"But playti… is over."
The temperature of the air seed to plumt. His Shinrei surged again but this ti, it wasn't the flamboyant pressure of soone taunting children. It was pure killing intent.
Kaen felt his lungs seize instantly, his knees buckling.
Kaen thought, "(Shit… this pressure… it's different. He wasn't even serious before!?)"
Ceyla collapsed to her knees, lightning sputtering out. Blood leaked from her nose as she forced herself to glare upward.
Ceyla thought, "(No… it's too heavy… I can't… move.)"
Androda's Stormfang shattered in his grip, unable to withstand the sheer weight of the aura. He spat blood and grit his teeth.
Androda thought, "(Monster… this is what he really is?)"
Matthew, barely clinging to consciousness, tried to stand but imdiately fell forward, his body too broken from the Void's backlash. The dog barked weakly, trying to shield him again.
Clown Man blurred. In one instant, he stood across the room. The next, he was in front of Kaen, his painted face inches from Kaen's shocked eyes.
Clown Man whispered, "Boo."
A single kick sent Kaen flying through three walls, his body crashing into rubble with a sickening crack.
Ceyla scread and unleashed a desperate lightning strike, but the Clown Man swatted it aside with his palm, the thunder dispersing like a child's sparkler. He grinned and flicked her forehead.
Her body slamd into the ground, blood spraying from her mouth.
Androda roared, unleashing what remained of his shinrei, a storm tearing the broken ceiling apart. The Clown Man let it wash over him, his painted grin unfazed, then casually backhanded Androda through the air.
The fighter hit the far wall with enough force to crater it, blood exploding from his lips.
Khael, shaking from the backlash of the Severing Seal, staggered upright, dragon glyphs still flickering around his body. He raised his hand to summon wind. But Clown Man was already there. His foot pressed against Khael's chest, pinning him down with crushing force.
Clown Man sneered, "Cute tricks, boy. But you're not ready to play in my league."
He pressed harder, Khael's ribs cracking under the weight.
The painted man straightened, his grin wide as ever, but his twitching eyes now glead with genuine malice.
Clown Man declared, "Children… today, you've entertained enough. Now… I'll show you what despair really tastes like."
The room shook under his aura, the survivors scattered and broken at his feet. Their brief victory the miracle of saving Matthew had been shattered in an instant.
The real nightmare was only beginning.
Matthew's hands dug into the floor, trembling, his broken voice spilling out.
"No… nonono… not now… not after all this…"
The dog whimpered beside him, pressing against his side. His eyes watered, watching his friends scattered and bleeding Kaen buried in rubble, Ceyla twitching in pain, Androda collapsed against the wall, and Khael pinned under the clown's crushing foot.
Then—
"Tsk… what's going on here?"
The voice cut through the suffocating tension like a blade. Calm. Controlled. Almost bored.
Every head turned.
At the shattered doorway stood a boy draped in radiant white and gold. His platinum hair shimred in the broken light, tied neatly behind his head, catching even the dust motes like strands of starlight. His erald-green eyes narrowed not with fear, not with amusent, but with the unshakable certainty of soone born into legacy.
Rael Eluron had arrived.
The golden boy of Veyl Academy.
Top student. Duelist. Healer. The unrivaled prodigy.
And Kaen's eternal rival.
His uniform was spotless, impossibly clean amidst the ruin, its golden embroidery gleaming with authority. At his hip rested a thin, sealed Shinrei scabbard, its chain-wrapped hilt untouched but humming faintly as though it awaited his call.
The clown's painted grin twitched, his head cocking sideways like a broken marionette.
Clown Man giggled, "Oho? Another little toy enters the stage. And what are you supposed to be, hm? The understudy?"
Rael didn't answer. His gaze swept the battlefield, scanning each fallen figure, each bleeding wound. His expression didn't waver, but the faint tightening of his jaw betrayed his assessnt.
Rael thought, "(Kaen… broken ribs. Ceyla's aura is unstable, hemorrhaging internally. And this guy I think khael… his… bones—shattered. Matthew… what the hell did they drag him into? He's still tainted.)"
His hand rested casually on the scabbard at his side, posture perfect, as though he were standing in a ceremonial hall instead of a war zone.
Matthew lifted his head weakly, eyes wide with disbelief.
"R… Rael…?"
Rael's gaze flicked to him, then away, cold as ever.
Rael said, "Pathetic. You couldn't even keep control."
Matthew flinched, guilt cutting deeper than any wound.
Kaen coughed blood, forcing himself to move under the rubble, glaring at the familiar figure.
Kaen rasped, "Tch… Of course it's you… You always show up like so saint when everyone's broken…"
Rael's erald eyes narrowed slightly, not with arrogance but with irritation.
Rael replied, "And you always charge headfirst into battles you can't win. So things never change."
The clown chuckled, clapping slowly.
Clown Man sneered, "Ohhhh, I like this one. Sharp tongue. Pretty little face. You've got that shining, golden shinrei…."
Rael's fingers brushed the scabbard. A faint hum filled the room, his Bloom Affinity resonating like a heartbeat. But behind it, three other flows shimred, Wind crackling like a storm, Stone rumbling like a mountain, and Lightning sparking like a predator's fangs.
Rael thought, "(He's powerful. Far beyond these four. That pressure alone confirms it… but if he bleeds, he can be killed. I'll make sure he bleeds.)"
He stepped forward, his presence steady, calm yet the room seed to brighten as his Shinrei unfolded. Not overwhelming, not suffocating. Controlled. Like sunlight after a storm.
The contrast to the clown's chaotic, devouring void was undeniable.
Ceyla, half-conscious, whispered hoarsely,
"That… light… Rael…"
The clown tilted his head further, a twitching laugh breaking out.
Clown Man barked, "YES! Show ! Show that BLOOM! Shine bright for before I snuff you out!"
Rael drew the scabbard's chain loose in one fluid motion.
The Shinrei blade hadn't even manifested, yet the air cracked like glass. His Bloodline Veins pulsed faintly along his arms, blooming with green light that bled seamlessly into threads of Wind, Stone, and Lightning.
Kaen's eyes widened, rembering every duel, every humiliation at Rael's hands.
Kaen thought, "(Damn it… even now… he looks untouchable. No… no, I can't— I won't let him steal this mont from !)"
Rael declared, "Clown. Your act ends here."
The painted man's grin stretched wider than ever, eyes twitching madly.
Clown Man roared, "YES! Finally—soone worth the curtain call!!"
And just like that, the room trembled as the two forces collided
the Void's laughter against the Bloom's radiance.
To be continue
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