Inside the arena, an intense chill spreads, and blue sparks crackle as they ride the air. To anyone watching, the magic being wielded is clearly abnormal.

“Disintegrate.”

At Alon’s command, the bursts of sparks transform into glittering blue particles that scatter in all directions. Despite it being broad daylight, the particles glow brightly like fireflies.

And then,

“Dissolve.”

Just moments before, his body had been perfectly intact. Now, even as he stands still, it wavers dizzyingly, like a mirage.

“I—”

Philcion was already within striking distance of Alon. Leaping forward using searing flames as propulsion, Philcion gripped the sword that had slipped down, aiming at Alon’s swaying form.

‘Even if it’s unexpected, it’s still fine!’

Though he was startled by Alon using a completely different magic than the anticipated ice magic, Philcion chose to see this as an opportunity. At this moment of spell preparation, the opponent was defenseless.

‘It would’ve been better to defeat him in a more spectacular fight, but—’

Since Alon had begun using a different kind of magic, the odds of victory had dropped exponentially.

‘I’ll end it right now.’

Just as Philcion raised his sword without hesitation to strike,

“Cycle of All Things.”

Alon’s words resounded.

At that fleeting moment, Alon’s emotionless face was staring directly at him. His body, fingers forming a seal, had suddenly—

CRACKLE!!!!

“Thunder God Form.”

He became pure blue lightning.

And Philcion’s thoughts ceased to continue.

***

BOOM—!!

With a thunderous explosion, Philcion’s body crashed into the arena, leaving behind lightning trails that streaked across the field.

CRACKLE—

In that brief second, or perhaps even less, everything had happened so fast that no one could grasp what had transpired. The spectators could only witness two things.

One was Philcion’s body smashing through the arena wall.

The other was—

CRACKLE!

Alon, now completely enveloped in lightning—or rather, transformed entirely into lightning itself, cloaked in a blue aura.

CRACK!

With each movement of his black-colored cloak, lightning crackled and scattered in all directions.

Tsk—

As the ends of the cloak gradually regained their dark hue, the lightning’s form shifted back into the figure of Count Alon Palatio. The spectators, who watched the entire scene as if witnessing a gradient fade, were left speechless.

[The… the winner is—Alon Palatio!!]

When the previously stunned announcer finally spoke, the crowd erupted with thunderous cheers, leaping to their feet and applauding so loudly that the arena seemed to shake. Amid the jubilant noise and wild applause, Alon stood.

‘Dammit.’

Unable to fully register the crowd’s reaction, he muttered a curse under his breath, grimacing as blood began to trickle down his arm beneath his sleeve.

“I almost died.”

This was not a figurative statement.

He had truly almost died from using the magic just now.

It was true that his mana was completely depleted, but that wasn’t why he nearly died.

The real reason was the magic he had used—

‘Damn.’

—No, it was in the spell itself.

Unlike before, Alon could understand the laws of the spell immediately upon using it.

No, he *had* to understand them.

If he hadn’t, he wouldn’t be standing here.

As soon as the magic ended, he could have been broken down into molecules, ceasing to exist in this world.

‘Twisting the laws to convert the body into mana… Why does such a crazy spell exist?’

The spell he used, “Array of Thunder,” literally converted his body into mana with the properties of electricity.

The subsequent phrases were all pre-prepared electrical magic—

The process was to fuse, or rather, enchant it.

Finally, the “Thunder God Form” was the magic that manifested the fused spell array.

In other words, the “Magnetic Manifestation” Sparrow taught him was, quite literally, an incredible spell that transformed the caster into lightning itself.

But the reason Alon felt the spell was insane was none other than its difficulty.

The “Thunder God Form” temporarily transformed the body into lightning, allowing the caster to use its properties directly.

However, the issue was that the irregular mana array of lightning, when combined with Alon’s body, could easily break down with even the slightest movement.

In short, if Alon had no talent for controlling the mana array, he could have been nothing more than colorful fireworks in the arena just now.

…

‘…It hurts like hell.’

Even after hastily reconstructing his body’s array in over a second, there seemed to be areas he couldn’t attend to, as the blood flowing beneath his sleeve was steadily increasing.

‘Sparrow, did you teach me this just to mess with me?’

He suddenly recalled Sparrow’s staff, which Evan held while watching the match together.

‘Let’s head back first.’

With the thunderous cheers behind him, Alon returned to the waiting room.

“…”

“Count.”

“What is it?”

“No… I don’t think I’ll ever be surprised by anything you do again.”

Evan looked at him with a strange expression, while—

[W-what the… How… How did you do that?]

Sparrow’s staff, usually full of sneering remarks, trembled with disbelief, its voice shaking.

Alon felt a surge of satisfaction behind his impassive expression.

“It seems the bet is mine.”

***

One day later,

Alon’s reputation as an A-rank fighter, achieved in less than a week, rapidly spread across the entire Colony.

As a result, there were far more talks about Alon in the Colony than any other fighter.

Yet, the man at the center of these rumors, Alon, was—

“To the royal castle now, Master!”

Calmly heading to the Colony’s royal castle with Seolrang.

The reason was that becoming an A-rank fighter granted him access to the royal treasury.

‘Normally, it would’ve taken at least a week to gain entry to the treasury.’

Alon was able to move so swiftly thanks to Seolrang.

‘Even if Baba Yaga’s power is strong, I didn’t expect it to extend its influence to the royal family.’

As Alon’s carriage passed a massive castle wall, he marveled at Seolrang’s abilities.

[Hey,]

Sparrow spoke directly in his mind, to which Alon responded not verbally but by channeling mana into the staff as instructed.

‘Did you forget the bet?’

[N-No!]

Sparrow’s tone became exasperated, but soon shifted—

[….Um, Count, I would like to ask you something.]

Sparrow’s voice, now small and trembling, was surprisingly polite and refined compared to just a few days ago.

“What is it?”

[Well, as I mentioned yesterday, would you consider forming a contract with me and succeeding my legacy?]

“As I said yesterday, I’m still considering it.”

[No! This is truly a great opportunity!]

“Hmm.”

[….isn’t it?]

Flustered, Sparrow hastily added a respectful suffix.

[You, uh, Count—no, Your Lordship—must know from using my laws that they’re incredibly powerful. If you just refine it over a few generations, you’ll be slapping other wizards thirty times over, seriously!]

From the moment Alon used Sparrow’s laws without having inherited his spirit, Sparrow, following the suggestion of the Yongsin race, had been urging him to become his successor.

‘Successor, huh.’

In truth, from Alon’s perspective of needing to learn magic, accepting this staff as his teacher wasn’t such a bad option.

Just knowing its phrases and incantations seemed to provide a significant amount of magical knowledge.

Even so, Alon avoided giving a clear answer, and the reason was due to the contract Sparrow proposed.

Sparrow called it a master-disciple contract, but there was no need to inscribe a magic circle for a contract he didn’t fully understand.

‘Anyway, I’m meeting him tomorrow, so I can ask and decide then.’

With that in mind, Alon dismissed Sparrow’s suggestion for the moment.

[Please, reconsider seriously, just once more.]

“Hmm. According to you, isn’t it impossible for someone who hasn’t inherited your spirit to become your successor?”

[No, that was really just something I didn’t know at the time! I apologize!]

“No need to apologize. Either way, it would’ve been difficult for you to find a successor since you’re an idiot.”

[… You really hold grudges, don’t you…]

“What did you say?”

[Ah, no, I mean…]

Because of the bet he lost earlier, Sparrow had to speak respectfully. He continued to desperately urge Alon to become his successor until Alon left the staff behind in the carriage to enter the royal castle.

But all Sparrow learned by then was that Alon’s grudges ran deep.

[…Hah. I shouldn’t have let my temper get the better of me…]

Left alone in the carriage, Sparrow muttered darkly.

It was his own karma.

***

The Colony’s royal castle had a slightly different atmosphere compared to those of other nations Alon knew.

Unlike the typical concept of a royal castle, the interior felt rather rough.

There were no sculptures or marble to be found inside, which made it appear somewhat lacking in refinement.

Yet, despite this, Alon didn’t think it was “inferior” because—

“…”

It was due to the abundance of gold and jewels adorning the rough walls.

Walking along the seemingly endless path lined with treasures, Alon finally arrived at the royal throne room with Seolrang.

He knelt and greeted the Colony’s king, who was looking down at him.

“The warrior greets the King of the Colony.”

Normally, introducing himself as a noble would have been appropriate, but he came here to enter the treasury, so he introduced himself as a warrior.

“Raise your head.”

Upon hearing the solemn voice, Alon raised his head to see the king’s face.

He was a robust middle-aged man with prominent features, exuding a sense of authority and confidence.

“Count Palatio, I found your match to be quite entertaining. Very impressive!”

The Colony’s king, Carmaxes III, laughed heartily as he continued.

“I heard you wish to enter the treasury. Is there something you desire?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Carmaxes nodded a few times before saying:

“Then you should take it. The royal family of the Colony opens the treasury to anyone who has proven themselves.”

“Thank you for your generosity.”

“However, I have one more gift to offer you. What do you think?”

“A proposal, Your Majesty?”

“Yes.”

He spoke casually.

“I have a daughter.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“What do you think?”

“…Excuse me?”

Alon’s mind froze.

Silence.

But only for a moment.

“Of course, it’s up to you whether or not you accept this gift, so take your time to consider.”

Carmaxes maintained his smile.

“Maxim, take him to the treasury.”

He then instructed the knight beside him.

As Carmaxes watched Alon’s receding figure, he let out a sigh.

“…Hm? Baba Yaga, are you not following him?”

He noticed that Seolrang, who had been beside Alon until a moment ago, remained standing in place and asked.

Then—

“Hey.”

The smile Seolrang had worn just moments earlier had faded into a perfectly blank expression.

At last—

“Enough.”

Her chilling golden eyes matched the icy words that followed.