The stadium was dead quiet.

Every pair of eyes was locked on the broken arena floor, the silence so thick you could hear the wind through the upper stands. Instructors, seniors, people who usually watched first-year fights with bored looks, were leaning over the railings.

The big crowd did not make a sound. The cheering had stopped completely.

And why wouldn’t it be quiet?

Down there, it was not just a normal training match or a simple fight between students. It was a slaughter turned into a high-level war.

Everyone knew the Aegis Academy was the most powerful institution in the world. It was a huge fortress that only took two hundred students this year out of over one hundred thousand applicants.

It was built to make the ultimate weapons, a brutal factory that filtered out the weak. Every generation had a few stars.

But this year?

The first-years were called the most abnormal and terrifying group the academy had seen in years. After the harsh survival exams made by the Astra Union, where over thirty thousand candidates died just to find the best, only the true monsters had earned a spot.

They were born to be strong.

Even among those survivors, some stood out even more. There was Arthur, the Chosen Hero with an SSS-rank core and Sword affinity that made him a master of combat. There was Roan, the elf prince whose speed and power were unmatched, and his pride was as massive as his talent.

There was Alice, the commoner prodigy whose power could break steel, and Elisabeth, the vampire princess. Riven, Marius, and Caster each had deadly fighting skills that should have been impossible for teenagers.

Cordelia, the princess with Sovereign Wind flowing through her blood. Amelia, the calm water mage. Nyra, the beastkin warrior whose claws could shred stone and steel with ease. And Lyssaria, the elven healer whose World Tree magic kept her team alive through impossible odds.

They were geniuses among geniuses. Their paths to the top of the world were already set. Everyone expected them to rule.

But then, there was him.

That white-haired, arrogant scoundrel.

Leo von Celestial came out of nowhere like a complete anomaly.

Born into one of the Four Great Houses with a measly B-rank core, he was supposed to be a failure. Instead, he went into his Path Trial, disappeared for seven months, and came out with white hair, a changed body, a terrifying surge in power.

"Monster" was too simple a word for what he was.

His skills were sharp, his fighting instincts so strong it felt like he had spent lifetimes facing real death just to improve.

....And then, there were his affinities.

Three.

No one in history had ever heard of someone having Lightning, Space, and the... Flames at the same time without their core breaking.

Rumors were spreading across the world about how he had survived inside the Trial Path for nearly seven months. It caused a big stir among the high noble houses and the Twelve High Seats of the Astra Union.

How could a kid with a weak core survive a place that killed so many geniuses?

No one had an answer.

But no one could do anything about it either.

Even if the high nobles wanted to question him, Leo was not the type to talk. and more importantly, the powerful Celestial family and certain high-ranking parts of the Union were keeping his files locked, hiding his information.

So, the secrecy bred wild rumors. Some said he had been chosen as a secret Apostle inside the Trial Path. Others swore he had made a deal with a demon to change his core.

Nobody knew the actual truth about him. Maybe they never would. But right now, looking at the white-haired noble standing against the top eight ranks of the academy, one single fact remained absolute in everyone’s minds:

The guy is a living... anomaly.

_

Standing in the absolute center of that crushing silence, Leo let out a low, wet cough. He rubbed the back of his hand against his lip, his eye sweeping across the eight strong fighters who had reset their stances into a loose, predatory half-circle around him.

Internally, he was cursing up a storm.

I am seriously pushing my luck here, Leo thought, his breath rattling violently in his throat.

He could feel his bloodline working overtime... again. The passive mana generation was a steady, quiet pulse, but at a slow rate of about 1% of his pool per minute, it was far too slow to patch the big gap in his core.

He could use his Energy Siphon to pull in the heat and leftover power in the air, but at his current 30% conversion rate, the rest of the raw energy would hit his tired paths. Using it too much right now would not just cause mana burn. It would affect his core.

But... he wasn’t going to use it. Not yet.

He still remembered what happened during the tournament, when he pushed himself too far and his bloodline went into overdrive. His core almost cracked, his body started eating itself, and Seris had to stab him through the chest just to keep him from exploding.

That was not a lesson he was going to forget.

This time, he had to be smart.

He had to use his bloodline’s Adaptive Resistance wisely, letting his body adjust to the pressure and damage instead of forcing it to burn through his reserves. His healing was already working, slowly stitching the cuts and easing the burn in his channels.

It wasn’t fast, but it was steady. And right now, steady was enough.

Leo knew exactly what people in the stands were thinking.

To the high nobles, the teachers, and the older students watching from above, he probably looked like a reckless, arrogant fool who was throwing away his win out of pride. He had already proven his point by taking down a hundred students.

Playing it safe would be the smart, logical choice.

But Leo had never been logical. A dark, stubborn spark under his ribs refused to let him back down. He wanted to fight them. Even if it looked completely crazy, he wanted to test his limits against the main characters of this world.

Yet, for the first time since the Path Trial, a cold reality hit him.

If I fight them head-on like this, I am going to lose, he realized sharply. There’s no plot armor that saves me from an eight-on-one against actual prodigies.

If these were normal soldiers or random noble heirs, he could outsmart them with pure experience.

But the remaining eight were not simple targets. They were learning, changing, and reading his patterns with every second. Arthur’s Sword power let him adjust his balance and read Leo’s moves before the blade even finished its swing.

Roan was a true battle genius who could read the small moves of Leo’s shoulders to guess his next step.

They were breaking down his fighting style as they fought.

Damn it, Leo thought, his fingers twitching against his sword. I might actually lose this. Think, what can I do...

"What is the matter, Leo?" Roan called out, his storm-silver eyes narrowing as he caught the small shift in Leo’s stance. He raised his crystal spear, the tip shining under the arena lights. "Do not tell me that is all you have after talking so much trash."

Arthur did not speak, but he tightened his grip on his sword, his eyes locked onto Leo’s white hair, waiting for the smallest move that signaled an attack.

Leo looked at them, then looked down at his own shaking hands. He let out a long, slow sigh that sounded very tired. Then, he did something that completely broke the tension in the arena.

With a slow, careful move, Leo relaxed his stance. He did not raise his blade. Instead, with a faint, hollow click, he smoothly pushed his sword back into its dark cover, letting his arms drop loosely to his sides.

The whole half-circle of fighters froze. Arthur’s eyes widened a little, Roan’s spear tip dropped an inch, and Riven took a half-step back, his shadows flickering wildly.

They were completely confused.

"Hey, hold on a second," Leo said, his voice dropping into a flat, casual tone that carried across the quiet sands. He looked at the remaining eight, shaking his head.

"Look at you guys. You are all in good shape. Well, maybe except for Arthur, who had fought with Seris, but even he is mostly fine. And look at me. I just took down a hundred of your classmates by myself. My uniform is torn, my ribs feel terrible, and my mana is running on empty."

"Are you begging for mercy now, Leo?" Alice barked from the side, her big longsword resting on her shoulder as a sharp, mocking grin spread across her face. "You’re the one who told us to come at you. What, was that just for show?"

Leo’s lip twitched. This girl...

"I am not begging for anything, Alice," Leo shot back, and then looked back at Arthur and Roan.

"I am stating a fact. This is not a fair fight. It is eight against one against a guy who has already been fighting non-stop. Surely the great geniuses of the academy do not want to brag about winning a match that was completely stacked in their favor? Even if you put me in the dirt, everyone in the stands will just say you jumped a tired man."

Roan let out a dry laugh, lowering his spear completely. "He is not wrong, you know. It does look a bit cheap. So, what is your genius idea, scoundrel?"

Leo raised his left hand, extending three fingers into the air.

"Let us make a deal. Three minutes. We fight for exactly three minutes. Go all out, use whatever moves you want, do everything you can. If you manage to push me out of this inner ring or knock me flat before the time runs out, I lose, and the Primus title is yours. But if I am still standing inside this active area when the clock hits zero... you all step back, drop your weapons, and admit that I won."

"Three minutes?" Alice scoffed loudly, stepping forward with a fierce glare. "That is a joke! You think we cannot break you in three minutes?"

"Hold on, Alice," Roan interrupted, his silver eyes gleaming with sudden amusement as he looked at Leo. He cracked his neck, his grin widening. "Three minutes is a bit too short for a show like this. Let us make it more interesting. Five minutes."

Leo stared at Roan for a second, his eyes narrowing as he worked out his remaining stamina. Five minutes against these monsters is a long time... but it is better than a fight I cannot win.

Leo shrugged, his wild, jagged grin breaking across his bloody face once more. "Five minutes it is. Do not regret it when you cannot touch my coat."

Professor Morgana stepped forward, her sharp eyes locking onto Leo. Her voice rang out across the arena, cold and firm.

"The conditions proposed by Leo have been accepted by the participating parties. A five-minute countdown will begin immediately. At the end of these five minutes, if Leo remains standing within the active boundary of the inner ring, he will win. If he is knocked unconscious or pushed out of bounds before the timer expires, the remaining group claims victory."

The big magical screen above the arena flickered, a giant, glowing gold countdown timer appearing in the air: 05:00.

Arthur raised his broadsword, a small smile crossing his face as the golden light of his power started to cover the steel. "Well then, Leo. I will not hold back."

"Good," Leo whispered, his fingers locking tight against his sword as he dropped back into his stance, his focus turning cold as ice. "Because I am not going to either."