Chapter 250
Chapter 250: You Call This Practice?
Vivid blue lightning tore through the dark storm clouds, striking the hard ground of the Colosseum in an unrelenting barrage.
The earth-shattering thunderclaps that followed hit the onlookers like physical blows, sending a chill rising from the depths of their hearts.
The Storm Dragon King swept its hundred-meter-long body through the cloud-choked sky, letting fierce bolts of lightning rage freely across its smooth scales.
It swept past like a whirlwind, kicking up clouds of sand and dust in all directions.
Those deep dragon pupils, like 2 blazing stars, locked with unyielding intensity onto the proud man in the Coat standing before it.
Behind Viktor, countless intricate Formation runes bloomed into existence. Radiant prismatic light and cold-blue lightning intertwined and coiled together, forming an enormous and dazzling net—its staggering power seeming to completely envelop everything within the Colosseum.
The nobles stared up at the massive draconic silhouette emerging from the storm clouds, and the great weight hanging in their hearts seemed to be struck by a violent blow. The reverberating terror surged in like a tide, instantly washing away their reason.
"Is this really...a dragon...?"
"A dragon like this...is too overwhelming..."
One noble stared blankly up at the hovering Storm Dragon King, his trembling finger following the gaze of his clouded eyes toward the blue luminescence.
The expressions on the other nobles' faces were identical to his—written over with shock and disbelief, their bodies rigid, as though struck by something utterly unprecedented.
Among those present, very few actually recognized the Storm Dragon King.
Many Mages had never joined the Mage Council, and even those who had walked the halls of Endymion rarely had the chance to encounter the Storm Dragon King within the Magic Power Gorge.
To them, a dragon of such enormity was, without question, a terrifying existence that shattered every conception they held.
But why had Viktor summoned such a terrifying creature into this Colosseum?
Suddenly, the great dragon threw its head back and let out a furious roar—the surrounding lightning, riding on the backs of those low, rumbling bellows, began to grow even more frenzied.
The bolts intensified, transforming into winding thunder serpents that danced across the Colosseum floor.
Massive cracks spread like spider webs, racing outward at tremendous speed.
The Storm Dragon King snapped its head down. Its body lurched violently, and its enormous tail—laced with high-frequency lightning—swept horizontally toward Viktor.
It cleaved through the heavy air, wrapped in churning currents, cutting a swift strike.
Bang!
Viktor looked at the incoming attack without the slightest hint of panic. His figure began to flicker, and the countless complex, prismatic-hued Formations behind him vanished from the spot all at once.
Boom!
The great white-scaled tail slammed hard into one of the Colosseum's massive pillars. The towering brown column bore the full brunt of the impact and shattered apart with a thunderous crack, instantly reduced to chunks of rock and clouds of dust that crashed heavily down onto the wide floor below.
Sky-blotting dust erupted in all directions beneath the vast overcast sky, a rolling wave of debris completely swallowing everyone in the stands.
"Cough, cough..."
"What kind of terrifying force is this?!"
The onlookers waved their arms, fanning away the haze, and forced their eyes open to peer at the Storm Dragon King heaving before them—watching the blue lightning flow along its body.
After the pillar had been fully destroyed, a fresh cascade of lightning quickly spread from it, branching out across the entire floor.
They noticed it.
The moment Viktor set foot on the ground, he would be struck by that terrifying electrical current—and electrocuted to a crisp.
Several voices in the stands couldn't help but cry out in alarm.
This great dragon...actually possessed that level of cunning?
The Dragon King gradually levitated its body into the air, while the lightning continued to writhe across the ground below.
【3rd-Tier Magic: Void Rotation】
A Formation shimmering with purple light gradually materialized from within the space, and as Viktor released the magic, the Formation began to collapse.
The next instant, the great dragon's body—already hovering in the air—seemed to be drawn by something, and began to convulse in an eerily distorted manner.
The Magic Power and lightning coursing through it were simultaneously and gradually stripped away, the two forces intertwining and weaving into streams that flowed toward several purple, void-like rifts.
Having absorbed a sufficient quantity of Magic Power, those void rifts began to fracture, and the entire surrounding space suddenly started to spin.
A vast and pitch-black infinite vortex had now fully manifested behind the Storm Dragon King—like the ravenous maw of some enormous demon, devouring everything within the great dragon's body.
Feeling the power being continuously stripped from within it, the Storm Dragon King's body shuddered violently in an instant. The surrounding lightning, as though following some guiding signal, swallowed that enormous black void whole.
The next second, the brown pillar that had just been shattered—now freed from the lightning flowing across the ground—began to tremble in midair.
The dust reversed course, drawing back as several streams flowed toward the base of a corner of the Colosseum.
Shattered rock rose up, and dust swirled through the air.
And then, that sky-supporting pillar came back into view once more, restored to what it had been.
"This...this world...it actually resets?!"
Someone had immediately spotted this extraordinary quality of the world, instantly sending a wave of astonishment rippling through the surrounding nobles.
A world that could reset—wasn't this place a natural training ground?
But the battle was not yet over. Viktor was still fighting.
The Storm Dragon King's enormous horns lunged violently toward Viktor's position.
The pillar shattered once more—yet Viktor's body transformed into a wisp of white mist, effortlessly evading the great dragon's fierce strike.
He reappeared at the center of the Colosseum, looked up at the Storm Dragon King looming above him, and raised his hand with casual ease.
The white Formation behind him began to rotate:
【3rd-Tier Magic: Wind Blade Formation】
A vast white Formation blanketed the entire Colosseum. Terrifying, razor-swift air blades transformed into countless sharp, icy gleams that sliced across the great dragon's body in a chaotic flurry.
The great dragon shuddered in pain, its howl filling the heavens and the earth.
Viktor looked upon the Storm Dragon King writhing in agony—unhurried and composed—as his voice rang out simultaneously:
"That's right. This is the training ground you're all most interested in."
The nobles watched Viktor's complete composure in the face of the great dragon, and at that moment, they stood frozen in the stands as if turned to stone.
Dumbfounded. Shocked. Unable to believe their own eyes.
Every manner of expression washed over their faces like a tide.
Going 1-on-1 with a dragon?
You call this practice?
That great dragon was so enormous it could blot out the sky—large enough to make a man's heart fill with dread and his will to fight crumble to nothing.
Who in the world could beat that?
Viktor continued releasing magic with agile precision, deftly evading the great dragon's assault that rained down like a storm.
The nobles watched Viktor's fluid movements—elegantly chipping away at the great dragon's endurance—and felt a deep and profound awe wash over them.
Even Principal Rashel found himself developing a genuine respect for Viktor's effortlessly composed combat style.
He still remembered Viktor's title—【Arbiter Who Strips Away All Phenomena】.
When the Council had deliberated over a title for Viktor, Rashel had even cast one of his precious votes in favor of this particular one.
Because the magic Viktor commanded was terrifying enough to make the heart tremble—its power far exceeding anything a conventional Mage could access.
It was like being bombarded by a storm of magic itself.
It was precisely for this reason that Viktor's overwhelming magic often overshadowed the elegance that existed within him.
In battle against Magical Creatures, Viktor seemed to be savoring a magnificent dance.
His dazzling magic and his cleverly weaving body movements worked in perfect harmony, keeping the great dragon completely under his control.
No Mage among them had ever imagined that, when facing an opponent this terrifying, anyone could maintain such composure.
The fierce battle lasted approximately 1 hour, during which the audience seemed bound by a spell, completely absorbed in what they were witnessing.
In Viktor's sharp eyes, the Storm Dragon King's HP had already dwindled to nothing.
He nimbly sidestepped the violent impact of a ball of lightning.
In the span of a single breath—
He was already standing before the Storm Dragon King's pair of furious eyes.
Viktor slipped both hands into his pockets. The Formation behind him lit up, gradually converging into a single beam of light.
Then—blazing like sunlight—it pierced clean through the great dragon's already shattered body.
Struck by that blow, the great dragon's body halted abruptly in midair, and the fury and killing intent in its eyes were extinguished in an instant.
It fell to the ground like an enormous leaf—heavy and final.
The lightning gradually subsided, and the electrical arcs between its scales faded away.
All that remained were those blue luminescent lights swaying in the wind, merging with the dust until they were one.
The onlookers in the stands stared with wide eyes at the great dragon gradually disappearing before them.
This...this couldn't be right?
That great dragon...was dead, just like that?
Everyone present knew how strong Viktor was—strong to a degree that transcended comprehension.
But none of them had anticipated that the great dragon before them would be defeated by Viktor so effortlessly.
And all through nothing but foundational magic, grinding it down to death bit by bit.
That was right—from beginning to end, Viktor, a 4th-Tier Mage, had not once used a single 4th-Tier spell.
And that great dragon—the one that had appeared utterly terrifying in their eyes—had not once, from start to finish, managed to touch so much as a hair on Viktor's body.
The crowd stood frozen in stunned silence where they were. At that moment, Viktor's voice drifted out, calm and unhurried:
"Perhaps this looks simple to you."
He kept both hands in his pockets, his expression composed, and walked toward the noble Mages with measured steps:
"But the moment you make a mistake, it will mean failure at the final hurdle."
The moment his words fell, the Storm Dragon King—already dissipated—was reconstructed by the blue luminescence, its body reforming beneath the dark and brooding storm clouds, surging to life once more.
The powerful limbs and the lightning flowing between its scales were fully restored.
Looking at the Storm Dragon King revived before them, the noble Mages were so shocked their jaws nearly dropped.
"Don't be nervous—this is simply a feature of this place."
"Everything here is safe."
Viktor said with calm composure.
"No one will die here—not even the grass. Even after it withers, it will immediately be restored."
A patch of sparse grass was incinerated by flames that appeared from thin air, reduced to ash that drifted through the sky.
2 seconds later, that ash was drawn back in reverse, reforming into sparse yet verdant grass.
"However, don't go thinking that means you can act without restraint."
Viktor explained in an even tone.
As his words settled, white Formations lit up beneath his feet, and from the light at the Formation's center, another figure of Viktor appeared—a duplicate.
A few sharp-eyed Mages recognized the magic at once, and cried out in surprise:
"That's—Phantom Mirage!"
This was a type of magic capable of creating a phantasmal duplicate. The duplicate created possessed the same amount of HP as its original owner.
A flash of light suddenly burst to life in the Storm Dragon King's eyes. The lightning between its scales exploded outward in an instant, transforming into a blue arrow that pierced straight through Viktor's duplicate.
The phantom was immediately heavily injured, collapsing to a crouch where it stood.
The Storm Dragon King twisted its body, unleashing a fierce gust of wind that struck the duplicate with full force.
In an instant, "Viktor" went completely still, lying quietly on the floor of the Colosseum—and gradually faded away.
This—?! What kind of power was that?
The onlookers stared at the Storm Dragon King's attack, struck with astonishment.
Even a Mage of Viktor's caliber could barely withstand 2 hits?
"That's why I said: don't make mistakes."
Countless people fell silent.
This was an utterly unequal battle.
The great dragon was so massive, so overwhelming.
To defeat it, without building up power in advance to boost the strength of one's magic, you'd likely be fighting for quite a long time.
And them?
Even Viktor—the strongest Mage here—could barely take 2 hits.
Was there really anyone who could pull this off?
There was.
Viktor had just shown them.
Amid the silence of the crowd, Viktor smiled—faint and unhurried:
"Well then, now."
"Is anyone willing to come up and try challenging it?"