Just as Percy took Liam's strike at point-blank range, the sheer force behind it sent him hurtling backward at a terrifying speed. In the same instant, the ice mist that had enveloped the stage—Percy's pseudo-domain—suddenly collapsed in on itself, retreating rapidly and being drawn straight back into Percy as though recalled by instinct alone.
With the ice fog gone and the field laid bare once more, both combatants came fully into view. The massive magical screen above flickered out, and the attention of the student body and the authoritative figures alike shifted back to the physical stage itself. Percy was still standing, but only barely so, his back braced against a hastily formed ice wall. From the spot on his chest where Liam's kick had landed, shards of fractured ice peeled away and clattered to the ground as he released heavy, measured breaths, each one carefully controlled despite the strain evident in his posture.
Across from him stood Liam.
