Cory vs. Gabi!"
Her announcement cut through the arena's tension like a blade. Both students rose simultaneously, their chairs scraping the floor in perfect synchronization.
Cory turned toward Gabi, his voice carrying the weight of unwavering confidence. "I won't show mercy just because you're a girl." His fox demon opponent was strong, but deep down, Cory refused to believe anyone in the class could match his power.
Gabi responded with a gentle smile, completely ignoring his provocation. Her composure spoke volumes; she had faced underestimation before.
The moment they stepped onto the battlefield, the air crackled with summoning energy. The green zombie materialized with a bone-chilling growl, and the elegant three-tailed fox appeared in a shimmer of silver light.
Without hesitation, the three-tailed fox's eyes flashed with mystical power as it wove intricate illusions designed to disorient and confuse. However, the mental assault struck an impenetrable wall; the green zombie's vacant stare remained unchanged, and its primitive consciousness was immune to such sophisticated manipulation.
The sudden failure wiped the serene expression from Gabi's face, replaced by sharp focus and analytical concern.
Cory's chest swelled with pride as he witnessed his creature's immunity. "Zombies at the green stage possess no intelligence," he explained, barely containing his smugness. "Only raw, primal instincts drive them forward. Your three-tailed fox hasn't reached the level needed to craft high-tier illusions that could affect such a creature."
His arrogance was perhaps justified. Gabi had grown comfortable with her superiority over most Key Class students; only Cory and Azrael had ever posed real challenges. That comfort had bred its own form of pride, and now reality was delivering a harsh lesson.
Abandoning her failed strategy, the three-tailed fox shifted to direct combat. Its sleek form became a blur of motion, covering the distance to the green zombie in a heartbeat. Its razor-sharp claws gleamed with deadly intent, leaving afterimages as they sliced through the air toward their target.
Cory observed the lightning-fast assault without a trace of concern. The three-tailed fox's greatest strengths were illusion and deception. In pure physical combat, he was certain that no creature in the key class could match his zombie's raw power. Even Azrael's mysterious card would struggle against such overwhelming strength.
His confidence proved well-founded. The fox's claws raked across the zombie's rotting flesh, but the damage was pathetically superficial—mere scratches that barely drew blackened blood.
In that crucial moment when the three-tailed fox's momentum carried it past its target, leaving it vulnerable as it prepared for another strike, the green zombie's massive hand shot out like a steel trap. Its fingers closed around the fox's bushy tail with bone-crushing force.
What followed was brutally efficient. The zombie lifted the three-tailed fox like a rag doll and slammed it into the arena floor with an earth-shattering impact. The sound of flesh meeting stone echoed through the chamber as the elegant creature let out a piercing cry of pain and shock.
Azrael watched from the sidelines, his eyes twitching with recognition. "Why does this look so familiar?" he muttered. "The Hulk versus Loki all over again." The similarities were uncanny: overwhelming strength dominating supposed cunning through pure, devastating force.
After enduring several more brutal impacts that left crater-like impressions on the arena floor, the three-tailed fox's form began to waver and dissolve. Its mystical essence scattered into countless light particles that faded into nothingness.
"Too weak!" Cory's wild, unrestrained laughter rang out across the arena. "Gabi, you're no different from all the other trash I've crushed today!"
But Gabi felt no crushing disappointment at her defeat. Her analytical mind was already working, dissecting the encounter for valuable data. The green zombie was a hard counter to her current strategy: brute force negating finesse and immunity trumping manipulation. This was simply another puzzle to solve.
The path forward was clear: craft enhancement cards to boost her existing creatures' capabilities or develop new biological cards designed specifically to handle overwhelming physical threats. Every loss was a lesson and every setback a stepping stone toward improvement.
Taking a measured breath to center herself, Gabi descended from the arena and approached Azrael with genuine warmth. "Good luck out there, Azrael."
Azrael's smile carried an edge of anticipation. "I think you've got something backwards. He's the one who's going to need it; he's challenging me."
Without waiting for her reaction, he strode purposefully toward the battlefield, leaving her staring at his retreating figure in amazement.
"Azrael," she whispered. "You're absolutely insane."
Unaware of the stunned thoughts rippling through the audience, Azrael took his position opposite Cory and called forth his champion. The air shimmered, and Jigoku Yoriichi materialized with the quiet dignity of a true swordsman.
The moment Yoriichi's eyes fell upon the green zombie, his expression hardened into cold steel. Unpleasant memories of past encounters with such creatures flickered through his consciousness—this wouldn't be his first dance with the undead.
Before the zombie could process the new threat, Yoriichi exploded into motion. His sprint across the arena was a masterclass in controlled violence, each step calculated and precise. As he ran, his blade began to glow with an inner fire, the steel warming from silver to cherry red.
Gabi leaned forward in fascination. "I've never witnessed power like this before," she breathed, her analytical mind racing to categorize what she was seeing.
In less than a heartbeat, Yoriichi closed the gap between himself and his target. His katana sang through the air, accompanied by a whistling wind that spoke of incredible velocity. The blade traced a perfect arc from right to left, aimed with surgical precision at the zombie's neck.
"ROAR!" The green zombie bellowed, shaking the arena, as it raised its right arm to block the incoming strike. It relied on the same overwhelming defense that had crushed the three-tailed fox's claws.
But this was no desperate scratch from a mystical creature. The sound that followed was soft and sickening, like a heated blade slicing through butter. The zombie's severed hand spun through the air in a spray of blackened blood before hitting the arena floor with a wet thud.
A single exchange. One perfect cut. Cory's seemingly invincible champion had just lost its primary weapon.
Pain and rage consumed the zombie's primitive mind. Instead of retreating or reassessing the threat, it lunged forward with its remaining arm, jaws gaping wide to tear into Yoriichi's flesh with its yellowed fangs.
Yoriichi's response was a thing of deadly beauty. Focusing with laser intensity, he pivoted into a spinning slash, his blade describing a flawless circle through the air. Time seemed to slow as the katana traced its path with mathematical precision.
Cory could only watch in paralyzed disbelief as the zombie's head cleanly separated from its shoulders. The body took two stumbling steps before collapsing. Then, the entire creature dissolved into fading particles of dark energy.
"What just happened?" Cory's voice cracked with shock. "I—I lost?"
He had expected Azrael to be challenging, perhaps even difficult to defeat. But this? This wasn't a battle; it was an execution. Two moves. Two perfect strikes. His pride, strength, and supposed superiority had crumbled like sand.
The specially designed battle arena at Silverbrook High School fell into stunned silence. Even the most optimistic of Azrael's supporters had expected a hard-fought victory, while Cory's backers had predicted that their champion would ultimately prevail through sheer tenacity.
No one had anticipated such complete and utter domination.
Faced with Azrael's overwhelming skill, Cory's green zombie performed no better than the bullheaded monster from the first round—just another obstacle to be efficiently removed.
Gradually, whispered conversations began to ripple through the audience like a spreading wildfire.
"Is Azrael really that powerful?"
"Open the champagne; we've got ourselves a new champion."
"No wonder he could save an entire community by himself."
Look at Cory, acting so arrogant earlier. He couldn't even last two minutes against Azrael. It's almost pathetic."
"Keep your voice down! Cory might not be able to beat Azrael, but he could definitely take out his frustration on us."
If he's smart, he'll focus on getting revenge against Azrael instead of bullying easier targets.
Ignoring the growing buzz of conversation around him, Azrael approached the stunned Cory. "Are you all right?"
For a moment, Cory thought Azrael might offer him some comfort or consolation, a gracious gesture from the victor to the defeated. Instead, Azrael lowered his voice to a soft whisper that cut deeper than any blade.
"I'm going to return the exact words you used on your previous opponents." His tone was conversational, almost gentle. "Trash. You're pathetically weak. I'm not even slightly interested in fighting someone at your level."
He paused, letting the words sink in, then delivered the final blow. "How did someone like you even qualify for the key class?"
Cory's head dropped, his face hidden in shadow, as the weight of his arrogance came crashing down on him.
Seeing the complete silence that greeted his words, Azrael wondered if he had been too harsh. Then again, he was merely repeating Cory's favorite phrases, the words the bully had used to crush others' spirits and feed his own ego.
Azrael had never had infinite patience for bullies. In his experience, they only understood one language: overwhelming force applied without mercy or hesitation.
Shaking his head at the pathetic sight, Azrael turned to leave the arena. He had made his point clearly enough.
But as he walked away, a voice filled with pure venom followed him across the battlefield:
"You just got lucky with card advantages! Don't think this makes you some kind of god!" Cory's words dripped with resentment and barely contained rage. "Next time, I'll craft something stronger. Something that will make you crawl on your knees and beg for mercy!"
Azrael's steps slowed for a moment, but he didn't turn around. He continued his steady walk toward the sidelines, leaving the broken bully with his empty threats.
Experience had taught him that some people were simply born with poison in their hearts. He had seen enough news stories about teenage bullying to recognize the pattern: People like Cory rarely changed; they just found new victims when their current targets became too strong to intimidate.
Azrael was fortunate to possess the strength to defend himself. Had Cory won today, he would likely have organized other students to isolate and torment Azrael through social pressure and group harassment.
If they wanted to trade threats, though, Azrael could play that game, too. When he crafted cards like the Rabbit Goddess, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, he would make the entire Qiling Society kneel and sing surrender songs.
The moment he reached the sidelines, his classmates swarmed him like reporters after a championship fight. The cacophony of excited voices and rapid-fire questions made his headache worse.
Fortunately, Miss Victoria appeared like a guardian angel to rescue him from the mob.
"All right, everyone, that's enough pestering of our new champion," she announced, clapping her hands sharply to cut through the noise. "The class rankings have been officially determined. If any of you believe your abilities exceed your current position, you'll have the opportunity to issue challenges next week."
She held up one finger for emphasis. "But remember, only one challenge per week per student."
A mysterious smile played across Victoria's lips as she prepared her next announcement. "I also have some excellent news to share with all of you." She paused dramatically, relishing the moment as every student leaned forward with anticipation.
When she was satisfied that she had their complete attention, Victoria revealed her surprise. "Thanks to our principal's connections and advocacy, our key class has been granted access to a secret realm for practical combat training. This is an incredibly rare opportunity, so I expect everyone to make the most of it."
The arena erupted in excited chatter as students began speculating about the adventures and challenges that awaited them in this mysterious realm. For Azrael, it represented another step forward in his journey, another chance to test his growing power against new and unknown threats.