlefield, Mios stared at Mo Fan and shouted, “I’ll make you pay!”

A thin layer of sand spread from beneath her feet.

At first it was only a faint golden dust, but soon it began crawling across the ground like a living thing. The sand seeped into cracks, covered stones, and rose into the air in tiny spirals. Within moments, the battlefield seemed to be covered in a dry desert haze.

The air became heavy and grainy.

Fine sand floated everywhere, interfering with vision and breathing.

Mios lifted her hand, and the sand responded instantly, wrapping around her like a defensive field. The entire arena seemed to have shifted from Pavilion terrain into the edge of a desert battlefield.

Mo Fan did not waste words.

The Fire Star Map formed again.

The speed was outrageous.

To ordinary mages, linking stars under pressure required focus and time. But Mo Fan’s stars moved like soldiers drilled countless times, each one falling into position with brutal precision. In barely a breath, the star map blazed beneath his feet.

The bluish-black flame surged even more violently than before.

This time, the Fiery Fist was heavier.

The fire around Mo Fan’s arm spiraled into the shape of a dragon’s maw. Heat distorted the air, making his figure blur for a moment. The ground beneath him turned red, and the sand Mios had spread nearby began to melt into dark glassy patches.

Mios’ expression changed slightly.

She immediately raised an Earth Shield. Layers of sand and stone gathered in front of her, condensing into a thick wall. At the same time, a magical armor appeared across her body, its surface covered in brown-gold patterns.

Mo Fan punched.

BOOM!

The Fiery Fist roared forward.

The sand in its path was blasted aside in a blazing tunnel. The thick Earth Shield trembled violently the instant it was struck, cracks spreading across it like spiderwebs.

Then it shattered.

Not cracked.

Not pushed back.

Shattered.

Flaming fragments of stone burst in every direction. The bluish-black flames slammed into Mios’ armor next, burning its surface red-hot. The armor glowed as if it had been thrown into a forge, and Mios was forced backward several steps, her boots carving deep trenches through the sandy ground.

Her chest tightened.

Before she could even catch her breath, Mo Fan’s second star map had already formed.

Mios’ pupils shrank.

Another one?

A second Fiery Fist came screaming toward her.

This one was even faster. The flaming fist tore through the sand haze, leaving behind a burning vacuum. The pressure alone made Mios feel as if a mountain of fire was rolling toward her.

The Egyptian team members stared in disbelief.

Such a powerful destructive spell, and he was throwing it out one after another?

Was this guy’s magic energy bottomless?

Mios clenched her teeth and stomped the ground.

The sand around her suddenly rose into a spiral fortress. Countless grains rotated violently, forming layers of grinding defense. The second Fiery Fist collided with it, and for a moment the entire arena was filled with the sound of sand being burned, crushed, and blown apart.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Flames exploded through the sandstorm in waves.

The outer layer was incinerated.

The second layer was scattered.

The third layer barely held for a heartbeat before being punched open.

Mios was once again blasted backward. Her magical armor flickered violently, and scorching heat seeped through the protection, making her face pale.

She had not even started her true offensive rhythm.

Mo Fan was already suppressing her completely.

He stood in place, flames curling around his arms, his eyes calm and sharp.

“Is that it?” Mo Fan asked. “I thought you were going to cripple me with one finger.”

Mios’ expression twisted with anger.

The sand around her suddenly surged higher, forming several sharp spears that hovered in the air. At the same time, the ground beneath Mo Fan softened, turning into sinking sand that tried to drag his legs down.

Mo Fan lowered his gaze.

A faint silver light flashed in his pupils.

The space around his feet distorted slightly. Before the sinking sand could fully trap him, his body shifted half a step to the side with uncanny precision. The sand spears shot down at the same moment, stabbing into the place where he had just been standing.

Puff! Puff! Puff!

The spears pierced the ground, but Mo Fan had already moved.

Shadow spread beneath him, and his figure flickered through the dim edge of the arena like a black flame. When he appeared again, he was already at Mios’ flank.

Mios reacted quickly, turning and raising another sand wall.

But Mo Fan’s fist was already burning.

The third Fiery Fist erupted.

This time, it struck from the side.

The sand wall exploded instantly, and Mios was thrown sideways. Her magical armor finally let out a sharp cracking sound. A burn mark spread across its surface, and the impact forced her to roll across the ground before she barely stabilized herself with sand.

The Egyptian team members could no longer remain calm.

Mios was being beaten.

Not tested.

Not pressured.

Beaten.

And Mo Fan had not even used Advanced Fire Magic.

He was using mid-tier Fire Magic with such terrifying control, compression, and destructive force that it looked almost comparable to High Tier spells.

Sind’s expression became completely serious.

“This is not a Pavilion Keeper,” he said in a low voice.

The others looked at him.

Sind stared at Mo Fan. “He’s an official National Team member.”

On the Chinese side, Bai Dongwei’s heart shook.

Official National Team member.

No wonder.

But even among official members, wasn’t this strength a little too ridiculous?

Dongfang Lie watched Mo Fan in silence, his hands clenched tightly.

He had always known Mo Fan was strong, but watching him crush another country’s official members like this still made him feel suffocated.

This guy had grown even more monstrous.

Mo Fan glanced at Mios, who was struggling to stand, and said calmly, “Still fighting?”

Mios gritted her teeth so hard they nearly cracked.

The sand around her surged again, but this time, her anger carried a trace of fear.

Mo Fan took one step forward.

The flames around him rose higher.

The entire arena seemed to tilt toward him, heat and pressure rolling outward like a storm.

“Then come,” Mo Fan said. “I’ll give you one more chance.”