At that close proximity, even Atticus wasn't sure of coming out of that attack unscathed.

And this was even more so as he couldn't use the space element to block an attack as intense as that.

Atticus swept his gaze around the hallway, observing the devastation that was currently unfolding.

The intense explosion that had just happened was still ongoing, the scorching red wave of fire spreading out through the hall on both sides.

"Hm?" Atticus muttered, his right hand gravitating towards his forehead. As soon as his hand touched it, Atticus couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in slight shock as he felt a slight amount of sweat marring his forehead.

'I'm sweating?' Atticus's shock was completely justifiable.

He himself knew how crazy his tolerance to fire and the other elements was. It would require an intense amount of heat, enough to turn thousands to cinders just to make Atticus sweat.

But now, just the crazy temperature of the attack that had already left his spot was enough to make him sweat?

Atticus was confident that Seraphin couldn't radiate nearly enough heat to increase the surrounding temperature enough to make him sweat.

'That artifact truly is powerful,' Atticus thought, his thoughts shifting to the armor Seraphin had worn.

Atticus forced himself out of his reverie. The situation wasn't over yet.

Atticus gazed at the hallway. The explosion had already died down but his vision was still obscured by the thick amounts of smoke covering the hallway.

With a simple focus, an intense amount of wind materialized around Atticus's form, sweeping outwards and clearing out the smoke in the hallway.

As soon as the smoke cleared, Atticus's penetrating gaze instantly landed on Seraphin's pathetic form.

He was currently at the end of the hallway, deeply lodged inside the sturdy wall where the map of the academy was supposed to be displayed.

Atticus instantly started walking towards Seraphin, his footsteps resounding in the completely empty hallway.

With the intense explosion that just happened, it was as though every single sound in the area had been taken with it, the hallway being completely eerily quiet.

Atticus closed the distance in a few seconds, his gaze scrutinizing Seraphin's battered form.

His legs, arms, and head appeared to be completely bloodied, the blood supposed to be red in color tainted black because of the explosion that just took place.

His form was lodged back first into the wall, his head, arms, and legs protruding forward.

Atticus's gaze stopped on the armor Seraphin was donned in. It had already lost its radiance but despite this, Atticus was 100% sure that it was because the wearer currently had zero amounts of mana left to feed it. It looked firm and unbroken, not a single crack on its form.

'He definitely brought that to the academy,' Atticus pondered.

He knew for sure that the academy store had nothing this powerful amongst its items. He was very sure because he had checked every single item contained in the academy store.

'Artifacts, huh,' Atticus thought. He knew for certain that they would be powerful, but this was the first time he was actually experiencing the effects of one.

'I still have what Dad gave me and the reward I got from the Ravensteins' vault. I should check them out when I'm settled.'

During the award ceremony five years ago, where Atticus had brutalized William, Atticus had received two artifacts. One from Avalon and another from the Ravenstein vault.

Although he knew their effects, he hadn't seen any need to use them, so he simply hadn't. But gazing at the armor on Seraphin, he could see how important it was.

Atticus took his gaze away from the armor and focused them back on Seraphin. His face was completely covered with blood and black smoldering remains mixed together, and although he was in such a sorry state, his bloodshot eyes were still completely fixated on Atticus, staring intently at him as though gazing at a fated enemy.

It was plenty obvious that if he only he could move, he would have pounced on Atticus regardless of the consequences. But unfortunately for him, he couldn't even lift a finger.

Atticus slowly raised his right arm, tendrils of lightning crackling around it.

He had always made sure to be absolutely thorough anytime he wanted to nip the bud.

The point was to make sure that Seraphin wouldn't be a bother in the future again, and there was only one way to do that: break him.

The tendrils coalesced in his hand, and he deliberately stretched out his hand to touch Seraphin's stationary form.

Seraphin's eyes widened as he instinctively closed his eyes, bracing himself for the impending pain.

Just as Atticus's hand was about to touch Seraphin, Atticus's gaze immediately narrowed as the air suddenly distorted around Seraphin's form, effortlessly blocking Atticus's hand from advancing forward.

Just as Atticus was about to turn his gaze, he suddenly felt the temperature in the air increase to staggering levels, much higher than what Seraphin could personally achieve.

With the swiftness of lightning, Atticus promptly activated his lightning bloodline with mana, propelling his form backward several meters in an instant.

And in the next instance, a fiery figure descended to the ground between Atticus's previous position and Seraphin, akin to the impact of a meteor, unleashing a torrent of blistering golden flames in all directions.

Atticus's figure materialized a few meters away from his previous location, his narrowed eyes fixated on the newcomer or rather, 'There are two of them,' Atticus noted.

'Did they just get out of the elevator?' His thoughts raced. Atticus thought it was weird that he didn't notice both of them until they attacked.

He had long since known that the academy walls were made of special materials. Regardless of how much he tried, he hadn't been able to sense anything through these walls. And the elevator was made with the same materials.

And the elevator was constructed from identical materials.

"This altercation ends now!"

A resounding, thunderous voice erupted, its authority reverberating through the hallway like a divine proclamation.