The phantom Meng had summoned with magic blocked Shen Yalan's ice magic, but it was also frozen into an ice sculpture. Just as the spectators thought the two sides seemed to be back on equal footing once again, spiderweb cracks appeared across the sculpture's surface.
The next moment, the outer shell of ice abruptly shattered, and the enormous phantom reappeared, flickering with firelight.
"What... is that?" Many people stared in astonishment at the phantom before Meng, now wreathed in firelight. It looked like an enlarged human figure with flames swirling around its entire body.
As the flames burned more fiercely, the originally indistinct figure gradually became clearer.
Through the Viewing Screen, the spectators saw a giant over three meters tall, clad in strange armor. Although its form was still somewhat indistinct, it already gave an impression of might and dominance.
"A magical elemental puppet?" Professor McGonagall murmured, a trace of puzzlement in her eyes. "Assembled on the spot? That doesn't make sense."
"It isn't an elemental puppet," Principal Li Jinglong, beside Professor McGonagall, said, narrowing his eyes slightly. "It's a spirit. A fire spirit."
"A spirit? What is that?" Professor McGonagall asked, somewhat puzzled.
In form, Meng's magic closely resembled a flame puppet, a type of elemental puppet within the branch of magic puppets she studied. But puppets were made in advance and then stored through special means.
Before the tournament, the Tournament Committee had established rules prohibiting magic such as puppets that could draw on outside assistance.
Otherwise, Professor McGonagall could simply have given Harry and Ron a high-quality war puppet each, and there would have been no point in anyone else fighting.
Since Meng's magic had prompted no response from the Tournament Committee, it meant it was not puppet-type magic. Li Jinglong had clearly recognized it as well