(Back in the VVIP Room)
The knight stood at ease, waiting for Rachel’s signal to attack, while both Cassie and Ellie rose to their feet, mana and force flaring around them.
Rachel regarded them with a twisted mix of joy and mockery. "Is that why you were so confident? Did you think having a bit of energy would make you win?"
Her eyes softened with feigned pity. "That’s disappointing, because your hobby is going to die soon." She bared a maddened grin. "I win."
Ellie didn’t answer.
It was true the man Rachel kept by her side was at least a Graduator, but that didn’t an she would win.
In the world of the awakened, ranks could be further subdivided into three tiers.
Tier One was the newly awakened, those who had surpassed normal human strength, typically ranging from Novice or Black Core ranks to Expert or Orange Core ranks.
Since one of the requirents for entering Central was to surpass Tier One, many in that category weren’t well-known.
Tier Two, on the other hand, was known as the superhuman realm, ranging from high-level Experts or purer Orange Core ranks all the way to the highest tier of Master.
To most, people of such strength were capable of flattening an entire nation on their own. They were disaster-class awakened.
But beyond that lay a higher realm, the realm of Demi-Gods.
Those who had transcended the limits of humanity and set foot into the domains of the gods.
Nathira, Sylvia, Alicia, Selena, Thyra, Lysandra, and even Alia’s mother Janet had all stepped into that realm.
All those who ranged from Elite or Blue Core ranks to Low-Level Supre or White Core were called Immortals.
To the world right now, Arthur was only a Tier Two brat. Even if he was more, the energy he could use was still limited.
But Arthur was different from everyone else, and those who knew him knew it well.
The boy born with an incurable illness.
A reincarnator who couldn’t absorb mana or force, but could take it from those who loved him.
That ant as soon as one of his cores opened, the entire chanism of the Holy City would beco useless, and they wouldn’t just be fighting him at full power.
No. They would be fighting a kid who had stepped into the realm of the Immortals at eighteen.
How he did it, no one knew.
But what they did know was that—
"No. Husband will win."
------
(Back at the Rooftop)
It had been over a minute since Arthur entered the room, and there had been no movent, neither from him nor from the strange figure before him.
Perhaps it was because Arthur knew the figure too well. Maybe that was why he was wasting so much ti instead of attacking.
"Just how far have you fallen, Bruce Springsteen?"
The man in a black kimono didn’t respond, his face hidden in the shadows of the room.
The silence was suffocating as they stood motionless, staring at each other’s obscured features.
After what felt like an eternity, Bruce spoke, his voice cracked and hoarse:
"What are you?"
Arthur’s gaze stayed locked on the man who had clearly beco a death knight, an undead soldier.
"Why are you so curious now? You sliced last ti without asking anything."
Bruce’s words caught in his throat, but after so struggle, he muttered:
"I didn’t cut you, did I? I only made it look that way."
"And?" Arthur retorted.
It wasn’t until he went ho and bathed yesterday that he realized he didn’t have so much as a scratch after Bruce’s attack on the bridge.
But that didn’t matter.
This was a man who, while alive, had grood a girl from childhood, taught her to fight, and made her love him, only to plan on sacrificing her for his own daughter.
No matter how much he loved his daughter, making an unrelated girl suffer the pain of dying by the hands of the man she once loved and called father—
Disgusting.
Bruce seed to sense Arthur’s thoughts and replied as if speaking directly into his mind.
"I’m sorry."
Before Arthur could speak, he continued. "But I don’t regret my decision."
Arthur’s eyes narrowed. "What?"
Bruce took a step forward. "That is why today, I shall end everything."
He drew his katana. "Fight bravely, my unfilial son-in-law. Only then shall I bless you."
Arthur glanced at the gun in his hand and tossed it aside.
Mana and force swirled in his chest as if rebuilding his heart core, and his eyes blazed with golden light.
The ring on his hand began to shine, forming a long katana in his grip.
"I don’t need any blessings from you." He shifted his stance, face hardening. "And you’re not Cassie’s father, so get that through your thick skull."
Bruce spread his arm in a wide arc, seemingly aiming to cleave Arthur clean in half.
He used no energy, no added pressure.
Arthur matched his approach. Twisting his shoulder, he let his katana rest briefly on his weakened arm before deflecting Bruce’s strike aside.
Like a referee signaling the start of the duel, the moonlight shone brightly over the Holy City, bathing the two in its cold, unyielding glow.
One man dressed like a bartender, the other like a samurai in an oni mask.
The sounds. The noise. Even the lights didn’t matter as they faced each other.
And both of them knew—
Only one would co out alive.
And the one who did wouldn’t just grow stronger. He would walk a path no one else had ever set foot on.
A duel that would either prove the sword is formless or shape a formless sword into an original one.
-----
A/N: Hey guys! I hope you’re enjoying the story so far, the twists, the characters, and their evolving relationships.
If there’s any plot thread you feel I might have left hanging, or if you have thoughts on the pacing and progression, I’d love to hear them.
Your comnts, reviews, power stones, golden tickets, and gifts an a lot.
They always let know you’re having as much fun reading this as I am writing it.
─── ✦ End of Chapter ✦ ───
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