Spell after spell started to collapse at the last moment, and mage after mage walked back to their places with expressions that couldn't contain any more disbelief.
As the name 'Lanthanor' started to appear with increasing frequency on the leaderboard, the crowd who had learned by now to expect upsets like these cheered even harder, hoping that their bets against the odds would pay off.
Of course, the odds hadn't been as drastic as the first day, but it would still be a tidy profit which excited everyone, as it had been added to the fact that a comeback was something that was always amazing to watch.
Of course, those who weren't mages were the ones celebrating like this, as all those who had elementary visions switched on were having their minds blown at seeing something that wasn't thought to be possible.
Although most of them couldn't carry out a detailed analysis like Kendra had done, they still understood the insane level of spell understanding that was needed for someone to carry out such a feat.
The truth was that something similar was done by the top employees of construction companies, but they were only able to do it to the simpler spells, and that too only with the permission of the first party.
Something like this, where the bases of complex spells could be attacked to unravel the entire thing, went against the very essence of magic that was being taught on the continent.
In some locations, mages could only stand around with blank faces as they tried to assess their thoughts.
One such very heavy silence was present in the private room of the Kingdom of the Elves, where all the ministers and the Queen had risen up as one on seeing the incredible things that the Black -robed men from Lanthanor were doing.
Except for the mages who were currently keeping the room afloat, the Queen was the youngest among all those present, and she also seemed to be the one who was most shocked.
Unlike the others who weren't very familiar with the King of Lanthanor, she knew about his specialty to get things done in inconceivable ways that would confound anyone who tried to understand him and his mind.
Yet, the common method of battling with magic was something that hadn't changed in centuries. Countless mages pored over these techniques year after year, and although small tweaks were still being made, something major like this hadn't been seen in a very long time.
However, when she noticed that the ministers around her who were all elders that had seen a lot of things were sharing looks as if they knew what was happening, the Queen realized that this wasn't as shocking for them as it was for her.
She waited for a few seconds to see if they would dispel her confusion, but seeing them whisper among themselves, she lost her temper and banged on the table.
Getting their attention in this way, she looked at the elf who finally spoke out.
"My Queen, as you know, we are the kingdom with the most research in magic. Hence, something like this was predicted long ago, by a very famous mage of that time who also happened to be a paragon. He said that this was hypothetically possible if mages were trained in a certain way, but he also stated that this sort of training would have an overall detrimental effect as the way in which it affected mages' minds couldn't be analyzed. Besides, he also tried a lot to come up with the method to train mages to be capable of doing this, but he failed and left his research for others to continue. As we have more free time, we have had the opportunity to read all the interesting research materials left by those who were born in our Kingdom. We were also initially shocked by this, but when the shock goes away, one realizes that there are also drawbacks that cannot be addressed. That mage was also aware of these drawbacks, but he assumed that they could be overcome if the method could be found out first. For instance, how many situations are there where an opponent is allowed to stand and watch while a mage casts their complex spell?"
Listening to the words said by the elf with furrowed eyebrows, Eldra thought for a bit and said, "A lot, right now. Don't most mage battles involve each mage protecting themselves while trying to complete their complex spell?"
"That is true, but my Queen, you forget that both mages would also try to take each other's lives in every way possible during this process. According to that research, for this method of attacking the base elementary particles to work, the person who's doing the attacking must be able to completely focus on the spell that is being formed if they want to have any hope in accomplishing what they set out to do. On the battlefield, no two mages are naive enough to stand in front of each other while giving their opponent the chance to disrupt them. Also, there is a certain degree of failure, which is already apparent because some of the Lanthanorian's have already failed."
This made realization flashed across Eldra's face, as she understood that situations like these in actual duels were indeed very rare.
Even in the fight against the commander of Axelor that Daneel had taken part in when disguised as Kellor, each of them had tried to kill the other before the complex spell materialized, leaving no opportunity for either of them to calmly analyze the situation.
Granted that Daneel had gone up against a Fighter, this case would have been common even if he went up against a talented mage.
Along with Eldra's realization, she got a thought which left her jaw hanging.
And it seemed that this thought was also something that had occurred to the others.
"You're right, my Queen. If someone knows that the opponent is capable of this, it is very easy to counter it. One would simply need to keep the other party occupied without giving them the chance to examine freely. In fact, others wouldn't even need the research materials that we have to figure this out, as it is something that can be understood given that one has the time to think about it. As to the reason behind why this has been revealed to the continent at this stage, none of the us can make any sense of it."
As Eldra heard her query voiced, she didn't realize that a similar discussion was happening in the private booth that was occupied by the two kings of Lanthanor and the Black Raven Kingdom.
"Daneel, what the hell is going on? This changes… Everything! Fine, being the genius, you found some way to make this happen, but how could you expose it to the entire world like this! Why not just keep it yourself to use in a critical situation!? What's the point in making everyone know about it and allowing them to easily come up with precautions?"
For the first time since he had seen his friend mature to become a capable king, Daneel watched as Faxul walked around the room with a frantic pace while running his hands through his hair.
To be completely honest, this was also the way he had reacted on the last day before the Olympics had started when he had been witness to this incredible feat by his trump card: the Domination Corp.
Months ago, he had given the special techniques to the Domination Corps with the intention of letting them grow in power before using them as the weapon which would help him to take over the entire continent.
Yet, the Olympics had come into play where there was a very urgent need for him to win if he wanted his plans to take on a faster track.
Hence, when the rules for the Olympics had been fixed, he had sent them over to the instructors of the Fists of Justice Training Hall who were in charge of developing the Domination Corps.
After that, when he had been asked to cast a complex spell and had had this...thing happen to him, he had been left with a blank mind.
He, who had the system, hadn't found a way to make something like this happen.
Yet, his underlings who were just Amateur Human Level Mages were capable of this?!
With shock, he had taken the decision to keep it hidden for as long as possible.
However, the conversation he had next with the leader of the Fists of Justice Training Hall changes everything.