'How can I expect to become the strongest if I don't give it my all?!'
'I can't make the deaths of my previous enemies become useless!'
Then, Shang opened his eyes and looked at the wheel with fire in his eyes.
'So what if I die?! It's only a moment of horror, which will quickly pass!'
A moment later, the wheel stopped at the Ice Affinity.
After a brief glimmer of light, Shang's opponent appeared.
It was a beautiful, young woman with long, icy-blue hair.
She carried an azure gem in her right hand, which was orbited by a circlet.
It was a Focus.
Shang took a deep breath and looked at his left arm.
Then, he looked at his opponent.
The jester lifted his hammer and struck the bell.
The girl opened her eyes, and she looked at Shang.
Shang exploded forward with all his speed.
He didn't believe that his ability had infinite range.
From what he had seen, the destructive area of his ability was a cone. At least, the hole in the porcupine had been cone-shaped.
If Shang didn't get close, his power might be too scattered to kill his opponent.
The girl quickly cast her Mana Shield.
And then, an icy light appeared above her.
She began to speak mystical words, and an icy stream of Mana left her mouth and entered the icy light above her.
But that wasn't everything.
Her Focus was also sending Ice Mana towards the light.
When Shang saw that, his eyes widened.
'Focus Fusion?! An Early Adept can do that?!' Shang thought in horror.
When Shang was still 40 meters away, his opponent had finished creating her Spell.
A two-meter-long icicle appeared above her.
When Shang saw the icicle, a shudder went through his being.
'That Spell has the power of an attack from a Late General Stage beast!'
'It will break through my uniform in one strike and kill me!'
There were still 40 meters between him and his opponent.
Would his scattered power be enough to kill her?
Shang's left arm pointed forward.
Then, his left arm turned to dust.
But that wasn't all.
Both his legs also turned to dust.
And lastly, one of his eyes turned to dust.
The Adept released her icicle, which shot at Shang with surreal speed.
An instant later, Shang's body atrophied, and he hit the ground.
Silence.
Shang felt pain come from his entire body, weakness gripping his being.
With all his power, Shang managed to lift his body a bit with his right arm to look at what had happened.
And then, his remaining eye opened widely in shock.
Destruction.
Nothingness.
A cone-shaped crater stretched out from Shang's position.
Meters of earth had been consumed by the attack.
At that moment, Shang remembered what his teacher had told him.
General Stage Abominations could be a danger to High Mages.
This attack…
This was an attack that only a High Mage could unleash.
However, Shang had paid dearly for unleashing it.
If he had used this attack outside the trial, he would become a useless cripple with no chance of recovery.
On Earth, one could still live a fulfilling life with such a disability, but in this world?
No.
WHOOOOM!
And then, a storm of Mana assaulted Shang.
Shang felt like his entire being was being bathed in the purest of Mana in the world.
A couple of seconds later, everything calmed down.
His world returned to its previous, lifeless self.
There was no wind.
There was no movement.
There might as well be nothing.
Shang was the only living being here.
At that moment, Shang looked at his world.
It still had matter.
Then, Shang looked at the crater of destruction in front of him.
But there was nothing.
Shang remembered the ability of the Abominations.
Shang remembered the fact that there could also be exotic Affinities like Space in this world.
Shang remembered his Ice and Fire Affinities.
Less heat, more heat.
Less energy, more energy.
Shang remembered his Light and Darkness Affinities.
Life energy was essentially mass or matter. With more life energy, one could regrow one's body parts. With too much, one's body would become too big and would explode. With too little life energy, one's body would vanish.
Less matter, more matter.
Less energy, more energy, less matter, more matter.
What if everything was put together?
It would just become neutral.
It would become the same.
Then, Shang thought of something.
What if his Affinity interacted with the entire world?
All the matter would vanish and be converted to Mana, which was basically energy.
And every spot in the world would have the same amount of energy.
There would be no movement.
There would be no matter.
There would be no life.
And lastly, Shang remembered a concept from earth.
In many, many, many, many years, every piece of matter will be transformed into energy. At that point, the universe will cease to be relevant.