"Bang!"
When that loud, muffled crash echoed through the air and entered everyone's ears, a pile of armor fragments burst apart beside August Veyron and scattered onto the ground.
That was Sleipnir's body.
Just as Veyron's expression twisted in shock, Rozen, who had appeared beside him without anyone noticing, had smashed Sleipnir to pieces with a single punch, turning the Automaton Doll into a heap of debris.
"...!"
Cold sweat instantly poured from Veyron's forehead.
However, Veyron's expression quickly turned fierce. He spun around and threw a punch toward Rozen.
"Thud!"
The crisp sound rang out as a hand caught Veyron's punch midair.
That punch clearly used the technique of Rigid Body, and its power was quite decent.
But Rozen had applied Kongouriki from Yaya onto his own body, which far surpassed the strengthening of Rigid Body—they weren't even on the same level.
"You chose to strike directly instead of creating distance?"
Catching Veyron's fist, Rozen narrowed his eyes as he looked at the man in front of him.
"Looks like you've got a lot of grievances with me. I wonder if you have what it takes to teach me a lesson."
Hearing this, Veyron sneered.
"This fake posturing of yours—let's see how long you can keep it up."
As he spoke, Veyron didn't retreat in the slightest. Instead, he clenched his other fist and roared:
"Let me show you the move I've kept hidden until now! Sleipnir!"
A vast surge of mana erupted from Veyron's body.
Responding to that mana, the shattered pieces of Sleipnir—blown apart by Rozen earlier—suddenly trembled, lifted into the air, and began assembling toward Veyron, embedding themselves onto his body.
The breastplate sealed his chest.
Greaves encased his legs.
His wrists were covered by gauntlets and bracers.
And finally, a helmet merged with his head—within seconds, Veyron was fully clad in armor and had transformed into a knight.
"Boom!"
Mana exploded from Veyron in armor, flaring up like blazing fire.
"Oh?"
Rozen's eyes gleamed slightly.
"You're equipping the Automaton Doll onto yourself?"
"So the interior of that doll was hollow all along?"
"Amazing!"
In the audience, spectators erupted in cheers upon seeing this scene.
At that moment, Veyron had donned his Automaton Doll like a magical armament.
That was Sleipnir's true purpose—its inner frame was entirely hollow, allowing the caster to synchronize with the Automaton Doll at all times. As soon as mana was emitted, the armor responded in real-time. Through direct contact, mana flowed into the Automaton Doll with high conductivity and efficiency, pushing its performance to the limit.
"Let me show you my finisher!"
Veyron drew back his armored fist.
In that moment, his figure became blurred, as if distancing itself by several kilometers, despite not moving a single step. It felt as though he could charge at any moment, making it impossible to judge the distance.
"Tyrant's Point!"
Shouting so, Veyron suddenly threw his punch.
"Boom!"
A plasma-like flash of light exploded on the battlefield of the Night Party.
It was a shockwave caused by his punch.
The mighty strike seemed to rip apart the air, churn the earth, unleash a blast, and stir up a violent storm. Dust and debris flew into the air, engulfing Rozen. The entire battlefield quaked.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!"
Screams echoed throughout the arena.
Those cries came from girls like Charl and Frey, still engaged in their own fights, who were blown away by the sudden gale—and from spectators overwhelmed by the oncoming wave of wind.
The arena descended into chaos. Whether fighting or spectating, everyone seemed to be struck by a typhoon, toppling in every direction.
"So this is August Veyron's strongest strike?"
Olga Saladin, also being blown backward, summoned her Magic Defence shield while staring intently at the field.
Loki, Asura Owen, the Zekaros Brothers, and others all turned grim and deployed various means to withstand the shockwave.
Witnessing such destructive power, many were shaken and began to understand.
Why did the Academy believe Veyron could rival Magnus?
The answer lay in this very power.
Veyron possessed a move worthy of being called a finisher—a technique that could scatter Magnus's team with a single blow.
Surely, if they were struck by this, even Magnus's team might all go down, unable to rise for a while—or even be outright destroyed.
At that moment, Rozen had taken that move head-on, completely engulfed by the force of the Tyrant's Point.
If...
"If only the match could be decided just like that."
Olga muttered to herself.
And it wasn't just Olga. Even Asura and other members of the Thirteen had the same thought.
"That guy didn't just lose, right?"
Meanwhile, Charl and Loki stabilized themselves, their expressions shifting.
As the storm within the field finally began to subside—
The devastated battlefield came into view.
The ground looked as if a radioactive shockwave had swept through, its surface cracked and split outward, dust and rubble blown away, leaving behind an empty wasteland.
At its center stood the fully-armored Veyron, maintaining his punching stance.
In that pose, Veyron smiled.
A weak and pale smile.
"You damn monster..."
He muttered.
In front of him stood a figure clad in a magnificent black feathered coat, completely unscathed, catching Veyron's punch with his bare hand—just as he had earlier.
"That was a nice surprise."
Rozen said calmly.
"Unfortunately, it's not enough to break through Kongouriki."
As he spoke, a subtle wave of mana pulsed from his body.
"Zing!"
Behind him, Irori silently appeared, radiating cold, and reached toward Veyron.
"Crack crack crack crack...!"
Ice immediately began to form on Veyron's body.
Seconds later, Veyron was completely frozen into a statue of ice.
Yaya and Komurasaki then emerged beside Rozen, their silhouettes shimmering like mirages.
"Rozen!"
Komurasaki hopped over to Rozen, holding a glove in her hand—one of the Night Party participants' gloves.
It was Veyron's glove, taken by Komurasaki.
All without anyone, including Veyron himself, noticing.
And thus, the infamous Last One was defeated—
In utterly decisive fashion.