CHAPTER 293: CHAPTER 293: CLASH OF PILLARS

Stone shattered like glass as Nicolas was hurled into the center of the arena, the pale figure landing with him in a storm of dust and broken rock. The empty coliseum echoed with the impact, every fragment of debris clattering loud in the silence. No crowd remained—no chants, no roars—only the sound of battle carving its place into the hollow space.

Nicolas rose from the crater with unnerving composure. His cloak was torn at the shoulder, his eyes narrowing on the attacker now standing before him. The figure was skeletal thin, skin bleached pale, almost corpse-like. A dark veil obscured his face, only black strands of hair spilling from beneath the cloth. In his hand, he carried a jagged sword that hummed faintly, as though alive with stolen mana.

The First Pillar.

He lunged without warning. The blade cut down in a vicious arc, stone splitting open in its wake. Nicolas flickered out of sight.

"Spatial Shift!"

The air cracked as he reappeared meters away, arm already raised, lightning dancing across his fingers.

"Thunder Barrage!"

Bolts erupted in a fan, streaks of blue tearing through the dust cloud. The arena floor lit up with searing sparks.

The Pillar answered by thrusting his free hand outward. "Earth Rampart."

A wall of jagged stone burst up from the arena floor, intercepting the storm of bolts. Sparks and dust exploded against the barrier, but the figure emerged untouched, stepping through the smoke.

Nicolas’s form blurred again. He reappeared high above, hand carving downward.

"Spatial Rend!"

The air screamed as space itself tore, a jagged wound cleaving the field.

The Pillar twisted aside, cloak snapping. His blade flared with radiant heat. "Solar Cut!"

A line of blinding light ripped skyward.

The coliseum shook under the clash of elements.

The duel had only begun.

The pale figure gripped his jagged sword with both hands and slammed the blade into the ground. The arena floor answered with a violent quake.

"Terra Shatter!"

Ruptures split outward in jagged lines, spikes of stone erupting like spears from beneath the ground. The wave of destruction spread across the arena in a perfect circle, leaving nowhere to stand still.

Nicolas bent space around his body and flickered away in a sharp crack of displaced air.

"Spatial Shift!"

He reappeared behind the Pillar, his boots skidding across loose gravel. Lightning coursed down both arms, his muscles taut as he thrust his palms forward.

"Arc Lightning!"

Blue forks exploded from his hands, splitting into jagged arcs that lashed against the Pillar’s back. The smell of ozone filled the hollow coliseum. The skeletal figure jolted forward, his cloak catching sparks, shoulders smoking under the impact.

But he didn’t fall.

With inhuman swiftness, the Pillar twisted his torso, blade flashing in a horizontal sweep.

"Solar Flare!"

A burst of radiant light erupted from the edge of his sword, expanding outward in a blinding wave. Nicolas blurred again, teleporting mid-motion. The blast carved through empty space, scorching the arena floor until the stone glowed red-hot.

Reappearing above, Nicolas extended both arms wide, mana storming from his core. Lightning danced around his silhouette, wild and alive.

"Storm Cage!"

Dozens of arcs erupted, curving around the Pillar in a dome of crackling energy. The cage snapped shut with thunder, bolts slamming against the figure from every angle. Sparks rained like burning rain.

The Pillar’s answer was calm, almost measured. He raised his free hand.

"Stone Collapse."

The earth convulsed, wrapping him in a cocoon of layered rock. The lightning crashed again and again, thunder cracking inside the arena, but the stone held.

Then the cocoon split.

With a single sweep of his sword, the Pillar shattered his own prison, scattering molten shards across the arena floor as he strode forward, untouched.

The First Pillar moved like a storm given form, his blade tearing through the air in endless arcs. Each strike gouged fresh scars into the arena floor, stone cracking under the force.

Nicolas flickered from spot to spot, teleportation bursts echoing like thunder.

"Spatial Shift! Spatial Shift! Spatial Shift!"

He reappeared high on the edge of the stands, then behind the Pillar, then in midair above him. Every motion left only afterimages of crimson light and sparks of static.

The jagged blade cut through every place he had been a heartbeat before. The pale figure never slowed, chasing him relentlessly, cloak snapping behind like a shadow that could not be shaken.

"Earthen Maw!"

The ground split where Nicolas had stood, stone jaws snapping shut. He warped away in an instant, landing on cracked tiles across the arena.

Another swing of the blade. "Solar Spear!" A lance of burning light tore across the air. Nicolas bent space with a flick, the beam curving harmlessly away.

The Pillar suddenly laughed, a broken, high-pitched sound. "Hihihi... are you sure you can keep running like this forever?"

Nicolas stopped his next jump just long enough to glare across the distance, sweat streaking his brow, his body still brimming with mana. "What is it you want? Why help us before, only to strike now?"

The pale figure stilled, blade dragging against the ground with a shriek of steel on stone. For the first time, his voice deepened, chilling in its emptiness.

"Orders."

That single word echoed across the hollow arena, bouncing off the rune-lit walls.

Nicolas clenched his jaw, lightning sparking across his hands. The relentless pursuit hadn’t broken him yet—but the answer cut deeper than any blade.

The silence of the empty coliseum was shattered again as Nicolas reappeared midair, hands spread wide, space warping violently around his palms.

"Spatial Rift!"

A jagged tear split open, distorting light and stone, bending the very fabric of the arena.

The Pillar answered instantly, blade raised high. "Solar Break!"

A torrent of searing radiance collided with the rift, the clash exploding into a storm of warped light and twisted air. The arena shook, runes along the walls flaring as they struggled to contain the sheer pressure. Shards of stone rained down, cracks spiderwebbing across the floor.

Nicolas flickered to safety, reappearing on the ground, sparks still dancing over his frame. His chest heaved, but his crimson eyes never wavered. He raised a hand, lightning bursting outward.

"Chain Lightning!"

Bolts split into branching arcs, striking the Pillar from multiple angles. The pale figure staggered a step, his cloak burned and smoldering—yet his stride never faltered. With a casual sweep of his blade, he cut the lightning aside as though it were mist.

Then a sound broke through the chaos—boots.

Two dwarven guards, late patrols making their round of the arena, rushed into view from one of the access tunnels. Their eyes widened at the devastation before them. "Headmaster Nic—!"

The Pillar turned his veiled face toward them. In a blur, he vanished from Nicolas’s sight, reappearing between the two. His skeletal hands shot out, gripping one dwarf in each.

The guards screamed as the life drained from them in seconds, their skin paling, vitality sucked away like water through a cracked vessel. Their bodies collapsed limply into the seats of the arena, lifeless husks.

The First Pillar tilted his head, voice echoing with mocking delight.

"Ready for round two?"