Dark Magus Returns

Chapter 1423: Burning Brilliance

Lee Roy was already a name many knew well. A flame magician who had earned numerous accolades outside of his academy, he was considered a prodigy due to his overwhelming magical power. But until now, most people had thought that was all there was to him, just raw power with little else.

Now, standing in the center of the arena, it was clear he had come to prove otherwise.

This event was designed to showcase something impressive, something beyond brute force, and the crowd was eager to see what Lee Roy had planned. Scattered throughout the arena were the familiar small golden balls, devices used in the previous outdoor challenges. Many spectators instantly recognized them, as the game had become a crowd favorite over the past two days.

The goal was simple in theory, but difficult in execution: hit the fast-moving golden balls with a precise amount of magic to deactivate them mid-air. Strike too weakly, and they would keep going. Strike too hard, and the balls would explode or reject the spell. The game tested precision, control, and speed, far more than just strength.

Now, those same orbs had been arranged in a large circular pattern around Lee Roy, ten of them forming an inner ring, and another ten forming an outer ring. Twenty in total.

"What is he doing?" Moze thought, narrowing his eyes. "I already broke the record for this event, and that was with just one of those things. Now he’s trying it with twenty? This isn’t going to be the flex he thinks it is..."

And Moze wasn’t the only one watching.

Somewhere in the stands, Bones was undoubtedly keeping a close eye on the performance too. After all, Bones had even surpassed Moze’s score, and with style. But there was one person watching the entire setup who didn’t understand what the fuss was about at all.

Lee raised a confident hand into the air, fire already dancing at his fingertips. Then, with a shout, he called out, "Alright, start!"

Immediately, the ten golden balls in the inner circle shot into the air, each one hovering before suddenly spiraling in different directions. They zipped around erratically, mimicking the unpredictable movements that had frustrated so many mages before.

At the same moment, Lee brought his hand down, and from the large fireball he had conjured, nearly the size of a basketball, ten fiery fragments broke off. They moved with blinding speed, like they had minds of their own. One by one, the fire fragments pursued the orbs, weaving through the air like hunting serpents.

Then,

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Each golden device exploded in succession, extinguished by Lee’s perfectly guided flames. Within moments, all ten of the inner ring had been taken out. The crowd was stunned into silence, before erupting into cheers and applause. Some even stood to their feet, unable to contain their excitement.

Most of the audience had no idea what exactly had happened, they just knew it looked incredible. They’d seen countless mages fail again and again trying to catch even one of those flying objects. Even the few who succeeded often took a considerable amount of time.

But here was one student, Lee Roy, who had eliminated ten of them in a matter of seconds.

And the outer ring of ten? Still untouched. His show wasn’t over yet.

Right after Lee Roy’s stunning display, the next wave of ten golden orbs, this time set farther out in the arena, rose into the sky. They floated momentarily before darting off in unpredictable patterns, twisting and weaving through the air like bees disturbed from their hive.

Once again, Lee lifted his hand, conjuring another basketball-sized fireball, flames crackling and swirling at his fingertips. The crowd leaned in with anticipation, but this time, something different happened.

As the fireball split into ten smaller flames, a noticeable shift occurred, the speed was much slower than before. Unlike the earlier explosive display, the fireballs now moved with a calculated, almost deliberate grace. Everyone could clearly follow their motion this time, and what they saw was shocking.

Each fireball was mirroring the exact movements of a golden orb. They weren’t just aiming in a general direction or being launched toward a predicted path, they were tracking. Perfectly. Identically. Like they had minds of their own.

The fire magic danced through the air, mimicking every twist and turn of the golden orbs. No matter how erratically the targets moved, the flames stayed locked on them, never veering off-course. Then, after a few moments, as the fireballs closed in, the magic suddenly fizzled away, vanishing into harmless wisps of heat. Just as the mana dissipated, each golden orb dropped gently back to the ground, completely deactivated.

The crowd burst into murmurs of awe.

"That’s quite the impressive magic, indeed," Piba said, clearly intrigued. "I wonder... is it an affinity or a unique trait?"

"You can’t tell just by watching?" Safa asked. Her tone was filled with genuine curiosity. Spending more time in the world of mages had made her eager to understand how magic truly worked, especially since she’d been relying on her own more and more.

Piba tapped his chin. "It seems that he’s able to track objects with his magic. Which means it’s likely either a unique trait that allows him to connect with moving targets, or... well, something even more complex. The way his spell moved was unusual."

"How so?"

"It wasn’t ten separate fireballs," Piba explained. "That was a single spell, split and controlled as if it were ten. It reacted to its targets mid-flight. He didn’t cast ten fireballs, he manipulated one to break apart and chase them down."

Safa’s eyes lit up, already analyzing the possibilities.

"Maybe he used a special affinity, like sound magic or tracking magic, on the golden devices beforehand," Piba continued. "It could’ve been a layered enchantment. Or maybe he combined affinities. It’s hard to say exactly. But regardless of what it was, we all saw it, it was impressive. He knew exactly how to showcase his magic."

In the stands, Moze found himself frowning in thought. Maybe Lee Roy could’ve beaten his record. Maybe he hadn’t even tried. Maybe today wasn’t about setting records for him, it was about showing the crowd what made him special.

As Lee returned to his spot, the arena roared with applause. Cheers echoed from the stands as he waved politely, a humble smile on his face despite the clear awe he had inspired.

Then the announcer’s voice boomed through the stadium.

"And next up, representing the Central Academy once more, Nannan!"

All eyes turned toward the next challenger, eager to see if the bar Lee had just raised could be matched... or surpassed.

***

****

For updates for MWS and future works, please follow me on my social media below.

Instagram: Jksmanga

Patreon*: jksmanga