080 FIGHT THE BASTARD
The crowd's murmur swelled into a cheer as the na was called.
"Look… it's Kairo Zetheris," soone announced. "The strongest ta among the young Zetheris."
"The strongest in school."
"Take revenge for us."
Shawn Zetheris whooped from the stands. "Beat him to death!" he shouted, his voice cracking with bloodthirsty excitent.
Zairgid leaned in to Dan, with urgency in his whisper. "Don't fight him. With the points you've made, you've already won the School Challenge even if you quit now. No point risking it …. you've done more than enough."
"Err…", Dan thought about stepping away.
The tally system rewarded endurance and count; he had earned enough points to top the leaderboard. Letting the last challenger go would still secure him the prize.
But Kairo's voice cut through the mont — sharp and contemptuous. "Are you a coward? You don't dare fight ?"
Dan t the taunt with a slow, amused smile. "Only a coward calls soone who has beaten a hundred students nas. Go beat a hundred people yourself first, then talk."
Kairo sputtered, montarily at a loss for words.
The crowd shifted.
Even they hadn't expected Dan to last this long. That was the whole point of the Challenge. It was about scoring, not about a fight to the end.
Freeland Veyran's voice floated down from the pavilion, cold and formal. "If you quit now, Dan Dark, you must return half of your winnings. That's under the rules."
"Yes," ca a chorus from the fallen challengers. "Return our GenSyn quotas!"
Dan's eyes flicked over the crates of vials and his stacked score on the board. He'd amassed nearly the entire school's injection supply for half a year—losing half now would sting.
A small, sharp grin tugged at his lips. "Fine," he said. "If this is the ga, I'll play it properly."
He stepped forward and adjusted his repaired suit with casual care. "You asked for a fight, Kairo. Let's see if you're worth the noise you are making."
The arena tightened with expectation.
The last duel would decide more than a score — it would settle the humiliation the elites had hoped to deliver.
But Dan was ready.
-----
Kairo Zetheris wasn't an heir of the Zetheris family — he was a bastard. But he had sothing even the pure-blood heirs lacked: talent.
He was the most gifted ta-user of his generation, so much so that even the patriarch had to acknowledge him.
Yet, no matter how brilliant he was, a bastard remained a bastard.
He followed orders. And right now, those orders ca from Shawn Zetheris.
"Crush him," Shawn scread. "End Dan Dark now. He's in the way of Eryn accepting ."
Kairo had watched Dan fight through a hundred challengers. He had seen his rhythm, his breath, his habits. Every dodge, every counter, every mont of hesitation was burned into his mind.
He believed he had Dan's entire playbook morized.
And he had a plan.
Dan, anwhile, was… taking pictures.
"What's he doing again?" soone in the crowd muttered.
"Does he plan to turn this into a scrapbook and sell it?"
Dan didn't respond. He was busy scanning his opponent.
Na: Kairo Zetheris
Rank: D
Strength: 68 | Charm: 11 | ta: 126 | Command: 121
"Rank D, huh…" Dan murmured.
From the stats alone, he could tell that Kairo's physical strength ca almost entirely from GenSyn Genomics, not from actual combat training.
But his ta skill on the other hand? That couldn't be underestimated. His energy control and power were both formidable.
"This would not be an easy fight," Dan admitted.
Dan was still only E-rank, a whole tier below him but he rely smirked. "Alright. Let's see what a major family genius can do."
The referee called out, "Begin!"
Kairo didn't hesitate. A radiant surge erupted from his palms — a beam so bright it sliced through the air like sunlight through crystal.
His strategy was speed. He must end this fight quickly before Dan had a chance to get close to him.
"The Ray of Brilliance!" soone shouted from the crowd.
"That's the Zetheris family's secret art!"
"The range of the ray is so wide it covers a quarter of the arena!!"
Dan shielded his eyes and yelled back, "Ray of Brilliance, eh? Where did I put it… ah, here it is!"
He pulled out a pair of sunglasses and slipped them on.
The crowd roared with laughter. Even so teachers smirked.
Kairo, on the other hand, looked like he was about to explode. He launched another wave of rays …. faster, hotter, and more furious.
But Dan moved like smoke. Every beam missed by inches. His body twisted and slipped through the barrage, hugging the outer rim of the arena while Kairo stayed fixed at the center.
That was when Kairo realized his mistake.
The Ray of Brilliance was devastating up close but the farther it traveled, the weaker it beca. Dan was staying just outside the optimal range, even when he was struck, the rays couldn't harm him much.
"You can't dodge forever!" Kairo barked, his voice trembling with rage and exhaustion.
"Who says I have to?" Dan called back, half-grinning. "If the tir runs out, this becos a draw."
He pointed his middle finger toward Freeland Veyran, who was lounging smugly among the spectators. "And if it's a draw, the rules say we both keep our winnings. Isn't that right?"
Freeland's face darkened. He knew Dan was right.
Zairgid leapt to his feet, laughing wildly. "You're a genius! You found the loophole in this bloody challenge!"
The rules for a draw were simple: Each contestant gets to keep their original quota of injections before the fight started.
In Dan's case it was all his winnings to this point. His only loss was not taking Kairo's injections as well.
Dan gave a small shrug, smiling under the ash-stained lights. "Why fight harder when you can fight smarter?"
He wasn't planning to win this match. He was waiting for the tir to run out.
Kairo's composure shattered. His voice cracked as fury spilled from him.
"Dan Dark, you shaless coward! You think hiding on the edge makes you clever?" he roared, veins bulging at his temples. "You're nothing but a bastard—"
Dan didn't even flinch. "You may call what you want," he said, smirking, "but I'm still less of a bastard than you, the bastard of Zetheris."
The words struck harder than any ta blast. The crowd gasped. Even the referees froze.
Kairo's face twisted with rage.
He scread and unleashed another volley of Rays of Brilliance, each beam stronger and hotter than before. The entire arena flared with light as radiant energy slamd into the ground where Dan had been standing seconds earlier.
But Dan had already moved again, slipping between the rays like a shadow flickering through fire.
While dodging, he glanced at his phone, half-distracted.
He was checking readings from the arena scan — he didn't expect to find anything new.
Then his eyes widened.
"What the hell…?" Dan muttered, slowing mid-step. His heart skipped. "How did this happen?"
User Comments
0 comments from readers