12 Chapter 12: The Great Wall (2/2)

The Great Wall. This was the supreme defensive spell that earned Chang Cheng his nickname. Running across the entire stage was a snake-like wall that brought to mind the ancient Great Wall of the past, an eternal structure that was acknowledged as one of the top wonders of the world (at least during my time).

Some even claimed that the Great Wall was the only manmade structure that could be seen from outer space. Of course that was an exaggeration, but these myths were often based upon how majestic and titanic the actual Great Wall was.

Chang Cheng wasn't replicating the ancient Great Wall that existed in China for millennia. Instead, he was constructing his own Artificial Reality and imposing upon the material world his own ideals of what a defensive wall was.

Layers upon armored layers formed up around him, transforming into a formidable fortress that was proof against any attack.

”…”

I studied him, even as my Vermillion Phoenix's flames lashed out and scorched the pearly white walls that stood between me and my opponent. Chang Cheng didn't have time to cast a complete defensive spell, so his fortress was currently incomplete. However, his way of casting was pretty unique – instead of taking the required time to cast a full spell at once, like I did with my summoning spell, he was casting bits and pieces of his spell at a time.

He focused first on erecting the most powerful defenses to protect himself. Once he had constructed the Great Walls to render himself impervious from his enemy's attacks, then only would he begin assembling the remainder of his spell. Probably cannons on battle emplacements to bombard his opponents from safety.

Fortunately, that would take a bit more time.

”You can attack me, you know.”

Chang Cheng sounded confident, even though he was hidden behind his fortress. All this while, I had been allowing him to cast his defensive spell uninterrupted, and he was gradually strengthening his defenses by adding more layers. The more time I gave him, the more formidable his defenses became. In that respect, he resembled me.

He seemed to have misunderstood something. I wasn't like Hal Gunther, who stupidly gave his opponent time to complete his ultimate spell. It was just that I was aware of how formidable Chang Cheng's defenses were. Crowley Grand Arcane Academy was pretty famous, and their representatives even more so. I had seen Chang Cheng's defensive spell take on what seemed like apocalyptic blasts without suffering a scratch.

So if I wanted to penetrate his defenses, I needed an even more powerful spell of my own. Taking a deep breath, I nodded at Vermillion Phoenix.

It wasn't as if my Vermillion Phoenix had been idle all this time either. It had been preparing an attack of its own.

With a shrill cry, it spread out its wings and unleashed an enormous torrent of flames upon the Great Wall before it. The spectators and even I myself were blinded by the searing flash of light almost as bright as the sun as the Vermillion Phoenix launched its ferocious flames and bathed the durable fortress beneath it.

The Great Wall didn't even last ten seconds.

Boom!

”Impossible!”

That was the last word from Chang Cheng before his Great Wall was completely incinerated. The inferno rolled over the armored walls, scorching it and disintegrating it into ash. One by one, Chang Cheng's complex network of defensive buffers and walls fell, disappearing at an alarming rate as the ravenous inferno consumed them.

And then Chang Cheng found himself engulfed by flames. He shrieked before vanishing in the middle of the fireball.

”No way! How did those flames break through my Great Wall so quickly?!”

I didn't answer. I merely watched as the raging inferno expanded outward from where the ferocious stream of flames had struck Chang Cheng.

Vermillion Phoenix's attack was almost akin to a plasma blast, harnessing the power of a caged star and launching it in a single superheated blast that reached temperatures comparable or exceeding those of the sun itself. No manmade structure was going to withstand that. Not unless Chang Cheng possessed divine protection from the heavens themselves.

”You've got to be kidding me…”

The handsome guy gripped the armrests of his chair and stiffened his back as he gawked at the incredible sight.

”It appears…that thanks to Hal's blunder, we are in for a very hard fight.”

Cecilia's expression was extremely grim.

”It's not over yet!” the girl with shoulder-length hair cried out. ”Chang Cheng hasn't lost yet!”

After what seemed like an eternity, the flames stopped. A burly figure staggered out of the inferno, singed and charred. Fortunately, unlike Hal Gunther, Chang Cheng's uniform was still somewhat intact. A good thing his Great Wall absorbed the majority of the damage or he would have ended up like Hal Gunther.

Even so, Chang Cheng had reached his limit. He looked at me, his face scorched and blackened, and nodded once.

”Your summoned beast is very strong,” he murmured.

Then he collapsed.