–"Rush him!"
As Lucas' figure became clear, the cadets quickly charged at him together, aiming to overpower him with their numbers.
However, three individuals remained rooted in their spots - Grace, Alberto, and Tory, a red-haired girl.
Observing the battle from a distance, the trio waited for others to make an opening that they could exploit.
Cling, Clang, Cling—!!
However, despite their efforts, they couldn't create a single opening in Lucas' technique. There was no room for mistakes.
Lucas constantly covered his blind spots and continuously moved around so that he couldn't get surrounded.
Moreover, he also kept at least two to three cadets near him at all times, so that Grace or anyone else could not launch an artillery spell at him like the Storm Arrow from earlier.
Despite the fact that he was fighting against numerous cadets, Lucas not only kept an eye on the three bystanders but also held himself back so that he wouldn't actually kill his opponents.
His eyes darted across the field, tirelessly searching for the most efficient ways to knock out his enemies as swiftly and safely as possible.
His training in the Southern Mountain range proved valuable. After all, these humans were far less scary than the giant Ice-Claw Bears.
Cling—!!
Swiftly deflecting a blade that was speeding at him with his spear, Lucas raised his leg, chambered his knee, and executed a powerful front kick, striking the young man in front of him.
Thwack—!!
From the force of the kick, the guy buckled and dropped to his knees as Lucas jumped onto the back of his neck, delivering a forceful stomp to his head, smashing it against the ground.
Thaaak—!!
If the boy hadn't reinforced his body with mana, that curb stomp from Lucas would have surely fractured his neck or skull.
Shifting his focus, Lucas turned his attention to the three approaching men who took advantage of the situation to charge at him.
In response to their charge, Lucas raised his spear over his head.
The air around his spear began to twist and churn. Tendrils of scarlet lightning crackled in the air and enveloped his weapon, pulsating with intensity.
"Haaa!"
Thrack—!!
In the next instant, as the three men closed in on him, Lucas brought his spear crashing down onto the ground beneath him before swiftly jumping backwards.
As soon as the scarlet blade of his crimson spear struck the ground, cracks spread across the terrace.
Thaaawm—!!
–"Aaaahhh!"
–"What the fuuuuck!"
–"Nooooo!"
Soon after, a huge hole was carved into the terrace, causing the ground beneath the three men to shatter completely.
They plummeted to the room below and got buried under the rubble that fell on them from above.
Thud—
"Fuuu," Lucas exhaled after landing a few steps back from his previous position and wiped the nonexistent sweat from his forehead. "Small fries are dealt with."
Indeed, most of the side characters had been taken care of by now.
Only Grace, Alberto, and another red-haired girl remained standing between him and Kai.
Lucas shifted his gaze toward them. One look and he could sense that all three of them were at least around Silver-2 rank.
They were definitely strong.
Then there was Kai. Lucas could sense that he was on the verge of breaking through to the Silver-3 rank and ascending to the Gold tier.
Fortunately, Lucas had used Embrace Discard so his own stats were boosted to the Platinum-1 rank.
It basically means he didn't have to fret too much about their rankings and he can go all out against them.
Lucas circled around the hole that he himself created as Grace closely observed him.
"Tsk," Grace clicked her tongue in frustration.
How had he become so strong all of a sudden?
She could have sworn that just moments ago, they were on a similar rank.
But now, she couldn't sense his mana. That could only mean he had surpassed her by at least one rank.
He must have reached the Platinum rank. But how did he achieve such a sudden breakthrough?
The more she thought about it, the clearer the answer became. He must have used a relic!
Perhaps that armor he had on him earlier, which shielded him from her Storm Arrow, was a relic.
Now that she couldn't see the armor on him, it might have boosted his mana core rank somehow.
Now she understood why Lucas was always so cocky whenever he confronted her or tried to sway her to his side.
The rumors about him being the disgrace of the Morningstars were definitely false.
This guy had been hiding his true prowess all along.
But why? Grace couldn't comprehend the reason behind it.
Why would he go to such lengths to portray himself as a weak, insignificant brat in the eyes of the world?
Well, it didn't matter. Even if Lucas was temporarily on the Platinum-1 rank, it didn't guarantee his victory against Kai.
With that thought in mind, Grace nodded resolutely and turned to the tall, muscular man standing beside her.
"Alberto," she addressed him. "Keep him occupied for ten seconds."
Alberto didn't respond directly. Instead, he clenched his fists and softly muttered in a low tone, "Enforcement!"
In the blink of an eye, every muscle fiber in Alberto's body began to bulge and swell, resembling an inflating balloon before solidifying and radiating a golden glow.
His shirt tore apart as if he had donned a suit of golden armor and his eyes looked as if they were set ablaze in a silver fire.
His hair also straightened and cascaded down to his knees, shimmering with a silver hue.
"Come," Lucas beckoned, raising his spear to his chest and pointing its blade at the monstrous figure of Alberto before him.
In response, Alberto stomped his foot on the ground and charged at Lucas like a raging bull, his fists drawn back.
Fwish—!!
As soon as he entered the striking range, Lucas swiftly thrust his spear toward Alberto's chest.
Thack—!!
However, Alberto deflected the spear blade with the back of his fist, effortlessly diverting Lucas' attack to the left.
Seizing the opportunity, Alberto pressed forward and launched a punch at Lucas while his spear was still pushed aside.
Swish—!!
But to his surprise, his massive fist passed right through Lucas' body as his form wavered and vanished like a mirage.
"Tsk! An illusion!" Alberto concluded, but it was already too late.
Almost instantly, multiple Lucas suddenly materialized all around him, encircling him from all angles before charging at him simultaneously.
"Arghhaaa!" Alberto let out a battle cry, swinging his fist wildly like a beast.
Swish, Swish, Swish—!
But each time his fist connected with Lucas, it would turn out to be an illusion before his body would fade into thin air.
Before long, Alberto dropped his guard for a split second. However, that was all the time Lucas needed to launch an attack.
"....?!" Suddenly, Alberto sensed a presence behind him. He swiftly turned around to face his adversary.
Amidst the crowd of Lucas clones, one of them was in the middle of swinging his spear at Alberto in an upward slash.
'It's the real one!' Alberto realized as soon as his gaze landed on him, but it was too late. The spear was mere inches away from him.
Thrwash—!!
As soon as the spear, crackling with red lightning, connected with Alberto it sent him hurtling back through the air from the sheer force of the slash.
Thud—!!
Finally, Alberto landed on the ground with a resounding thud, rolling a few times due to the momentum before swiftly rising to his knees.
"...Huh?!"
However, when he looked up, Lucas had already launched himself toward him.
Twisting his body in mid-air, Lucas used the momentum of his spin to deliver a powerful downward vertical slash aimed at Alberto, who was still kneeling.
THRWASH—!!!
Alberto crossed his arms to tank the attack, but even his heavily reinforced muscles couldn't fully protect him from the devastating force of Lucas' spear.
The blade of Lucas' spear sliced through Alberto's rock-hardened muscles and inflicted a deep wound on his arms.
Blood spurted out from his wound, but Alberto refused to stay down. He struggled to rise to his feet as quickly as possible.
Yet, Lucas had used this chance to circle around behind him.
From there, he retracted his spear and unleashed a powerful horizontal slash at Alberto's back.
THRWASH—!!!
The impact of the slash forced Alberto down onto all fours.
However, rather than surrendering, he continued to fight, attempting to stand up again.
"You just don't know when to stay down, huh?" Lucas muttered as he walked behind Alberto, dragging the blade of his spear along the ground.
Grimacing, Alberto summoned every ounce of strength remaining in his battered body before pulling himself up onto his feet.
"Arghaaa!" he bellowed as he clenched his fist, accumulating mana in it until it started to glow in an azure hue.
He then spun around on his heel and threw a straight at Lucas with everything he had.
Swish—!!
But his fist passed harmlessly over Lucas' head as the silver-haired spearman ducked by bending his knees.
Seizing this moment, Lucas sprang up from his low position and planted his own fist into Alberto's sternum with tremendous force.
Thwack—!!!
"Khuaaak!" Infused with a crushing amount of mana, Lucas's punch cracked Alberto's ribs, causing him to stagger back a few steps and drop to his knees in agony.
Without hesitation, Lucas closed the distance, channeling mana into his legs as he lifted his left knee before executing a powerful front kick with his right foot— performing a flawless bicycle kick.
Thwack—!!
His foot connected squarely with Alberto's face, making him fall back first on the ground, rendered unconscious by the sheer impact of the kick.
However, Grace used this chance to prepare her artillery spell. Her rapier was pointed directly at Lucas and it was surrounded by a swirling vortex of wind.
"Hmm?" Lucas noticed the violent gusts of wind and turned his focus toward Grace.
For a brief moment, their eyes met and Grace flashed him a triumphant sneer.
In the next moment, at Grace's command, the colossal vortex of wind propelled forward from Grace's rapier like an arrow, aimed directly at Lucas.
"That's a big one," Lucas muttered to himself, acknowledging the magnitude of the approaching Storm Arrow.
Indeed, it was a big Storm Arrow to the point where it looked like a tornado.
Grace had poured every ounce of her mana into that spell.
Lucas knew that If it struck him, not only would it severely injure him, but it would also destroy the entire terrace and maybe a few floors below.
"As expected of a main character," Lucas silently chuckled to himself, pointing his open palm at the incoming Storm Arrow.
In an instant, two spears made purely of scarlet flames materialized around Lucas and launched themselves toward the oncoming vortex.
Thwoooom—!!!
