Shaun had thought that his opponent would conjure up a magic shield to protect himself, and he would be able to take advantage of that opportunity to prepare a few advanced spells, using which he could end this battle. However, much to his surprise, Erwin paid no heed to the three spears at all, choosing instead to charge directly toward him. In the face of Erwin's barrage of instant-release spells, he could only conjure up his magic shield again to defend himself.

After a wild flurry of instant-release spells, Erwin unleashed his space split technique again to appear behind Shaun. As a result, the three magic spears suddenly lost their target, unable to trace Erwin any further, and they disintegrated into magic turbulence while flying through the air.

Shaun could see that Erwin had already appeared behind him, and he was supporting his magic shield with one hand to ward off Erwin's instant-release spells while raising his staff with his other hand as a cold smile appeared on his face.

"Take this!"

All of a sudden, several balls of golden light were sent flying through the air. The balls of light were flying in a very strange trajectory and moving extremely slowly, almost as if they were intended to target Erwin at all.

Erwin looked on as the balls of golden light slowly flew through the air, and he had no idea what that was all about. He was focusing solely on the chanting of his own incantation, and he was about to test his newly mastered advanced spell on Shaun.

However, Erwin had only just begun chanting his incantation when a bolt of lightning came flying out of the ball of golden light that was closest to him. Erwin was greatly startled by this, and he hurriedly retreated a few steps. However, the balls of light seemed to be monitoring him, and they remained close around him at all times. As soon as he began to try and prepare any spells, several bolts of lightning would immediately be sent hurtling directly toward him. As a result, he didn't even dare to unleash any instant-release spells.

Shaun was very pleased to see that his Lightning Shock Array had completely suppressed Erwin, and a smug smile appeared on his face as he began to chant the incantation for an advanced spell, preparing to end this match in one fell swoop.

"Looks like he's in trouble. He does have some tricks up his sleeve, but that array is preventing him from doing anything. Isn't he completely at his opponent's mercy now?" Jeff said with an amused smile as he watched the unfolding battle.

Lana remained silent as she looked on at Erwin with a calm expression. She knew that Erwin wouldn't be the type of person to just stand around and wait for defeat, and she was quietly confident in his ability to get himself out of this pickle.

Sure enough, Erwin suddenly conjured up a ball of light that encompassed his body from all directions.

Didn't he use this spell during the last offense and defense class? Does he have a death wish? 

A surprised look appeared on Lana's face upon seeing this.

In reality, this spherical light shield was different from the one that Erwin had conjured up last time. That spherical light shield was a confined space that Erwin had created by exhausting all of the elemental matter in the surrounding area, but on this occasion, Erwin was directly using the matter around him to create this light shield. Of course, aside from Erwin, there was no other matter in the space within the light shield. Thus, time was standing completely still within the light shield, and not even light could radiate from the wall of the shield. As a result, the entire spherical light shield was extremely bright and dazzling from the outside, making it impossible to see what was happening within it.

The balls of golden light outside the spherical light shield released one bolt of lightning after another, but Erwin's light shield remained as resolute as an immovable mountain. As for the bolts of lightning, they were completely absorbed by the light shield like a sponge without being able to inflict any damage. In the end, even the balls of golden light themselves began to slowly move toward the outer wall of the light shield before also being absorbed upon contact.

Shaun's brows were furrowed tightly as he watched his own Lightning Shock Array being slowly devoured by Erwin's light shield, and he had no idea what to make of this situation.

Not only was Shaun at a complete loss, the administrators standing around the competition platform were also bewildered by this light shield.

"What kind of spell is this? If I'm not mistaken, it looks like time has fallen still inside that ball of light," Jeff said as he watched the unfolding match with furrowed brows.

"I told you that he's no ordinary magician. His magic power may be quite mediocre, but he has a whole host of tricks up his sleeve," Lana said with a smile, but in reality, she was rather concerned. Last time, Erwin was unable to control his spherical light shield, and he was almost sucked completely dry as a result. Thinking back to that incident, Lana couldn't help but wonder if he could control the spell on this occasion.

Jeff turned to look at her with a surprised expression. "Didn't you try to kill him not long ago? Why does it feel like you're suddenly on his side now?"

Meanwhile, on the royal spectating platform.

"What a surprise this is. After so many years, there are finally magicians studying the power of time and space again," Master Piro mused as he looked at the light shield on the competition platform. "I couldn't be sure of it before this, but now, there's no mistaking it. It's quite remarkable that he's already been able to make so much progress in the power of time and space at such a young age. Looks like he's quite a brilliant talent as well."

King Cameron was silent as he looked at the center of the competition platform with furrowed brows.

On the bottom level.

"He's using that spell again? Does he have a death wish?" Chase exclaimed as he turned to Kaiba.

"Surely you know what he's like by now. Normally, he's always joking around, and he looks like he takes nothing seriously, but deep down, he's actually extremely proud and competitive," Kaiba sighed. "When he's determined to win a battle, he'd gladly throw away his own life to achieve victory. In any case, with all those administrators standing around the competition platform, I don't think we need to worry about him."

Chase nodded in response.

Meanwhile, Erwin was struggling immensely within the light shield. Magic power was surging rapidly out of every single pore of his skin, and he could sense that even his own blood flow was beginning to slow down. He looked on with an intense, unblinking gaze as the matter outside the spherical light shield slowly fused into the wall of the shield. Some of the matter looked like strings of liquid, some resembled fine grains of sand, some were pulsating in an extremely unstable manner, and some were slowly seeping through the light shield. However, he couldn't afford to be distracted by this visual spectacle. Not only did he have to prevent the elemental matter from entering his light shield, he also had to chant the incantation for the spell that he was preparing.

Shaun was intimidated by Erwin's light shield, but he quickly returned to his senses, and he raised his staff to send a gust of fierce wind sweeping over the ground before surging toward the light shield at an alarming speed. As the gust of wind traveled through the air, it transformed into a tornado that resembled a fiery vortex, twisting and writhing as it sent rocks and dust flying in all directions. All of the spectators were amazed by this display of power, and it was clear to them that this magician from Pucil Academy was just as powerful as the rumors suggested.

Erwin gulped nervously at the sight of the fiery tornado descending upon him. However, there was no saliva for him to swallow. His lips were already dry and cracked, and his mouth was so parched that he felt as if he had been walking through a desert for several days and nights without any water to drink. However, sweat was pouring down from his forehead, and he was maintaining his light shield with one hand while holding his staff with his other hand as he chanted the incantation for his advanced spell. Thus, he had no spare hands with which he could wipe away his own sweat, so he could only allow it to flow into his eyes and blur his vision. At the same time, he stuck out his tongue to catch the sweat that was flowing down around his mouth, just so he could get some liquid back into his parched mouth.

Unlike the Lightning Shock Array, the Inferno Tornado was not a spell that could be absorbed by the light shield. The Inferno Tornado was imbued with far more magic energy, and as the tornado came into contact with the light shield, the latter was instantly completely devoured. Boundless fire-attribute energy was attacking the outer wall of the light shield violently, but the scene that unfolded next came as quite a shock to everyone.

Erwin's light shield was expanding inward, and the wall of the shield became thicker and thicker. The energy of the Inferno Tornado surged into the light shield, and countless pomegranate-colored thin threads were beginning to slowly roam over its surface in a completely random and haphazard manner. The entire Inferno Tornado pressed itself against the light shield bit by bit, and countless red lines continued to slowly flow over the surface of the light shield without any rhyme or reason, giving it the appearance of a magical artistic masterpiece.

The light on the surface of the light shield began to slowly radiate outward, while the wall of the shield continued to expand inward, making the space inside more and more cramped. At this point, Erwin was already having to crouch down just to be able to fit inside the light shield.

None of the spectators could tell what type of magic this was, and even the administrators standing around the competition platform had no idea what was happening. They were beginning to wonder whether it would be wise to call off the match, but Prime Minister Fuller was staring at Erwin with a transfixed expression, and he didn't issue any orders to the administrators.

Soon, the inner wall of the light shield compressed to the point that Erwin was almost crushed to a meatball.

A derisive sneer appeared on Shaun's face upon seeing this. Never had he seen an opponent perish to their own magic before. He looked on as Erwin's body began to deform under the compression of the light shield, and he was also wondering why the match hadn't been called off yet.

Lana's eyes were wide open as she stared intently at the spherical light shield with one hand gripped tightly around the staff that was concealed up her sleeve.

On the other side, Princess Onean was also staring intently at Erwin with tightly furrowed brows and a hint of indecision in her golden eyes.

All of the tens of thousands of spectators were watching with bated breath, and the entire venue had become eerily silent. No one had ever seen anything like the strange magic that Erwin was using.

Meanwhile, Erwin was looking at all of the different types of energy flowing within the light shield. There was the fire-attribute energy from Shaun's Inferno Tornado, and there was also his own darkness-attribute magic energy. Once again, his mind wandered back to that mug of dark beer that he had accidentally tipped over. In his eyes, the energy was flowing very slowly, but that was only relative. The speed of time in space wasn't constant. To Erwin and everyone else, the energy appeared to be flowing at an extremely slow speed, but in reality, it was only time that had slowed down.

Time inside the light shield was at a standstill, so no matter how many incantations Erwin chanted, there would be no time at all being expended.