Mercury was surprised because that spell summoned the will of the great tree Yggdrasil.
That on its own would not be such a suprise but it is well known that only Elven royals can use that spell.
Even Marcus was caught by suprise and paused for a moment before he proceeded to stab his sword at her heart.
Flames Ignited on the blade followed by a dance of wind that made them blaze higher, fire can suppress wood.
Marcus figured no matter how impressive her spell is, he would burn through it with his sword.
But as soon as the blade reached 3 metres within her, the illusory tree shook its crown as if dancing.
A green dome appeared over Sabrina blocking Marcus’s sword. Flames exploded, the force sent him flying dozens of metres back.
He landed on his feet and skid back a few metres before coming to a stop. His expression turned serious.
His arrogance did not disappear but it was now mixed with rage, as a duke’s son he was naturally very proud.
To him, a commoner like Sabrina should not even be able to survive a single one of his attacks.
He was ready to attack again when roots thicker than a grown man grew around him, they broke through the stone and rose to the sky like serpents rearing their heads.
They lashed at him like whips, Marcus moved like a blur dodging them and using his sword to cut them down.
However no matter how many times he cut them down they just kept growing back as if they had endless vitality.
" ENOUGH!" Marcus roared, flames and wind exploded from his pushing and burning the roots away.
As soon as space opened he pointed a finger at her, " Flames who echo from the pits of hell, rise at the tip of finger and pierce like a spear."
A tiny flame marble appeared in front of his fingers and shot at Sabrina like a thin ray, Sabrina’s dome shielded her.
The fire ray burnt against the barrier, weakening it with each passing moment, Marcus smiled.
However before he could rejoin, leaves formed a cyclone around Sabrina, the ray of fire died out instantly.
Marcus’s face turned colder, " So be it." He was furious, a commoner forcing him to go this far was an insult to a noble like himself.
Golden lightning flickered on his feet and the next moment he was in front of her, his sword turned into a golden streak.
For the first time Sabrina reacted with something other than a blank expression, the green shield hummed.
It released visible green ripples through the air trying to slow down Marcus’s attack but his lightning coated sword pierced through it.
Even Mercury’s face turned grim, ’ I knew this bastard was strong but this is something else.
The way he uses his lightning element is similar to my bolts but also different, he’s not using any spell or skill.’
Spells and skills had specific ways to use them but what Marcus was doing was simply coating his body and sword in pure lightning mana.
While it did apply the principle of a skill to an extent, this made it so he can use it instantly without delay.
’ Not to mention, each of his attacks is equal to a peak E rank spell, honestly he might’ve won this tournament, pity, I’m here.’
Mercury really admired Marcus’s strength but he can do the same thing with bolts, he can do it even better even.
I’m order to use this technique Marcus seems to have sent to some extremes, through mana realm.
Mercury saw runes glowing over his body and the same runes were on his sword, he turned himself into a weapon.
’ Branding himself like that must’ve been painful, also, as far as I know, drawing runes on living organisms shouldn’t be possible.’
He had no idea how Marcus did this but it allowed him to use his strength in a brute way and achieve results rivaling spells.
’ However there seems to be a limit to it.’ Mercury could see Marcus’s body was starting to burn out.
If he continued like this, there was a chance he was going to burst into flames right there, Marcus knew that as well.
He kicked the green barrier, after his relentless attacks, it finally shattered like glass.
His kick continued without losing momentum heading for Sabrina’s face, if the kick landed she was going to die.
A tree branch blocked the kick, the shockwave pushed both of them back, Marcus fired a bolts of lightning at her.
The illusory branches slapped it away, Sabrina’s dead fish eyes gained a hint of life and turned as cold as eyes.
A dangerous aura rose from her, she stole a subtle glance at the crowd, Mercury saw this through his mana realm.
Sitting amongst the crowd was an old man with a greying beard, he tapped his fingers a few times.
’ A code?’ Mercury wondered, he couldn’t decipher the code and it was so subtle be doubted anybody else noticed.
Sabrina sighed and raised her hands, " I give up." This caught everybody by surprise, including Marcus.
He clearly felt that aura, it was strong it nearly reached D rank, he had been ready this go all out.
He huffed and and went off stage, the last fight of the third round was between him and Satella.
’ I really don’t want to fight this witch.’ Mercury sighed and went on stage, he’s had a terrible with curses curses.
Fighting somebody who used them is like having dinner with your abuser. " Let get this over with." He told Satella.
" Oh my, don’t you want to play with me a little Mr Al’Karl?" She asked seductively and licked her lips.
Mercury found himself gulping,’ Is she using a charm on me?’ he couldn’t feel any spell used on him.
But admitting he was this effected by her natural charm was just hard to accept, he’s always prided himself on his control.
Even in his past life, until his death he had only ever been with one woman even though he’s had many chances with others.
He’s never given them any time of day but this woman,’ She’d too dangerous.’ he wanted to end this fight quickly.
Satella took out a doll then breathed a dark breath on it. Mercury felt something cold touch him then nothing.
’ Is something supposed to happen?’ he wondered, even Satella looked at him with a strange expression.
The crowd looked at each other, " Why aren’t they fighting? The match has started right?"
" What did the young lady do?"
" I think she cursed him."
" Then why isn’t anything happening?"
Mercury also didn’t know how to react to the curse so he just grabbed his stomach and kneeled over.
" Ouch ouch ouch, stomach, it hurt so bad, curse you and your powerful curse!" He shouted and went on his knees.
Sabrina tilted her head on confusion then giggled cutely, " You’re a funny man lord Al’Karl, fine, you win this match, I give up."
Under the confused looks of everybody, Satella walked off the stage and Mercury won just like that.