It was the first time he was going to fight seriously against an opponent from the Academy. Much to his relief, the battlefield would be inside the domain of fire.
A desolate place full of fire elementals, lava and temperature that would cook normal humans alive in a matter of seconds.
To have the slightest chance at winning the duel before him. Magnus had dedicated his time to counter his enemy as much as he could.
The top 10 was quite notorious and over the months, he had battled quite a few people. All of them, though, were just lambs ready for slaughter, as they were around the hundred range.
There was no suspense as he pummeled and tortured them before he was satisfied. On the bright side, from what Magnus could see, the demon's speciality was mental magic.
To the point where he just looked at them, and they began to sleep. As his name said, sloth was his main weapon. At least, that was what Magnus knew.
There was no knowing whether all of this was just a smokescreen so he could confuse powerful enemies. But it gave Magnus a chance.
With the help of some chrono points and Gobo's machine. He had developed multiple skills that should prove useful against the top 10.
In fact, he used the time dialing function to create a spell against every top 10. Not limited to Richard and Historian. Of course, the only exception to this was Monique.
Her power was too out of reach for him. The top 2 was quite the mystery as well as no one really knew what he was up to most of the time.
He appeared only when his prestige as top 2 was questioned. Then he would enter seclusion once again.
A bit helpless, Magnus knew that playing with something more than geniuses with shorter names by 3 or more words was a fantasy.
Even now, his top 14 exceeded multiple six digit names, but wasn't at the cusp of five digits. And his greatest shortcoming was obvious.
He was still the master of all. In a place, where everyone was a transcendent grandmaster of their craft. It could still carry him quite far, but once he reached the origin. He must choose a path.
Time flew by and in a flash. Magnus held a small party with Monique to celebrate her departure. The leaderboard no longer said 'Enigmatic Witch' and only 'Witch' remained at the top 1.
To be frank, Magnus felt no difference between them. Not until she showed him what reaching the origin could do.
And it was done with one simple action. With her hand, she obscured her face, and suddenly Magnus didn't know where she was.
No matter what he did. Mana vision, heat vision, sound waves and many others were utterly useless.
She then appeared a minute later and showed him a bunch of minor tricks she could do without any kind of effort.
That day, his horizons expanded. The tricks that were so easy for her would make her like a God in the face of the ones that didn't reach the origin.
It was a gap that pure force wouldn't solve. No matter how big.
Perhaps the infinity concept could touch the weakest being that reached the origin. But that was it. He couldn't waste more time pondering about the difference between having origin.
The battle was in a few hours and he got himself ready. Equipment would be generated upon one's wishes, but the quality would be the same for both sides.
There was an upside to this rule. You could have literally anything, but it was in a standard quality and condition. Although a star destroying cannon could be spawned.
Its power would barely reach a fraction of the power possible. Small gadgets, on the other hand, had their quality almost unimpacted.
...
Both he and the demon appeared on the battlefield with a large countdown above their heads. Contrary to Magnus' preparation, the demon didn't even summon a single weapon or armor.
Scorching heat that brought sweat and forced Magnus to employ a bit of mana to counterattack the heat was ignored by the other side.
In fact, it looked like he was enjoying a nice sauna. There was a bit of a stalemate before the demon grew annoyed and vanished from his spot.
The moment he did, talismans appeared all over Magnus' body. They shone and soon his parameters grew exponentially.
Time crawled to a halt, as he could see the demon strolling. His hand curled up in a fist as he threw it right after he arrived next to Magnus.
Thanks to the buffs, he activated. Magnus dodged the blow with ease, except that he grossly underestimated the power of the blow.
Just the force generated near it blasted him nearly a hundred meters away.
"Not bad, for an insect like you to dodge my fist." The demon said, and laughed in a condescending manner.
Once again, he vanished and appeared next to Magnus as he hurled another fist. Craters appeared one by one on the surface as lava poured out.
Much to Magnus' dismay, the power of the blows grew more and more in power. At one point, the ground trembled each time a fist was hurled as if an earthquake was happening.
The ground crackled in agony before an instructor appeared and reinforced the entire domain with a snap of his fingers. The demon grinned and said.
"Hehe, now that the warmup is over. Go to sleep, you little lamb."
For the first time since the fight began, the demon used his mana. His lean, grayish body filled with muscles and tattoos turned into nothingness.
The ground turned into a beautiful grassland, and the sky became blue. Next to him appeared a beauty.
Somehow, she eclipsed Monique's beauty by a million times. A shake of her hips and a wink were enough to drive Magnus' body mad.
Then, a perfect embodiment of a human hero appeared in golden armor on a white stallion. He scooped up the beauty as she gave his body to him.
The heat in his body suddenly turned into hatred. Destructive thoughts filled his mind.
Why did she surrender her body to him? How could he be so perfect? What is that incredible power emanating from his body?
They multiplied rapidly. Few seconds later a bed made out of skulls appeared. The blanket was sewed from the heads of uncountable humans as the eyes stared at him.
The pillow was a beating heart, and although it looked horrifying. Magnus saw it as a beautiful release.
Why waste energy when I can't get her? Why waste time when he is so powerful...
As he was about to lie down. His heart produced a powerful drum sound and cracks began to appear.
The beautiful fantasy around him crumbled, and soon he returned to reality. Pain flooded into his mind.
Even though the fantasy lasted no more than 2 seconds. His body was in shambles. Cracked ribs, ruptured organs, and bones broken all around his body.
All from one unguarded fist he received when he was in the illusion. He cast a spell that drained 5% of his mana without hesitation.
His body cracked and soon returned to its initial condition.
"You are not dead! Congratulations, you deserve to know my name as I play with you until your mind breaks. Typhon! Remember, it when you see your crumbling faction." He said as he crackled in laughter.
The battle went on as Magnus was completely suppressed. The talismans were about to run out of their energy, and almost every card he threw at him didn't work.
His last card that could at least scratch his enemy was everything he had left. A game of cat and mouse ensued.
His body shattered numerous times. Was it not for his great mana regeneration. The battle would have been long over.
From time to time, he was forced into illusions where the seven sins were amplified. However, it always ended with the same bed.
Sometimes he broke the illusion early, but defeat was almost always guaranteed once he laid on the bed.
Minutes passed as Typhon enjoyed Magnus' struggling expression. Be it the physical, mental, or magical side.
He was outclassed in all three. It was safe to say that he was in an entirely different dimension.
Any weakening spell was ignored, and many times his magical defence was directly pierced through.
But he didn't give up. The spell he was charging from the beginning of the battle was soon about to be complete.
In reality, Magnus wouldn't be so terribly outclassed if he put 100% of his regenerated mana into it. This battle, though, would turn into a certain defeat.
With some luck, he could give him a blow or two, but that was it. On the other hand, the thing he was channeling was his only hope.
It was hard to contain near his heart in order to not expose the existence of it. Maybe Typhon long knew that he was planning something.
He didn't care, though. And Magnus exploited that with his final desperate strike. The spell was very complicated and at the same time; it wasn't.
If he had to describe it, two words would be enough.
"Light Nuke" He said in a low voice as everything turned quiet. Moments later, massive light spanning multiple kilometers.
Typhon wasn't able to react before he too was engulfed. The compressed power turned into a shockwave as it sent both of them flying for hundreds of meters.
And yet still, they were well within the blast. The spell was unique in two ways. It destroyed and at the same time healed.
Holy magic combined with light, destructive magic. Magnus' body kept getting destroyed before it was rebuilt.
On the other hand, both the healing holy magic and the light destructive magic were like poison to Typhon.
The damage was clear as his body began to melt. Soon, though, his body began to exclude absolute darkness.
It fought for supremacy with the light as Typhon's face adorned with unprecedented rage. Like radiation, the healing magic lingered around, but the light magic soon dissipated.
When Magnus could properly see. He saw Typhon's body as he breathed heavily, specks of light around his body were gradually engulfed by darkness.
"Didn't expect that, huh?" Magnus said, and grinned. His body began to use the holy magic in the surroundings to further boost his mana regeneration.
Typhon said nothing as he dashed towards Magnus. Blow by blow, his strength grew at an unprecedented speed.
"I will show you what happens when sloth infects the very laws of reality." Typhon said as the space surrounding Magnus turned heavy.
The gravity turned to almost nothing as his center got disturbed. At that moment, Magnus realised how outmatched he was.
Typhon threw a simple fist. Soundless, not disturbed by any force...
A flash was what Magnus saw before his world turned dark.
[Winner: Commander Seven Sins Sloth Demon]