I Refused To Be Reincarnated-Chapter 446: The Price of Arrogance

His eyes narrowed into dangerous slits, and his fists tightened as he glared at the raised wand.

What fool on the same tier would dare to attack him? Under the eyes of eight arcanists, no less!

As anger clawed at him, trying to burst into an eruptive inferno, Elisabeth rose, eyes as cold as ice.

However, Shepard halted her, his lips stretching into a vicious grin.

"Let her humiliate herself further. I’m sure Edgar will love it."

Then, ignoring her sigh, he focused on Adam, internally cheering for him.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Adam’s voice echoed, surprising Julius and Arun with his improved self-control.

But in her irrational rage, Mia didn’t care, taking his words as an attempt to beg or perhaps a show of weakness.

The next second, smoke wafted from her open grimoire before swirling into a vortex.

He could hear dreadful roars that sent an icy wave collapse on him, forcing the volcano about to erupt in him into stillness and chilling his soul.

"Appear in your true and glorious form, netherworld’s snake!"

Pure chaos descended as the public shrieked in fear. The younger students leapt to their feet, crying and scrambling out of the arena. In their mad dash, they collided with one another, wounding themselves.

Meanwhile, Julius’ hand itched at his gladius, and his muscles tensed.

Despite the chaos, his life force boosted voice pierced through the terrorised screams and noise of footsteps.

"Hold on, big brother! I’m coming to help!"

Faced with the snake’s triangular head emerging from the vortex and its scarlet eyes dripping with malice, Adam roared back.

"Don’t move!"

His wooden body tensed, and his fingers cracked as he clenched his fist.

’I can’t reveal my magic proficiency. Brute strength it is, then!’

Their plan for next year’s tournament flashing in his mind, his figure blurred in everyone’s eyes.

The wind whipped against his red coat as he lept on the snake’s head in the blink of an eye.

His elbow rose high, and his eyes burned.

’That’s how you use anger. In a devastating burst!’

Like a tier four hammer descending to strike scalding ore, his fist plunged, roaring his outrage.

BOOM

A spiderweb of cracks shattered the snake’s scales as an agonising hiss reverberated through the arena. Blood seeped from them as the creature’s skull caved in bone-chilling crunching noises.

The brave souls who remained in their seats to watch and the teacher’s eyes enlarged at the ridiculous spectacle.

"Since when could disciples punch tier three creatures from another plane to death?!"

"What the heck am I seeing? Am I dreaming? Ouch! The heck are you doing?"

"Pinching you to verify?"

As fear melded with awe in their eyes, Adam’s eyes narrowed.

Creatures of this tier had incredible vitality. He experienced it first-hand. Therefore, he delivered another strike in a blur of black and red, pulverising the snake’s colossal skull into a scarlet mist.

Then, he jumped before Mia’s trembling eyes. In a swift movement of his hand, he snatched her wand and grimoire.

"Honor? I see nothing honorable in a pest like you. The snake wouldn’t have died if we were in the wild."

His icy voice reverberated, making her legs shake in pure terror and colors drain from her face.

But when she heard him speak next, she almost fainted.

"You would have taken his place. Congratulations on surviving your misplaced arrogance!"

Follow current novels on ƒreewebηoveℓ.com.

The noise of his mocking clapping echoed, making the scene even more surreal and terrifying to the onlookers.

Discover exclusive content at novelbuddy

Meanwhile, Shepard smirked at Edgar, his eyes sparkling with bliss before they narrowed.

"What are you trying to do?"

He outstretched his hand, fingers turning into smoke, and a water sphere swirling into existence.

"I won’t touch your disciple. Sit back," Edgar said, aiming a finger at Mia.

Then, he continued, his voice as commanding as a royal decree and eyes reddening under the blood influx.

"For transgressing the tournament’s rules in our academy. For causing many students’ wounds because of your rashness."

His palm trembled, teeth cracked, and veins throbbed on his forehead.

"For being defeated with a tier-five card and making me lose three tier-six materials!"

An unholy amount of mana condensed on his palm, shaping itself into a dark spear glinting with red hues.

"DIE!"

As he roared, his mana construct disappeared before...

BOOM

A red blur lept aside as the duel desk shattered first, followed by the sturdy ground, which exploded in a rain of dust and gravel propelled in every direction.

Adam rolled on the ground for a few meters, carried by his momentum before his palm struck it. Propelled upwards, he somersaulted and regained his balance just in time to witness what happened to Mia.

Like a swarm of invisible, deadly creatures, Edgar’s mana devoured her body after piercing a round hole in her torso. In a brief second, not even her clothes remained.

A knot of fear and despair wrapped around his soul. He recognised Edgar’s method. It was a mana technique. One of the sixth tier!

’His mana control is superior to Elisabeth’s, Moira’s, and Shepard’s!’

He gasped at the raging arcanist on the balcony, hearing Shepard roar.

"What kind of mentor kills his disciple for a defeat or an outburst?! She was still young! You could have punished and guided her!"

Despite his sound reasoning and accusation, only Orion and Maya nodded at his words, leaving the five other deans to approve silently.

Honestly? Even if someone from their own family dared to disgrace them in public in such an unsightly way, they would have killed him, too.

"Shut up and take your items."

Edgar roared back, throwing three materials any mage would drool over on the table before his shadow slithered on his body.

Leathery wings unfurled, and he took off, flying through the arena’s doors, unwilling to endure his peers’ gazes and mockery.

Watching his departing figure, Elisabeth’s palm met her forehead, a sigh filled with her frustration parting her lips.

"Gather your students. We’ll continue with the last matches in an hour."

Her authoritative voice boomed like thunder, reaching everyone.

"Students from my Academy of Light Magic! Show them why we are the best. Heal any wounded."

The teachers moved to follow her command as a semblance of normalcy began to emerge from the chaos.

Witnessing everything, Adam shook his head and stepped away. Despite her gruesome death at the hands of the person she trusted the most, he shrugged, uncaring. Mia deserved her fate. Blind arrogance would get you killed sooner or later. It was so obvious yet so abstract for fools like her.

Before he could leave the venue, billowing smoke surged in front of him before Shepard’s grinning figure condensed.

"Where are you going?"

"Back to the academy. A shame I didn’t duel any dwarf during the qualifications."

He shrugged, his mind already set on his training.

"You’ll need that, then."

His mentor’s grin widened to reach his gray eyes as he unclenched his fist, revealing a sparkling ore.

"Your share from the profits. With the sanctions we imposed on Edgar and his remaining two cheating students, I’ll make a killing, thanks to you!"

Intrigued, he grabbed the ore before Shepard winked.

"It’s Starmetal Ore. Like its tier one little sister, it has high mana conductivity, so you should enjoy working with it."

His lips twitched as he offered a nod of gratitude and spoke while leaving.

"Thank you for sharing it with me."

"Nonsense. Keep up the good work in both tournaments. If I get something useful for your progress, I’ll give it to you."

His soul warmed at his mentor’s concern, almost making him forget how he agreed to send him to Elisabeth against his will...