Chapter 178: Anomaly on Stage

The crowd exploded into wild cheers.

Inside the barrier, Ava stood panting slightly. Her uniform was torn at the shoulder, and a minor frost cut bled thinly along her left cheek from Peter’s initial blizzard attack, but her mana reserves were still more than half full.

She looked down at Peter, who was struggling feebly to lift his head from the bloodied stone, his eyes glassy and unfocused.

Ava felt a brief, heavy pang in her chest, a lingering echo of childhood memories, but she quickly pushed it down. That life was over.

She turned her back on him, not saying another word, and walked off the stage ramp.

When she stepped back into the Aether enclosure, Lynx was already waiting for her.

He caught her around the waist, pulling her flush against his chest, and leaned down to kiss her deeply on the mouth, tasting the faint copper of her blood mixed with the electric tang of her aura.

"You were brilliant, my princess," Lynx whispered against her lips, wiping the thin trail of blood from her cheek with his thumb.

Ava rested her head against his chest, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck as she let out a long, shuddering breath. "I didn’t expect him to last ten minutes... he was much stronger than he used to be."

Lynx let out a soft laugh, stroking her hair. "I saw his stats before you went up. He gave everything he had, but experience doesn’t bridge a four fold gap in raw power. You smashed him. Your father will be proud of you. Not that we care by this time, if he crosses you, he’ll end up like Peter over there."

Ava laughed.

Behind them, the arena medics carried Peter off the stage on a hovering stretcher, his face covered in blood, completely unconscious.

Inside the enclosure, Professor Rose looked at Lynx with a subtle smirk. "Match Three is up, Lynx. Your turn to entertain the crowd."

The scrying board flickered above the stadium floor, displaying the names for the third match of the day.

MATCH THREE: LYNX AZARION AETHER BLESSED ACADEMY VS. SELENA VOANCE VOID BLESSED ACADEMY

The moment Lynx’s name flashed across the scrying board, the reaction inside the Grand Void Arena reached a volume that surpassed every previous match combined. The sound was so loud that several of the weaker barrier arrays flickered.

It was not just cheering. It was an explosion of sound that had been building since Phase 1.

"LYNX! LYNX! LYNX!"

The chant began in the lower spectator tiers, started by visiting Aether citizens who had come just to see him, but within seconds, it spread like wildfire across the entire amphitheater.

Even spectators from Heather and Beacon, who were supposed to support their own empires, were screaming his name. His fame had crossed all borders. In the last week, his name had become the most talked about in the entire capital.

His physical charm, an effortless, passive aura that drew every eye in the building directly toward him, seemed to radiate outward before he had even taken his first step toward the stage ramp. He did not need to try. People just looked at him. It was a natural, almost divine pull.

Up in the higher spectator seats, Isabel leaned against the velvet railing, blowing a playful kiss down toward the floor, while Amira laughed softly beside her, her eyes sparkling. They were not shy about showing their support. Amira wore a deep blue dress that matched Aether’s colors.

Eira and Emily sat forward, their eyes bright with excitement as they watched Lynx step out of the enclosure of Aether waiting area. Emily’s heart was beating fast. She clasped her hands together tightly, her knuckles white. Eira was grinning from ear to ear, already shouting his name.

Inside the Aether holding area, the Year 3 and Year 4 students crowded around him. They were all hyped up after Ava’s victory, their morale at its peak.

"Crush them, Lynx!" one of the senior Year 4 student shouted, slapping Lynx on the shoulder. "Show these Void bastards what Aether’s top seed looks like! Make them regret rigging the draw!"

Professor Selene stepped into Lynx’s path, her blue eyes searching his face with intense curiosity. She had always been intrigued by him, by his impossible growth rate. She gave him a firm, approving nod. "Go out there and make a statement, boy. Show them why we brought you here. Show them why Aether still rules."

Professor Mira, standing beside Henry, offered a more cautious instruction. She was always the careful one, the strategist, just like Professor Selene. "Lynx, if you notice anything strange during the fight, any illegal mana signatures, or any artifact usage do not hesitate to pull back and report it immediately. We need evidence of their cheating. Don’t be reckless."

Lynx paused on the ramp, turning back to look at Mira with an amused, effortless smirk. He looked completely relaxed, like he was going for a walk in the garden, not into a death match.

"Professor Mira," Lynx said, his voice smooth and completely devoid of tension, "with how I’m planning to end this fight, she won’t even have time to show me her strange tricks. She will be too busy trying to breathe."

It was not arrogance. It was a fact to him. These guys don’t even know he could solo everyone here.

Professor Henry threw his head back and let out a booming laugh that echoed off the stone walls. "Hah! We know she’s no match for you, kid! But do us a favor, don’t instantly vaporize her in five seconds. Draw the fight out just a little bit. Let us see what kind of combat techniques these Void Year 4s are relying on post break. We need intel for the other fights."

Lynx shrugged, leaning down to give Kira, Lira, and Ophelia quick, firm kisses on the cheek while pulling Ava in for another brief hug. He was affectionate and open, even right before a fight, showing no nerves at all. "Alright, Professors. I’ll give her two minutes. No more, no less. Enough to see her tricks, not enough to bore the crowd."

With that, Lynx turned and walked up the ramp, stepping onto the central stage. His boots made no sound on the stone.

The moment his boots touched the stone, the crowd’s screaming reached a deafening pitch. The sound was so loud the barrier itself vibrated.

Lynx paused in the center of the ring, casually raising his right hand and offering a slow, lazy wave toward the upper tiers. He was enjoying the attention, letting it wash over him.

He looked toward the higher spectator seats, winking directly at Isabel and Amira, sending a collective wave of high pitched squeals through the surrounding female spectator sections. Several noblewomen actually fainted.

Across the stage, stepping through the opposite side of the barrier, was his opponent. Selena Voance.

Selena was a Year 4 Elite student from Void Blessed Academy. She possessed a striking, fierce beauty, with long dark purple hair tied into a high ponytail and sharp, black eyes that were full of focus and pride.

Her dark Void uniform fit her toned, hourglass frame tightly, accentuating her strong shoulders and long legs.

However, unlike the Year 4 combatants Lynx had encountered in Phase 1, Selena’s presence was distinctly different. She felt heavier, denser, more dangerous, as if she was carrying a hidden weight of power.

The one week break had clearly served its purpose, her mana reserves were completely unlocked, pulsing with a dense, heavy pressure that signaled an advanced dual affinity mastery of Ice and Lightning. Her mana was so dense it made the air around her cold.

Lynx Primordial Vision eyes automatically scanned her. It was his secret tool, his greatest advantage. No one could hide their true stats from him.

Semi translucent streams of blueish data flickered across his field of vision, laying her stats and equipment completely bare. To normal eyes, she looked like a beautiful, strong fighter.

But to Lynx’s vision, she was a map of flowing energy. He could see the blue rivers of her Ice Affinity flowing through her arms, the purple sparks of her Lightning Affinity crackling around her spine, and the bright, unnatural red river of external mana pumping from her ring straight into her heart.

[Name: Selena Voance

Age: 22

Class: Blessed

Affinities: Ice S Rank, Lightning A Rank

HP: 52,000 / 52,000 x 4

MP: 68,000 / 68,000 x 4

STR: 38,000 x 4

AGI: 41,000 x 4

STA: 39,000 x 4

INT: 45,000 x 4

DEF: 36,000 x 4]

Lynx’s eyes narrowed slightly as his Primordial Vision focused on a specific detail. It was not her stats. It was an artifact on her finger. The ring was not just boosting her. It was forcing her body to operate beyond its safe limit. He could see micro fractures forming in her mana channels, tiny cracks that would cause severe pain later.

On Selena’s right index finger sat a sleek, obsidian ring inlaid with a pulsing crimson rune.

The ring was actively bleeding a dark, subtle stream of mana directly into her arm’s primary mana channels. It was feeding her power from the outside, like an artificial heart.

Through his vision, Lynx could see that the ring was actively multiplying her baseline stat output and affinity effectiveness by a factor of four, artificially elevating her raw performance to match that of a very strong Blessed.

Without the ring, she would be strong but normal like the rest of the strong Year 4 students. With the ring, she was a monster. The ring used a Void Core fragment as a battery.

Lynx chuckled softly under his breath. ’So that’s how you bastards intend to bridge the gap. External stat multiplying artifacts disguised as standard jewelry. Clever, but obvious to me. This would be a threat to my fellow students though. Well, I’ll just end all."

Selena stood in a balanced, ready stance, her hand resting on the hilt of a curved silver saber. She felt Lynx’s gaze locking onto her, and a strange, involuntary shiver ran down her spine.

His heterochromatic eyes, one deep blue, the other cold, glowing silver, seemed to pierce right through her uniform, inspecting her soul as if she were made of clear glass. She felt naked under his gaze.