I, the heir of the great Eastern nation

On the arena.

Across from him was Daniel Riley, a tall man with curly blond hair.

At this moment, his gaze toward Liu Zhao was filled with obvious contempt and disgust.

"That ignorant black-haired out-of-towner just got lucky and won first place in the trial competition, yet he dares to be so arrogant."

Daniel crossed his arms, raised his chin high, and curled a cruel smile at the corner of his mouth.

"Just you wait. Next, on the arena, I'll show you just how insurmountable the gap truly is between a country bumpkin like you from a remote little country and a genuine nobleman!"

Liu Zhao was naturally not angry at such a low-level provocation, and at such a low-level opponent who couldn't even make a proper threat.

Instead, he was amused and burst into laughter.

"Daniel from the Riley family? If I remember correctly, the blond, spiky guy I eliminated at the start of the Trial Tournament was your brother Arthur, wasn't he?"

Liu Zhao curled the corners of his mouth and raised his chin high, making the exact same gesture as Daniel.

"Last time I eliminated your brother first, this time I'll kick you first too, so both of you Riley brothers will get the same treatment. I've even thought of a name for the group: 'The Yellow-Haired Brothers - First Round Elimination,' how about it?"

Daniel, who wasn't particularly bright to begin with, was stunned when he heard Liu Zhao's words. After realizing the meaning behind Liu Zhao's words, he instantly flew into a rage, his face turning red with anger.

"You stinking outsider! I'll kill you!"

With a roar, the tall Daniel made his move.

As he raised his right hand and muttered incantations, a strong magical fluctuation instantly appeared around him.

The next second, with a rapid flick of his right hand, a uniquely shaped crimson rune suddenly appeared in front of him.

Upon seeing this, the audience gasped in surprise.

On the high platform, Arthur Riley, with his blond, spiky hair, sitting behind his mother, couldn't help but stand up and burst into laughter.

"Mother, look! My brother used secret runes right away. The bloodline runes passed down in our Riley family are the strongest among all the nobles in the entire capital. That outsider is about to lose, hahaha!"

Mrs. Helena smiled slightly.

"Arthur, there are so many elders here, you mustn't be impolite."

"Besides, unlike those small families, our Riley family has a long history and rich heritage. Our opponent is just a low-ranking prince from a remote country. Even if we win, there's nothing to be proud of."

She appeared to be blaming someone, but instead she sat up straight, raised her chin, and glanced at Princess Veronica beside her with a look full of smugness.

In response, Princess Veronica, the mother of the second prince, frowned slightly and remained silent.

Mrs. Elira, sitting next to her, smiled and echoed her sentiment.

"That's right. When it comes to magic, the Riley family has always been one of the most prestigious families in our Kingdom of Os. With Lady Helena's excellent teaching and Young Master Daniel's talent and brilliance, this Grand Prix should have been a sure thing for the Riley family long ago."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Helena was overjoyed and couldn't help but chuckle while covering her mouth as she declined.

"Not at all, Mrs. Elira, you flatter me. Although Daniel has good magical talent, your daughter, Miss Christine, is also very outstanding. Although the Lance family's magical foundation is slightly lacking, I believe she will definitely achieve good results as well."

After a round of mutual flattery, the atmosphere between the two was quite harmonious.

Cecilia, dressed in a black mage's robe, sat behind Vice Principal Hills. Hearing the two of them belittling Liu Zhao in front of her, she, as a teacher, couldn't help but frown slightly.

At this moment, the white-bearded old man Hills also asked a question with a smile.

"Ms. Cecilia, do you think Liu Zhao has a chance to win this match?"

Cecilia shook her head slightly upon hearing this.

"It's difficult. Although Liu Zhao is undoubtedly more talented, the magical foundation and bloodline inheritance of the Riley family are simply too amazing. The rune that Daniel resonated and summoned looks far superior to ordinary arcane runes."

This power is more than enough to bridge the gap in talent. Unless Liu Zhao can produce a powerful rune of equal strength, he has little chance of winning.

Hills nodded.

"Unfortunately, runes of this caliber are all heirlooms of major families. Liu Zhao comes from a remote and unknown country. Such a place is destined to have little magical foundation, so how could it possibly produce powerful runes of equal caliber? It seems that the outcome of this battle is already decided."

In an instant, not only the four people on the platform, but almost all the spectators watching the match assumed that Liu Zhao would definitely lose when they saw the crimson runes summoned by Daniel's resonance.

Just then, the situation on the arena suddenly changed!

"Little Fire Serpent Technique!"

"Bloodline Resonance! Arcane Amplification!"

As the crimson runes summoned by Daniel suddenly lit up, the small fire snakes he had summoned instantly grew into giant fire pythons that were three meters long and as thick as a thigh.

"Entangle him! Fiery Serpent!"

Daniel shouted, and several fiery pythons hissed as they roared toward Liu Zhao, bringing with them raging flames.

Faced with the oncoming fiery python, Liu Zhao, who had already simulated the battle many times in his mind, instantly used a move that he had mastered recently.

"Flame Spell"

"Bloodline Resonance! Arcane Amplification!"

The instant he cast the level-two fire magic Flame Spell, summoning a raging fire, Liu Zhao's right hand almost simultaneously wrote three simple Chinese characters in the air using a cursive style.

【Man】

【sword】

【big】

The two large characters written with transparent magic flashed and merged directly into the flames.

Then, the moment the opponent's fiery python pounced, the ordinary flames suddenly transformed into a fiery giant more than three meters tall, wielding a large sword!

Roar~

With a roar, the Flame Giant swung his greatsword, and amidst the surging flames, he cleaved all four pythons in front of him in two.

With a single blow, Daniel's most prized and strongest attack was completely shattered.

He was completely stunned when he saw this.

"How is that possible!"

Before he could react, the powerful gust of wind generated by the fire giant's slash slammed heavily into Daniel, sending him flying and coughing up blood as he crashed solidly outside the arena.

『Ding-a-ling~~~』

A sharp whistle blew, and the magic mentor who was standing near the arena as a referee was stunned for a second before immediately reacting and appearing on the arena.

"Daniel has fallen off the court; the game is over!"

"The victor is Liu Zhao!"

When the referee announced the result of the match, everyone was stunned by what they saw. They stared blankly at Liu Zhao standing on the field and the giant of fire burning behind him, their mouths agape, unable to react for a long time.

"What happened? Daniel lost?"

"By the God of Light, what have I seen? He was instantly killed in one move?"

"With such a powerful amplification from the bloodline rune resonance, Daniel's spell was almost as strong as a high-level level three fire spell! And he still lost?"

"The Riley family's young master has been eliminated again by that black-haired out-of-towner!"

"..."

A few moments later, sporadic applause broke out.

What followed was an even more enthusiastic cheer from the entire audience.

Liu Zhao, who was the center of attention, was also in an exceptionally pleasant mood at this moment.

He had initially been worried about the strength of the runes formed from Chinese characters, but after being tested in actual combat, his last bit of unease finally dissipated completely.

The numbers are plentiful, and the mechanisms are overwhelming.

At this moment, after personally experiencing the remarkable achievements of Chinese characters against the native runes of the other world, Liu Zhao couldn't help but think of the most fitting adjective to describe the difference between the two.

Dimensional reduction attack!