Kallivan swiftly chased after Baek Yu-Seol from behind.

In that moment, along with a sensation of his soles floating, his senses detected magic.

‘... No, this is alchemy!’

As befitting of a Stella's student, the analysis of this alchemy quickly concluded in his mind.

Crack!

The correct answer was the leaf he stepped on with his right foot. It was hard to believe, but that leaf lifted the person who stepped on it into the air.

"Is this... a product of alchemy?"

Although it was his first encounter with alchemy, he calmly arranged mana throughout his body.

"Weight Amplification!"

Instantly, his body became heavier, countering the levitation magic, and he quickly landed on the ground. He swung his staff towards the empty space, launching several volleys of rock fragments.

Pew! Pew! Pew!

The attacks scattered in the air, including the trees, but he believed it was enough to suppress Baek Yu-Seol... or so he thought.

Baek Yu-Seol had already moved backward and was throwing something.

Clang!

‘Poison gas...?’

As Kallivan recognized its nature, he prepared a spell to block the air, but Baek Yu-Seol drank it faster than he expected.

Kallivan had no choice but to quickly use a detoxification spell due to the wind blowing it away.

In the modern era, biochemical poison-related magic was almost meaningless because magic capable of instantly analyzing and detoxifying any magic-infused poison had been developed.

However, there were cases where alchemists used toxins from animals or demons, and in those instances, detoxification was quite bothersome.

Kallivan assumed that Baek Yu-Seol had used that type of magic and hastily proceeded with detoxification, but...

"Gulp, cough...!"

For some reason, the detoxification spell didn't work at all, and water just dribbled from his eyes, nose, and mouth, while an excruciatingly stinging sensation dominated his head.

"CS gas...!"

It was sharp, stinging, and suffocating. A gas created not for the purpose of killing people, but solely to cause pain and suffering.

He had to concentrate. No matter how agonizing and strenuous it was, if his defense weakened for even a moment, he could be struck from behind.

However, since he couldn't secure any visibility and couldn't detect Baek Yu-Seol’s position, he could only raise rocks in a square shape in all directions.

This spell, which consumed mana excessively, was the worst method, but now he needed a means to defend himself while detoxifying this gas.

"Purification!"

Fortunately, the feeble trickery didn't have much effect on Kallivan, who had accumulated experience, and he was able to complete the detoxification in a matter of seconds.

Now he thought he would never fall for such tricks again as he released the earth barrier.

But just as he thought it was nothing before, the timer of the golden bell that he considered insignificant earlier expired.

Flash!

An enormous flash scattered around.

"Cough...!"

His vision was instantly paralyzed.

… Thud!

Something flew and hit his face, and he quickly erected an earth barrier behind him while deploying a neutral shield in front, but something suddenly surged from the ground and struck Kallivan's waist, nullifying everything.

It was as if an unseen mage knew exactly how to deal with it, and came up with an attack pattern.

Thunk, bang!

"Cough, groan...!"

True to his earth magic specialization, he managed to mitigate most of the damage by placing rocks and shields around his waist, but the mental impact was severe.

"Damn it, you dog...!"

As he forced himself to lift his kneeled leg, his hand touched the ground, and he almost screamed at the sharp sensation.

"Guhhh..."

Sharp traps were bouncing around in all directions. Before questioning how a trap could move like that, he had to grit his teeth and endure the pain which made him feel like tears would burst forth.

Splat!

However, without missing that opening, there was a sense of approach from behind once again.

He quickly turned around and swung his staff, but the approaching object was not Baek Yu-Seol, but a black sphere.

Wham!

The shield successfully blocked it, but he couldn't prevent the gas seeping out from within.

"Another, another trick...!"

He hurriedly prepared for detoxification, but...

This time, it wasn't the CS gas from before, nor was it poison gas. It was just smoke to obstruct vision.

However, the smoke remained tightly around his body, revealing Kallivan's position clearly to the outside.

Swish!

In that moment, Baek Yu-Seol, who had swiftly approached using teleportation, swung his magic sword and stabbed into Kallivan's back.

Crack!

"Ugh...!"

Despite suffering significant mana loss, Kallivan clad himself in earth armor to defend himself by any means necessary.

Surprisingly, Baek Yu-Seol’s magic sword had torn through most of his rock armor.

"... Damn it, explode!"

Crash!

Kallivan launched a barrage of rock fragments backward, but Baek Yu-Seol once again retreated.

"Ugh, huff, hoo...."

Kallivan wiped off the saliva that dripped as he struggled to catch his breath. His entire body was stinging, and the spiciness of the CS gas he had inhaled earlier lingered in his eyes, nose, and mouth.

It felt like he kept getting hit by something and was left with bruises.

However...

There was not a single fatal injury. After this duel, with just a simple treatment, he would be completely fine without needing to go to the infirmary.

But...

Somehow...

Anger surged through him from head to toe. This was supposed to be a moment to discipline his arrogant junior.

Even if it meant bringing shame upon himself by overwhelmingly defeating his opponent, it was not acceptable to be tossed around by his junior like this.

There was no greater disgrace.

Sss...

The mist cleared completely, and Baek Yu-Seol stood at a certain distance.

Kallivan approached him, his lips curling into a sneer.

Alchemy tools and magical devices available in the arena were limited.

Baek Yu-Seol’s magical devices were undoubtedly impressive and remarkable, but as a novice in alchemy, he had long surpassed the level of tools he could use.

Now he truly had to fight bare-handed. And he had already realized that his sword couldn't properly pierce her armor.

From now on, he would use all his power, employing every magic at his disposal to chase him down. There was no use in running away with fancy footwork anymore.

With that in mind, Kallivan aimed his staff at him.

"Don't even think about leaving gracefully."

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The ground trembled, and massive earth barriers blocked every direction. Baek Yu-Seol’s advantage lay in skillfully utilizing the terrain and manipulating distances according to his preference.

But, if the terrain was modified to prevent him from escaping or moving freely, then he would be rendered helpless.

Crack!

Spears and fragments of rocks descended through the air.

Expending every remaining ounce of mana, he unleashed his created magic: Meteor Shower.

Even in the midst of completing the spell, Baek Yu-Seol extended his sword without any intention of stopping it and stared calmly into the empty space.

More precisely... he was observing the timer that was still running.

[14:47]

Finally, Kallivan's magic circle began to emit light.

"Alright, the spell is complete!"

[14:50]

He briefly wondered why he didn't disrupt the formation of the Stone Field, why he didn't negate the magic, but it didn't matter.

[14:53]

"Kneel on the ground and beg for forgiveness until you're beaten to a pulp!"

All the magic converged in the direction where Baek Yu-Seol stood. If he were hit by that, it wouldn't just be a simple injury, but a potentially fatal situation.

Until then, Baek Yu-Seol continued to focus solely on the timer in the empty space.

"You're finished! Meteor Shower!"

Finally, at the moment when Kallivan's magic surged toward Baek Yu-Seol...

[15:00]

"I surrender."

Baek Yu-Seol declared his defeat.

Thud!

All the magic came to a halt under the compulsion of Stella Dome. The sharp blades and arrows of rock that had stopped right in front of Baek Yu-Seol trembled, unable to move any further.

"What...?"

What did he say?

Momentarily unable to comprehend the meaning of those words, Kallivan gritted his teeth and infused mana.

"Move! Move!"

However, no matter what he tried, his magic wouldn't move as he willed.

After a moment, when the field dissipated and all the magic reconciled into a blur of mana, they were finally able to properly assess the situation.

"This, this is..."

"The duel has ended. The winner is Kallivan from Class C of the second year."

Just as the assistant professor intervened and announced the complete end of the duel, Kallivan's face turned pale.

"Oh, it's not over yet! The duel hasn't ended!"

Then the assistant professor, clearly displaying annoyance, spoke to Kallivan as if he were pitiful.

"You're already in your second year, and you still don't understand the rules? Baek Yu-Seol declared his surrender. The duel is over."

"But..."

"Just be quiet, will you?"

As Kallivan tried to argue back, he had no choice but to quickly close his mouth when the assistant professor spoke in a cold tone.

"I'm already annoyed by your petty squabbling. Don't make things more troublesome."

"...!"

Kallivan couldn't say anything further. It occasionally happened with those who were once students of Stella, going through the professorial process at Stella.

The assistant professor was likely a former student of Stella as well, which made the situation of him having to control the absurdity of his juniors appear quite absurd itself.

Baek Yu-Seol, hiding behind the assistant professor, spoke softly.

"Thank you for your hard work, senior. I've learned a lot from you."

Baek Yu-Seol politely bowed and quickly exited, leaving Kallivan standing there in a daze, gazing into the empty space.

He had won.

Clearly, he had won.

… But he felt no joy. Instead, a deep frustration welled up from deep within his heart.

Why was he feeling this way?

However, the duel had ended, and now there was nothing more he could do.