Boom!
The hit came from the side, faster than before. Hero barely raised his arm in time, but the force still tore through his guard, sending him spinning across the ground again.
"This guy!"
Before he could recover.
Lucien was already above him.
The sword came down.
Hero twisted desperately, forehead sweating.
—Shing!
The blade carved across his ribs, tearing flesh as blood splashed across the broken ground.
Hero coughed, body jerking.
Lucien didn't stop.
Palm.
—Boom!
Hero was slammed into the earth, a crater forming beneath him.
Silence.
For a split second.
Then.
"…Enough."
The voice came from within.
The old man.
And in that instant.
Everything changed.
Hero's body stilled.
The tremble vanished.
His breathing steadied.
"You brat, always attracting trouble wherever you go"
—BOOM!!!
A surge of energy erupted outward, far denser, far stronger than before. The air compressed violently as cracks spread beneath his feet.
Lucien stepped back half a step.
Just enough.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"…So you've been hiding this, huh"
"Or to be more exact"
"Who are you?"
Hero slowly stood upright, his expression no longer wild, no longer strained.
Calm.
Controlled.
A faint smile.
"Young ones nowadays are so rude."
The voice wasn't the same.
Lucien's grip on the sword tightened.
"Another consciousness."
"I see... "
A pause.
Then.
"Interesting."
The aura rose further.
Middle-stage Foundation Building.
The ground around Hero began to sink slightly under the pressure alone.
Lucien exhaled softly.
Not intimidated.
Just.
Intrigued.
"Good."
He lifted the broken sword slightly.
"Now you're worth killing properly."
"Big words, you had been trying for so long and failed"
Then...
They moved again.
—BOOOOM!!!
This time, the collision shattered everything in a wide radius. The ground caved inward, a deep crater forming instantly as both figures clashed at the center, "Good instinct!"
Hero's palm struck forward.
Lucien's blade met it.
—CLANG!!!
The sound rang out like metal against metal.
Shockwaves tore outward, flattening what remained of nearby structures.
The ground moved like waves, dust and debrises flying around like projectiles, piercing the surrounding buildings into honeycomb.
Hero pressed forward, every movement layered, offense wrapped in defense, each strike protected, each angle covered.
Lucien responded.
Efficient.
Every swing of his blade cut through the shortest path, aiming for the most vital point.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Their figures blurred, appearing and disappearing between broken structures, each clash sending debris flying, each missed strike carving deep marks into the earth.
Hero struck.
Lucien sidestepped by inches, his blade already countering.
—Shing!
A cut traced across Hero's arm.
Hero didn't retreat.
His other hand came up instantly.
—Boom!
Lucien blocked, sliding back this time.
Just slightly.
The crowd gasped.
"He moved again!"
"The two senior's are equal now?!"
"No… look closer"
Lucien's expression remained unchanged.
Even as he adjusted.
Even as he recalculated.
"You've stabilized your strength, or... temporarily did" he said, voice low "But it's not yours. Never truly yours, "
Hero smiled faintly. "Does it matter?"
Lucien stepped forward.
"No."
Then.
He vanished again.
Faster.
Extremely fast!
Hero reacted, his eyes narrowing.
But this time.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three consecutive strikes landed, each heavier than the last.
Even under the old man's control, Hero's body was forced back, cracks forming under his feet with each step.
Lucien appeared in front of him again, eyes slowly turning in this slow focused perspective.
"Borrowed strength…"
His blade lifted.
"…has limits."
Hero's eyes narrowed.
"Then break me!"
A brief silence.
The air grew heavy again.
Both of them understood now. This would end the next exchange.
The two stood apart, the ruined street between them reduced to shattered stone and drifting dust.
What little remained of the buildings leaned at broken angles, some collapsing piece by piece as the aftermath of their earlier clashes continued to settle.
The air was gradually solidifying under the two's spiritual pressure.
Even breathing became difficult for those still watching from afar.
Lucien lowered his blade slightly, his gaze piercing, fixed on Hero, no, on the presence now controlling him.
"Senior stabilized it well," he said, voice calm, almost indifferent. "But that's not his path."
"You should've hone yourself rather than borrowing. But really, you surprised me, being able to withstand this long"
Hero's body stood upright, unmoving, the old man's control absolute.
His eyes held a quiet depth now, no longer reckless.
"And yours is?" he replied.
Lucien took a step forward.
Not aggressive.
Measured.
"My path is simple."
He raised the broken sword, aligning it with his body.
No aura flared wildly, no overwhelming surge spilled out. Instead, everything drew inward, condensed, refined to the extreme. Condensed to basic!
And yet this extreme was extremely gentle itself.
"Power isn't about how much you release."
His fingers tightened slightly around the hilt.
"It's about how much you can remove."
The air around him shifted, as if there were countless invisible swords in the air.
"Every unnecessary movement. Every wasted thread of energy."
His stance lowered.
"What remains…"
His eyes locked onto Hero.
"…is the purest form of killing intent."
"There is no need for flashy moves, all I need is the simplest form of slicing. The highest pursuit of this path, is to go back to simplicity."
Hero watched him in silence.
Then.
A faint smile.
"You cut away everything…"
He lifted his hand slowly, palm open.
"…and believe what's left is absolute."
His fingers closed gently.
"But you misunderstand something. Here, let me show you the strongest art of attack."
The air around him didn't explode outward.
It folded.
Layer by layer, his spiritual energy wrapped inward, compressing into something immovable.
"The strongest offense…"
His other hand rose, forming a subtle shift in stance.
"…is defense."
Lucien's eyes narrowed slightly.
Hero continued, voice calm, almost instructive.
"Because true defense…"
The energy around him thickened, forming an unseen structure that warped the air itself.
"…means there is no opening."
A pause.
"No flaw."
"No weakness."
His gaze met Lucien's directly.
"And if you can't break it…"
The faint smile deepened.
"Then every attack you make…"
"…becomes mine."
Silence fell.
Even the distant crowd seemed to hold their breath.
From afar.
"…What are they doing…?"
"They stopped…"
"No… they're preparing something!"
"Get back—GET BACK!"
People scrambled further away, some tripping over rubble, others dragging companions with them.
Something was about to happen.
Something far worse than before.
Lucien adjusted his stance.
One final time.
No wasted motion.
No excess breath.
The broken sword in his hand aligned perfectly with his centerline.
All his energy.
Condensed into that single point.
No aura leaked.
No pressure spread.
But the space around the blade began to distort faintly, as if the air itself was being pressed thin.
"The simplest attack…"
His voice was quiet.
"…is the strongest."
—
Hero's body lowered slightly.
Not to attack.
To receive.
Energy folded inward completely, layers upon layers reinforcing each other until even the air around him felt solid.
The ground beneath his feet sank slightly, unable to withstand the pressure.
"The strongest defense…"
The old man's voice echoed softly.
"…is absolute."
"Young man, you are a genius. Let this old timer experience the new age pursuit!"
"Very well... "
Lucien responded.
Then...
They moved.
At the same time.
Lucien stepped forward.
One step.
And swung.
A single cut.
Clean.
Direct.
Nothing fancy.
But everything in that strike.
Perfect.
Hero didn't move forward.
He stood his ground.
Both hands shifted.
Not to strike.
But to hold.
To receive.
To redirect.
The two met.
For a fraction of a moment..
Nothing happened.
Then.
—BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!
The world exploded.
A blinding surge of force erupted from the point of contact, the ground collapsing instantly into a massive crater.
The shockwave tore outward in all directions, flattening everything in its path, buildings crumbled, streets split open, debris lifted and thrown like leaves in a storm.
The air screamed.
The sky itself seemed to ripple.
From miles away, the explosion could be seen, a rising cloud of dust and shattered stone, towering upward like a pillar.
The black market.
Gone.
Flattened.