"I asked what bet you made."
Maria looked away, breaking the eye contact. "Why are you making that face? I told you, it’s not a big deal. And look he won’t be able to win. Most likely he’ll just die by her hands." She gestured toward the arena with a quick flick of her wrist, her tone sharpening. "She hasn’t even used what the Faerelith family is truly known for yet. You’re not seriously expecting he can win over her, are you? Chill."
Maria’s mother didn’t answer. Her silence carried more weight than any argunt could. The resemblance between them in posture, in stubbornness was almost comical, though neither would ever admit it.
Far above, in the Imperial Chamber, Celestia leaned forward in her seat. The golden runes inside her irises shifted and turned, so small and intricate they were almost invisible, flickering in response to the scene unfolding below.
"I’m impressed," she murmured, her voice carrying a note of genuine admiration. "I’ll give you that, Raze. But you chose the wrong opponent. Why not Areon? With this kind of strength, you might have had a chance to beat him." She shook her head slightly. "But her? No... you’ve made this harder than it needed to be."
She wasn’t mocking him. If anything, she sounded almost regretful. She wanted him to win. But knowing what she knew, she could already see the outco or thought she could.
Still, sothing flickered in her eyes when she saw the way he moved now. The shift in his stance. The precision in his timing. A strength she hadn’t seen before was awakening in him.
This is fighting experience. Like he has been at battle field for years. Still
"It’s not enough," she whispered to herself, the words ant for no one else.
In the stands, not far from the edge, Riven’s hands were tangled in his own hair. His face was pale, his voice an unsteady mutter.
"This is crazy... this is crazy... this is crazy..."
He repeated the words like a mantra, as though they might force the world to make sense again. "This shouldn’t have happened. It shouldn’t be possible... He hasn’t even accepted the power he should’ve had, so how?" Riven’s voice cracked, almost breaking into a laugh that never ca.
The power Razeal was ant to inherit... it was still away. Untouched. Unclaid.
"So how did he...?" Riven’s voice trailed into a rasp. "Where did this co from? How does soone who was already cut off from the world itself gain this?"
There was no answer. Only the sound of the arena below and the shock it carried.
---
On the battlefield, Razeal moved with ease. He dodged, deflected, redirected. And then, in the middle of it all, he did sothing that made even Selphira, watching from above, twitch in irritation.
He put his hands in his pockets.
With his legs alone, he began kicking Sylva’s attacks back toward her, the strikes so casual they almost seed lazy. The crowd’s murmurs swelled at the sight. For a man who should have been fighting for his life, he looked alarmingly at ease.
Sylva’s expression didn’t change. She didn’t look curious. She didn’t even look impressed. Her attacks kept coming wood spikes, lightning spears, wind slashes all moving faster than the eye could follow. But Razeal’s boots t them with effortless precision, turning lethal strikes into harmless arcs that spun back across the battlefield.
She reacted quickly, tearing apart anything that ca near. Each returned attack was destroyed before it could even form to co her direction.
Absolute Defense the na was not an exaggeration. Within two hundred ters of her position, nothing survived. No weapon, no spell, no enemy. That was her circle, and anything that crossed into it ceased to exist.
Still, Razeal kept pushing. Which Sylva didn’t even cared about.
"And now that I think about it..." Sylva’s eyes followed Razeal’s movents with calm precision. Her mind was as sharp as the enchanted lenses she wore, but for a mont, her thoughts strayed from the purely analytical.
"He doesn’t look that bad."
Her fingers rose to her chin, rubbing thoughtfully. His features were refined, his expression cold yet intensely focused. There was sothing deliberate in every line of his face, a quiet self-control that drew the eye.
If he hadn’t done... that, she mused, he might have been popular among the girls these days. Perhaps even I... wouldn’t have minded.
It was not an admission she would ever make aloud.
But then
"Gurrrl~ What in the skies are you saying?!" A sharp, exasperated voice cut into her thoughts, as if screaming right beside her ear. "He’s not worthy. Absolutely not. I don’t agree."
Another voice joined in imdiately, colder and more asured.
"Indeed. He is weak. Even if we do not concern ourselves with human affairs, emotions, or petty judgnts... weakness is unacceptable. He is utterly without interest. We reject."
And then, a third voice spoke softer, smoother, almost lazy, as if reclining in the warmth of a pleasant dream.
"You’re both missing sothing. He slls... good."
The first voice snapped in disbelief.
"What?!"
"Three different fragrances i never slled," the third continued. "Two are faint, shallow. But the third... strong. Pure. Almost intoxicating. I like it. And don’t talk to about strength he’s human. They take ti to grow."
The second voice gave a sharp scoff.
"No elental affinity. The most uninteresting human I’ve found in decades. Even that golden-eyed princess yes, the one with the horrid scent is more notable."
"Ugh, no E" The third voice sounded almost offended. "Her stench is unbearable. Like taking every fragrance in the world, mixing them over and over until they’re overwhelming, then throwing every remaining scent into the cauldron. It’s the single most disgusting sll imaginable. I’d rather dissolve into nothing than choose her over him."
The first voice quickly rallied in agreent with the third.
"Yes! Finally, sothing we agree on!"
And with that, the two fell into a heated back-and-forth, debating the princess’s sll versus Razeal’s worth, their words colliding in Sylva’s mind like clashing blades.
Sylva didn’t respond. She simply slid her pinky into her ear, as though cleaning it, her eyes still fixed forward.
She knew far better than to get involved when these two started arguing. If she gave them even a single word, the conversation would spiral endlessly.
And then
Sothing shifted.
It was subtle, a ripple through the air, but enough to make Sylva’s lips part slightly. The voices in her head fell silent in unison, their bickering cut short as they, too, felt it.
Far above, Celestia, seated upon her throne, leaned forward slightly. The casual, distant look in her eyes sharpened into focus. "Ohh this is sothing new?"
---
Down below, in the center of the arena, Razeal had stopped moving.
The relentless barrage of attacks jagged stone spikes, slicing wind blades, arcs of lightning still ca for him without pause. Yet he simply stood there, calm, unflinching.
"I think," he said in an even tone, "this is enough warm-up."
From the sidelines, the question spread through the crowd like wildfire: How?
By all logic, he should have been torn apart in monts.
But just before each attack could touch him barely five inches away it curved away as if striking an invisible wall. The stone spikes veered off to the side. The wind blades slid past harmlessly. The lightning whipped away, arcing off into the ground.
It looked as though his body existed in a slightly different space, and the attacks simply couldn’t reach him.
Selphira floated down a little, narrowing her eyes. "What... is this? It’s not even physical anymore."
It wasn’t just one type of elental attack everything failed the sa way. Earth, wind, lightning... even a massive eight-ter-wide fireball that roared toward him split cleanly in half at the last mont, the flas passing on either side without even singing his clothes.
Sylva’s vine-whip lashed forward next her control over its speed and precision was perfect. It should have wrapped around his torso before she even blinked. But just before contact, the whip’s trajectory bent, curling away like a ribbon caught in a sudden breeze.
Her lips pressed into a thin line. "Just how are you doing this?" she asked, voice steady but edged with curiosity
Razeal only smirked, lowering his gaze briefly to his open hand.
"The skill I created..." he said, his tone calm and certain. "I call it Untouchability."
Around his body, there was a barely perceptible zone no light, color, or visible magic but anything that entered it was instantly pushed away, redirected, or split apart. It didn’t matter if it was a weapon, a spell, or raw elental force nothing could touch him.
He stood there, completely unhard, as if surrounded by an invisible do that rejected the very idea of being hit.
---
Phew, finally finished all the Chapters 13k words, guys.
Sorry for being late, I’ve just been busy these days. And don’t get wrong I never ant to put any privilege here yet. If I had, I would’ve at least prepared the Chapters beforehand. It was hard and sudden ergency... sigh.
So, not to miss the bonus and break the daily updates, I just... 👉👈 added it.
And about the five Chapters I promised for the big gifts yeah, I haven’t forgotten about them.
I just need so ti 😭🙏 I’ll try my hardest.
Anyways
Long story short, my sister’s had so health problems, so I had to take her to the doctor, and whole days would go like that. Tough tis... sigh.
Anyway, enjoy. I’m gonna sleep now am tired as fuck.
Thanks for reading. (Good night)
---
User Comments
0 comments from readers