Reincarnated Lord: I Conquered Fate With My Harem-Chapter 57: At The Edge Of Ruin [Bonus - ]

Outside the arena, the world had turned silent.

It was not because there was no sound or a decorum was decided to be held, but because none of them had the courage to breathe too loudly yet.

Even those occupying the VIP section.

The reason was simply because each one of them paid rapt attention to the massive screens around the observation arena, broadcasting the ongoing battle with deafening clarity.

Parents, high mages, friends, other participants, and even the school instructors present now sat somewhat optimistically, their eyes glued to the towering screens, which now displayed only the arena Mobix had found himself in.

Presently, what was displayed was Miriam and Lyra’s desperate clash with the monstrous Sentry.

Gusts of dust, flickers of flames, streaks of lightning, and streams of wind twisted in brutal harmony. The spectators had seen many battles... perhaps other participants began to measure their chances of survival in such situations.

They had never expected such a performance from candidates who should naturally be within their ranks and levels.

"Perhaps that’s the power of Elements. I’m not surprised—I’m surprised though," someone whispered, dejected.

"Are those... really just students? I mean, should they be on the same level with us?" another mage asked. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"They’re fighting like highly trained Purifiers..."

"I don’t think so. It’s a natural phenomenon for them to possess such powers as Elements. Tch, I envy them."

Another muttered, "That Sentry is a Demon Class Artifact. Specially crafted by their master himself."

"Even officers in the early-level stage of Master-ranked Purifiers would rather not face one," a voice chipped in.

More murmurs followed. Murmurs of doubt, fear, surprise, admiration, and even envy all tangled together.

Some of those who had criticized Miriam earlier for her laziness now swallowed their words.

She was lazy, yes. She was unserious, yes. But now they understood something significant about her methods.

She fought when she thought it mattered.

They wouldn’t deny the fact that she took prior matters for granted most of the time, but they still couldn’t bring themselves to deny the fact that she contributed impartially if she performed.

"Honorifically," one of the young mage participants said under her breath, unable to find a better word. "She lives up to her expectation as a Lord."

"She fights when she chooses to. Selective huh," Maria said from the VIP section.

Miriam’s mother, however, didn’t bear to take the comments to heart. She instinctively stood from her seat, hands clenched to her chest with tears in her eyes.

These weren’t tears out of joy, nor were they of fear. It carried a different feeling alongside it. The feeling of pride.

Her daughter, who was always fond of sleeping even when things rocketed dangerously and always fond of skipping training, was now fighting like a tempest born from the ancient winds.

To be truthful, even she hadn’t seen her daughter fight so gracefully with such power.

But that pride seemed not to last a bit longer than expected. It quickly turned to pale dread when the Sentry’s core brightened on the screen.

Lyra and Miriam were cornered. The tide had changed against them.

Simultaneously, the spectators’ expressions changed. Some covered their mouths, and others shook their heads. There were even those who jammed their palms and prayed in silence.

"Please let them survive..."

"Isn’t he going to do something?!" The voice screamed the section of the Elements. It was Sandra.

Everyone understood that she was referring to Mobix, but no one expected his significance after seeing the collective power of the other two Elements.

Finally, Magister Dango offered his prayers. "Saints above... save them."

At that instant, everywhere fell into a collective whisper of desperate hope until something moved with an impossible speed before their sight.

...

Meanwhile, inside the arena, I stood engulfed in the cocoon of wind-healing magic. Combined with the pulsing blue aura of my healing magic, my depleted mana reserves got recharged and my torn muscles restored.

But while my body was undergoing its reconstruction, my mind was engaged in something far more important.

With eyes barely open, flickering with cold focus, I was busy studying, calculating, and analyzing what was going on in the battlefield.

"Pattern learning. Long-range preference. Limited close-combat endurance. And... low tolerance for sustained melee exchange."

Everything I had seen about the Sentry so far replayed in my mind like a broken reel. Like a leaked tape.

So far, even judging from my attacks with the Sentry, I noticed it made sure to maintain a sealable long distance during combat. In as much as I hate to admit my ignorance, I still understood something about its close combat.

It lacked close-combat endurance. Or should I say, it purposely limits the amount of time spent during close combats.

That was why it made sure to parry my attacks when I got close and escaped to a far distance.

Moreso, even when it attacked Miriam and Lyra, each of its attacks had calculatively lasted barely two seconds. Then, I realized something peculiar.

These movements were because it lacked structural support for physical combat.

"A two-second limit," I muttered inside the cocoon. "So far, it withdraws immediately after every two seconds of close engagement."

I tapped a finger on my leg, thinking faster.

"And its core... no. That’s too obvious. Anything with intelligence would know to hide its weakness."

I had originally thought decapitation was unnecessary and relied instead on crushing the core as the fastest way. But the Sentry hadn’t been protective of its abdomen, where the core was located.

Instead, it was too protective of its head of seven eyes.

’Could it be trying to mislead me to think in this way?’ I thought, but I didn’t think so.

Although that can be an effective deception, the Sentry was no fool to take such risks, having seen our capabilities.

"It will not expose the core freely if that could have been the case. Then decapitation becomes the reliable route."

The plan formed sharply in my mind.

Continuous close combat. No openings. No breathing space. Overwhelm its predictive functions. End it with a clean severing of the head.

I let out a long breath after coming to this conclusion, then added.

"Of course, to avoid any loss, I will crush its core as well. That means... I cannot afford to hesitate."

That was when—

Just then, a flash of bright, destructive white lit up the arena.

My eyes widened.

Lyra and Miriam were in the direct line of the Sentry’s destructive beam.

An instantly killing beam.

My instincts kicked in before my thoughts could catch up, and I moved.

My movement possessed a speed invisible to bare eyes. I was not walking, of course; that was not an option, but I didn’t run either.

I erased our distance.

One moment, I was inside the healing cocoon. The next, I had burst free from it, the air surrounding me and mana rippling apart in spiraling force.

First of all, as a way of dispersing the destructive beam of the Sentry, I halted at a close distance to the impact, and with my sword clamped between my two hands, planted it deep into the ground.

Immediately, a ripple tore across the field as the blade vibrated first from the force, then released a thunderous wave that spiraled outwards.

BOOOOOM!!

The blue sword aura surged further upward, blasting dust into the sky as I lunged, speeding forward, the If bending around me as if welcoming a king long forgotten.

’But come to think, I’m a king seeking gradual acknowledgement.’

It wasn’t time for prideful thoughts. So, I dismissed them almost immediately.

Everything dimmed for a heartbeat, and darkness swallowed the whole arena.

But then, it lasted not long as calm, brilliant, and commanding blue light lit it again.

Before anyone could take note of what had happened, I appeared between the beam and the falling forms of Miriam and Lyra.

Degrading my composure into that of a calm but cold demeanor, I lowered my head and spoke.

"Thank you so much for buying me such an extravagant amount of time. Now... I’ll buy us victory."

As a result of the aura blockage from my sword, the beam crashed into the ground where I had been a second earlier.

With that, the arena trembled violently.

I didn’t have an opportunity to look behind me to behold the Sentry. In the moment, I needed to make sure my allies were safe just like I had been.

With a simple gesture, I summoned a spell that formed soft, thick clouds. The clouds caught Miriam and Lyra mid-fall, lowering them gently to the ground like children laid to bed.

"Rest now. I will take it from here," I whispered to them.