Just out of the wolfâs den and into the tigerâs mouth.
Seeing the light particles gathering more and more on Fanyaâs knight sword, and the intense magical energy pressure released from the swordâs edge, Vinny knew that if he were to take this [Charged Light Strike] head-on, even with [Ice Steel], he would definitely be overwhelmed.
He had to find a way to break the situation.
Fanyaâs level was higher than his, but no matter how strong her talent was, it couldnât surpass the fate of the heroines.
These troublesome light element crosses that hindered his movement could be destroyed, but they probably couldnât be shattered in a short time.
Moreover, judging from the situation, Vinny guessed that Fanya, as the user, could freely move in and out of these light walls, while he, sealed by the crosses, could not.
For the opponent, this was a really troublesome and terrible magic, equivalent to a one-way door. Fanya could enter the door at any time to beat him, but if he wanted to move, the door wouldnât be open to him.
With this in mind, the cold light on Vinnyâs [Ice Fang] burst forth. He grabbed the tail of the spear, and the spear blade, carrying a bone-chilling icy blue light, swung fiercely around him.
[Frost Moon Slash]
âSwish! Swish!â
The frost power caused the surrounding temperature to drop sharply. Snowflakes fluttered on the blade of [Ice Fang], and where it passed, a patch of ice thorns was born, freezing the ground around him and also freezing the light crosses.
âHas Vinnyâs brain been beaten to mush? Isnât this sealing his own path?â a student on the stands teased.
âNo, no, do you know what the effect of [Holy Wood Seal] is?â A student who was also a [Saint Envoy] soul armament user saw the trick.
On the stands, Isatia instantly understood what Vinny was trying to do when she saw this scene.
His comprehension of ice magic was indeed strong.
The ice element released by Vinny did freeze the ground around him, but it also froze Fanyaâs light crosses.
This meant that the pure light element crosses were frozen into solid ice sculptures.
In other words, Fanya could no longer launch a one-sided attack on Vinny, and she couldnât pass through the light crosses she had released. To hit Vinny, she had to first shatter the frozen crosses.
Fanya also realized this. To be honest, before the battle, she hadnât expected Vinny to be so troublesome.
She unconsciously became serious. If she didnât concentrate all her attention, the outcome would be hard to predict.
The light particles in the air continued to gather on her sword blade. The power of [Charged Light Strike] became more and more terrifying, but Fanya showed no intention of attacking. She stared intently at the frozen crosses and ice thorns, unmoving.
On the other side, Vinny also remained motionless, as if he wouldnât move unless Fanya did.
Anyway, the ice thorns blocked Fanyaâs view, making her unaware and unable to see what Vinny was doing at this moment.
Both sides waited in place, as if they had agreed not to move first.
However, Fanya couldnât hold out in the end. The [Charged Light Strike] in her hand had already absorbed too much of her mana. If she continued to accumulate power, there was a risk of her magic running out.
So she couldnât wait, but Vinny could.
In fact, this was a duel of psychological strength. Whoever moved first would lose.
Fanya was waiting for Vinnyâs psychological defenses to collapse first, unable to withstand her continuously accumulating power outside the ice thorns, bringing [Charged Light Strike] to a level where she could instantly kill him. To find an opportunity, Vinny would definitely rush out of the ice thorns to interrupt her accumulation.
If that happened, she would win.
If Vinny was completely ignorant of the [Charged Light Strike] spell, Fanya might have really won.
However, it was a pity that Vinny was not only not ignorant of this spell, but he had even used it himself beforeâat most, he just didnât know some more advanced usage techniques.
What was the characteristic of [Charged Light Strike]? It could only be swung once.
Vinny knew very well that a [Charged Light Strike] could only be swung once at most. Unless the light element affinity reached excellence, there would be no leftover light element magic after one use. Even if it did reach excellence, the remaining light element wouldnât be enough for a second swing.
So Vinny wasnât anxious at all. He knew Fanya only had two choices: either cancel [Charged Light Strike], but once she did that, the mana she consumed would be wasted.
Generally, young people of this age were a bit impetuous, so the probability of doing this was almost zero. After accumulating such a big move for so long, how could she not use it?
The second choice was to use [Charged Light Strike] to break open her frozen crosses. Otherwise, the situation would remain deadlocked.
So, the current situation seemed like Fanya had the initiative, with the [Charged Light Strike] in her hand growing stronger and stronger, and he was waiting for deathâbut in reality, it wasnât so.
Fanya couldnât see what he was doing, which would bring her invisible psychological pressure.
And he, Vinny, didnât need to think to know that Fanya must still be holding onto [Charged Light Strike], unwilling to let it go.
One didnât know what the other was doing, while the other knew what the former was doing, and had no restrictions on hand, so he could plan ahead. This information gap, in fact, had already determined the outcome to some extent.
Not moving? Still not moving? Fine, you donât move, I wonât move either. Letâs see who can hold out longer.
Vinny was ready, just waiting for Fanya to break the ice.
It was worth mentioning that the [Charged Light Strike] spell seemed to be able to accumulate power infinitely. It sounded impressive, but it was also the chain that bound her, making her waste more and more resources on it, increasingly unwilling to let go.
After all, the mana used to accumulate power for [Charged Light Strike] wouldnât be returned. The longer it dragged on, the less mana Fanya would have left.
Finally, Fanya seemed to have made a decision in her struggle. She knew she had to act to break the ice, otherwise, if the two continued to stalemate, Vinny wouldnât even have to act before her mana was drained by [Charged Light Strike].
She had also figured out that even if she used [Charged Light Strike] to shatter the ice, she still had enough leeway to defeat Vinny. There was no need to obsess over this one move.
With the powerful Cassian swordsmanship and Saint light magic, she still had many moves she hadnât used yet.
So, she moved, stepping forward and raising her knight sword to break the ice.
In an instant, the light burst forth, and the shattered ice fragments were bathed in a dazzling and brilliant beam, each piece reflecting a crystal-like luster, maximizing the spectacle.
However, Fanya, who had shattered the ice, didnât think so. Due to the intense light element released by [Charged Light Strike], she was momentarily blinded by the light reflected from the ice fragments she had shattered.
And when she looked to where Vinny should have been, she didnât see a single figure.
Fanyaâs eyes flickered with hesitation, but then a shadow blocked her from above.
She muttered a curse and suddenly looked up. In the air, the iron-clad man with [Ice Fang] under his arm was diving towards her.
How was this possible?!
Fanya was stunned.
Impossible, when did he...? And with that armor, how could he jump so high??
Soon, Fanya got her answer. She saw the ice locks on Vinnyâs palms that hadnât yet dissipated.
Thatâs right, long before Fanya was about to shatter the ice thorns, Vinny had made preparations. He released [Ice Lock], binding two symmetrical ice pillars. The moment Fanya launched her attack, before the light magic impact could reach the ice pillars, Vinny retracted [Ice Lock], using it to pull himself into the air.
At the moment the ice was shattered, Fanya, because she was using light element magic, was blinded by the reflected light from the ice fragments. This was also within his calculations.
With such a window, it was entirely possible to take off without Fanya noticing.
By the time he was about to dive down, Fanya only then realized where he was, but it was already too late.
Blinded by the ice fragments and not seeing where Vinny was at first, in the moment of hesitation, Fanya didnât even have the leeway to move her gaze away, let alone dodge.
Noticing where he was at this point, apart from understanding how she died, had no meaning.
âYour strength is somewhat recognized by this young master, but unfortunately, this young master is an insurmountable mountain for you.â
âTruly blind to gold inlaid with jade, what kind of stray cats and dogs dare to challenge the notorious young master of Camellaâs capital??â
âRemember, this young master has no rivals!â The resounding words spread throughout the audience stands. Clearly, Vinny wasnât just speaking to Fanya.
[Ice Steel]
The iron-clad manâs body was covered with a layer of ice crystal-like armor, and he smashed down fiercely towards Fanya, who had no leeway to dodge.
âLittle girl, take this young masterâs Mountain Press!â
âBoom! Boom! Boom!!!â Vinny, landing on the ground, exploded like a heavy bomb in the arena, sending countless ice fragments and frost flying.
The arena was shrouded in frost and snow.
â......â The audience stands were silent. Many people moved their lips but ultimately said nothing, their eyes fixed on the battlefield where the smoke hadnât yet cleared, still expecting something, but in fact, everyone knew the outcome was already decided.
Fanya, with disheveled hair, lay on the ground, her eyes filled with confusion and blankness, as if she hadnât yet realized she had been defeated.
The iron-clad man knelt on one knee beside her, holding the ice spear, silent.
In this Mountain Press move he had held back, stopping at the point.
After hitting Fanya, he stoppedâotherwise, the ground where Fanya lay would have been smashed into a huge ice pit.
âClick.â A crisp sound woke Fanya, followed by the refereeâs announcement of victory.
âThe winner is decided. This ranking battle is won by Vinny Varelis, successfully defending his rank. The rank remains unchanged. For this semester, Fanya Cassian cannot challenge Vinny Varelis again.â
Vinny stood up, dispelled [Armour Fortress], and transformed [Ice Fang] back into an earring, hanging it on his earlobe. He glanced at Fanya, said nothing, and turned to leave.
âVirtue + 30.â
âVirtue + 20.â
âCurrent Virtue: 54.â
Huh? Why did virtue increase? And twice?
Vinny looked puzzledly at the audience stands. Apart from the batches of deathly silent spectators, he keenly caught sight of that black-haired beauty.
It was Isatia.
She had watched the entire duel??
Vinny was surprised that Isatia would take the initiative to pay attention to him.
He had only met her once in the secret realm, and there was one exchange that didnât count as communication.
Vinny thought that with the title of her ânominal fiancĂ©â, someone as proud as Isatia would definitely not take the initiative to associate with him.
Well, she was probably just bored, watching casually. In her eyes, his previous duel was nothing more than childâs play.
One virtue was provided by Isatia, probably the first time she had given him virtue. As for the other one...
That golden-haired little devil who had been cheering for Fanya to beat him up was now gnashing her teeth in anger, baring her teeth at him, and raising her pink fist, saying something.
Although both had emotional changes, they were probably different. Vinny didnât know about Isatiaâs, but Millianâs was definitely because she didnât see him get beaten up, causing him to lose his rank.
However, this reminded Vinny.
He noticed the batch of spectators on the stands with awkward and embarrassed expressions.
Oh? Was he, Vinny, so popular? Just a ranking battle had so many people watching. Next time, he should charge for tickets, otherwise, it would be a real pity.
Thinking this, Vinnyâs lips curled up, and he gave a big middle finger to these spectators who came to watch his downfall.
âBastards, here to watch daddyâs ranking battle again? Do you like watching daddy so much? Now that daddy has won, whatâs wrong with you all, why arenât you happy??â
âWhatâs the matter? Are you all bastards hoping for daddy to lose?? Tsk tsk, alright, meeting adjourned. Remember from now on, anyone who wants daddyâs rank, just come, daddy will entertain them one by one.â After saying this, under the angry and complex gazes of the crowd, Vinny swaggered around the audience stands and walked out of the arena with his head held high.
âThe previous ranking battle was very exciting.â Just as Vinny was about to leave the arena, he happened to meet someone who didnât choose to pass by him pretending not to know.
â......Uh?â Looking at Isatia who had taken the initiative to speak to him, Vinny didnât know how to respond for a moment.
Watching his battle was incidental. He really hadnât expected her to take the initiative to talk to him when they met.
After all, in the original work, Isatia had completely ignored Vinny, only taking severe action when he became a mid-boss. Apart from that, it was as if Vinny didnât exist in her world.
The imperial family, due to the Varelis familyâs loss of power and the controversial bloodline, had been trying to erase all relations with the Varelis family, including the arranged marriage and past promises.
And Isatia was extremely averse to and rejected the fate decided by others. Although the original intentions were different, in this regard, the imperial family and Isatiaâs thoughts coincided.