Mark’s expression didn’t shift in the slightest as he watched the raging attack of the Bowling ArmoredDillo bearing down on them like a launched cannonball.

Even with the enormous distance still separating both opponents, the rolling creature closed that gap with the speed of a charging motorcycle, its heavy armored body crushing everything beneath it as it tore across the platform toward its target.

Max wore a proud, confident smile as he glanced up toward Kai in the stands, seated beside Roman. Roman caught his gaze and answered with a nod and a raised thumbs up, while Kai offered a small, approving smile of his own.

With that, Max slid both hands casually into his pockets, settling in to watch his summon demolish its opponent.

He had spent countless hours training and testing the full combat potential and defensive capability of his summon, more than enough to fully understand its strengths in both categories.

The armored hide of his summon, especially once it curled into its signature bowling ball formation, remained genuinely formidable. Nothing should have realistically been able to stop its charge before it caught its target with a tremendous, earth shaking slam.

The creature was undeniably a dual role summon, one of the genuinely rare kind, carrying both offensive and defensive capability within a single, unified form.

That was exactly what made it so devastating in practice, combining raw damage output with impressive resistance against blunt, bludgeoning force.

Summons with that kind of versatility remained highly prized among top guilds and powerful agents alike. Rumor even had it that certain heads of major authorities kept summons with comparably overwhelming durability close by purely for personal protection.

That reputation was exactly what fueled so much of Max’s pride. Summons like his had practically become a trend across popular media, celebrated widely for how genuinely useful they proved in the field.

Max had no intention of letting this particular opportunity slip past without properly showcasing what his own summon could really do, starting right here, against his current opponent.

Before Mark could issue a single order, his Amazon summon surged forward with explosive force, kicking up a violent gust of wind strong enough to tousle his auburn hair and force him to raise both hands defensively.

The spot where Cassandra had been standing only moments earlier now sat visibly dented from the sheer force of her launch.

Her block heels struck the platform with heavy, deliberate impact as she charged directly into the heavy, rolling mass of the ArmoredDillo’s projectile form, closing the distance in an instant.

Cassandra leaned into the charge, angling her pauldron forward as a bashing weapon in its own right. Its polished bronze surface caught the sunlight in a brilliant flash the moment it collided against the hardened, bony carapace of the ArmoredDillo.

Dust and debris exploded outward from the sheer force of impact, sending even the referee scrambling backward for safety. His eyes widened sharply, though, the instant he saw the Amazon herself get thrown backward by the tremendous recoil of the collision.

It seemed she’d picked the wrong side to test her strength against the platform’s real tank.

Still, Cassandra landed with remarkable, unexpected grace given her sheer size, executing a clean backflip before touching down with one hand pressed flat against the floor, using the resulting friction to bleed off her remaining momentum.

She lifted her head almost immediately afterward, sharp eyes already locked back onto the ArmoredDillo as she rose smoothly back to her full height.

At the sight, Max wiped away a stray tear of laughter, breaking into a loud, mocking chortle.

It wasn’t that he’d genuinely doubted his own summon going into this. Still, Mark’s oddly calm, reassured demeanor right before the attack had left him a little more uncertain than he cared to admit, worried about letting his team down if things somehow went sideways.

But watching Cassandra get knocked backward like that reignited his confidence instantly, burning away whatever lingering doubt had crept into his mind only moments earlier.

Mark’s eyes narrowed slightly at the unfolding scene.

The ArmoredDillo kept rolling forward, clearly intent on finishing the job this time. Cassandra, meanwhile, planted her feet firmly into a solid defensive stance, crossing both arms in front of her as her bracers flared bright beneath the afternoon sun.

The sight immediately drew several students forward in their seats.

"Wait, she’s not even moving?"

"Is she seriously planning on blocking that thing head on again?"

"That hit already sent her flying once!"

The ArmoredDillo seemed to answer their doubts directly, surging forward with even greater speed, clearly building toward one final, decisive blow.

But before it could close the remaining distance, glowing runic symbols flared to life just inches from Cassandra’s radiant Bracers of Achilles.

A translucent, glowing clock materialized in the empty air before her, its strange, mysterious hands already ticking steadily forward like some kind of countdown.

The referee blinked hard at the sight, genuinely caught off guard. He’d never witnessed anything quite like it in his years officiating matches.

The strange symbol drew immediate, intense attention from the stands, students leaning forward almost in unison for a clearer look. Several wore expressions of open, unmistakable shock.

"Oh my gosh, isn’t that the same thing her summon used during that whole mess with one of the King’s Domain enforcers? That’s insane! How is she even doing that?" a sophomore girl blurted out, both hands flying to cover her mouth, clearly someone who’d witnessed the earlier confrontation between Mark, Derek, and Lionel firsthand.

"This isn’t looking good for that poor bowling thing. If she managed to block something summoned straight from the gods of the sky, who even knows what this does to a regular projectile attack," someone else called out, voice caught somewhere between genuine excitement and real uncertainty.

A ripple of whispers spread quickly through the surrounding crowd.

"Wait, are we actually about to see that same move again?"

"If so, that ArmoredDillo’s in serious trouble."

"But that rolling charge is supposed to be one of its strongest attacks, full stop!"

"Exactly why this is about to get good."

Kai’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully, while Roman chewed nervously at his thumbnail beside him.

"Isn’t that the evolved shield technique she picked up back in combat defense class? I don’t recognize this particular version, though. How’d she manage to develop something new this fast?" Kai muttered under his breath, more to himself than anyone else.

Hermione simply smiled, delighted at how genuinely interesting the match had become.

Mia blinked, clearly caught off guard. None of them had ever witnessed this particular side of the Amazon’s defensive capabilities before now. Still, most of the crowd remained genuinely unsure how the confrontation would ultimately play out. The ArmoredDillo’s rolling charge carried a well earned reputation, reportedly capable of punching straight through several solid blocks of lead or heavily reinforced walls in a single hit.

The entire arena sat thick with tension.

The single hand of the glowing runic clock suddenly spun backward several times in rapid succession, counterclockwise, as though winding itself up in preparation for the coming impact.

A soft, almost delicate ticking sound cut through the tension as the mysterious mechanism finished its preparation.

Then the Bowling ArmoredDillo finally connected.

BOOM!

An immense, explosive crash rang out across the arena, loud enough to rival the impact of a falling meteor.

For one suspended moment, the two opposing forces seemed locked directly against one another. Then the glowing clock hand snapped suddenly forward, switching to a clockwise spin.

Tick.

The sound landed almost eerily calm compared to the sheer violence still unfolding around it.

A single second later, the stored effect finally released.

A powerful, bombastic blast erupted outward, like some massive, pressurized balloon finally bursting apart at the seams. The resulting force tore violently through the surrounding dust cloud, visibly rippling the very air around the point of impact.

The Bowling ArmoredDillo was launched violently upward, rising several times higher than the platform itself.

Its armored form shrank rapidly against the sky until it became nearly impossible to track clearly against the scattered clouds above.

The entire arena fell into stunned, disbelieving silence.

Then someone screamed.

"Holy shit, did that thing just get launched straight above the clouds?! Somebody do something!"

Panic rippled outward through the stands like a wave. Several students shot up out of their seats, others pointing frantically skyward, straining to track the rapidly vanishing ArmoredDillo.

"Is it still climbing?!"

"I genuinely can’t see it anymore!"

"This is actually insane!"

"Wait, that was supposed to be a defensive technique?!"

Somewhere near the back, a freshman clutched the railing with both hands, eyes wide. "I came here for a fun afternoon, not to watch someone get launched into low orbit."

Beside him, an upperclassman let out a low whistle. "Yeah, well, welcome to sophomore year. Take notes."

The referee, already wearing protective earbuds in anticipation of exactly this kind of high level outcome, still looked every bit as stunned as everyone else around him.

Max’s eyes went wide. His face slowly drained of color, disbelief settling in hard.

Whatever confidence he’d been riding on only moments earlier had vanished completely.

Mark, for his part, scratched idly at the back of his head, wearing an expression of carefully practiced innocence, playing the role of surprised bystander despite everything.

Even he hadn’t genuinely expected the technique to produce quite that dramatic a result.

Still, ever since Cassandra had first unveiled this particular skill, Mark had never once forgotten its name. The Clock Dome.

Another special trait tied directly to the blessed weaponry of the Amazon Order.

And judging by what he’d just witnessed firsthand, Mark found himself wondering, more seriously than ever, just how much more hidden power Cassandra’s mysterious Amazonian heritage still had left to reveal.

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