Going for the Kill

Fu Yuanyuan turned to look, and a smile spread across his face.

"Well, look who it is. Isn't this our third-ranked student? What brings you here?"

The newcomer was, of course, Zeng Mu. He had come to say a few words of farewell to Shiyu, only to walk in and see this bastard resting a hand on her shoulder. It was an unbearable insult.

He had to admit that he was no longer qualified to be her boyfriend, but his pride would not let him ignore Fu Yuanyuan's actions. Even if she had the right to choose someone else, he could not stomach this. This bastard had harassed her before, and Zeng Mu had given him a thorough beating for it.

The moment the newcomer spoke, he drew the attention of the male and female students who had been enjoying the dance's relaxed atmosphere.

"Oh, it's him. What's he doing here?"

"Seriously, has he no shame? Look at the state of him, and he still has the nerve to come to the Night Dance. Is he here for free food and drinks?"

"What a disgrace. Could any man possibly sink lower?"

"Tsk, tsk. If I were him, I'd have left the Element Academy on my own two days ago. But him? He still hasn't faced reality. Does he still think he's some lofty Elementalist? What a joke!"

"As far as we're concerned, he's just a beggar who came in looking for scraps!"

"That's not quite right. Don't insult beggars. He's nothing but a lapdog! Hahaha!"

Zeng Mu's arrival immediately prompted a barrage of mockery, ridicule, and insults from all around. Those voices no longer stung his ears quite so sharply, but to Zhou Shiyu, they were aggravating. This was one of the reasons for her melancholy.

To Fu Yuanyuan, however, those voices were music to his ears. He stood, placed his hand over the back of Zeng Mu's hand, and said, "Hear that? An Elementalist without an elemental mark is worthless. I'm a generous man, and I wasn't going to stoop to your level. But since you're here, why don't we take this opportunity to have a proper spar, just like last time? Let's see who ends up on the floor this time!"

As soon as he finished speaking, his palm struck Zeng Mu's chest, blasting him several meters backward. Zeng Mu staggered back and barely managed to steady himself without falling.

"Fu Yuanyuan!" Zhou Shiyu stood and shouted. She could not tolerate an outsider laying hands on the boyfriend she had yet to formally break up with, even if everyone else already considered their breakup a fact.

"Don't worry, Shiyu. I wouldn't bully a poor little lapdog. I'll fight him without elemental power, and we'll see who's stronger. Only the man left standing before you deserves to have you."

With that, he stepped forward without looking at her, his gaze fixed entirely on Zeng Mu.

Although Elementalists were among the few who wielded great power, to put it plainly, they were more like weapons. Whether they became military instructors, bodyguards for politicians, or enforcers for business tycoons... the first requirement was the ability to fight.

Fundamentally, then, the Element Academy was not a school that merely kept its students obediently studying books and theory. Instead, it trained them every day with live weapons, hand-to-hand combat, and the release of elemental power... these were the methods by which they were honed and educated. Only graduates trained this way could become qualified Elementalists, qualified "weapons."

In such a martial environment, the various challenges and fights between students during breaks were considered normal "academic" exchanges. As long as neither party's life was endangered and the match was open and fair, these exchanges were the most entertaining daily diversion between classes.

"Well, trash? Do you have the guts to accept my challenge?" he asked disdainfully, looking at him as though he were an ant.

Zeng Mu laughed. "Hahaha! Why wouldn't I? Before this, you couldn't beat me even with elemental power."

"Hmph. You're asking to die."

Fu Yuanyuan snorted coldly. He had already decided to cripple this worthless fool who had no idea what he was getting himself into.

The academy's rules on exchanges stated that anyone who endangered a life during a spar would immediately be stripped of their elemental mark and expelled. They said nothing, however, about punishment for breaking an opponent's arms and legs while leaving them barely alive.

Sometimes, living was worse than dying. Now, he intended to reduce the man before him to just such an existence.

"Woohoo!"

"Fight! Fight!"

"Come on! Crush that useless bug under your feet!"

"Yuanyuan, my darling, I love you!"

The watching students grew excited, shouting encouragement. Among them were plenty of female students who admired Fu Yuanyuan's looks and cheered enthusiastically.

They stepped back, forming a large circle fifteen meters across. The space within that human ring resembled an ancient Roman arena of death.

Hearing the cheers around him, Fu Yuanyuan was delighted. A cruel smile appeared on his face, like a hunter looking at prey that was about to die by his hand.

Zeng Mu's expression was icy. He understood that this would be his final battle in this world. He told himself that he could not lose.

Bang! The fight began as Fu Yuanyuan stamped his foot and shot forward.

Even without elemental power, an Elementalist's body was several times stronger than an ordinary person's. His opponent, however, was someone who had already lost his elemental mark. Since the day before yesterday, Zeng Mu's body, once strengthened by elemental power, had been growing weaker by the hour. Like a professional athlete who suddenly stopped competing, a decline in his physical abilities was inevitable.

Thus, the spar had been unfair from the very beginning.

But with the fight already underway, Zhou Shiyu could only stand to the side and watch for now. If things went wrong, she could intervene.

Whoosh! Fu Yuanyuan stepped forward and mercilessly drove a fist toward his opponent's chest.

His fist whistled through the air with enough force to knock a bull unconscious. If it landed, Zeng Mu would suffer several broken chest bones, if not die outright. With slightly worse luck, the punch would burst his heart.

Given Zeng Mu's current circumstances, however, even if he were killed during this spar, Fu Yuanyuan could not possibly be stripped of his elemental mark and expelled. Besides, he had placed second in last month's Annual Exam, below only Zhou Shiyu and above Zeng Mu. At that level, he already had people backing him who would protect him.

Still, Zeng Mu had placed third in the Annual Exam, and he had already taught this obnoxious bastard a lesson before. Even after two days of declining strength, he would not be defeated so easily by a single blow.

He stood his ground, twisting his hips and turning his waist to narrowly evade the punch as it grazed his flank. He immediately threw a punch of his own, landing it squarely on Fu Yuanyuan's back.

Fu Yuanyuan showed no panic at being struck. Instead, he smiled and sneered, "Hmph. Is that all the strength you have left? You're barely half as strong as you used to be. You think you can beat me as you are now? What a joke!"

As his words fell, he shaped his hand into a blade and made a feint. When Zeng Mu dodged, he suddenly pivoted on his toes, lowered his center of gravity, and swept a leg at him. The abrupt change caught Zeng Mu off guard, and the kick landed solidly.

Thud! Zeng Mu crashed heavily to the floor. In just two exchanges, the victor had already been decided.

"Yuanyuan, my darling! So handsome! Such great moves!"

"Yes! Hit him! Keep going, Fu Yuanyuan! Don't hold back! Break a few of his bones!"

"..." Shouts poured in from all sides, whipping the atmosphere into a frenzy.

That kick had been far from light, but Zeng Mu remained down for only a moment. Before a third shout could ring out, he had scrambled to his feet and resumed fighting Fu Yuanyuan, who showed no sign of stopping.

They traded punches and kicks, elbows and knees, flying kicks and angled strikes. In the blink of an eye, they exchanged dozens of blows, every strike hitting flesh. Each clash sounded like colliding stones, an unending series of bangs.

The spectators were dazzled, barely able to make out the details of their exchanges. Only the stronger students could follow them, and even their view was somewhat blurred. It was difficult to imagine how terrifying the battle would become if both of them used elemental power. Unfortunately, one of them no longer had that opportunity.

It was as though that earlier kick had unlocked Zeng Mu's full potential. Dozens of exchanges later, he had yet to suffer another blow as severe as that kick. Fu Yuanyuan grew increasingly displeased. In front of all these people, he had no desire to become a laughingstock who could not even deal with a piece of trash.

Whoosh. With a thought, he gathered an exceedingly faint trace of elemental power in his palm. It was so weak that it was nearly imperceptible, but its appearance did not escape Zeng Mu's eyes.

"Die!" Fu Yuanyuan roared and drove a fist toward his heart. He clearly could not accept that this worthless bastard had lasted so long against him. This punch was plainly intended to kill.

"Stop!" Zhou Shiyu shouted. The elemental mark on her forehead shone white, and the appearance of her wind element immediately stirred fierce winds all around. She shot forward as swift as lightning, trying to stop it, but she was already too late.

Bang! The punch imbued with elemental power struck with strength and speed beyond any chance of reaction, landing squarely over Zeng Mu's heart.

His face went pale, and his body shot backward over a dozen meters, smashing through six towers of wineglasses before crashing heavily into the wall. The tremendous impact left a huge web of cracks across it.

"Damn it!" Zhou Shiyu cursed. Looking at Zeng Mu lying motionless on the floor, she turned toward Fu Yuanyuan and shouted, "Yuanyuan! Do you have any idea what a serious taboo you've broken?"

He stood with his arms folded, still wearing his gentlemanly smile. "Shiyu, what taboo would that be?"

"Trying to kill a fellow student during an academic exchange is enough to have your elemental mark stripped away and get you expelled!"

He chuckled. "Oh dear, I'm terribly sorry. I got a little too caught up in the fight and forgot."

"But I remember perfectly well that the academy's rule applies to spars between fellow students, doesn't it?"

"Look at the sorry state he's in. Do you think he still qualifies as a student of the Element Academy? The moment he lost his elemental mark two days ago, he stopped being one of us. He no longer has any right to be your boyfriend, either. Wake up, you silly girl!"

Silence fell all around. No one spoke. Only Zhou Shiyu's cold laughter slowly rang out:

"In that case, let me see just how much stronger you've become!"

With that, winds surged and white light flared. She was going to kill him.