'Lord Eos?' Recognizing the Devil God's laughter instantly, Adonis raised his brows.
{You don't have time to rejoice in my return mortal, finish this quickly.}
"Arrghh!" Feeling the shape and size of his soul transform once more, Adonis spilt more blood on the grass.
DRIP DRIP
"Inferno magic: Hell bullet." The small candle-like flame on the magic knight's finger burst forward with considerable speed, heading straight towards the large multicoloured magic circle.
BOOM
"What's he doi-" Amber frowned.
When the ivory flame made contact with one of the magic circle's ruins, the entire circle disappeared; vanishing from existence.
"What th-" Feeling his connection to the magic circle to disappear Tarzy groaned.
"Ha!" Luna exclaimed.
"Thi-" Amber choked on her thoughts.
"He..." Lutz's eyes widened.
"No way." Jerald frowned.
"..." Marie remained silent.
"That's just not fair." Maxwell smiled.
"Sh-" Toni manifested a complicated expression.
"My mana!" Flora said.
***
A tent in the forest's outskirts.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Hahaha!" Breaking the shocked silence was the hearty laughter of an excited young man.
"He burnt mana?! Hahaha!" Unable to contain his amusement, Elder clutched his stomach and continued to bellow loudly.
***
Inferno magic is the name bestowed upon the destructive magic affinity ever to exist.
This magic affinity grants the user, Adonis P. Vindicta (Oizys Hermes), the ability to manipulate and create the ivory flames of hell.
These pure flames are so blisteringly hot that upon contact, they don't simply burn the target; rather, they completely erased it from existence.
Whether it's matter, energy, forces, or anything else—existent or non-existent—there's nothing these flames can't burn.
Currently, only two variations of the magic affinity exist: the essence and matter variation respectively.
***
The forest's centre
'He destroyed one rune on our magic circle... Destroying the entire thing.' Amber focused on the purple-haired youth.
"All our mana has been wasted." Toni complained.
"Your plan went to shit!" Luna screamed at the PTC.
"How is burning mana even possible?" Marie pondered.
"Destroying mana shouldn't be possible," Jerald mumbled.
"ARGHHH!!!" Disrupting the discussion were the piercing screams of the seventh Rising Star.
{You're being loud, mortal. You've died before, stop overreacting.} The deity said boredly.
'What the hell have you done to me?!' Adonis fell to his knees as the pain intensified.
{I'll explain later, either forfeit now or quickly defeat these brats.}
'Why?'
{I'm saying this in your best interest. There are too many eyes here, if you don't leave now you'll be exposed.}
"I-l..." Trying to ignore the increasing pain, Adonis slowly rose to his feet.
DUMMM
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"Is he seriously going to try to fight us in that condition?" Tarzy stared at the rising star with an emotion resembling pity.
"That's the spirit." Luna grinned.
{Oizys I'd advise you don't use magic... If you do you'll transform into your damon form.}
"O-oh okay..." Adonis ambled towards a large tree behind him.
"What's he doing?" Flora wondered.
Adonis placed his hand on the thick bark and gripped it tightly, digging his fingers into the tree.
SHATTER
He then raised his left foot and slammed it into the base of the massive tree.
On contact the tree severed, into a huge unprocessed log.
BAM
{That must be nostalgic.}
Moaning at the neverending pain, Adonis wrapped his arm around the log and released the full extent of his Earthly Aura.
DUMMMM
"He's not done yet?!" Maxwell instinctively stepped back.
"He still has that much energy?!" Amber's mouth gaped open.
"What could he possibly do now." Lutz got into a fighting stance.
Rather than coating just the log in Earthly Aura, Adonis enhanced his entire body; his injured arms, legs, and every single muscle in the boy's body absorbed the Earthly Aura.
{While that's smart, this isn't the time for greed Oizys.} The Devil God criticised the boy's plans.
'...'
BOOM
Pushing his body past its physical limits, Adonis dashed at his opponents at the speed of sound.
Before any of the magic knights could react, Adonis was before them; horizontally swinging the large log at all nine of them.
"Supreme Devil Art: Divine Divider." He whispered.
BOOM
WHOOSH
[Tarzy Goliath the first Rising Star has been Eliminated.]
[Luna Triksta the second Rising Star has been Eliminated.]
[Amber Shine the third Rising Star has been Eliminated.]
[Lutz van Alexia the fourth Rising Star has been Eliminated.]
[Jerald Cecil the fifth Rising Star has been Eliminated.]
[Marie Jupiter the sixth Rising Star has been Eliminated.]
[Maxwell Aster the eighth Rising Star has been Eliminated.]
[Toni Modster the tenth Rising Star has been Eliminated.]
[Flora Evergreen Class A has been Eliminated.]
[....]
[Adonis P. Vindicta the seventh Rising Star is the victor of the Hero's Magic Knights Academy's first-year battle royale.]
[Due to nine of the contestants being eliminated at the exact same time, positions second to ninth will be decided by the number of contestants eliminated by each contestant.]
***
The tent on the forest's outskirts
"He...Won?"
"That commoner."
"Congratulations Adonis." Elder Mars smiled warmly and exited the tent.
Instead of having to push through the academy staff, they all instinctively stepped to the side, giving him more than enough space to pass by.
"I hope you're okay." Hiram Vindicta smiled.
"You and your brother must be really close for you to be making such an expression." Professor Fitzburg looked at his assistant.
"H-he's not my brother." She blushed.
***
[Adonis P. Vindicta Congratulations on your victory, please make your way to the medical facility.]
"Argh..." Ignoring the announcer's instructions, Adonis continuously supplied his legs with Earthly Aura.
'It's already starting.' Adonis's pearly white teeth grew sharper, digging into his lips.
{Then leave already.}
Adonis dashed north before the pain could reach the point of immobilizing him.
BOOM
THUD
THUD
THUD
In less than fifteen seconds the boy was out of the forest.
After thirty more seconds, Adonis had exited the academy, his body deteriorating with every second.
***
30 minutes later
A cave on the outskirts of Hero City
"ARGHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
At the heart of a deep, damp cave laid a single young man, completely exposed and decorated with dozens of cuts, scratches, gashes, and burns.
Differing from his regular state, the boy's previously pale skin bore a noticeable tan. His untidy Russian violet hair had transformed into a much darker shade, cascading over his eyes and ear lobes.
Adonis's once-luminous silver eyes had shifted, adopting an otherworldly orangish silver resembling that of a demonic entity.
'Give me answers!' Adonis gripped his stomach.
{Okay okay, you big baby. The first stage of our souls merging has begun.} The Devil God announced.
'I thought they merged long ago.' Adonis bashed his head into the ground.
{No, our souls hadn't started merging yet. They merely existed in the same vessel.}
"Arghh!!" Adonis's soul suddenly tripled in size.
{Our souls couldn't merge because yours wasn't matured yet, the taming of your mana core was the catalyst of the merging.}
'When will this stop...It keeps getting worse.' Adonis's soul reverted to its regular size.
DIMMMMM
Adonis's Wicked Aura exploded, violently shaking the entire cave.
"ARGHHH!!"
{Kukuku.}
***
Hero Magic Academy's medical facility
"He's awake!" A mage dressed as a nun smiled.
"Wha-" Rising from a small bed, a blonde youth groaned softly.
"Congratulations, you're the first to wake up!" The medic smiled.
"The first?" Lutz's cyan eyes studied his calloused hands.
"Yeah, everyone else is still asleep." The medic frowned.
Lutz turned his head to look at eight beds beside him.
"The results for the battle royale have already been announced, although unfortunately, you're the only Rising Star present." The medic informed.
"What about Vindicta?" Lutz asked.
"Right after winning the event, Vindicta left the academy. We are unsure of his whereabouts."
"I see..."
"The rankings of the Battle Royale have been revealed, congratulations on coming 3rd!" She smiled.
"Tsk." Lutz tried to leave the medical facility's bed.
DU DU DU
"Mh!" Halting his departure was a sudden throbbing in the boy's brain.
"Please don't leave yet! You haven't fully recovered." The medic panicked.
"What's wrong with me?" Lutz groaned.
"You've just experienced a near-death experience, your brain is still disorientated." She explained.
"I don't have time for this." Persevering through the constant throbbing in his head, Lutz left the bed.
"Your wounds might've healed, but you haven't recovered from the mental trauma!"
"I'll be fine." Lutz dismissed.
"How many students did he eliminate?" Before he gripped the brass doorknob, Lutz turned his head back toward the mage.
"Who? Vindicta?"
"..." Lutz merely stared at the medic.
"Fifty-three, including the nine of you."
***
*Extra Information:
Battle Royale results
Adonis P. Vindicta- 1st place (53 eliminations)
Jerald Cecil- 2nd place
Lutz van Alexia- 3rd place
Tarzy Goliath- 4th place
Luna Triksta- 5th place
Amber Shine- 6th place
Maxwell Aster- 7th place
Toni Modster- 8th place
Marie Jupiter- 9th place
Flora Evergreen- 10th place
John van Ani- 11th place
(The medics at the academy's medical facility are special mages blessed by angels. They are capable of healing anything from shallow scratches to fractured bones. They are incapable of healing broken bones, injured organs, mental damage or soul damage)
(Healing magic potions accelerate the healing process while Holy Aura replicates those damaged or destroyed cells.)