SSS-Ranked Awakening: I Can Only Summon Mythical Beasts - Chapter 377: The Anticipated Match Up
Chapter 377: The Anticipated Match Up
The Colosseum seemed to quiet itself as he passed.
Not magically.
But naturally.
Like the wind stopped out of respect.
Damon stood as Elias walked past the outer magic barrier.
“Let’s see how deep your stillness really runs, kid.”
On the opposite end, Lurien rotated his staff overhead, spinning it into a crescent arc behind his back.
He bowed once, showman-like.
The crowd cheered.
Then Dean Oryll’s voice echoed once more:
“Final match of Round Two… will now begin…”
And Elias raised his hand.
Not in greeting.
Not in flourish.
But in position.
Ready.
The arena lights dimmed slightly as the barrier sealed shut around the final match of Round Two.
The magic circles glowed cold and white.
The crowd buzzed with restrained hunger.
Everyone wanted to see what Elias Verdan would do.
Especially after the last fight.
Especially after Kellen’s actions against a fellow ElderGlow student as though he was taunting Elias.
Across the stage, Lurien Vale spun his silver-hafted staff behind his back in a long arc, letting it clap against his palm. He bounced once on the balls of his feet, then exhaled slowly, eyes narrowing.
His stance wasn’t flashy—it was flowing.
Combat art wrapped in a dancer’s control.
He was trained to break rhythm, to dismantle opponents through displacement, feints, and body tempo.
He wasn’t a bruiser.
He was a conductor of collapse.
And he’d been told Elias was slow. Precise. A planner.
Perfect.
Right?
Well, he would soon find out.
Dean Oryll’s voice cut through the tension once again.
“Final match of Round Two… Begin!”
Lurien moved first, sweeping into motion with a low dash and a spin, sending out a triple-arc illusion slash—two fakes, one real.
The crowd watched closely, expecting a slow sidestep, or maybe a last-second counter spell but Elias didn’t move at all.
He simply held out his right hand and the real arc vanished midair.
Kshhhhh!!
Crushed.
Like it had been caught in a vice.
The crowd gasped.
Lurien’s smirk twitched.
He changed tempo.
Vwooooshhh!!
Doubled speed.
A strike from below.
A twist.
A detonation circle from his staff edge—directed not at Elias but beneath him, to make him unbalanced.
Elias rode the vibration like a surfer—his posture not fighting the quake but aligning with it.
He was in motion without moving.
Lurien frowned.
That wasn’t defense.
That was… resonance. ’You piss me off, golden boy!’
He stepped back, changing angles.
Shifted again.
He snapped his fingers and a multi-layered ring wrapped the air around Elias’s head.
Crackling.
Tight.
It closed in.
Elias raised one finger.
Tapped the air.
And the magic ring folded into itself, disappearing like a paper crane caught in flame.
Now Lurien stepped back, grip tightening.
“You’re not defending,” he said aloud.
Elias blinked once.
“You’re absorbing.”
Still no answer.
Cael watched from ElderGlow’s prep platform, arms crossed tightly.
“Same as always,” he murmured. “Clean. Efficient.”
“If you keep fighting like this, you just might end up like your teammate.”
That was the worse choice of words Lurien could’ve chosen.
It echoed through the arena despite the chants from spectators.
Then, a sound like thunder punched the air.
Not from Lurien.
From Elias.
Kraaaaa!!
Elias stepped forward.
Not fast.
Just once.
But the air cracked behind him.
A sound wave followed, shaking the platform.
Lurien staggered and that was when Elias attacked.
Not with technique.
Not with a named form.
Just a burst of fury wrapped in motion.
Pow! Pow! Pow!
He struck with open palms — once, twice, then with a spin so sharp it left a ripple in the barrier.
Lurien blocked the first two.
The third hit straight across his chest, cracking his breastplate and sending him flying across the platform.
Booom!
He hit the ground hard.
Coughed.
Rolled.
Elias was already walking forward.
The crowd fell into confused silence.
Because Elias’s face had changed.
Not fully.
But enough.
His jaw was clenched.
His brow tight.
His aura had always been silent.
Now it boiled.
Not loud.
But dense.
Heavy.
Like it had been holding itself back for too long.
Elias raised his hand again.
Formed a magic circle mid-air — fast, raw, incomplete.
An offensive spell.
One designed for punishment.
The top of the barrier crackled with lightning as though a god had been infuriated and those watching could feel the wrath packed into the attack.
Magic essence gathered into the move speedily as Elias prepared to end the battle.
Lurien got to his knees just in time to see it detonate.
At the last second, Elias tilted his wrist.
The blast curved skyward.
Missed Lurien’s head by inches.
Hit the upper barrier with a sound like a mountain cracking.
Boooooom!!
Lurien froze, unable to even blink.
So did the crowd.
Elias lowered his arm.
And turned away.
“Combatant incapacitated. Victory: Elias Verdan.”
The moment the barrier dropped, medics rushed in.
Not for healing.
For confirmation.
Lurien wasn’t unconscious.
But he couldn’t speak.
Couldn’t lift his arm.
One of the healers looked at Elias with visible tension.
Elias didn’t return the glance.
He just stepped off the platform and walked back toward his prep quadrant.
On ElderGlow’s platform, Cael let out a slow breath.
Then he looked at where Elias had been sitting earlier.
Right on the bench.
The stone was cracked.
A deep dent carved beneath where his hand had rested.
He stepped closer and brushed his palm across the indent.
Still warm.
Renna stepped up beside him.
“He was angry.”
Cael nodded slowly.
“He was furious.”
“But why didn’t he say anything? When Kellen… when Reiz…”
“He was already doing this.”
He looked toward the dent again.
“He was already making this decision.”
From the upper pavilions, Dean Godsthorn stared down at Elias without expression.
Dean Oryll’s gaze flicked briefly to the cracked stone where Elias had stepped off the platform.
Then back to the match log.
Still smiling.
Kellen should be more than capable of dealing with Elias.
(Semi-Final Bracket Updating…)
The platform shimmered as the matchups began forming.
The third and final round — the last before the semifinals.
And among the names now pulsing across the board…
Was Elias Verdan.
And in the slot across from him still loading.
But the crowd didn’t cheer this time.
They just watched him.
And some?
Feared him.
Because now they knew—
He wasn’t silent because he didn’t care.
He was silent because when he did care…
He might not stop himself in time.
The central magic circle rotated slowly above the arena, shedding arcane gold light across the stands as it processed the match data.
The brackets for the Semi-Finals began to crystallize in midair — name by name, line by line — like fate sealing its choices in real time.
The crowd held its breath.
So did the students.
They all knew what they wanted to see.
Elias.
Kellen.
Final match.
No distractions.
No sidetracks.
Just the anomaly and the mimic — the storm and its reflection.
But fate never asked for opinions.
The first two names locked into place.
Semi-Final Round One:
RENNA VELMIRA (ElderGlow)
vs.
CEDRIC VAN (Thornevale)
Whispers broke out across the arena.
A surprise.
Cedric was known for his silent, surgical style — a spell-blade with flawless parry mechanics and rhythm-breaking counters.
Renna had just fought through a barrier-wielding tactician and come out sharpened, not shaken.
A clash of style and resolve.
The crowd murmured with interest.
Then came the next two names.
They arrived in unison.
And the moment they did—
Everything stilled.
Semi-Final Round Two:
ELIAS VERDAN (ElderGlow)
vs.
KELLEN DREIN (Wyrmere)
The audience didn’t cheer.
It gasped.
Loud.
Sharply.
Even the Deans stirred.
Because everyone had expected that match-up to be last.
To be the climax.
Not this.
Not now.
But Elias?
He smiled.
A small, knowing curve of the lips.
Not arrogance.
Not surprise.
But something closer to recognition.
Like he’d seen this bracket before anyone else.
Like it had always been written.
Reiz who’d just woken was now sitting in the recovery zone, groaning as the board lit up.
“Of course it’s now.”
Renna turned from the bracket to Elias, who stood behind her with that same unreadable look.
“You’re not surprised?”
“I already knew,” he said calmly.
Renna raised a brow. “How?”
“Because it’s something I foresaw,” Elias said softly.
Cael frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Split power early. Let one anomaly destroy the other before the semifinals.”
A pause.
“You think so?” Cael blinked.
“Wyrmere probably wants to try to contain me. Break my wings early.” Elias nodded.
Renna’s expression tightened. “But you’re not contained.”
“No,” Elias said. “I’m free.”
High above, Dean Oryll of Wyrmere leaned back in his chair, expression hard to read.
Godsthorn of ElderGlow remained seated, hands folded, eyes narrowed.
“You pushed it forward,” Godsthorn said quietly.
Oryll didn’t reply.
Miss Leana and Damon stood shoulder to shoulder along the balcony rail, watching the names burn in the sky.
“You feel that?” Damon murmured.
Leana nodded once. “The arena just changed.”
“They wanted a final.”
“They’re getting something else.”
“A reckoning?”
“No,” Leana said, voice cool.
“A mirror. And what breaks when it looks back.”
Another wave of reaction passed over the stands.
The announcer’s voice rang out again:
“The Semi-Finals will begin in ten minutes. Final preparations, essence recalibrations, and magic attunements are permitted. No substitutions. No audience interaction. No interference.”
“Failure to appear within the allotted time is considered forfeit.”
Renna stretched her arms and legs, stepping to the edge of the preparation zone as she readied for her match with Cedric.
She looked back once — only once — at Elias, who hadn’t moved.
Still watching the board.
Still smiling faintly.
That same look of quiet inevitability.
