The crowd went silent for a mere second, before the faint sounds of laughter was heard. Though it was rude, it was difficult to suppress. They were in the middle of an event. She had interrupted everything by attempting to assassinate the raid leader.

Now, she wanted her request respected? What a joke.

Lumi studied her carefully from his position on the airship.

"You just tried to kill me." Lumi said flatly. "Why would I accept a duel from someone who opens with a thrown knife?"

Though he said so, he was already planning to accept it.

The problem was that his power had not yet been demonstrated in public. Though he was entirely justified in ignoring her request, there was just a single problem.

If he had his allies kill her without responding to the challenge, some players would call him a coward. His reputation would take a hit. Questions would be raised about his capability.

But if he accepted and won, it would demonstrate his power publicly. It would cement his position as not just a strategist or guide-writer, but someone who could back up his authority with power.

It was clear what he should do. He’d win this fight, and then he’ll never need to prove himself again.

"Fine." Lumi said. He stepped forth. "Everyone back off."

"Eh?" A got a few confused glances from those that knew him personally, but the crowd was excited. They immediately began backing away, forming a large circle. Players jostled for the best viewing positions, shoving each other to get a clear line of sight. They already knew this was going to be a show.

Lumi’s lieutenants reluctantly withdrew to the edge of the circle, though they remained ready to intervene if needed.

The attacker stepped into the center of the circle. Now that Lumi could see her clearly, he checked her status.

[Lucy Lee - Level 33]

He stared at her. He mentally ran over the classes he knew, and came to a conclusion. She must be a Bandit. That meant she’d branched off from Thief at Rank 2. It was a class that specialized in ambush tactics, poison, and dirty fighting.

The level difference was massive. Lumi was level 49. She was level 33. Sixteen entire levels separated them, the stat difference alone would be overwhelming.

By all rights, this should be a completely one-sided fight.

Despite that obvious fact, making many in the crowd think Lucy was even stupider than they thought, she didn’t look deterred. If anything, she looked even more determined. Her eyes tracked Lumi’s movements as if she was a hunter staring down particularly dangerous game.

"Lena." Though he said her name, Lumi didn’t take his eyes off Lucy. "Countdown, please."

"Start when I say go." Lena replied, getting closer. She cleared her throat, ready to yell. "THREE... TWO... ONE... GO!"

The moment the word left her mouth, Lucy moved.

Her hands blurred as throwing stars flew from her fingers in various directions. Yet, not a single one was aimed at Lumi directly. Instead, she covered every possible teleport location within his range.

Simultaneously, she activated a skill. "Dark Sight!"

Her figure became obscured on the spot, nearly impossible to see. She rushed forward under its protection, closing the distance while completely untouchable.

The crowd gasped.

"She just threw them at random!?"

"No! Those stars are covering all his escape routes!"

Lumi grinned. She was smart, extremely smart. Very few players would realize how to fight magicians. She had done exactly what she should, covering his possible teleport spots. Most mages would panic, trying to figure out their next move.

But Lumi had already committed.

"Teleport!"

He teleported directly to his front, appearing behind Lucy who had been rushing towards him.

One of the poisoned throwing stars hit him, embedding in his shoulder.

[HP: 890/954]

To her credit, her plan had thus far been successful, getting a decent hit in. The poison icon appeared in his status, though the damage was negligible.

"Lances of Light!" Lumi’s calmly aimed his spell towards Lucy.

Multiple spears of concentrated light materialized around him in a circle, then shot forward simultaneously. Each one homed in on Lucy’s position, forcing her to react.

Lucy twisted mid-rush, she dodged the first two lances with minimal movement, though the third grazed her side, leaving a red line across her skin.

The crowd watched, mesmerized. But despite the countless players in a crowd, none had seen through what she had truly pulled off.

The entire time, all those throwing stars Lucy had launched at the beginning had strings attached. These were thin, durable, nearly invisible threads of wire.

Lucy’s hand yanked sharply downward.

Every throwing star reversed direction simultaneously, pulled back toward her position by the strings. They formed an enclosing ring of death, converging on the exact spot where Lumi stood.

Lumi had to admit it. This was a near perfect trap. The attacks were closing in from every angle, forming an attack that was seemingly impossible to dodge. This girl was really damn skilled.

She’d created a kill zone that punished both staying in place and trying to teleport away. Against a less experienced magician, this would have been instantly lethal.

But it was nothing compared to him.

Lumi dropped to the floor instantly, his body hitting the ground hard. His wand pointed upward at the exact spot he’d just been occupying.

"Void Sphere!"

The massive orb of darkness materialized directly above him, right in the path of the converging throwing stars.

When the throwing stars converged, none were able to reach him. Though plenty would have stabbed into his figure on the ground, they all had to pass through the Void Sphere first. They disintegrated on contact with the concentrated dark energy, the metal unable to withstand the crushing force.

Lucy’s entire trap was completely neutralized in an instant.

The crowd erupted in shocked exclamations.

"He countered it!"

"That’s the spell from earlier"

"The stars just got destroyed!"

Lucy already started a follow-up. If Lumi was on the ground, then she could stab him! She rushed towards the downed magician. All she had to do was avoid running into the spell.

Lumi had to mentally praise her again. She had amazing reaction time. She’d already moved on to plan B before plan A even finished failing.

But she had one critical flaw.

Lack of information.

She didn’t realize Void Sphere was a channeled spell. How could she realize otherwise? Most spells were one and done things. She thought Lumi was vulnerable, prone on the ground.

She was catastrophically wrong.

Lumi simply shifted his focus. The Void Sphere moved with his will, following his mental command. The exact moment she crouched under to stab at Lumi, it repositioned directly into Lucy’s face.

Her eyes widened in realization a split second too late.

"Shi-"

Lumi also noticed her second error, and planned this trap ahead of time. Dark Sight was an incredible survival tool, able to mitigate tons of damage. If she’d had Dark Sight available, she could have survived.

But she had entirely wasted it at the start in an aggressive play to close the distance and perform a surprise attack. Now she paid the price for her misplay.

Lucy’s health bar began dropping rapidly. She fell onto the floor, and immediately tried rolling away. But how could a roll ever be faster than Lumi moving the spell? She tried getting up, but it was too late for her.

As soon as her health was in the single digits, Lumi dispelled Void Sphere. She would still bleed out, but he wanted to see if she had anything to say.

"You lost." Lumi stated, plainly. He kept his eyes on her, in case she wanted to sneakily drink a health position.

She did not even try. Perhaps she was unable to move, or perhaps she recognized it was futile. "Amazing... you’re really that strong..." Her voice was filled with awe. Yet, she followed it up with an entirely different emotion. It was disappointment. A deep, cutting disappointment directed at herself.

"I failed..." Lucy’s eyes were closing as her final bits of health left her. Her voice dropped to barely a whisper. "I failed myself... I failed... Micheal..."

Lumi froze.

Micheal.

Micheal?

It was that fucking name again. He was sick and tired of it. But before he could even ask, Lucy died, her body disappearing. The opportunity to question her was gone.

"...fuck."

The crowd erupted into deafening cheers.

"LUMI! LUMI! LUMI!"

"THAT WAS INSANE!"

"Did you see how he countered that trap!?"

"She didn’t stand a chance!"

"That sphere thing is so cool!"

Lumi stared down at the spot where Lucy had fallen, his mind racing.

Who was Micheal? Why did that name keep appearing? Was this related to why she had been so desperate to fight him?

Was this some kind of test? A recruitment attempt? Or perhaps, even just a distraction?

Still, he couldn’t blatantly show his confusion yet. He had an image to maintain. Lumi raised his wand high, acknowledging the cheers as he basked in the glory of the crowd.

The raid would continue as planned.

Whatever Micheal’s game was, it would have to wait.