Heir of Synthesis: The World Mage

Together with a storm of lightning, all of Barak’s skin changed, becoming covered in an iron color. But it was not just a change of color; it was a bodily transformation, making his body gain metal armor.

This was the Ancestral Art of that race. It was a variation of the earth element, metal; possessing great defensive power and, at the same time, being more flexible, acquiring much more offensive properties.

But Barak did not only use his race’s transformation; he also activated an Earth-class Magic Art of the lightning element. Everyone powerful in the hall knew the capabilities of that technique.

"A combination of elements!" some young people in the hall exclaimed, surprised.

Among Mages of the Mortal Plane, it was common to choose a single element and specialize in it. But in the Divine Plane, Mages usually possessed several different specialties. Barak demonstrating such a high mastery over two distinct areas made the enormous difference between him and the others clear.

"What a terrifying combination..." the leader of a smaller clan murmured.

The transformation into metal granted him defense and cutting power, while the lightning element gave him speed and explosive power. Those two things complemented each other perfectly, turning Barak into a terrifying monster.

A green aura flowed through thin lines in the metal armor on his body. He was a Physical Mage.

Shione, Flaris, and Lumiere even forgot to breathe. They stared at Priam’s opponent, completely stunned.

Instinctively, they felt that if they were in Priam’s place, losing in a single move would be the best possible outcome. They probably would not even manage to defend themselves before being gravely injured.

But when they focused on Priam... they noticed that he was only observing the figure in front of him with a curious look.

At that moment, Barak’s breathing slowed slightly while the electric glow around him increased. He pointed the spear at Priam and said with disdain:

"Come. Let’s see how long you can resist!"

*Ripppp!*

The howl of a wild storm echoed intensely, and the Barak standing before Priam disappeared... replaced by no less than ten afterimages, which seemed both real and illusory at the same time.

Around each afterimage, there was powerful electric energy. In other words, destroying an illusion would make the attacker suffer from an explosion of lightning.

"What kind of movement is that?!" The young people who did not know that Magic Art were stunned. "More than ten afterimages... and all of them look the same... how can anyone deal with that?!"

Even the demons of the Sun of the Underworld Clan were surprised and tense. Creating so many afterimages showed masterful control over the element. The potential Barak demonstrated exerted great pressure even on them.

Priam remained motionless, as if he had been struck by sudden shock.

When the afterimages approached within three meters of him, the far-right afterimage abruptly accelerated, advancing at high speed to attack.

"!"

The air was violently torn apart, but... there was nothing beyond that sound.

All the powerful people in the hall had serious expressions.

The Earth-class Magic Art that Barak used with lightning was something the Iron Fang Clan had possessed for a long time, awakening envy in everyone else. The few who managed to master it were capable of controlling afterimages known for being almost impossible to dodge.

But the afterimage attack Barak used as soon as he entered the scene... struck only his opponent’s afterimage!!!

After a brief instant, Barak quickly moved again, while his heart pounded uncontrollably.

That was simply the greatest humiliation possible.

When he turned around, Barak saw Priam appear a few meters away and run in his direction.

As he approached, his body suddenly trembled and his vision blurred for an instant. Then, he realized that there were now four images of Priam in front of him!

They advanced at the same time from the front, from above, from the left, and from the right. Seeing that, his eyes narrowed, and Barak laughed coldly to himself:

"Before, when I let you pass using your afterimage, it was because I wasn’t prepared. Even so, you still dare show off your afterimage in front of me... You’re courting death!!!"

Because his clan had possessed a high-level Magic Art for a long time, they were naturally skilled at neutralizing other similar movement Magic Arts. Using his senses connected to the lightning in the environment, Barak fully trusted that he could differentiate false afterimages from the real body.

However, in the next instant, his eyes widened, because, based on the feedback he felt...

All four figures of Priam were real!

"How... how was this possible?!"

Barak was completely lost and did not dare defend carelessly. Instead, he retreated at high speed.

However, while retreating, he realized that Priam’s figure was getting closer and closer. And as Priam advanced, three of the figures disappeared, revealing the real body already less than one meter away from him...

Priam laughed internally.

In terms of speed, his unknown wind-element Magic Art, used together with the Celestial Aeolian Steps, the Earth-class Magic Art he had bought, placed him on a completely different level.

Those afterimages were things that came from the Celestial Aeolian Steps.

In front of Priam, Barak was like a turtle in a race.

Seeing Priam getting closer and closer, Barak’s eyes widened again, as if he had seen a ghost in broad daylight. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and attacked with his spear, concentrating the offensive power of his bodily transformation.

But...

The branch moved like black lightning and deflected the spear!

*Slap! Slap! Slap!*

The hall sank into silence once again.

The audience, who had already been left speechless before by Priam’s superior speed, was now completely catatonic... one could even say they had gone insane.

Priam was violently striking Barak’s face with... a fucking branch!

Barak tried to counterattack, but only hit the wind. Then Priam appeared beside him again and delivered another cruel blow.

And another...

Again.

Once more...

It was a one-sided beating.

Barak’s face was struck repeatedly by a branch! Without stopping. Without any mercy.

With each blow, the mark of the branch and its leaves was stamped on his face.

But the worst part was not that... those marks pierced through his metallic physique. With each strike, visible cracks could be seen on his skin. His defenses were completely useless.

It was not exactly the branch causing all of this. In truth, Priam was deliberately hitting the enemy’s face to make him feel more and more humiliated.

This idiot was only a young man from the Mortal Plane, using an Ancestral Art created by a terrifyingly powerful person. Obviously, he could not maintain it for very long or use it properly.

In front of everyone, what Priam was doing was shaking his enemy’s mind to the point that he could not keep his metal physique stable. The Ether being consumed to maintain everything began to circulate chaotically through his body, so his Ancestral Art was breaking apart on its own.

This was legitimate psychological damage! And all the more powerful people there realized it clearly, swallowing hard.

After more than a dozen strikes...

*BANG!*

Everyone realized that Priam had simply lost the will to continue with that. So, he appeared directly in front of Barak and delivered a thunderous punch to his stomach, sending him flying.

Barak violently collided against the barrier and then vomited a mouthful of blood.

When he fell to the ground, he could no longer get up.

It was the end.

This round had been an honest confrontation, with Barak using every advantage he possessed. He truly had not held back, yet he was still defeated by Priam... no, this was definitely a humiliating beating.

It was not the first time something like that had happened. Even so... many were shocked, others were perplexed, and the youngest ones were completely stunned.

As for the Ylisse clan’s table, Orlaith remained standing there with her expression frozen. After a few seconds, she took a deep breath and murmured, stunned:

"This boy is unbelievable... unbelievable."