Thus, a showdown ensued right before everyone's expectant eyes with the two combatants situated several dozen meters apart.

Erwin looked on as his opponent drew his sword from his scabbard in a shaky manner, and a derisive sneer appeared on his face.

In the next instant, he spread his hands open, and magic energy of around a dozen different colors erupted from his palms. With the lush, green lawn acting as a backdrop, the magic energy being released by Erwin appeared like a colorful wind chime.

Baron Teffrey was immediately rooted to the spot at the sight of the colorful magic energy flashing in front of him, and before he even had a chance to blink, the revolving storm of magic energy was already hurtling directly toward his face.

Meanwhile, Erwin had abruptly vanished on the spot.

All of the bystanders were astonished by what they were seeing, and everyone was wondering where Erwin had suddenly gone.

In the next instant, Erwin emerged from his space split technique right behind Baron Teffrey.

These nobles had never seen time and space magic before, and they were all stunned by this incredible feat of teleportation.

Immediately thereafter, Erwin thrust a palm forward, and countless bursts of magic turbulence erupted forth, hurtling directly toward Baron Teffrey's completely defenseless back.

Baron Teffrey was still trying to devise a plan to combat all of the instant-release spells that were flying toward him from the front, yet before he knew it, he had already been struck in the back by the magic turbulence that Erwin had unleashed.

As a result, Baron Teffrey immediately let loose a bloodcurdling howl of agony, and he was sent flying through the air headfirst, following which his face was directly struck by the oncoming barrage of instant-release spells.

The combination of the two barrages of attacks left Baron Teffrey in so much pain that he was rolling around in agony. He wanted to yell, but he couldn't open his mouth, so he could only draw painful breaths through his teeth. He wasn't refraining from yelling because he was afraid of embarrassing himself. Instead, it was because his entire face had suffered burns, and any movement of his facial muscles immediately resulted in excruciating pain.

It was clear that there were some fire-attribute spells in that barrage of instant-release spells.

Erwin looked down at Baron Teffrey, who was rolling on the ground like a wounded dog, and a hint of reminiscence flashed through his eyes. He was suddenly reminded of the expression that had been worn by Jeff as he looked at his opponents during the Pillow Sword Tournament. It was a very similar expression to the one that was on his face right now.

To put it more accurately, this was the same expression that all powerful magicians and martial artists, such as Onean and Lana, displayed toward opponents who were far inferior to them, so it wasn't unique to Jeff.

So the day has finally come when I can also look down on my opponent with the same expression, Erwin thought to himself, but he derived no sense of joy or triumph from this thought. Instead, he was even feeling a little forlorn. While it was true that he had become far more powerful than he once was, the hardships that he had to experience to get to this point almost made it seem like it wasn't worth it.

At the same time, he also came to realize just how easily one could become the very thing that they once hated and despised.

"How does it feel rolling around like a wounded dog in front of a useless artist like myself?" Erwin asked in an indifferent voice as he looked down on Teffrey with a derisive expression.

The entire garden had fallen completely silent. Everyone was watching in shock as Erwin insulted Baron Teffrey, unsure of what to make of the situation.

Count Onen was stunned by the formidable power that Erwin had just displayed, and he was considering recruiting Erwin to his side. After all, the new nobles at Tellier were becoming more and more powerful by the day, and he desperately needed powerful magicians like Erwin to help him weather the coming storm. Of course, he had no idea that what he had just witnessed was time and space magic.

As for Count Onen's wife, she was very pleased to see Erwin taking care of his opponent so easily and ruthlessly. It was almost as if in her eyes, the person rolling on the ground was Count Retola's wife rather than Baron Teffrey. Her vindictive joy was even further compounded as she took a glance at the furious look on Countess Retola's face, and she could barely hold back the urge to go and gloat directly to Countess Retola's face.

As for all of the nobles watching from the sidelines, all of them had fallen silent after witnessing Erwin's stunning display of power. They were all astonished by what they had just seen, and they were still wondering how Erwin had managed to appear behind Teffrey in what could only be described as teleportation. They were looking down on Erwin as he was only a lowly artist in his eyes, but they were very much wary of his power.

Even though Teffrey had just been taught a painful lesson, what he had said wasn't entirely incorrect. An artist who was only capable of holding a brush was ultimately useless. In this world, what truly mattered was one's prowess as a martial artist or magician.

Of course, many of the young noblewomen present were even more enamored with Erwin after witnessing his stunning magical prowess. In fact, not only were the young noblewomen feeling quite hot and bothered, even their older counterparts couldn't help but feel a little tingle in their lower bellies.

This was a man who possessed looks, power, and artistic talent in equal measure. Could there be a more perfect man than him? The only flaw that one could point out about him was his lack of a noble title. However, this only made him even more sought after, as the ideal romantic interest for all of the older noble women were young men who weren't in the circle of nobility. All of them were inspecting an internal scale in their hearts. On one end of the scale sat their noble status, while on the other end of the scale sat all of Erwin's alluring attributes.

Right at this moment, a deep voice suddenly rang out from the crowd. "Mr. Erwin, would you be able to enlighten me as well?"

Everyone immediately turned their attention toward the source of the voice, trying to see who it was that was issuing a second challenge to Erwin.

As it turned out, it was the chief guard of Duke Eru's family, Cheren.

If he's here, then Duke Eru's daughter must be here as well, some of the nobles present speculated.

Most of the nobles attending the tea party were quite familiar with Duke Eru's familial affairs. Cheren was Duke Eru's most trusted and capable guard, and he had ensured the duke's safety for many years. After Duke Eru's only daughter came of age, Cheren was arranged to become her personal guard instead.

Sure enough, standing behind Cheren was a young beauty with a head of golden locks and a pair of blue eyes. It was none other than Duke Eru's only daughter, Theresa.

The two of them had arrived later than Erwin and Onean, so no one had noticed their arrival as everyone's attention had been focused on Erwin's duo.

"Ah, my precious niece!" Countess Onen clapped her hands together joyfully upon seeing Theresa, then quickly made her way toward the young woman.

In contrast, the expressions of Faya's two older sisters darkened significantly, and it was clear that they weren't very fond of this cousin of theirs. Compared with those two, Faya was looking a lot more calm and composed. She was about the same age as Theresa, and she didn't feel much envy toward her. Perhaps it was because she was the most ordinary of the three sisters when it came to physical appearance, and she had been frequently insulted for this by her two older sisters from a young age, and as a result, she had developed a very calm and placid mindset. Of course, the most fundamental factor contributing to her steadfast nature was simply her personality.

"Didn't you say you weren't coming?" Countess Onen asked as she picked up Theresa's hand and stroked it in an affectionate manner. "You didn't come all the way here from Newfando, did you? I would feel really bad if you had to travel so far."

"I was originally planning not to come, but it's been a while since I've seen you and Uncle Onen, so I decided to come, after all," Theresa replied with a cheeky smile.

"Hello, Theresa," Count Onen also approached his niece with a warm smile before looking her up and down, then jibed, "You didn't come here in secret without your father knowing, did you? I don't want to have the duke coming after me for taking his daughter away!"

All of the surrounding nobles burst into laughter upon hearing Count Onen's joke.

"Of course I didn't sneak out, Uncle Onen," Theresa countered as she pouted with embarrassment. "If I had snuck out, would he be with me?"

She cast a glance toward Cheren as she spoke.

"I was just kidding around," Count Onen said with a smile. "Having said that, you really are a little troublemaker. I know Cheren's personality, he's not the type of person who likes to draw attention to himself. It must've been you who asked him to challenge Mr. Erwin, right?"

I'm not trying to cause trouble, Uncle Onen. It's clear that Mr. Erwin is a very formidable magician, and I just wanted to see which one was stronger between him and Cheren," Theresa said in a fawning voice.

Faya's two elder sisters immediately turned away with disdainful expressions upon hearing the sickly sweet tone of Theresa's voice. It was clear that their discontent toward Theresa had long gone beyond the threshold of disgust.

"I don't think that's a good idea. Even if it's just a sparring match, it would be quite regrettable if either side were to get injured." Count Onen was feeling very cautious. A baron from the Delair Dukedom had already sustained injuries at his tea party, and he didn't want to escalate the situation any further for fear of serious repercussions.

"Be a good girl now, Theresa. Mr. Erwin is an esteemed guest who I've invited in person, so let's show him the hospitality that he deserves," Count Onen persuaded with a faint smile. "Your aunt has organized a tea party here, not a tournament between martial artists and magicians. At a tea party, we should be doing things like enjoying snacks and tea, and discussing poems, songs, and artworks. I think we should all have Mr. Erwin enlighten us on the mural that he recently painted for the Universal Church. Let's be civilized and stop all this fighting nonsense."

"Alright then..." Theresa pretended to begrudgingly accept this arrangement, but at the same time, she gave Cheren a subtle look.

Cheren immediately responded to her silent instruction, drawing his sword from its scabbard before lunging forward in one smooth motion.

Count Onen and the other nobles were completely caught off guard by Cheren's sudden attack, and there was no time for them to react as they looked on with stunned expressions.

"Look out!" Faya involuntarily called out in Erwin's direction in an urgent voice. 

Faya was far from a powerful magician, so the fact that she was able to react so quickly indicated that she had been keeping a close eye on Theresa this entire time.

Erwin had been listening to what Count Onen and the other nobles were saying, but he wasn't completely distracted. Furthermore, Cheren's attack was a full-frontal assault rather than a sneak attack from a blind spot, so it wasn't impossible for him to react to it.

Meanwhile, Onean was watching the unfolding scene with an indifferent expression, completely unconcerned for Erwin's safety. This was because the sword strike unleashed by Cheren was extremely slow in her eyes.

In the blink of an eye, the distance between Cheren and Erwin had been closed down to no more than five feet.

Looking at the sword that was piercing toward his own glabella, Erwin could sense that the attack went beyond the threshold of what was acceptable in a friendly sparring match.

The fact that Erwin was able to process these thoughts even while being attacked further supported Onean's assessment of the slowness of the attack.

A miniature light shield was conjured up on the palm of Erwin's hand as he swatted the sword aside with ease, and at the same time, his other hand had already made contact with Cheren's lower abdomen.

In the next instant, Cheren was sent flying through the air in an arc, propelled by countless bursts of magic turbulence. It was as if a dazzling blue rainbow had appeared over the garden, presenting a spectacular sight to behold.

Erwin had unleashed a Magic Explosion while in direct contact with Cheren's body. The attack clearly also went beyond the threshold of what was acceptable in a friendly sparring match, but he was only returning the favor.

When fighting Baron Teffrey earlier, Erwin had only intended to teach his opponent a lesson. However, Erwin hadn't held back his magic power at all in the face of the unscrupulous attack from Cheren. 

Of course, if Cheren's attack had been any faster, then Erwin would've taken his life on the spot.