Chapter 2045: Chapter 2045

Alexia hadn't intended to answer Dolores's question directly, but she changed her mind.

"If it were you, what would you do?"

She posed the question to her student, and just as before, the eavesdropping eldest princess, Yani Stuart, couldn't hear a single word.

"They'd agree on their attacks beforehand to make the fight as spectacular as possible. For the finale, they would charge at each other in a dramatic clash. One would fall, the other would remain standing, and then they would receive the audience's applause."

"Should they also sing a duet to express their mutual affection, complicated by the fact that their allegiances prevent them from revealing their true feelings?"

Dolores nodded enthusiastically before realizing her teacher was mocking her.

she asked, her tone tinged with a playful pout.

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Fog began to rise from the arena below. It wasn't the gray mist that clung to the material world, but an ordinary, pure white vapor, almost like steam. It emanated from Miss Fabry first, then spread rapidly across the entire field.

Even though the arena had been expanded to more than a hundred times its original size, it was still quickly enveloped by the bank of fog.

"This is one of Princess Sophia's own abilities. She is a remarkable Benefactor as well. If she and Anathasia are willing to stay in the material world a while longer, I suggest you study with Princess Sophia for some time. You are not suited for my path..."

It wasn't that Alexia was refusing to teach her the Mathematical Principles; rather, Dolores found the complex formulas utterly headache-inducing—a fact she readily admitted.

"So, who's more powerful? Princess Sophia or you?"

"Comparisons have to be made on multiple fronts, but I believe in most respects, I would not lose to the ancient princess."

Dolores didn't doubt her teacher's claim, but a small, mischievous part of her couldn't help but think that, in terms of height at least, her teacher would definitely not come out on top. Realizing the impropriety of the thought, she quickly composed herself, pushing away all distractions to focus intently on the arena below.

Jenkins noticed the white mist as well and tried to close the distance to his opponent before it enveloped the arena. But by the time he reached the center, the fog had already swallowed him.

Miss Fabry, too, vanished into the fog. It was no ordinary mist; no one could pierce its veil to see what was happening within.

"Even I can't see through this fog. Anathasia mentioned they gathered it together from the void and fused it with their powers, creating this strange variant. The requirements to use it are incredibly strict; only long-lived beings like the princess and the silver dragon, who have existed for tens of thousands of years, could manage it... So, whenever you encounter such ancient creatures, never judge them by conventional logic."

Although Jenkins hadn't revealed his friends' true identities when their families dined together, Dolores had privately learned the truth from her teacher, so she knew the princess and Anathasia possessed immense lifespans.

Alexia continued to speak, but Dolores could no longer pay attention. Her eyes were fixed on the thick white mist, where a terrifyingly huge, dragon-shaped shadow had just flashed past.

A gasp of shock rippled through the audience; Dolores hadn't been the only one to see the colossal, dragon-like creature. Before she could even form a question, Alexia explained:

The words had barely left her lips when a pillar of green light pierced through the thick fog. It was followed by the appearance of countless swaying, tentacular shadows within the mist, as if the white vapor had become a breeding ground for them. The tentacles writhing beneath the fog resembled vines, clearly something Jenkins had conjured.

A dragon's roar tore through the air, so loud it nearly shattered their eardrums. A gale erupted from the arena, but instead of dispersing the mist, it sent the spectators' hats flying.

"That's definitely a dragon! The roar of a real dragon!"

Someone shouted from behind Dolores. The members of the Dragon-Worshipping Cult were seated there, and what little evidence existed suggested the deity they revered was, in fact, a dragon.

"Was that recorded on the Sonabsorbing Stone Hathaway gave him?"

Alexia nodded, then pulled Dolores onto her lap and wrapped her in an embrace. Before Dolores could blush and try to push away, a sudden, gut-wrenching fear washed over her, and she instinctively clung to Alexia, burying her face against her.

Dolores was trembling uncontrollably. She didn't dare turn to look at what was happening in the arena below; she just clung to her teacher as if to a lifeline. She couldn't comprehend the source of this primal fear. Alexia gently patted her back.

"It's alright, don't worry. It's his Fear Aura."

This was one of Jenkins's abilities, one he had never used at full power because it affected friend and foe alike over an enormous area. Given the strength of his soul and spirit, unleashing it completely resulted in... this.

It wasn't just Dolores. Most of the spectators were caught off guard by the sudden explosion of fear that erupted from the depths of their souls. Even though the audience was filled with powerful Benefactors, only a few, like Alexia, remained completely unaffected.

Fortunately, the delegations from the three great kingdoms had already left. Otherwise, given Queen Isabella's fragile health, the shock might very well have killed her.

The effects of the Fear Aura lingered, and the deafening dragon roars continued to echo from all directions. Suddenly, a brilliant flash erupted from the center of the arena. The white light was as intense as the sun being dragged down to earth, forcing everyone who had just begun to recover from the aura's grip to turn away once more.

This was, of course, the effect of the Luminous Orb set in the head of his staff. As a special item, its sole purpose was to emit light, and it did so with extraordinary intensity. Even Jenkins himself didn't dare look at it directly from up close, a testament to the power it unleashed at its full brightness.

Viewed from the outside of this floating structure, the entire building was glowing at this moment, as if the building itself had become the mantle of a gas lamp, illuminating more than half the city during a morning that felt like the dead of night.

As the white light blazed, the dragon's roars began to weaken. A series of explosions and tremors followed, along with a sound like a whole herd of goats stampeding, making everyone desperately curious to see what was happening. But the intense glare blinded them all.

The temperature plummeted, and then a bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, though it was blocked from entering the structure by the transparent ceiling.

A loud boom was followed by the clear, bright cry of a unicorn, which swept away the lingering panic the Fear Aura had left in their hearts. But this was immediately followed by an aura of deathly decay that radiated outward. Fortunately, the potentially lethal attack was intercepted by the arena's own defenses.

Though the spectators couldn't see what was happening, they could imagine the intensity of the fight.

As the blinding light finally began to dim, a pillar of silver light suddenly shot upward at a sixty-degree angle, piercing through both the Church's defenses and the automatic barrier of the Gate of All Things.

Those in the upper seats had to duck beneath their chairs as the beam of light swept around like the hand of a clock or a windmill blade. It completed a full circle, destroying nearly three entire rows of seats above the arena before it finally vanished.

The white mist billowed as if some colossal creature was struggling beneath it. Then, a second wave of the Fear Aura erupted, followed by a giant tree bursting through the white mist, covering the arena below like a canopy.

But moments later, jets of cool-blue flame shot out from the mist, engulfing the entire tree with a sharp crackle. Burning branches rained down from above, and the heat from the blazing wood caused the temperature to climb once more.

Finally, the blue flames burned completely through the tree's trunk. The massive canopy crashed to the ground, shaking the arena once more.

"Is that an illusion, too?"

the princess, still holding onto Alexia, whispered.

Alexia answered, then poked Dolores on the forehead.

"You can let go now. Jenkins said he would only use the Fear Aura twice."

The fall of the giant tree stirred the white mist into a more violent frenzy. The dragon's dark shadow reappeared, nearly bursting free this time, only to be dragged back down as if by an unseen force.

A piteous roar seemed to signal the dragon's injury. Immediately after, a unicorn burst out of the white mist—the first living creature, aside from the tree, to emerge since the fight began. But just as quickly, it plunged back into the fog and did not reappear.

A crimson fountain erupted from the eastern side of the arena, shooting so high into the air that its descent nearly drenched those in the front rows. It was unmistakably real blood, but whose, no one could tell.

Miss Fabry's spirited rebuke echoed from deep within the mist, followed by a cold, resonant snort from Jenkins. Their voices were intermittent, making it impossible to discern their words. After their conversation died down, the fog suddenly contracted toward the center of the arena, then expanded outward again as if in an explosion.

At the same time, three metallic objects were thrown from the white mist. Before everyone's eyes, three steam bombs exploded into sparks in mid-air. The flying shrapnel scattered in all directions before being intercepted.

Seeing this, Dolores could vividly picture Jenkins standing in the mist, craning his neck back and hurling steam bombs into the air with all his might. She whispered:

"How did he carry steam bombs on him?"

Steam bombs aren't something you can stuff in your pocket.