MIGHT AS WELL BE OP

With breathtaking speed, Spectre appeared before Anthony, his presence a blur of motion.

Without hesitation, he unleashed his strike.

Lightning crackled along the length of his katana, illuminating the battlefield with its volatile brilliance.

He brought the blade down in a decisive arc, intent on cleaving Anthony in two.

Yet, Anthony merely observed the incoming attack with an unshaken smile, an air of effortless composure radiating from his very being.

Then, he moved.

Not with urgency, nor with flourish, just a single motion.

A hand.

A finger.

The very tip of his finger met the descending blade head on.

And in that instant, a deafening crack split the air.

A shockwave erupted from the clash, distorting space itself as raw force rippled outward.

He did not shroud his finger in mana.

He did not reinforce it with intent.

It was nothing but sheer, unadulterated physical strength.

The lightning coating the katana struck, its furious energy cascading over Anthony's body in crackling waves.

Yet, it did nothing.

Not a single mark, not even the faintest scorch.

Spectre's instincts screamed at him, but he did not hesitate.

He was already preparing to follow up with another attack.

But before he could strike, Anthony's voice echoed in his ears.

"You are full of openings"

The words barely registered before the attack came.

A single palm, swift and effortless, slammed into Spectre's stomach.

In the next instant, his body was sent hurtling backward with blinding speed, the sheer force overwhelming his senses.

He couldn't react, he couldn't even follow the attack.

Anthony suddenly leaned forward, the movement subtle yet precise.

A dagger sliced through the air, narrowly missing where his head had been just moments before.

From the shadows, Clement emerged, his presence sharp and silent.

"Typical of assassins. Change that behaviour"

Anthony's words carried neither surprise nor admiration, just quiet observation.

Before Clement could react, a lightning-fast kick struck his temple.

He never saw it coming.

One moment, he had launched his attack.

The next, he was the one being struck.

The temperature plummeted in an instant.

A bone chilling frost swept through the air.

Trees crackled as ice encased their trunks. Leaves, once swaying, became frozen in place, suspended in time.

[Ice Magic: Sword Rain]

Thousands of crystalline swords materialized in the sky, their razor sharp edges gleaming with lethal intent.

Then, they fell.

Like a relentless storm, they descended upon Anthony with deadly precision.

Yet, he did not move.

He did not raise a hand to block.

He did not shift to evade.

He simply watched.

And as the frozen blades neared,mere meters from striking him, they stopped.

Suspended mid air. Motionless.

Infinity.

No.

It wasn't Infinity.

Anthony never used it in battle, he craved the thrill, the challenge, the raw sensation of combat.

This was something else.

Through sheer mastery of mana and elemental control, he had seized dominion over the spell itself.

The ice swords were no longer Vivian's, they were his.

Vivian watched in solemn silence, her expression rigid with focus.

For the first time, her control had been stripped away.

Mana pulsed from Anthony, a formless tide of absolute dominance.

The suspended swords trembled, then began to shift.

Blades stretched into spears.

They multiplied.

They fortified.

Then, without warning, they struck.

Like a storm of death, the spears launched toward every single one of them.

Litt. Donna. Spectre. Arnold. Ross.

None were spared.

Instinct took over.

Weapons flashed as they scrambled into defensive stances, intercepting the relentless assault.

Steel met ice in a chaotic symphony, but the sheer force behind the attack was monstrous.

Trees were torn from their roots.

Ravines split open, carving deep wounds into the earth.

Mountains, once towering and unyielding, crumbled to ruin.

"You were taught about mana control and elemental mastery at the Academy, Vivian. Making such a mistake could cost you your life"

Anthony's voice echoed with an air of quiet authority.

Vivian had already teleported away, retreating in an instant.

Yet, impossibly, Anthony was already there, waiting for her as if he had arrived before she had even completed her movement.

"You and the ladies should sit this one out"

Ever the gentleman, Anthony couldn't bring himself to strike a woman as beautiful as her.

Instead, his hand came down gently, clamping onto her shoulder.

And with that single touch, an invisible weight crashed upon her.

The air itself grew heavy.

Her knees buckled.

And despite every ounce of resistance in her body, she collapsed to the ground, forced into submission.

Anthony's head snapped upward.

Above him, Litt descended like a falling star, his spear aimed directly at Anthony's heart.

Spear Intent crackled around him, an invisible force amplifying his speed and power.

In an instant, Anthony's hand lifted from Vivian's shoulder.

Intent surged to life.

It wrapped around his finger, coiling like an ethereal force, shaping itself into something tangible, unyielding.

With a single, precise motion, he intercepted the spear.

The moment they clashed, detonations erupted.

A shockwave blasted outward, sending everything hurtling back.

The ground shattered.

Trees were uprooted.

The very air trembled under the sheer force of impact.

Vivian had already teleported again, barely evading the destruction that followed.

Then, the exchange began.

The battlefield rang with the sharp clash of metal, yet, it was not metal meeting metal.

It was metal against flesh.

Anthony met Litt's spear with nothing but a single finger, his movements precise, effortless.

But then, another presence.

Mike.

Flames roared to life as his sword slashed toward Anthony's leg, his attack flowing in perfect harmony with Litt's strikes, as if by instinct.

Yet, Anthony needed no grand motion to evade.

With the smallest shift, he lifted his leg, letting the blazing blade pass harmlessly beneath him.

They blurred together, their forms weaving in a relentless exchange.

Strike. Counter. Dodge. Attack.

The battle had truly begun.

Anthony continued to move with an effortless grace, parrying and evading each strike with the barest of motions.

As Litt thrust forward, Anthony sidestepped, his hand snapping out to clamp around the shaft of the spear.

"This is one of the weaknesses of the spear. Be conscious of it"

The words had barely reached Litt's ears before a searing pain exploded through his jaw.

A thunderous boom followed as a wind barrier shattered.

And in the next instant, Litt was rocketing skyward, his body sent airborne by a devastating uppercut.

The wind whistled, a sharp prelude to Mike's next strike.

This time, he was faster. More relentless.

The air itself screamed as his blade carved through it, fire trailing behind in a scorching arc.

Yet, Anthony remained unbothered.

With a single sidestep, he slipped away, his movement defying logic, bending at an angle that seemed impossible.

The ground erupted in his wake.

Flames engulfed everything, consuming the space where Anthony had stood just moments before.

But the attack had missed.

And Anthony moved.

PAA!

A crisp, resounding slap echoed through the battlefield.

Mike's head snapped to the side, his cheek stinging from Anthony's effortless backhand slap.

"You're putting too much strength in your wrist. You move like a golem"

Anthony's voice was calm, almost instructional, right before inertia seized Mike's body.

A force like a tidal wave hurled him sideways, sending him flying like a dying star, tumbling through the air like a broken kite caught in a storm.

But even before Mike crashed, another attack came.

A thousand crescent wind arcs screamed toward Anthony from behind, each one pulsing with lethal energy.

If they landed, blood would spill.

Yet Anthony didn't even turn.

He simply vanished.

Not a step, not a dash, just motion, fluid and absolute.

A blur of inevitability.

His movements were like a storm's whisper, a fleeting breath before devastation.

And yet, he did not clash.

He weaved.

Effortlessly, he flowed through the barrage, slipping past each crescent arc as if they had never been meant for him in the first place.

Not a single pause. Not a single wasted motion.

In the blink of an eye, Anthony was already before his attacker—Marcus.

Wind surged beneath Marcus' feet, erupting outward with explosive force.

The earth cracked and trembled beneath him as he propelled forward like a comet, an unstoppable force streaking across the battlefield.

His blade moved with purpose, finding the rhythm of battle, seeking its very heart.

But his opponent was Anthony.

Before Marcus could even complete his strike, Anthony had already countered.

A single movement, sharp, precise, inevitable.

"Nice control. But still filled with openings"

Anthony smirked, his voice carrying an effortless confidence.

One hand remained lazily behind his back, as if he hardly needed it.

Then—smack!

A single, almost casual slap to Marcus' chest.

Yet the force behind it was anything but casual.

Marcus was sent hurtling backward, the air rippling from the sheer impact.

But he wasn't so easily shaken.

Mid-flight, his body twisted, instincts taking over.

With a masterful shift, he regained control, his feet skimming the ground before landing with immaculate precision, his stance unwavering, his balance unbroken.

They all stared at Anthony as if he were a monster.

He had overwhelmed them all, effortlessly.

With just one hand.

No techniques.

No skill.

No unnecessary flair.

No elemental power.

Just raw, unshaken physical strength.

He had subdued them with a single hand… and, at times, only a single finger.

And even then, the only moment he had used Intent, it had been on just that one finger.

Anthony looked at them with a calm, almost playful smile.

"You still have much to learn, my students"

His voice carried an amused tone, as if the entire battle had been nothing more than a play.

Then, with a glint of mischief in his eyes, he tilted his head slightly.

"I wonder… should I flex a bit?"

The air around him seemed to shift, the weight of his presence subtly intensifying.