The air inside the Colosseum had solidified. The aftershocks of magic rippled through the atmosphere as if the entire space were waiting for the next storm.
Heka-Ur.
He was one of ancient Egypt's greatest legendary wizards and was revered as the "Father of Magic." They say he single-handedly quelled a divine punishment. He was the only wizard in all of ancient Egyptian history to be honored as a demigod while still alive, wielding power stolen directly from the gods.
"In the name of Ra!"
The instant the spear left his hand, space tore open along a burning trajectory. This was no ordinary attack; it was a fatal strike infused with the divinity of the sun god Ra!
The flames were not mundane fire but the manifested wrath of Ra himself. Each flicker warped the surrounding space and scorched the very laws of reality.
"Not bad... the power of rules, huh?"
Ian's pupils contracted sharply. He could see countless tiny golden runes wrapped around the spear, manifestations of divine script. Each symbol contained enough power to destroy a city. Even before the spear arrived, the terrifying heat had already begun to curl and char the edges of his black robes.
The audience erupted.
"The Spear of Divine Punishment! He's dead!"
"No one can withstand the Sun God's wrath!"
"End it, arrogant wizard!"
Meanwhile, Ian's virtual spectators huddled together nervously.
"It's over! What do we do now?"
"Lord Ian, dodge!"
Ian didn't move.
"Interesting."
Instead, the corner of his lips lifted. His wand spun three times between his fingers.
"Let's try this..."
"Glacialis Aeternum!" (Eternal Glacier).
A dazzling blue-white light burst from the tip of his wand. Water molecules in the air condensed rapidly along the light's path. This was no ordinary ice, but "Eternal Frost," harvested from the Arctic Abyss and inscribed with ancient runes that are resistant to extreme heat.
The moment the divine blue flames collided with the Eternal Frost, the entire Colosseum was swallowed by blinding white light.
The Wailing Souls raised their hands to shield their eyes. Even Anubis narrowed his gaze.
When the light faded, a crystalline iceberg stood in the middle of the arena. Within it, the Spear of Divine Fire was frozen, its flames still writhing, yet unable to break free from the glacial prison.
A flicker of surprise crossed Heka-Ur's starry eyes.
He lifted his serpent wand. The gem at its tip split into twelve motes of light, forming a complex constellation in the air.
"Duat Invocatio!" (Underworld Summoning).
The ground trembled. Twelve gilded mummies burst from beneath the obsidian floor. Draped in priestly robes and clutching staffs embedded with scarabs, they emerged. Even more terrifying, pale mist coiled around them—cursed soul dust. Any living being that touched the mist would age instantly.
Ian whistled.
"Undead Scourge? Classic, but effective."
He swiftly retrieved a delicate crystal hourglass from his pouch. The sand within glowed an eerie blood red.
"Tempus Vermis!" (Worms of Time).
The instant he flipped the hourglass, countless tiny red lights poured from its neck. They weren't grains of sand, but rather miniature time-worms. They swarmed toward the gilded mummies, burrowing into the joints of their desiccated limbs.
A chilling sight followed.
The mummies' movements slowed drastically, as if time itself had been reduced to one-tenth speed. Their staff strikes became sluggish and absurd.
"Time-worms gnaw at the flow of time around them," Ian explained to the audience, delivering a magical lecture. "The effect lasts... hmm, about three minutes?"
Heka-Ur snorted coldly and slammed his wand to the ground.
The mummies detonated simultaneously, transforming into a storm of golden dust. The dust reassembled in midair into a vast net woven of incantations and descended toward Ian.
"Netjer Enchain!" (Divine Binding).
Ian took out a palm-sized bronze pyramid model and tossed it upward, unhurriedly. It rapidly expanded to form a complete pyramid-shaped energy field around him. The spell net struck its surface, screeching as it scraped against the barrier, but it could not penetrate it.
"The latest masterpiece from Hogwarts' Magic House," Ian said, tapping the inner wall of the pyramid. "Yes, Master means me. Don't look at me like that. I'm old enough to be one."
"Based on fourth-generation shielding spells, upgraded with—"
His words were interrupted by a violent tremor.
Heka-Ur was now floating high above, holding a rapidly expanding sphere of blackness between his hands. This was no ordinary darkness—it was Underworld energy compressed to the extreme. Agonized soul faces flickered across its surface.
"Osiris' Judgment!"
Cracks spread through space along the sphere's path as it fell. Ian felt his magical shield corroding. Rust began creeping across the pyramid's surface.
"All right. Serious mode."
The playful expression vanished from his face.
His wand spun one and a half rotations in his palm, tracing a perfect silver circle. Simultaneously, his left hand retrieved three items from his pouch in quick succession:
A test tube filled with rainbow-colored liquid.
An obsidian slab carved with dense runes.
and a sacred scarab sealed within amber.
"Arcana Triplex!" (Triple Arcana).
The liquid splashed into the air and formed a radiant rainbow barrier.
The obsidian slab shattered, releasing ancient protective spells.
The scarab within the amber awakened, its wings unfurling with a piercing buzz.
This was the work of a Potions Master and an Alchemy Master, combining on-site configuration and countermeasures.
The instant the black sphere collided with the triple defense, the Colosseum was engulfed in a distorted force field.
The Wailing Souls in the stands screamed as their forms fluctuated wildly, some transforming into mummies, some into animals, and some regressing into mere motes of soul-light.
When the chaos subsided, the arena floor was scarred by a massive, one-hundred-meter-wide crater.
Ian stood at its edge. His black robes were tattered, yet the silver light in his eyes burned brighter than ever.
Heka-Ur fared no better. His starry robes were torn, revealing a body shimmering with starlight beneath.
"Again!"
The ancient Legendary Wizard's will remained unbroken. Though battered, his eyes blazed with fighting spirit.
After a brief pause...
"Flame Spear!"
Heka-Ur struck first. With a sweep of his wand, a blazing, dragon-shaped spear erupted from its tip and lunged toward Ian.
"Speculum Divinitas!" (Mirror of Divinity).
The moment the spear struck the mirror, its reflection came alive!
An identical blue-flame spear burst forth from the mirror and collided with Heka-Ur's attack midair.
Boom!
The explosive shockwave hurled both men backward.
Ian smashed through two stone pillars before coming to a stop. Heka-Ur was half-buried beneath the collapsed spectator stands.
"I'm not just a wizard; I'm also an Alchemy Master."
When the dust cleared, Ian stood unharmed.
Across from him, the situation was far less favorable.
Heka-Ur rose slowly from the rubble. His starry robes had dimmed; the brilliance had faded. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, but the silver-gray light in his eyes still shone brightly.
"My turn! If it's playing with fire, I can do that too. I'm Fire Mage Ian!"
Ian opened with Fiendfyre. Blazing cursed flames roared forward, sweeping toward his opponent like a tidal wave.
Heka-Ur's gaze sharpened. He swung his wand heavily and chanted:
"Wall of Eternal Frost!"
A towering barrier of ice rose instantly. The fire dragon slammed into the frozen wall and exploded with a thunderous crash. Steam and flames intertwined, forming a violently churning mist.
As expected, ancient wizards had ways of countering Fiendfyre.
From the stands, the Wailing Souls, representing ancient Egyptian history, erupted into deafening cheers.
"Heka-Ur! Heka-Ur!"
"He is the father of magic!"
"He once drove back a hundred enemy war mages alone on the banks of the Nile!"
Meanwhile, Ian's virtual spectators refused to be outdone.
"Ian! Ian! Ian!"
"Hogwarts' genius wizard!"
"Potions master! Alchemist!"
"He changes the world with magic!"
The emotional energy from the stands was at full throttle.
"Triple Stone Spear!"
Heka-Ur followed up immediately. The ground split apart and countless stone spears thrust upward from beneath, targeting Ian's position.
Ian's figure flickered. A magic array flared beneath his feet, and he appeared in midair, narrowly avoiding the lethal strike.
"Then I'll go with Sixfold Thunder Arrows!"
With a reverse sweep of his wand, lightning arrows tore through the air, streaking toward Heka-Ur with the fury of thunder.
It felt like the earlier exchange was repeating itself. Having studied ancient magic in Greece, Ian now wielded such spells with ease, and he was eager to test them in combat.
"You've learned quite a mix of things," Heka-Ur remarked calmly. He held his wand horizontally and intoned an ancient spell:
"Sacred Shield... Blessing of the Sun God!"
Another golden barrier manifested, once again blocking the lightning arrows. Sparks scattered, illuminating the Colosseum repeatedly.
The battle threatened to fall back into the same pattern as before.
"Soulfire!"
Heka-Ur cast again. A sphere of soulfire burned forth, carrying the power to scorch the soul itself as it lunged toward Ian.
Ian's eyes narrowed. He rolled swiftly to the side, but when the fireball struck the ground, the surface instantly collapsed, forming a massive crater filled with ghostly blue flames—as though even souls would be devoured within it.
"Alchemy - Soul Armor!"
Ian activated a defensive spell forged from the fusion of alchemy and potions. A shimmering protective layer formed around him, shielding him from the lingering waves of soulfire.
"You're strong," Ian said, straightening slowly and gripping his wand tightly. "But I'm not easy prey either."
He inhaled deeply, raised his wand high, and chanted an extraordinarily complex incantation:
"Elemental Fusion - Arcane Tempest!"
A massive magical vortex appeared in the sky. Wind, fire, water, earth, and lightning intertwined within it, forming a storm that swept across the entire Colosseum.
Heka-Ur looked up, and for the first time, his eyes showed true gravity.
He slowly raised his wand and spoke one of the most ancient Egyptian spells.
"Divine Shield - Blessing of Thoth!"
A golden curtain of light unfolded in the sky, barely withstanding the onslaught of the Arcane Tempest.
Even so, Heka-Ur was forced back several steps. The ground beneath him was torn apart by the magical storm and reduced to scorched earth.
As the battle dragged on, the Colosseum became unrecognizable. Magical aftershocks ravaged the surroundings. Pillars shattered. The ground split apart. The air crackled with fluctuations of arcane energy.
Fortunately, Anubis continually restrained the spread of magic.
"Eye of the Storm!"
Heka-Ur raised his wand high. Instantly, a colossal storm formed overhead, with lightning flashing and winds howling, threatening to swallow the entire Colosseum.
Ian did not retreat. He swiftly traced an alchemical array beneath his feet and declared,
"Gate of the Void!"
A silver-white portal opened behind him. The raging winds were instantly sucked into it, redirected into another dimension by an invisible force.
"Chains of Gravity!"
Heka-Ur cast again. Invisible chains materialized from the void and lunged toward Ian in an attempt to bind him.
Ian sneered. With a light tap of his wand, he spoke:
"Mass Reversal!"
The next second, the chains failed to restrain Heka-Ur. They rebounded and shot back toward him.
Heka-Ur reacted instantly, conjuring a Shield of Light to block the returning chains. The impact forced him backward several steps.
"Interesting." A flicker of admiration passed through his eyes. "You are no ordinary wizard."
"You're no ordinary opponent either." Ian's lips curved upward. There was genuine interest in his gaze—an appreciation for the true weight of an ancient Legendary Wizard.
"But today, I won't lose."
That was the conviction of a Legendary Wizard, and Ian possessed the heart of someone who believed himself to be truly invincible.
"I've got a move that transcends eras."
A sly smile appeared on Ian's face. He pulled out an unremarkable bronze jar from his pouch.
"Let me show you what modern alchemy looks like."
He pulled out the stopper. A wisp of green smoke drifted out and took the vague shape of a human figure.
The shape gradually solidified until it became another Heka-Ur.
Ian had developed this after certain past encounters.
"Mirror Alchemy Puppet," Ian explained casually. "It perfectly replicates the target's magical traits. Of course, since this is only a prototype, it still has flaws. The duration is only five minutes. But that should be enough, right?"
The two Heka-Urs stared at each other, their starry eyes brimming with disbelief.
Meanwhile, Ian strolled leisurely to the edge of the arena. Somehow, he had even brought a bag of popcorn and had begun to watch.
"You..." The real Heka-Ur's voice trembled.
"Oh, right," Ian added helpfully. "It grows stronger over time because it's copied based on 'future potential.' Good luck!"
When the duplicate began casting spells more powerful than the original, Heka-Ur finally broke.
He raised his wand high, his starry eyes revealing his exhaustion.
"Stop! I surrender!"
Not even a legendary wizard could withstand such an unreasonable, all-around monster.
Granted, most legendary wizards were hexagonal warriors themselves.
But Ian's hexagon was clearly larger and more perfect. He had reached true Legendary-level mastery in every field.
Alchemy, potions, and magic combined were not a simple one-plus-one-plus-one-equals-three equation.
The fact that this ancient Egyptian legendary wizard had lasted this long was remarkable in itself.
"Fair enough."
This time, Anubis did not force the legendary wizard to continue. His staff struck the ground at just the right moment. The duplicate dissolved into green smoke and returned to the bronze jar.
The entire Colosseum fell silent.
Even the virtual spectators forgot to cheer.
"The second trial—passed."
There was a hint of helplessness in the Death God's voice as he looked at Ian, a man with countless bizarre abilities.
"The final trial: challenge my will."
His tone was solemn.
However, Ian lifted his gaze toward the ancient god.
"No.
"I want to challenge you directly."
He issued his duel invitation.
His previous opponents hadn't required him to take things seriously.
What Ian wanted now was, was to forge a new legend.
To challenge a god. With a mortal body.
(End of Chapter)
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