Erwin looked on with a blank expression as the two new moons faded right before his eyes, and he still seemed to be reeling from what had just happened.

Aglea smiled as she looked at him, then asked, "Do you want to continue?"

"Continue my arse! I'm no match for you from here onward," Erwin snapped before descending from the sky.

Aglea watched as he departed from the competition platform, and she heaved an internal sigh of relief.

Thus, the battle concluded with a forfeit from Erwin.

Meanwhile, all of the spectators were looking on with stunned expressions as the two of them descended from the sky.

They had just witnessed a battle for the ages, and the only thing that was slightly disappointing was that the ending was rather premature and anticlimactic.

Of course, this was only the opinion of the spectators. For Aglea and Erwin, the ending had been far from anticlimactic.

Seeing the incredible power displayed by Erwin, both Prince Xar and Prime Minister Henry were a little concerned. As for Sanfesa, she was glowering at him with a resentful expression. She knew that she had made a permanent enemy of out Erwin, but she was ready for his revenge.

Aike Dario had also come to watch the match on this day, and he could look on with begrudging admiration as Erwin left the competition platform. He finally understood that there was a reason why Lana was so devoted to Erwin. He couldn't even begin to compare with Erwin in power, nor could he fathom how Erwin was able to muster up the resolve to seemingly face the entire world as his enemy. Thoughts of self-deprecation began to surface in his mind, and he felt like an insignificant star trying to compete with the moon.

...

Aglea followed through on her promise to Erwin, forfeiting her right to continue participating in the match following their battle.

The next battle was between Lana and Onean.

As the two incredibly beautiful women strode onto the competition platform, all of the men present were momentarily entranced.

In contrast, Erwin was feeling rather disgruntled. This was a sight that should've been reserved only for him, yet everyone here was getting to see it as well.

"Don't hold back," Onean said in a cold voice as she drew to a halt in front of Lana. "I don't know what he said to you, but I don't want this to become a pointless exhibition match."

"That suits me just fine," Lana said with a faint smile. "I also want to see what you're capable of."

Right when Gower was about to announce the commencement of the match, he was interrupted by the young emperor.

"I'll do it for this match," the emperor said with a smile.

Gower naturally wasn't going to raise any objections, and he promptly left the competition platform.

The emperor greeted the two women on the competition platform with a smile, but unfortunately, he didn't receive much of a response. However, he wasn't fazed by this at all, and his smile remained unchanged as he drew his sword.

With a graceful swing of his sword, a beautiful rose bloomed between the two women, heralding the commencement of their battle.

The Everlife Chinaberry Staff slid into Onean's grasp, and a serious look appeared on her face as she brought the staff down onto the competition platform.

Immediately thereafter, ice began to rapidly spread from the bottom of her staff toward the entire imperial palace.

The sun that had just been unveiled a short while ago was obscured once again behind a layer of snow and ice.

Erwin was rather surprised to see this. He wasn't expecting Onean to start off so aggressively, and it seemed to him like she was serious about going all-out against Lana.

However, Lana was already nowhere to be seen.

For some reason, the entire sky had been concealed behind a layer of dense black clouds, and all of the snow falling through the clouds was tainted black in the process.

There was a woman standing atop the layer of clouds, and looking at the vast expanse of arcane energy in the sky, Erwin was reminded of just how formidable a magician Lana was, not that he needed much reminding.

"Parting Seas and Clouds!" Lana yelled, and at this point, the entire sky had already been completely dominated by the surging dark clouds.

Onean wasn't backing down in the slightest, and all of the ground in sight had already been covered in the snow and ice that she had conjured up.

Thus, the sky was pitch-black, while the ground was sparkly white, and the women were going all-out from the get-go.

Bolts of lightning came crashing down from the heavens, while spears of ice rose up from the ground to meet the lightning.

Bursts of rumbling rang out incessantly in mid-air as black and white intertwined fiercely, each side determined to overcome the other.

As a result, it was as if the entire world had been split up evenly into realms of black and white.

Even though Onean wasn't at her best, with her incredible staff enhancing her powers, she wasn't losing to Lana in the slightest.

All of the spectators had thought that the battle between Erwin and Aglea would've been the only exciting matchup of the day, but to their surprise, the two female grand magic mentors were also putting on a splendid show, and everyone was certainly getting their money's worth.

In reality, grand magic mentors were only one step away from becoming grandmaster magicians, so given the power that Lana and Onean were displaying here, it wouldn't have been too much of a stretch to call them grandmaster magicians.

Sword God Buu was just about to leave, but he stopped cold in his tracks at the sight of the black-and-white world before him.

"Goodness me, those two young ladies are downright terrifying as well!" Sword God Buu exclaimed. He didn't have any interest in watching a battle between magicians, but as he sensed the violent clashes of energy, he decided to stay and take a look.

Countless black wyrms were roaring in the heavens, while white dragons were rising up from the ground to oppose them.

Lana's dress was flapping incessantly in the wind, and she came swooping down from the heavens atop a black arcane wyrm.

Meanwhile, Onean brought her staff down once again, and the white dragon beneath her rose up toward the heavens with a thunderous roar.

Erwin knew that the white dragon beneath Onean was the same spell she had used to destroy the royal palace back in Sarus. The ice phoenix that had been residing in her staff had already been killed by Renjay. If it were still alive, it would've been a better option for Onean to ride on in this battle.

With a wave of Lana's staff, the black wyrm also let loose a deafening roar, releasing violent arcane energy out of its cavernous mouth in the process.

Looking on from down below, Erwin could see that the staff in Lana's hand was the same one that he had left to her back in Sarus. With that observation, he couldn't help but heave an internal sigh. The ways that she expressed her love for him often caught him off guard.

Onean looked up with battle intent brimming in her golden eyes, and she wasn't fearful in the slightest.

She had been waiting for this day for far too long.

It was time for her to get back at Lana for everything the Lazaar Family had done to her family and her kingdom.

In retaliation against the oncoming burst of arcane energy, the white dragon that was acting as Onean's steed unleashed a frosty breath, and the two bursts of energy collided with a resounding boom.

Not only were the black wyrm and the white dragon locked in a battle, the spells cast by the two combatants were also clashing violently.

The sky was originally completely pitch black, but there were occasional patches of white ice that appeared, only to be snuffed out by the violent arcane energy before they could spread.

The same thing was happening on the ground down below. The entire competition platform was covered in ice, but there were occasional bolts of black lightning rising up from down below. However, they would all be eradicated by the countless ice spears around them before they had a chance to spring up.

Erwin was looking on with a concerned expression. He could see that Onean intended to fight Lana to the death.

If it weren't for Onean's current condition, he wouldn't have been so concerned. The problem was that if something were to suddenly go awry with Onean's magic power, then Lana could take her life in an instant.

"Are you worried? Those two aren't holding back against each other at all," Aglea remarked as she approached Erwin with an amused expression.

"All I can do is pray," Erwin sighed with a resigned shake of his head.

"Don't worry, Lana is not the type of girl who would do something stupid and reckless," Aglea said in a calm voice. "She knows that if she kills Onean, that would only drive a wedge between you and her."

"Really? I've always felt like she's very wilful and does whatever she pleases," Erwin replied in an absentminded manner as he continued to watch the unfolding battle.

"You're the only exception to that," Aglea said as she turned to look at him.

She then made her way over to Erwin before giving him a firm prod on the chest. "If you dare to break her heart after everything she's done for you, I'll make sure you don't get the chance to break any other woman's heart ever again."

"Why are you suddenly supporting her, Senior Aglea?" Erwin asked with an amused expression. "You were the one who reduced the princess of the Atlas Empire to a slave."

"Don't try to change the subject," Aglea said in a cold voice. "Men are always expressing their devotion to women, but deep down, their hearts don't reflect their words at all."

"Please allow me to apologize to you on behalf of all of the unfaithful men out there," Erwin said in a rather exasperated voice. His attention was focused entirely on the battle taking place up above, so he was in no mood to be bickering with Aglea. Hence, he gave a rather facetious reply, and he was entirely unconcerned about the possibility that Aglea could kill him in a moment of anger.

What Erwin failed to anticipate was that this casual statement from him had struck a chord in Aglea's heart.

She was about to turn on him in a fit of rage, but she could see that the concern in his eyes was genuine as stared up at the sky.

She then thought back to the insane rampage that Erwin had gone on after seeing Lana a few days ago, and she smiled as she said, "You seem to be different from other men. At the very least, I've never seen someone quite like you. Are you really not scared of anything? Let me ask you this: after you saw your little lover at the imperial palace, were you never concerned even for a moment that His Majesty would summon all of the guards in the imperial palace to kill you and your group? For the sake of a woman, everything that you had worked so hard for in the north could've been instantly reduced to nothingness. Did you not consider that at all?"

"I came to the north with nothing anyway, so why should I care if I end up with nothing? I'll just be back to where I started," Erwin said with a nonchalant expression. "As for Lana and Onean, I would've done everything in my power to ensure that they survived, but if that still wasn't enough in the end, then we'd just have to accept our fate and die together. I'm sure with those two accompanying me, the journey to the afterworld won't be too boring."

A faint smile appeared on Erwin's face as he spoke.

"How can you ever hope to best Prince Xar and Prime Minister Henry when you're such a slave to your impulses and emotions?" Aglea sighed with a shake of her head. "How will you achieve anything of any magnitude as you currently are?"

Erwin was stumped by this question.

"Those two are your fatal weaknesses, and Sanfesa has identified that, so she's using them against you as much as she can," Aglea said. "You're still too young."

Indeed, the trap that he had fallen into during the rendezvous was a clear indication that he was still far too young and lacking in maturity. With that in mind, he couldn't help but recall back to the cautionary words that Theresa had spoken to him on the Canston Plain.

In response to Erwin's contemplative silence, Aglea chuckled, "Perhaps it's exactly because you're such an idiot when it comes to your emotions feelings that those foolish girls are so devoted to you."