They stepped into the private training sanctum, a reinforced bunker designed specifically for the heavy-duty combat of the family’s Emperors.
The walls were lined with multi-layered runic arrays and soul-suppressing lead to ensure no shockwaves leaked into the estate.
No commoner or low-level family mber was ever permitted to set foot in this hallowed hall.
"You can go all out here," Elyndros stated, his voice echoing against the cold, tallic surfaces.
"The barriers will hold."
Alex and Darion took their positions at the center of the arena.
Anna stood by the entrance, her hands white-knuckled and trembling.
She knew the terrifying reputation Darion held at Zenith Martial Academy.
They called him the "Demon King" for a reason.
He was the type of combatant who didn’t just defeat opponents; he dismantled them.
Whether facing humans or monsters, no one had lasted more than sixty seconds against him in over a year.
Even the academy’s SSS-rank talent holder was considered a tier below Darion’s sheer combat instinct.
"Do you have any flying knives, Vice President?" Alex asked, turning toward Arthur.
"My specialized wristband is currently in the research lab, and three knives won’t be enough for this."
Darion raised an eyebrow, a flicker of surprise crossing his handso features.
"How many knives can you actually manipulate simultaneously?"
"Ten," Alex replied with a hint of dissatisfaction.
He was comparing himself to Elyndros, who could juggle twenty-five with the grace of a conductor.
Darion’s face twitched, his pride taking a subtle hit.
He was the most celebrated Spirit Master at Zenith specifically because he could control seven.
It was a feat he had only achieved after reaching Level 7 Grandmaster.
Before that, his limit had been five.
"I hope you can endure what’s coming," Darion said, his playful tone vanishing into a deadly chill.
"I apologize in advance if you sustain so injuries."
Suddenly, Darion’s presence exploded.
The air around him sharpened.
A single flying knife slid under his boots, lifting him into the air where he hovered, hands clasped calmly behind his back.
"Oh? He’s taking the boy seriously from the very first second?" Elyndros muttered, leaning forward with genuine interest.
Elyndros produced ten silver slivers from a storage ring and tossed them toward Alex.
"Brat, those are the flying knives I used when I was at the Saint level.
They are sharper and more durable than any standard Saint-class artifact.
If you win this, consider them yours."
Alex nodded politely.
The ten knives imdiately snapped into a rotating orbit around him like a divine shield.
His own aura shifted, turning cold and focused.
Swish!
With a sound like tearing silk, a knife blurred toward Alex at the speed of sound.
It was a probe, a test of his reflexes.
Alex parried it with one of his own blades, the impact ringing out like a hamr on an anvil.
The force behind Darion’s strike was at least 500 tonnes.
Alex’s Eye of Revelation flared as he scanned his opponent’s combat data.
[Strength: 25,000 tonnes
Speed: 1,000 m/s
Defense: 25,000 tonnes
Spirit: 1,000 tonnes
"His stats are monstrous," Alex realized.
Darion’s physical power already surpassed a standard Level 9 Grandmaster, whose ceiling was typically 20,000 tonnes.
"In a straight contest of raw power, I am nowhere near his level.
And he hasn’t even touched his primary talent yet.", Alex thought again.
Boom! Boom!
The six remaining knives in Darion’s arsenal began raining down like teors.
Despite having the nurical advantage with ten blades, Alex was struggling.
Darion’s control was so heavy and precise that Alex was being driven backward.
His feet carved deep grooves into the reinforced floor.
A thin trickle of blood escaped the corner of Alex’s mouth.
Anna took a step forward, about to scream for the match to end.
Elyndros held up a hand, silencing her.
"Give up, Alex," Darion’s voice rang out, cold and dispassionate.
"You are a genius, but you simply haven’t had the ti to grow.
We can finish this when you reach my level.
I have no doubt you will get there soon."
Alex wiped the blood from his lip, his eyes narrowing.
"My Existential Nullity won’t affect his Spirit Master manipulation directly since that’s a ntal force.
Looks like it’s ti to introduce him to gravity."
He calculated the threshold of Darion’s strength.
200 tis.
"Two-hundred tis gravity!" Alex commanded internally.
The air itself seed to solidify.
With Darion’s strength, the 200x multiplier wouldn’t kill him.
But it would force him to divert 90% of his energy into simply remaining upright.
Boom!
Darion was slamd into the floor.
The knife beneath him snapped under the sudden, localized weight.
He was caught completely off-guard.
"What? Gravity Manipulation?" Arthur and Elyndros hissed in unison.
"But that shouldn’t be his core talent.
Anna has that, and it’s ’only’ SSS-rank."
But Alex wasn’t finished.
He flicked his fingers like a puppeteer.
His ten flying knives vanished into thin air.
They reappeared from blind spots, screaming toward the pinned Darion.
Darion was wearing a high-tier Saint-level battle suit.
The blades couldn’t pierce his vitals.
But the kinetic energy of the impacts hit him like cannonballs.
Alex didn’t let up, raining down a relentless barrage.
Darion struggled to his feet, roaring as he poured his spirit energy into creating a counter-pressure.
He fought the very air around him.
His offensive precision crumbled.
He couldn’t track the knives because they were blinking in and out of existence.
"Space Manipulation? Two top-tier talents simultaneously?" Max exclaid, his eyes wide.
"With Spirit Master abilities, that combination is a nightmare."
"It looks like my grandson has no choice now," Max added, a grim smile forming.
"He has to use the very power that earned him the title of Demon King."
"AHHH!"
Darion let out a primal roar, activating his Illusion talent.
Instantly, the clinical training room dissolved.
The walls lted into a jagged, blood-red wilderness.
Darion vanished from Alex’s sight.
The gravity field beca useless.
Without a visual or spiritual lock on his target, Alex was punching at shadows.
Three gargantuan, obsidian-skinned monsters materialized from the red mist.
They charged at Alex with earth-shaking footsteps.
"They’re just illusions," Alex told himself.
"They can’t touch ."
BOOM!
An ape-like monstrosity punched Alex squarely in the chest.
The sensation was indistinguishable from reality.
Alex felt his ribs groan as he was sent flying like a ragdoll across the "wilderness."
"Haha, he fell for the trap," Elyndros muttered.
"Darion’s illusions manifest in the target’s neural pathways as well as in the reality.
The brain believes the damage is real, so the body reacts as if it were.
Unless your ntal strength is a full tier above his, you are fighting ghosts that can break your bones."
To make matters worse, Darion’s seven knives re-erged from the mist.
They sought Alex’s life.
Between the physical phantoms and the invisible Spirit Master strikes, the situation was dire.
"Alex, stop! You can’t win against a monster like him!" Anna scread into the void of the arena.
Alex tumbled, skidding across the dirt.
He parried the flying knives with desperate, clashing strikes.
Then, he started to laugh.
"Hahaha! That was an incredible sequence, brother.
We really should train together more often. Now let’s finish this."
"What is he talking about?" Elyndros’s expression soured.
"He’s being systematically dismantled.
Is he so arrogant that he thinks he’s won?
I’m disappointed."
Then, Alex snapped his fingers.
The sound was like a gunshot.
The entire "wilderness" shattered like a pane of glass.
The red sky, the monsters, and the mist crumbled into nothingness.
The sterile grey walls of the training room were revealed once more.
Darion was standing in the far corner.
His eyes were wide with pure, unadulterated horror.
He tried to pull on his power.
He tried to manifest a new nightmare.
But he felt empty.
The connection to his soul-talent had been severed.
It was as if the very concept of "Illusion" had been erased from his DNA.
"You cannot use your talent in my presence," Alex said, his voice terrifyingly calm.
He stood in the opposite corner, looking unruffled.
"Do you wish to continue the physical bout?"
Darion’s knees hit the floor.
The "Demon King" looked soulless.
"I... I admit defeat," he whispered.
Never in his wildest nightmares had he imagined a world where his power simply ceased to exist.
Alex deactivated Existential Nullity.
The "weight" of his talent returned to Darion’s soul.
Because their ranks were both within the Grandmaster tier, Alex’s suppression was absolute.
A 100% lockout.
The room was deathly silent.
Even Arthur and Elyndros stood with their jaws agape.
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