The Aura Ascendant: A Knight's Unbroken Path

Headmaster Mensa wanted to look for Hayden, but seeing that Ulysses and the others were about to be taken away, he decided to trust Hayden and follow the rest of the Aura Knights to attack the Magicians!

Despite having a lower chance of defeating Magicians, it doesn't mean that the Aura Knights could be easily killed.

If they worked together, even a Magician could run out of Mana, and they could take advantage of it and at least push them back.

Indeed, Headmaster Mensa worked together with four other Aura Knights and successfully overwhelmed and bisected a first-circle mage!

Unfortunately, Headmaster Mensa and the other Aura Knights noticed something about their swords.

"Tsk… Has it reached its limit already?"

"Mana… They're too unforgiving to other things that couldn't conduct them."

"That's true… My sword will probably break in just a couple of strikes."

"I already covered my sword with all my Aura… But still…"

The Aura Knights were reminded once again why Magicians were more dangerous than them in terms of destructive power.

In the end, they had no other choice but to abandon their swords and fight in close combat. After all, they didn't bring extra swords…

At this time, however, when the four of them started cornering another first-circle mage, Magister Orhan was finally done dealing with the Chief Guard.

"Enough."

Just like that, an Iron Cage manifested around Mensa and the others, stopping their assault!

In the meantime, Solaris' Grandmaster Fern used his Flame Enchanted Sword, incinerating a group of first circle mages—or at the very least, that was what he thought…

Unfortunately, Sheena countered with a Water Vortex, swallowing his flames whole.

"Spell Sword, huh… That item is already out of date, old man…" Sheena chuckled as she used a Rock Spear and sent it in Fern's direction!

Bang!

This move was so fast, and it struck his skull, sending him crashing into the stands. Even with his Aura, Fern was dizzied by that attack.

"That's only her sixth type of spell… A third-circle mage could only use twelve types of spells at most. To think that she has six Element-Type Spells with her… This is bad."

Fern thought as he was actually trying to figure out the identities of these people.

After all, he realized that the students were being kidnapped, and if they failed to stop them now, he wanted to know where these people would bring them.

Perhaps, they could still rescue them even if they managed to escape now.

The other Aura Knights had similar thoughts since they were caught in an ambush and they knew that the enemies had prepared a lot for this…

In the end, they must find some clues about the identities of these evil magicians!

Black Sword's Master Kanto fought like a demon. Using his black greatsword, he was able to cut through spells!

"What an incredible sword…" Magister Orhan said as soon as he realized that the swordmaster had already killed two first-circle Mages.

Although Master Kanto was with eight other Aura Knights, he had done the most damage against the first-circle Mages. After all, he was emitting a blue Aura, and it means that he had already reached the third level!

Nonetheless, Orhan used one of his third-circle spells, Soul-Drain Hex!

Its ability was to sap the target's strength and make them vulnerable! Then, with just this spell, the Black Sword's Master, who had no protection against magic, had collapsed, gasping…

He was immediately protected by other Aura Knights, but the disappearance of the third-level Aura Knight was a huge blow to them.

The arena guards, though brave, were completely outmatched.

Their sonic arrows meant to disrupt spells shattered harmlessly against the barrier charms of the mages..

Even their aura-infused strikes were absorbed by living shadows that crawled up their legs, choking them unconscious. Someone was actually capable of using Dark Magic among the Second-Circle Mages!

Then, those who tried to flee found the exits sealed by invisible walls!

In less than eight minutes, Phyrexia's mages had captured six priority targets, bound 14 secondary talents, and neutralized almost all resistance.

"But… Where is Hayden?!" Prince Helcurt, who was currently wearing a cloak to hide his identity, was shocked as he realized that Hayden hadn't been captured yet!

***

A few minutes ago, as chaos erupted across the Lirandel Grounds, Hayden's Ocularis Lens analyzed the battlefield in milliseconds.

[ Priority Assessment:

Barriers down.

Aura suppression active.

High-tier mages present.

Allies incapacitated.

Conclusion: No chance of direct combat. Escape required. ]

Hayden didn't hesitate and used his Aura Concealment… Perhaps, Headmaster Mensa was too focused on the enemies that he didn't even notice Hayden moving.

'Hoo~'

His Aura was now compressed into his core, a technique Mensa had drilled into him for covert operations.

Just like that, his presence faded into the background…

Next, Hayden used his Lens to find an escape route.

Thankfully, Hayden found three potential exits:

North Gate – Guarded by two mages. East Sewer Grates – Unmonitored but likely trapped. West Spectator Tunnels – Only one mage, but narrow pathways.

West it was.

Hayden swiftly moved but when the Gravity attack came, he had to crawl while enduring it!

He knew that he couldn't stay here, especially after his Lens confirmed that they were capturing Squires or the students who had participated in the competition!

As soon as the Gravity attack weakened, he slipped through panicked crowds but as soon as Sheena commanded everyone to kneel, Hayden needed to hide once again…

Then, as he was about to reach the west spectator tunnel, two First-Circle Mages arrived…

"Halt…" One of them said. "You're coming with us."

Hayden froze as he realized that they were already about to cast their spells.

"I won't resist…" Hayden said as he deliberately let his shoulders slump. His face even showed a feigned exhaustion.

"I… I don't want to get hurt," He gasped while raising his hands.

The mages exchanged glances.

This was too easy. However, it was expected. They were over thirty-year-old first-circle mages, while the one in front of them was just a kid who was about 10 years old.

It would be surprising if the kid wasn't intimidated at all.