The Absolute: Humanity's Second Chance - 142 Competition

A single man, like a wraith from hell, appeared before the two swords that were about to clash at the center. ‘This man..!!’ ‘Senior..!!’ And the two opponents exclaimed in shock.

“Heh, me? Piece through me? In your wildest… dreams!!” Commented Sixth, releasing a much more potent burst of white aura, that swept away the soroundings away like a flood.

Boom~!!

The white aura burst out, and easily swallowed the very small red and blue aura in comparison, and pushed back the two young novice swordsmasters.

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“Argh..!!”

“Mghf..!!”

The two were not only pushed back, but also pressed down by immense pressure and weight, a first time experience for someone like Lanzelet.

‘This pressure… exceeds anything I’ve ever felt before!! Master doesn’t even come close to comparing..!!’ He thought, gritting his teeth so hard, veins popped out on his head. ‘Too… much..!!’

To make matters even worse, the white aura around them, was more potent and denser, like an endless sea of white, swirling dangerously above their heads.

Hence increasing the rate at which their bodies and environment froze.

‘What… level of… swordsmanship… is this..!!’ He thought in despair, as not only his body was being pressured, but even his mental capacity were growing sluggish.

“A grand master’s sword aura. A far difference compared to novice swordsmasters.” Damien said, as even those around him were affected by the pressure oozing out of Sixth.

The three Romanian seniors were on their knees, and Fiona was struggling for breathe, while the Sword aura dwarfed out her flames. Meanwhile Juliette and Damien used their high realms to offset the pressure.

‘But this is incomparable to ordinary grand masters, as senior has had achievements far above grand masters. His only limiting factor was being a human without access to Mana.’ He thought, casually offsetting the pressure for the others as well.

“My apologies for making you go through all that.” He added, a light smile on his face. ‘You don’t seem sorry though..!!’ ‘I… I can’t feel my legs.’ ‘As expected.. of a gray devil.’

And they all had responsive thoughts to his words and smile, which only made him look even more appealing. To the point where they couldn’t even get angry at him.

“Senior, that’s about enough.” He said, and the white aura disappeared as abrupt as it appeared, leaving behind unsettled wind, two young man lying down on the ground half frozen, and another one standing in between them.

“Yeah yeah. Man, this feeling never gets old.” Sixth chuckled yo himself, walking back towards the spectators. “And expect an even more intense training session from today onwards, as you’re now a master as well.” He added lightly.

“…”

And those words, were nothing less of a death sentence to Adonis, who forcefully pushed himself off the ground. “Yes, senior.” He replied with a sigh of wariness.

Afterwards, he stood up and stretched out his hand to help Lanzelet up. “I guess, there’s no winner for this fight of ours. So, how about we–”

“Get your hands away from me.” Lanzelet said, smacking Adonis’ hand away, and standing up by himself. “I don’t wanna hear anything from you bastards. All I want to know is that why did you stop me?”

He asked, gritting his teeth in anger. “Why can’t I stop you?” And Sixth casually shrugged his shoulders with his response.

“It’s because I was going to win, right?! That’s why you did that, didn’t you?!” And those actions of his only angered Lanzelet even more.

“Heeeh~ Is that so?” Sixth snickered at the young man, his eyes showing nothing but disdain. “For a swordsman, you sure aren’t honest with yourself. Come on, we both know you felt it.”

“…Felt what?”

Sixth kept snickering him, and even chuckled before bursting out into blatant laughter. “Pfft–Hahahaha, hahahaha!!”ραпdα `nᴏνɐ| сom

Lanzelet froze in shock, but the more he heard sixth’s laughter, the more he felt angry and humiliated. “Why you..!! How–”

“Save it, save it!! Hahaha, I don’t wanna hear it.” Sixth kept laughing, and Lanzelet almost burst out in rage, yet held himself back due to the difference in power levels.

“S–Senior… there, there is no need for this, is there?” Adonis tried to alleviate the matter at hand, as he felt it unnecessary for everything to escalate to such an extent.

“Yeah yeah, shut your mouth. Today I’m in a good mood, so… don’t bore me.” Sixth said, then turned back to Lanzelet. “Face it, brat. You felt the threat of death from that exchange, didn’t you?”

“What..? I felt no–”

“It was obvious enough to not only me, but to even a bunch book worms.” He said, and a few people felt offended by those words, yet did not disagree. He then continued, “You knew you’d lose, and you’re just bitter now. So bitter it’s funny, so bitter it’s disgusting.”

“…What?” Lanzelet froze, looking at everyone around him in shock. ‘No, that’s not it. I wasn’t going to lose… I wasn’t… I…’

Everyone seemed as if they were looking down on him, scorning him with their disdainful glares, ‘No, I was… I was going to win… I am Avarice’s best sword genius… I…’

“That’s true.” Damien said, his words garnering the attention of everyone else. “It indeed us true, that you would have lost. But… anything can happen, do perhaps you would have won, by a stroke of luck.” He added.

“Heh, luck? Luck is never a factor during a battle. It’s only a tool used by those bitter at their lose, a desperate attempt to soothe their fragile egos.” Sixth added, clicking his tongue in annoyance.

“True, but we can not say he won, if you interfered. Even if the results were already clear.” Damien said, “Hence you shall your battle again, a few months from now, at the opening ceremony of the Silver Institute.”

“You two, shall be the main attraction point, and the final battle at the competition that would be held at the ceremony. Or perhaps, do you disagree?” He concluded with an inquiry, his apathetic eyes looking down on both of them.

And the two also looked up at him in shock. But not only then, everyone else were shocked at this moment, including Juliette herself. “We are holding a ceremony? Let alone that, even a competition?”

“I just thought about it. Or wouldn’t it it be a perfect opportunity to advertise ourselves, while also giving everyone a hint of excitement?” Damien responded, looking back at her. “What do you think?” He added

“Do I even have a choice at this point..?” And she rolled her eyes at him, pouting in displeasure. Damien saw through that, but kept quiet. ‘She’ll come around, soon enough.’

“I have no problem with that.” Adonis responded first, showing his stance on the matter. ‘Hopefully, this will solve all the problems caused here today.’ He thought.

“…Fine. I agree.” Lanzelet also agreed, yet he was still looking up at Damien in shock. ‘Who… is this man? Why is he respected by this guy here? And why did that terrifying man listen to him? Who… is he?’ He thought with a frown.

If Sixth was far stronger than his master, and was listening to someone else’s command, then how strong was someone above him? How strong was Damien?

Such words tormented his thoughts, yet nobody had the heart to stop them. “In that case, take this small fight as a greeting of sorts. The real duel, will take place at the Silver Institution.” Damien closed the matter with such.

“Wai–Wait, lord Damien, can I also join? I mean the competition.” Fiona asked, already excited about the opening ceremony of the Silver Institution.

“Sure. You can also bring more from Romania as well, if possible, I’ll also bring some from the other Strongholds. It will be a big day.” Damien responded, and Fiona bloomed at his words. ‘YES!!’ She thought.

“…”

Meanwhile, Lanzelet was even more surprised by those words. ‘Romania? Who is… wait, now that I look at her, isn’t she…’ He widened his eyes, guessing the identity of Fiona, and Harold.

‘The royal family of Romania? Why are they here with Adonis..? No, they are not with him. Then, are they with that man…’ He thought, ‘She also called him “Lord Damien”, is that his name?’

“If that is solved, shall we begin the domain fusion process? I’ll take Fiona to Romania, and we should be starting after five minutes. Is that okay?” Damien said, and nobody had any qualms to that.

They were excited about the Fusion, and what that might imply to their growth from here on forth. ‘It’s finally time, huh..?’ Fiona thought, getting a but nervous.

Meanwhile, Lanzelet felt left out and kept within the dark. He was still confused why two royal family members, of two different Strongholds, were kissing the feet of a complete nobody!!