No one in the arena dared make a sound.

Only a few parents moved, quickly covering their children’s eyes from the sight.

Then—

Owen slowly turned around.

CREAAAK!

Stone ground against stone as his massive figure shifted.

Lyra stood frozen in place.

Her pupils trembled slightly as she stared at the armored giant standing in the center of the arena.

For a moment, neither of them moved.

Owen’s eyes slowly locked onto them.

’’Finally,’’ a deep voice echoed out of the armor. ’’The annoying bug is gone.’’

Lyra’s breath hitched slightly.

She forced herself to take another step back, but her legs felt unusually heavy.

’What... is this thing?’ she thought, her fingers trembling slightly.

The tiger suddenly roared and forced itself forward again, ice mana gathering around its claws.

But Owen didn’t even react.

CRACK!

The arena floor shattered beneath his foot as he took a single step forward.

The tiger froze again, its instincts completely overwhelming its ability to move.

In the stands, countless spectators finally began reacting again, whispers rapidly spreading everywhere.

"What the hell... is that?"

"It looks like a fucking demon!"

"It’s the devil..."

Several judges had already stood up from their seats, their expressions filled with seriousness.

As Owen took another step forward, Lyra’s eyes darted all over the place.

Her tiger... the blood splattered across the barrier... before finally landing back on the massive rock giant.

She understood immediately.

If another attack landed...

Not just her summon, but even she would die.

Owen slowly formed another earth hammer in his hand, this time completely from scratch.

That... was enough.

’’I surrender.’’

Lyra’s voice echoed through the completely silent arena.

Owen stopped moving and tilted his head slightly.

’’...Match over.’’

The announcer’s voice rang out strangely, clearly still shocked.

’’The winner...’’ he paused, gulping. ’’Is Owen Wilson.’’

Nobody reacted.

The entire arena remained deathly silent as everyone stared at the towering armored figure still standing in the middle of the shattered arena.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

The stone around Owen’s body slowly began cracking apart.

Large chunks fell from his body one by one, smashing into the ground below.

His massive frame visibly shrank with each passing second.

Finally, the armor completely collapsed.

BOOM!

A cloud of dust rose into the air.

Owen stumbled out from within it, breathing heavily. His shirt was drenched in sweat, blood still trickling faintly from his ears.

"...Fuck," he muttered, rubbing his head. "That ringing is annoying."

Nobody knew who started it. But a single cheer rang out.

Then another.

And another.

Finally, the tension in the arena vanished.

Cheers exploded out from every direction.

’’OWEN! OWEN! OWEN!’’

’’DID YOU SEE THAT?! He destroyed her summon in ONE HIT!’’

’’What a crazy transformation!’’

Even the announcer finally recovered from his shock.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" he shouted excitedly. "We officially have our second finalist!"

Owen winced slightly at the loud voice and glanced up at the stands.

Then a grin slowly spread across his face again.

He raised one arm confidently toward the crowd.

That only made the cheers grow even louder.

Meanwhile, Lyra quietly lowered her head, gently placing a hand on the trembling tiger beside her.

The beast slowly shrank down again, its icy mana weakening rapidly.

"I’m sorry," she whispered softly.

The tiger rubbed its head lightly against her arm in response.

In the VIP stands, Theo finally opened his eyes again.

"...Idiot," he muttered, shaking his head slightly.

Iris turned to him, her eyes still wide.

’’You... knew he could do that?’’

Theo nodded.

’’Yup,’’ he replied, glancing down at the destroyed arena below.

’Now what the hell are we going to do in the finals?’

He pressed his lips together into a thin line.

’There’s no way anyone would accept a simple surrender...’

It wasn’t just Theo who was thinking about this at the moment. Down on the arena grounds, Owen’s mind was racing at rapid speed too.

That’s when his eyes lit up.

Owen suddenly raised a hand toward the announcer stand.

"Oi!" he shouted. "I’ve got something to say!"

The announcer blinked in surprise. It didn’t take long before one of the staff members jumped down onto the arena grounds with a microphone in hand.

As Owen accepted the microphone, he scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

’’...About the finals,’’ he said.

The crowd immediately quieted down again.

"This form has some pretty annoying conditions," he continued. "Using it twice in one day would completely fuck up my body."

A ripple spread through the crowd immediately.

"So unfortunately..."

He raised his shoulders dramatically.

"...Looks like I’ll have to withdraw from the finals."

For a moment, complete silence fell across the arena once more.

Then—

"WHAT?!"

The entire crowd exploded into chaos.

"You can’t do that!"

"BOOOO!" 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"What about the finals?!"

The announcer himself looked completely caught off guard.

"W-Wait a moment!" he stammered quickly. "Are you seriously withdrawing from the finals?!"

Owen nodded without hesitation.

"Yup," he replied shamelessly. "I’d rather not cripple myself at eighteen."

The people in the crowd immediately winced at those words.

Even several judges exchanged glances with one another.

After all...

The terrifying strength they had just witnessed made such a heavy backlash sound very believable.

In the VIP stands, Theo stared at Owen in complete disbelief.

Then his eyelid twitched.

"...That shameless bastard," he muttered under his breath.

Beside him, Iris blinked a few times in confusion.

"Huh?"

Theo covered his face with one hand, already feeling a headache coming.

’This is not how I imagined we’d fix this,’ he thought, wincing. ’But... I guess I have no other way either.’

Down below, Owen suddenly placed a hand against his chest and coughed dramatically.

"Ugh..." he groaned weakly. "My mana is twisting..."

He bent his body forward a little, pointing at the crowd.

’’Do you all want me to die or something?!’’

Theo’s mouth twitched violently as he watched Owen’s performance.

’’Does he really have such a backlash?’’ Iris asked, still confused.

Theo shook his head slightly.

’’Not at all,’’ he said quietly. ’’As long as he has mana, that form is available for him.’’

Iris’s lips parted slightly as the sheer absurdity of it all finally sank in.

Glancing down at the arena, Theo’s eyes fell on the massive crater again.

Then he looked back at Owen, who was still pretending to struggle to stand properly.

’It’s actually going to work too, isn’t it?’