Nox felt an invisible, suffocating force weigh down on him like a mountain, making his knees buckle. Confusion flickered across Nox's eyes as he tried to understand what was going on.
'What kind of skill is this?' he thought in horror but didn't let it show in his eyes. Each step he took felt like dragging himself through wet cent. 'Is this so sort of ti-warp skill?' Nox pondered, wiping beads of sweat from his forehead.
"Sothing is wrong!" Rab pointed out with a horrified expression. Even the others had noticed that sothing was indeed wrong.
"Why is he so slow? It's as if he's struggling," Cole muttered to himself, narrowing his eyes. Though the rain beat down furiously, they could still see the fight clearly thanks to being Awakened.
Because of this, they were able to see Nox's painfully slow movents, and their eyes were imdiately filled with worry.
"S-should we help him?" Wendy, who had been fidgeting with her hands all this ti, couldn't help but speak up, her eyes fixed on Hendrix, who was taking slow, deliberate steps towards Nox, water splashing beneath him.
Wendy suddenly felt cold and rubbed her arms as she added in a low voice, "I know he said he wants to do this alone, but—"
"No 'but'." Nyx interrupted her without a mont's hesitation. Her words briefly stunned the others, and they couldn't help but turn to her.
Nyx sensed their collective gaze, but she didn't respond imdiately, her eyes remaining fixed on Nox. Then she said, "If we help him, Nox would hate us for life."
"But he's going to lose at this rate," Wendy protested. "I'd rather let Nox be angry at than see him get brutally beaten by that white-haired freak a second ti."
During their ti in Snowhelm, Wendy and Nox had grown very familiar with each other; the fights and training together had forged a certain level of bond between them. She now saw him as her reliable younger brother.
Nyx briefly glanced at Wendy and exhaled a deep sigh. She didn't really know how to convince the white-haired girl. Nyx had never seen Nox with such a burning gaze before. Just like Wendy, her fists were clenched, flickering with pulses of white light, and she was barely holding herself back from rushing over to fight Hendrix. But she knew this was Nox's fight.
If they lent a helping hand, he would be very angry and disappointed in himself.
"Let's wait," she said after coming up with a way to temporarily calm Wendy. "If things get too dangerous, we'll step in."
"If things get too dangerous," Wendy repeated, as if trying to hold Nyx accountable for her words. To this, Nyx nodded.
"I told you, Nathan going through with that bet was a terrible decision. Now look!" a baron shouted when he saw Nox moving at a snail's pace.
"He deserves it. Next ti, he won't be so cocky," another added.
"Hmph." Nathan rely sneered, his gaze fixed on the massive magical screen. His eyes burned with intensity, a wide smile still plastered on his face.
"He's truly lost it," soone exclaid, noticing Nathan's slightly crazed expression.
In the designated area for the Armstrong siblings, the fourth brother frowned and asked in an inquisitive voice, "I still don't understand how Fifth Brother's skill works. Is there a way to counter it?"
The eldest brother, who had the most experience with the skill after fighting Hendrix countless tis, shook his head bitterly. "Sadly, no... at least, not that I know of," he said. "Fifth Brother's Aegis Burst is in the Ultimate rank, after all."
"U-Ultimate rank?" The fourth brother's eyes widened. He wasn't the only one shocked; even the third sister and second brother were wide-eyed at this revelation.
Ultimate skills were very expensive and rare. Though they knew their father, the duke, was wealthy, purchasing sothing like this would put a significant dent in the duchy's finances.
A grim expression crossed the eldest brother's face as he nodded. "I only found out about this recently... and I don't think Father gave it to him."
"Then who did? Did he find it in a dinsion or sothing?"
"I think soone is spoon-feeding Hendrix, giving him resources to aid him with sothing," the eldest brother said in a very low voice, as if afraid soone might overhear him. "I've been observing him for so ti, and I've seen him communicate through a crystal... with soone he treats very respectfully—more so than he treats Father."
The weight of this revelation cast a heavy silence over them, giving them much to ponder. Now that they thought about it, there had always been soone watching over Hendrix.
"Are you saying Fifth Brother is a... mole? And that person gave him an ultimate skill?" the third sister whispered, her voice barely audible, though her heart pounded in her chest. If their theory was right, whoever was backing Hendrix wasn't soone to be trifled with.
Soone who could casually hand out an ultimate skill had to be at the level of the king or a guild leader from the capital.
"Most likely," the eldest brother said with confidence.
"Shouldn't we report this to Father? We finally have sothing to use against him!" the fourth brother exclaid, his eyes lighting up with excitent. However, his expression darkened as he sat back down. "Right... no concrete evidence. Father probably wouldn't believe us."
"Soon," the eldest brother nodded with determination. "We'll eventually find evidence and bring it to Father. Then he'll see that Hendrix isn't anything special."
The four siblings shared a silent agreent and turned their focus back to the massive screen.
"Nox has found himself in a very troubleso position! Can he get out of this?" Klein announced.
---
Inside the mysterious realm:
"Don't bother fighting," Hendrix said, his voice cutting through the rain as the golden details on his gauntleted arms glowed fiercely.
'A skill that could counter my ultimate skill could only be an ultimate skill as well,' Nox thought grimly, bringing his arms together to shield himself from a crushing punch that made him stagger backward.
Unlike Nox, Hendrix's movents weren't restricted. He was fluid and swift. Water splashed beneath him as he charged at Nox like a whirlwind, his gauntleted fists swinging wildly with precision.
The powerful blows caused the air around them to distort slightly.
BANG! BANG!
Though the barrage of punches flew at lightning-fast speed, Nox managed to deflect and dodge the fatal hits—just barely—as the devastating strikes slamd into him.
'How?!' Hendrix thought, confused. 'How is he moving despite being under Aegis Burst?' He clenched his fist and launched another punch, but the sa thing happened again.
'This confirms it,' Hendrix's eyes glead with realization. 'This kid also possesses an ultimate skill.'
In Eos, it was widely known that ultimate skills could never fully cancel each other out.
"Then I'll just have to increase my speed!" Hendrix shouted, charging again. The two clashed in a storm of punches, kicks, and daggers, causing the ground beneath them to split apart. But it was clear Nox was on the losing end.
Each of Hendrix's punches was not only painful—like a colossal hamr—but also drained a large portion of Nox's HP.
'Distance! I need distance to use Shadow Oblivion!' Nox thought through gritted teeth. That was the weakness of Shadow Oblivion—although powerful, it couldn't be used at close range. He needed space between him and his target.
At such close range, the skill would eliminate both the target and himself.
Nox imdiately ruled out Shadow Oblivion and tried to think of another skill, but he didn't have the luxury. Hendrix's fist ca crashing down again, forcing Nox to twist his body at an awkward angle to dodge.
BOOOOOM!
The sheer force of the missed punch shattered the ground beneath them, sending fragnts of stone flying. Nox gritted his teeth, his muscles burning from the constant strain. His heart pounded like a war drum, and his stamina was depleting fast.
If this continued, he wouldn't last much longer.
From the sidelines, Nyx's hands twitched. She clenched her fists harder, every instinct screaming at her to intervene. Wendy bit her lip, and both Cole and Rab were as pale as sheets of paper.
Outside the mysterious realm, the confidence in Nathan's eyes began to falter.
***
Thanks to all those who support support supre BeastTar with their valuable Golden tickets and power stones and gifts, I really appreciate. If you noticed I have been uploading only 1 chapter for two days now, this is because I'm not feeling too well, there would likely be no chapter tomorrow, but I'll try my best to ulooad if possible.
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