Rise of The Abandoned Husband Chapter 594 - 594 - The Corrupted Rival's Eerie Might

## Liam's Perspective

My fist stopped just inches from Julian's face.

Not by my choice. Sothing had caught my arm—a strange, dark tendril of energy wrapped around my wrist. It pulsed with an eerie blackness that seed to swallow the golden light emanating from my skin.

"I'll handle this, Captain Radford."

Dudley Lowell stepped forward, his body radiating with that sa unnatural black energy. His eyes, once familiar, now looked hollow and cold.

Julian smirked, stepping back with an approving nod. "Very well, Lowell. Show Knight the consequences of his impotent fury."

I wrenched my arm free, the dark tendril dissolving as I pulled away. "Dudley? What the hell is this?"

Dudley smiled, but there was nothing of the man I'd known in that expression. "This is power, Knight. Real power." The black energy swirled around him like living smoke. "I've been... upgraded."

"You an corrupted," I spat.

Julian laughed. "Such righteous indignation! Lowell simply made the smart choice. Unlike you, he knows opportunity when he sees it."

Dudley's gaze never left mine. "I want to test my new abilities, Captain. Let fight Knight."

"By all ans," Julian waved his hand dismissively. "Consider it your graduation exam."

The crowd of participants ford a loose circle around us, eager for blood sport after the day's tensions. I saw fear in so eyes, excitent in others. Frederick pushed through, trying to reach .

"Knight, don't do this!" he called out. "It's exactly what they want!" Love this story? Show support at *.

Julian's finger hovered over the control device. "Step back, Cohen. Unless you want another lesson in obedience."

Frederick's face twisted with rage, but he stopped advancing. Instead, he called out, "I'll take Knight's place! Let fight Lowell instead!"

Dudley didn't even look at him. "No. It has to be Knight."

Before anyone could react, Frederick charged at Dudley, fist raised. "Enough of this!"

Dudley didn't even turn. The black energy simply shifted, forming a shield that caught Frederick's punch. Instead of deflecting, it seed to absorb the impact, then pushed back, sending Frederick stumbling backward.

"What the hell?" Frederick stared at his fist in confusion.

Dudley finally glanced at him. "Don't interfere again. This is between and Knight."

I helped Frederick regain his balance. "What is that energy?"

"I don't know," Frederick muttered. "But it felt... wrong. Like hitting cotton filled with nails."

Julian clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention. "The rules are simple. Fight until one of you yields or can no longer continue. Begin whenever you're ready."

I turned to face Dudley fully. "Why are you doing this? We don't have to be enemies."

"We were never friends," Dudley replied. "You were always looking down on , weren't you? The mighty Liam Knight, with his mysterious golden power."

"That's not true."

"It doesn't matter now." Dark energy gathered around Dudley's hands. "What matters is that after today, I'll have proven myself. I'll move up in rank. No more scraps from the Guild's table."

I shook my head. "And you're willing to be Julian's puppet for that?"

Dudley's expression hardened. "Better a living puppet than a dead hero."

He attacked without further warning, the black energy extending from his hands like whips. I dodged the first strike, but the second caught across the shoulder. It felt bizarre—not solid like a punch, not cutting like a blade, but sothing in between that sent a chill through my body.

I countered with a direct attack, golden light flaring around my fist. Dudley didn't dodge. Instead, he let the black energy form a shield before him. My punch connected, and for a mont, I thought I'd broken through.

Then I felt it—the strange absorption effect Frederick had ntioned. My fist sank into the darkness as if punching a pit of tar, before being pushed back with equal force.

"Surprised?" Dudley laughed. "This energy adapts. It's both hard and soft combined."

I jumped back, reassessing. "What did they do to you, Dudley?"

"They made better." He flexed his fingers, the black energy dancing between them. "Stronger. More valuable."

He attacked again, this ti forming the energy into spikes that shot toward from multiple angles. I managed to dodge most, but one grazed my side, sending that sa unnatural chill through my body.

"You can't win against this," Dudley called, confidence growing with each exchange. "My energy absorbs your attacks and returns them. The harder you hit, the worse it hurts you."

To demonstrate, he ford a shield and beckoned forward. "Try again. See for yourself."

I obliged, focusing golden light into my fist before driving it directly into his shield. Again, that strange resistance, like punching through thick mud, before my own force rebounded and sent staggering backward.

The crowd murmured in appreciation. Julian watched with undisguised satisfaction.

"What's wrong, Knight?" Dudley taunted. "Not so easy when you can't simply overpower your opponent, is it?"

He was right. Every direct attack was being nullified or returned. I needed a different approach.

I circled him slowly, gathering my thoughts. "That energy... it's not natural. It's hurting you, isn't it?"

A flicker of sothing—doubt?—crossed Dudley's face. "You're stalling."

"I can see it in your eyes," I pressed. "This isn't you, Dudley. Whatever they've done—"

"Enough!" He launched a massive wave of black energy that forced to dive aside. The ground where I'd stood cracked and sizzled.

Dudley followed up imdiately, not giving ti to recover. The dark tendrils wrapped around my ankle and yanked, sending crashing to the ground. Before I could roll away, more tendrils bound my arms and legs.

"The principle is called 'softness overcoming hardness,'" Dudley explained, standing over . "Your brute strength ans nothing against this technique."

He tightened the bindings, and I felt my breath being squeezed out. Golden light flared reflexively around my body, but the black energy simply absorbed it, growing darker and stronger.

"Submit," Dudley demanded. "Acknowledge my superiority, and I might show rcy."

Julian's smug face appeared behind Dudley's shoulder. "Yes, Knight. Submit. It's what you do best, isn't it? Surrendering when things get difficult? Just like you surrendered Isabelle to us."

Rage flooded through at his words. Not the blind fury from before, but sothing colder and more focused. I stopped struggling against the bindings and instead concentrated on my core, where the golden energy originated.

"What's this?" Julian mocked. "Giving up already?"

I ignored him, focusing inward. The golden light dimd around my body but intensified within. I felt my cultivated energy circulating faster, hotter.

Dudley frowned, sensing sothing changing. "What are you doing?"

I didn't answer. Instead, I let the energy build until my entire being felt like a compressed spring.

"Whatever you're planning won't work," Dudley said, but I heard uncertainty in his voice. "My energy counters force with—"

I released everything at once—not as a punch or a directed attack, but as a pure explosion of power radiating outward from every pore. The golden light erupted like a miniature sun.

The black bindings disintegrated. Dudley was thrown backward, crashing into several onlookers before rolling to a stop. His black energy flickered erratically around him.

I rose slowly to my feet, golden light still blazing. "You're right about one thing, Dudley. Softness can overco hardness."

I stalked toward him as he struggled to stand. "But there's a limit. When the force is overwhelming enough..."

Dudley managed to get upright, black energy gathering frantically around his hands. His eyes now showed fear. "Stay back!"

He launched another attack, dark tendrils shooting toward with desperate speed. I didn't dodge. Instead, I let my golden energy flare brighter, eting his darkness head-on.

This ti, there was no absorption. The golden light cut through the black tendrils like a torch through cobwebs.

Dudley's eyes widened in disbelief. He backed away, gathering more darkness around himself. "Impossible! This technique is supposed to counter any direct force!"

"What softness overcoming hardness?" I roared, my whole body burning with vitality and exuding overwhelming spiritual fire. "As long as the power is strong enough, it can break anything!"