Asta charged, frost swirling around his boots. One by one, ice spears began to appear around him—ten, twenty, fifty—until over a hundred hovered like floating death.

As he reached striking distance, Asta swung his blade down with brutal force. Nolan raised his own sword, catching the blow in a metallic crash that split the air.

The two clashed again and again—steel meeting steel in a flurry of sparks. Asta's spears shot forward in rhythm with his sword strikes, but each one shattered harmlessly against the faint golden barrier surrounding Nolan's body.

Asta gritted his teeth. His barrier… it's too strong.

Nolan parried another blow, calm and composed. "Not bad," he said lightly. "Your form's clean. But you're wasting movement."

The crowd gasped as Asta slashed in a wide arc, trying to overwhelm Nolan. But Nolan stepped back smoothly, sliding across the ground. His eyes sharpened. Malric used this move when we sparred… let's see if it works for me.

In a flash, Nolan ducked under Asta's swing and moved behind him.

"What—?" Asta spun, instantly forming a barrier of ice around himself just as Nolan's sword came crashing down.

Asta wasn't done yet. "Not going to lose!" he roared, his voice echoing through the arena as shards of ice burst outward like a storm.

But Nolan's sword cut through the frozen blast—shattering layers of ice and smiting the air itself. The clash rang like thunder, the vibration rippling across the ground.

Asta spun instantly, forming thick walls of ice in front of him—one after another—to create distance. Each wall glistened under the light, nearly fifteen meters thick and towering twenty-five feet high.

But Nolan didn't stop. He simply raised one hand and pushed forward.

The massive walls trembled. Cracks spread across their surfaces like lightning veins. With every step Nolan took, the walls groaned, then shattered, bursting into glittering fragments that scattered across the arena floor.

Asta kept retreating, building new walls, but it didn't matter—Nolan kept advancing, crushing every barrier through sheer strength. His calm eyes didn't waver once.

Each wall fell faster than the last, until Asta finally stopped, sweat rolling down his forehead. "Impossible… how can he—"

Nolan lowered his hand, his voice steady and cold. "If that's all your ice can do… then it's time I end this."

Asta let out a low chuckle, his breath forming frost in the air. "I suppose I underestimated you… I'll give you credit. You're strong. I didn't even use much of my power—you made me feel like an amateur."

"You are strong," Nolan replied calmly, eyes fixed on him. "But I haven't even tested some of my sword techniques yet. I'm just getting started."

Asta's smile widened. "Ah, so you want a real challenge? Very well. Let's make this interesting."

Suddenly, an ice spear shot toward Nolan from behind, a deceptive strike meant to confuse him. But Nolan didn't flinch. His eyes tracked every movement.

"You've underestimated me," Nolan said coolly.

"Really? And how?" Asta asked, tilting his head.

"This is how," Nolan replied, snapping his fingers. The ice spear froze midair, suspended perfectly. Time itself seemed to bend around it, halting the attack in its tracks.

Asta's eyes widened. "What… what is this? I can't move it!" He struggled, trying to control the frozen spear, but it refused to obey. "Something like this… has never happened to me!"

"Cheap tricks won't work," Nolan said, charging forward. His sword gleamed, raised high.

Asta met him head-on, their swords clashing with a deafening crack. The force of the impact sent a gust of wind through the arena, scattering frost and debris.

"Now let me show you something," Nolan murmured. Another ice-shaped sword barreled toward him, but with a snap of his fingers, Nolan stopped time again. The spear hovered motionless in the air, suspended at the exact center of Asta's attack. Then, with a swift strike of his own, Nolan shattered the frozen blade.

Asta recoiled slightly, then summoned a massive ice boulder, launching it with all his strength. Nolan didn't even flinch. A faint smile crossed his face as he raised his left hand, flicked his middle finger—and the massive boulder exploded into countless shards, like shattered glass.

The audience gasped in shock. Even Asta staggered backward, stunned. A single finger had destroyed the enormous ice projectile.

"This man… he's something else," a voice muttered from the crowd. "Who is he, and where is he from? He just shattered that massive ice boulder—35,000 kilograms—with a single finger. And he's holding back… he's holding back, I can feel it."

Asta's eyes narrowed. He had created an enormous wall of ice, forcing Nolan to give ground—but Nolan didn't panic. "Hey… where are you going?" Nolan called, but Asta ignored him, keeping distance to gather his strength.

"I have to do this," Asta muttered to himself. "No more holding back. No more tricks. If I waste more time, I'll lose… and I don't like losing. I have to give it everything I've got."

Raising his hand, Asta summoned a technique that drained nearly all his mana. One by one, giant ice spears began forming in the air—100 of them, each over 40 feet long, razor-sharp and imbued with freezing magic. "If this doesn't end him, nothing will," he thought. "Let's see how he handles this."

The crowd erupted in cheers. "Yes! This is what we've been waiting for! How is Nolan going to deal with this?"

Asta smiled confidently as the massive spears lunged forward with blinding speed. But Nolan didn't flinch. His eyes tracked the incoming attack, and with a subtle snap of his fingers, time itself froze—every spear suspended midair.

The smile on Asta's face faltered. "What…? I can't control it!" His magic faltered against the halted spearstorm, and the audience gasped in stunned silence.

Nolan's fingers moved again, manipulating time around the ice. The 100 spears melted back into water, returning to their original liquid form in an instant. A cold flood surged across the arena, reaching from Nolan's knees downward, soaking the ground.

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