The clash ended with overwhelming force as Caelum was sent flying backward, his body crashing violently against the ground while blood spilled from his mouth, staining the shattered terrain beneath him.

Despite the impact, his eyes remained locked on his opponent, refusing to lose focus even for a moment.

Grror, in contrast, stood firmly in place, unmoved by the exchange.

Yet a faint, unsettling sound echoed through the battlefield.

CRACK!

The helmet covering his face, reinforced by dense black aura, began to fracture, and as the fissures spread slowly across its surface, it finally gave way and fell apart, revealing what lay beneath.

A skull.

It emitted a faint green glow, and within its hollow sockets burned an eerie, unwavering gaze that now observed Caelum with a level of seriousness that had not been present before.

"You cannot be allowed to live," Grror said as he raised his skeletal hand to touch the small crack that had formed on his skull, a seemingly insignificant mark that carried great meaning for him.

The opening he had provided earlier had been deliberate, to test the young opponent before him, and the result had not disappointed him in the slightest.

However, that very result also confirmed a troubling reality.

Allowing such talent to grow would inevitably become a threat, not only to him but to many others as well, because individuals of this caliber were either claimed or eliminated, and there was rarely any middle ground.

’I cannot persuade him,’ Grror concluded silently.

Although Caelum had achieved Hollow Manifestation, something often associated with relentless effort and talentlessness, there was something fundamentally unsettling about him, something that made Grror instinctively wary.

When he observed Caelum more closely, he realized that there was an absence of something crucial, there was no clear principle, no defined belief, no visible path guiding his sword.

And that absence was precisely what made him dangerous.

Every swordsman eventually faces the question of why they wield their blade, and without an answer, the path to Master is sealed.

That was why many who walked the weapon path became erratic, shaped and even consumed by their convictions.

But Caelum stood apart.

He was undefined, for now, and that meant his potential was limitless.

Meanwhile, Caelum forced himself upright, suppressing the discomfort in his body.

’That actually hurt more than I expected,’ he thought with frustration.

’The adults in this world are far too irresponsible, letting an Undead Knight Lord appear inside a school is beyond unreasonable.’

On Earth, such a situation would have been nothing more than a student’s dream.

Even so, this was his first true duel against such an opponent, and despite the overwhelming gap in power, he had no intention of backing down.

’I may have to use the second technique,’ he considered, fully aware that doing so would drain him significantly and complicate matters further.

"I suppose there’s no choice now..." Caelum began, preparing himself a cool line before the battle escalates further.

At that exact moment, a terrifying pressure descended upon the entire dungeon, crushing everything under an invisible weight that felt far more oppressive than anything Grror had released.

The change was immediate.

Even Grror reacted.

Although his skeletal face could not show expression, his posture shifted noticeably, and without uttering another word, he mounted his warhorse and vanished from the battlefield.

Caelum’s expression turned grave as he immediately summoned Asta back to his side, the Divine Mystical Horse having previously ensured that no one interfered in their duel.

As he looked toward the south, he spotted Bonjour, Loreal, Ethan, and another senior, all standing at a distance and staring in his direction with expressions that ranged from shock to confusion.

’It’s good they didn’t intervene,’ Caelum thought, he didn’t want to think what the consequences would have been, if they had interrupted the duel.

And he was sure the ’sauce guy’ could have convinced them.

Without wasting time, he moved toward them, stopping briefly near Ethan before asking.

"Where are the others?"

"We left them in a safe location..." Ethan replied, his voice still carrying a hint of daze as he struggled to process everything that had just occurred. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Caelum gave a short nod before immediately taking off again, riding Asta at full speed.

"At least wait for me!" Bonjour shouted from behind.

Although the oppressive pressure had receded, a lingering sensation remained, as though something unseen continued to observe them from beyond their awareness.

When Caelum arrived at the location where the remaining students had gathered, including the unconscious Anastasia, he wasted no time and immediately addressed the senior girl standing before them.

"Senior, where is that demonic human?" he asked, his tone direct and urgent.

The senior’s expression was tense.

"An u-undead knight suddenly appeared and took him away," she replied, in a voice heavy.

"For some reason, it did not touch those two, and it even seemed like it intended to take Anastasia as well, but something prevented it from doing so."

Caelum’s gaze shifted briefly toward Zoe and Matilda.

Before he could analyze further, a blinding white light erupted across the entire dungeon level, swallowing everything in its brilliance.

The world turned silent.

Then, a voice echoed.

"So... this is the brat he spoke about."

At that moment, Caelum froze, a cold chill running down his spine as he felt the overwhelming presence carried within that voice.

A power so immense that he felt death standing in front of him.

Then, the tone shifted slightly.

"Ho ho... your senses are quite sharp and for protecting them, you will be rewarded. Come to the Headmaster’s office once this is over."

’Headmaster...?’ he thought as an image surfaced instinctively.

An old man with long white hair and a beard that reached his chest, thick brows casting a shadow over one eye, while the other shone with an unsettling brilliance.

It was none other than Aurelius Zenith, the legendary Archmage of White Light, a figure spoken in history books as someone who had once stood against a Demon King and reshaped the fate of entire regions through his power alone.