Examiner Flat had been absolutely certain—
Even if he couldn’t use magic cards or most of his spells, he could still easily crush a Tier 3 opponent like Huberian.
But now.
Because of the searing pain coursing through his body and the rage that had been building up since the moment he was silenced, he found himself unable to focus on dealing with Huberian.
In fact, Huberian no longer even mattered.
Flat knew one thing for sure—
No matter what the final result of this exam was—
If he didn’t kill Lance today, he wouldn’t be able to sleep for the rest of the month!
From a distance.
The moment Lance realized that Flat’s hatred was now completely locked onto him, he immediately started running.While still casually pulling out more off-cooldown faulty healing cards—
And applying them to Flat.
The torment continued.
Even though Flat couldn’t utter a single word, his rage was so overwhelming that he didn’t even need to speak—
Anyone could read his expression perfectly.
—If I don’t kill you today, I am not my father’s son!
After a brief, glitch-like pause, Flat accelerated like a comet, kicking up a raging storm as he charged straight at Lance!
"Don't even think about getting close to him!"
Huberian moved like a phantom, vanishing into the grasslands.
Only her cold, piercing gaze remained, locked onto Flat like a venomous scorpion.
Lance had entrusted her with one job—
To stall Flat as long as possible, as long as she didn’t get one-shot.
Right now, Flat, completely thrown off by Lance’s mental warfare, was no longer the overwhelming threat he had been.
The longer they dragged this out, the more chaotic the battlefield would become.
Beneath the storm-darkened sky, the scorpion-tailed dagger in Huberian’s grip gleamed with a cold, deadly light—
Like the Grim Reaper lurking in the night.
And so, on the vast plains of Eleven, the mighty examiner Flat found himself locked in an absurd, high-speed chase with an assassin.
…
Sage Institute – Conference Room
"But how is Lance supposed to win?"
One of the instructors finally voiced the question on everyone’s mind as they watched Lance cycle through his magic cards.
For now, they were holding out.
But not for much longer.
Huberian was giving her all to block Flat from reaching Lance.
Meanwhile, Lance was kiting and harassing Flat, taking full advantage of his long-range healing ‘torture’ technique.
But Flat could afford to make mistakes.
Huberian and Lance could not.
One mistake—and it was over.
Even if they didn’t make a mistake, the reality was—
Flat had already closed the distance.
There was no way they could drag this out for thirty minutes.
If Lance fell, the silence spell would be gone, and Flat’s full power would return.
Huberian wouldn’t last seconds after that.
"Lance has used so many healing spells that he’s already exposed his entire playstyle. He’s definitely not running a counter-damage strategy."
"Flat can kill him without any hesitation now."
Those familiar with Flat’s combat style understood why he hadn’t prioritized attacking Lance earlier.
But now, by calculating the total Tier cost of Lance’s cards, the instructors could already tell—
Lance was running out of options.
By now, he had already used 16 Tier’s worth of healing spells.
More than any of them had expected.
With only 4 Tier’s worth remaining, and 【Friendly Exchange】 (Tier 2) already accounted for,
He didn’t have enough card slots left to pull off a game-changing counterattack strategy.
"They can’t win. They won’t be able to stop Flat from closing in."
Watching the battle unfold, the instructors knew—
This entrance exam, after all its twists and struggles, was finally reaching its conclusion.
"Unless Lance still has one last hidden trump card."
"Not likely."
"If he had something that could change the fight, he would’ve used it by now."
Lance still had unknown cards in his deck.
But every instructor present knew one thing—
No Tier 1 or Tier 2 magic card—no matter how powerful—was going to take down a Tier 5 mage in one hit.
Just then—
The sound of metal clashing violently rang out, drawing the instructors’ attention back to the screen.
All eyes snapped to the battlefield.
Huberian’s dagger, aimed straight for Flat’s head, had been deflected by his magic shield.
Her eyes flashed with shock for a brief moment.
But she quickly recovered, moving through the grass like a deadly serpent, constantly shifting, always looking for another opening.
A few more throws—
And she could break through his shield.
And Flat’s remaining instant-cast spells were all on cooldown.
Sooner or later, he’d have to face her attacks directly.
However—
Just as Huberian retrieved her weapon,
Flat suddenly froze in place.
Even though he didn’t turn around,
Huberian instantly felt it—
A wave of mana perception had just locked onto her.
A chill crept up her spine.
Flat had figured it out—
Every time she retrieved her weapon, she left a slight opening.
But right now, Flat wasn’t thinking rationally.
He wasn’t planning a strategy.
He was acting purely on battle instinct, driven by rage, seizing the perfect moment to strike her down.
Before Huberian could react—
Wind Magic erupted from Flat’s body like a blade—
Blasting Huberian off her feet!
Just a single Tier 1 wind spell—
Yet fueled by Flat’s sheer fury, it hit with unstoppable force.
The very next moment—
Flat once again charged straight for Lance.
"Damn it!"
Huberian crashed into the ground, barely managing to push herself up.
The battle had already closed the gap between Flat and Lance significantly.
At this point, even if she chased him down again—
It wouldn’t matter.
A Tier 2 healer against a Tier 5 mage?
Two hits.
That’s all it would take.
Huberian had put everything on Lance, following his strategy to the letter—
But now, at this final moment, she found it hard to accept an impending defeat.
Thunder rumbled overhead.
The air grew heavier.
The pressure weighed down.
The storm clouds boiled, and distant lightning flickered across the sky.
Lance watched as Flat drew closer, utterly unstoppable.
He roughly estimated the distance—
He was about to enter Flat’s attack range.
Lance stopped running.
Slowly, he came to a halt.
There was no point in running anymore.
And more importantly—
Everything was ready.
This was it.
The final card of the exam.
With a calm expression, Lance lowered his gaze, looking at the magic card that had appeared in his palm.
This was a card crafted in collaboration with Talia.
Using his family’s ancient relic, 【The Lamenting Verses】, they had created a magic card unlike any other.
Talia had personally handled almost the entire crafting process, with Lance assisting.
Only one step had been left to him—
Drawing and inscribing the summoned entity’s form.
And the final result—
Had not only exceeded Lance’s expectations—
Even Talia, the lead Card Crafter, had been stunned.