It was no surprise that some of the young men present practically worshipped their princess, and because of that, they had likely deluded themselves into believing she should remain pure and untouched by any man.

Not that Elion cared.

He looked at the young vampire the same way he looked at everyone else.

"I already said it does not matter how many of you come. The result will be the same."

The vampire frowned.

"Your arrogance will be your undoing!" he roared as several others moved to stand beside him.

The earlier display had frightened many of them, but it had also wounded their pride.

If they retreated now, they would be forced to admit that a young outsider had humiliated their entire generation using nothing more than beginner magic.

More of them stepped forward.

Ten.

Then twenty.

Then thirty.

The older spectators began murmuring.

Dorian’s grin faded slightly.

"Tch... young fools. Did they not see what just happened, or do they truly believe they can overwhelm him with numbers?"

Celeste’s expression turned cold.

"They have made their choice, and I cannot help but become more disappointed in my kin with every passing moment."

Elion glanced back at her.

"It is fine. They will not accept it unless the lesson is thorough."

Celeste stared at the growing group.

"Well, then make it thorough. You are holding back too much. Why are you giving them hope?"

Elion smiled.

"That sounded rather merciless."

"They interrupted our evening, so they should pay the price."

Aria nodded from near the castle entrance. "That is a good enough reason."

The challengers spread through the courtyard, surrounding Elion from every direction. More than forty young vampires had joined now.

Just like the previous group, most of them were at the Adept Stage.

But this time, Elion also noticed several Novices among them who looked even younger than he was.

They had probably been goaded into joining by the older hopefuls, meaning they were little more than cannon fodder.

’They truly believe they can overwhelm me with numbers, just as Dorian said.’ Unfortunately for them, their presence would make no difference.

Elion looked across the gathered vampires.

"Is everyone ready?"

A wave of hostile mana answered him.

He sighed.

"All right."

The vampires attacked. This time, the entire courtyard disappeared beneath a storm of magic.

Flames fell from above like rain.

Spears of ice shot across the ground.

Blood magic formed into blades, chains, claws, and enormous crimson beasts.

Several swordsmen rushed forward beneath the cover of the spells.

Elion raised both hands. "Earth Wall." Stone erupted around him.

Except it was not a single wall. Dozens of them rose at different angles, forming a shifting maze across the courtyard.

The incoming spells crashed into the stone barriers, creating explosions that shook the castle grounds.

Dust and fire filled the air.

The swordsmen found their paths blocked, forcing them to leap between the walls. Elion swiftly used the cover to move through the maze.

He ran into a bewildered boy who seemed to have no idea what he was doing, but Elion wasn’t going to be stopped by the boy’s lack of preparation.

"Water Bullet." The noble vanished backward.

Another dropped from above. "Stone Bullet." A fist-sized rock struck his sword and sent the weapon spinning from his grip.

Three mages broke through one of the walls together.

Elion pointed toward the ground.

"Sinkhole."

The stone beneath them softened. All three sank to their waists before the ground hardened again, trapping them in place.

Without missing a beat, a crimson beast charged through the smoke. Elion formed a Fireball in his palm and tossed it forward.

The spell entered the beast’s open mouth.

The magical creature swelled, and then it exploded into a shower of flames.

The resulting shockwave cleared the dust from half the courtyard and sent several nearby vampires rolling across the ground.

But still, more rushed forward.

Elion continued casting while moving effortlessly between their attacks. He did not even bother using any of his other abilities.

That would have been excessive against opponents so much weaker than him, and despite restricting himself, he still moved like a phantom.

His body remained untouched by the chaos consuming everything else, while every spell he cast seemed to find its mark without fail.

Every basic spell appeared exactly where it needed to.

He made good use of the simple spells he had decided to restrict himself to before the battle, and with every cast, he felt his spellcasting improve further in both accuracy and efficiency.

Every spell flowed seamlessly into the next, creating a beautiful symphony of carefully choreographed movements that left the spectators mesmerized.

"He is far too good at this..." Dorian could not help but mutter.

Elion appeared to possess more battle experience than all his opponents combined.

It reached a point where it looked as though he was reading every movement, both his own and those of his enemies, ten steps in advance.

Earth Walls separated the challengers into smaller groups.

Water Bullets shattered their barriers.

Stone Bullets knocked weapons from their hands.

Fireballs exploded beneath their feet and hurled them from the battlefield.

Tremors ruined their footing.

Simple Water Shields redirected attacks into their own allies.

The fight became less of a battle and more of a lesson in magical control. The vampires possessed stronger and far more complicated spells.

Some even used rare family techniques passed down through generations, but none of it mattered.

Nothing seemed capable of touching him.

It was as though Elion had become some lofty and untouchable existence, standing beyond their reach no matter how many of them attacked.

One of them summoned an enormous crimson serpent above the courtyard. The creature opened its mouth and released a torrent of blood-red flames.

Elion looked upward. "Water Bullet." The tiny blue projectile shot into the flames.

For a moment, it disappeared, and then the entire torrent split apart. The Water Bullet continued upward and struck the serpent between the eyes.

The giant spell collapsed into scattered mana. The noble who had summoned it coughed blood and fell to one knee.

Elion appeared before him. "Your spell takes too long to form." The noble stared up at him as Elion lightly tapped his forehead with one finger.

"Fireball."

A tiny burst of flame knocked him unconscious.

Dorian could only shake his head while looking at the scene. "He is teaching them while beating them."

Morgana and Oberon had arrived near the castle entrance at some point, drawn by the commotion.

Oberon watched the scene in silence.

He had already understood that Elion was talented, and he had also sensed the young man’s cultivation, yet seeing it was entirely different.

Elion was not merely powerful because of his mana level; his control was monstrous, and it seemed like his awareness covered the entire courtyard.

Every spell was cast with precisely enough strength to defeat its target without causing permanent harm.

Even several experienced elders would struggle to maintain that level of restraint while being attacked from all sides like this.

One by one, the challengers fell. Within ten minutes, the courtyard was littered with defeated vampires.

Some were trapped inside stone, others lay across the ground, groaning weakly, and several hung upside down from pillars after being thrown by explosions.

One unfortunate noble had been embedded waist-deep in a wall, his legs kicking helplessly in the air.

Only one peak Adept remained standing. He stared across the destroyed courtyard, gazing in disbelief at his fallen comrades, his confidence long since replaced by horror.

Elion turned toward him, and the young adept mage, and for several seconds, neither moved.

Then the noble slowly lowered his staff. "I concede."

Elion nodded. "Good choice."

The courtyard fell silent.

The crowd that had earlier demanded Elion prove himself stared at him with entirely different expressions now.

Fear.

Awe.

Disbelief.

Only then did the obvious truth finally dawn upon them.

Celeste Chronos was not some naïve young woman who could be tricked by a handsome face.

She was the most talented vampire of their generation, and the future monarch of their clan, a woman who had recently awakened the bloodline of a Progenitor.

Why would someone like her ever choose a weak man as her husband?

Why had any of them assumed that Elion had obtained her affection through luck alone?

The evidence stood before them.

The young human defeated dozens of their finest nobles using nothing but basic spells, and despite all the spells he had cast, he didn’t look spent at all.