Ferran didn’t move a muscle as he watched his Cockatrice fade away. Losing the Summon didn’t seem to bother him in the slightest. As if nothing happened, the challenger stepped to the center of the hall and looked his adversary straight in the face.

“You’ve done well,” he told Sekuheim’s Master. “This has become the exact duel that I’ve always dreamed of. Thank you Ardan. Now I will no longer limit myself.”

Ferran slowly walked back to his side of the battlefield. When he reached his spot, his eyes instantly blackened.

“This is where your suffering begins, Ardan. I call the Seraphim, Void Summon; Caster of Heavenly Judgement!”

A beautiful aurora formed above the battleground, raining down an amalgamation of multicolored rays. Slowly, the lights grew brighter and brighter until everyone inside the great hall had been fully blinded. When the light dimmed a few seconds later, the Seraphim had appeared.

The Void Summon was otherworldly beautiful; it had one blue eye at its center, surrounded by six white-feathered wings that elegantly swayed around its body. The Seraphim looked peaceful and yet simultaneously frightening, exerting a deep, unsettling power.

A nervous heat spread through Elem’s body. This was the first time that he, and likely all of his peers, witnessed a Divine Class Summon in person. It was a spectacular sight.

Divines, as they were colloquially called, were extremely rare and mighty Summons. It was the highest possible classification the Global Summoning Association could ascribe to a Summon, and although any Summon could be viable when controlled by a capable duelist, Divines were always powerful- no matter who wielded their power. In the hands of someone like Ferran, they could reach unimaginable heights.

“Don’t be afraid,” Ferran said delicately as his Summon’s enormous eye analyzed the Sylph like a child curiously peeking at a captured insect.

His Wind Summon’s frame still colored a dark gray and the flashes lighting up its torso revealed that its stormbody hadn’t subsided yet . It was still at its most powerful. Still capable of delivering colossal damage.

The Sylph pointed its slender, feminine arms at the Seraphim and, without warning, sent two bolts at its winged adversary. The thunder blitzed through the air but didn’t come far, bouncing off an invisible shield surrounding the Void Summon.

Elem blinked, unsure if his eyes were deceiving him. The Sylph’s stormbody attacks were its most destructive. If those couldn't hurt the Seraphim, then what could?

‘’Again!” Ardan shouted. If the Sylph kept attacking, maybe it could break through its opponent’s shield.

Another pair of lightning strikes discharged from the Sylph’s arms but once again the attack was immediately thwarted by the Seraphim’s protective veil, its impact not higher than rain hitting an umbrella.

The Void Summon seemed completely unbothered by the Sylph’s efforts, its wings calmly moving in a perfect, almost hypnotizing pattern.

“That’s enough,” Ferran told his Summon. “Let’s end this.”

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As the Seraphim directed itself towards its opponent, Elem swore he could hear a series of strange chants penetrating his mind.

A blue glow engulfed the Seraphim’s sole eye and Elem’s body shuddered. He couldn’t figure out what it was exactly but a terrible feeling took hold of him. Something about the Void Summon terrified him. He felt as if his father was facing an insurmountable challenge. A being that couldn’t be defeated, no matter how hard Master Ardan tried.

The light emanating from the Seraphim’s eye grew brighter and brighter until it materialized into a beam of light. With a deep swooshing sound, the light gushed forth and instantly pierced through the Sylph like the sun breaching a pack of clouds.

Master Ardan let out a pained yelp as the Seraphim’s attack deconstructed the Wind Summon before his eyes. He fell forward, catching himself with his hands.

Elem could read the disbelief in his father’s eyes. It had taken Ferran’s Void Summon just one single attack to completely annihilate his Sylph. How could he ever defeat an opponent like that?

“Th… the Sylph has been eliminated,” the referee barely managed. Even he seemed rattled by the Divine’s terrifying power. “The Sekuheim School’s Master has one Summon left. The defender has five minutes to decide if he wants to continue.”

Ardan looked as if he could only barely register the referee’s words. Heavy, bile-filled breaths escaped his mouth. He was in pain, a lot of pain, and focused all his energy on retaining his consciousness.

The Master’s hands balled into fists. Yes, he was down but he wasn’t out yet. He could keep going. He had to keep going. A smile appeared on his pale lips; it was time for the Minotaur, his most trusted Summon.

“I.. Summon… the Minotaur.., Earth Summon; an ancient being.. as hard as rock!”

This time, it took Ardan a while before he could enter his trance but when he finally did, the MInotaur barged into the physical world with the energy of an outraged bull.

The Minotaur locked its eyes on its opponent, unfazed by the Seraphim’s unmatched capabilities. The creature’s hoofed legs impatiently scratched against the floor. It was ready to go.

“Bring it on…,” Ardan barked. He may have been hurt but he wouldn’t let himself be defeated too easily.

The Minotaur slammed its fists into the floor, hitting so hard that the black veins covering its arms nearly popped. Immediately, a thick slab of earth emerged from the floor.

The Summon kept beating against the ground, prompting slab after slab to rise until almost the entire hall was filled with walls of earth.

“The Master is using the Minotaur’s labyrinth to create an enormous barrier between them,” Aja explained. “That Divine Class Summon won’t be able to easily break through a defense like that.”

And yet the Seraphim tried anyway. Within a minute, the Void Summon launched another azure beam from its eye. The light crashed into the closest slab. The first barrier lasted only a few seconds before the light broke through like a mighty river breaking through a dam.

Just as quickly as the Minotaur had created the slabs, the Seraphim dematerialized them one after another.

Elem wanted to throw up. In a few seconds, the Minotaur would face the same fate at the Sylph and all of Ardan’s Summons would be destroyed without the Seraphim even incurring a single hit.

“Now!” Master Ardan called just when the light broke through the second to last slab.

At the command, the Minotaur sprung up, narrowly escaping its opponent’s beam. The powerful Earth Summon soared through the air, its horns pointed at its opponent. But before the Minotaur could crash into the Seraphim, the Void Summon diverted its beam upwards. The blue light hit its target with ease, pushing the Minotaur against the ceiling.

The bull let out a deep harrowing grunt as the light burned through its skin. The Seraphim’s power kept the Minotaur in place, forcing it to suffer until it finally perished.

Master Ardan blankly stared ahead. He sat on his knees, clenching his shoulder. His eyes looked dull, having lost their copper hue, and a thin stream of blood ran down the corner of his mouth.

“I am impressed with you, Ardan. You were even better than I had hoped,” Ferran said solemnly. “But now, you know what comes next.”