Chapter 320
Chapter 320
Chapter 320
Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 320
Principal Lan Qi’s Martial Art: Fifth Form
“As everyone knows,” Lan Qi said from his seat on the spectator’s platform, “the most despair-inducing moment in any boss fight is when you’re just about to win—then suddenly the boss pops a shield thicker than your will to live, heals to full right in front of you, and makes you do the whole thing again. Worse yet, you don’t even know how many more times the cycle repeats.”
He spoke as if offering a solemn lecture, though no one quite followed what he meant.But the Cat Boss in his arms somehow felt it—he could completely understand Dean’s crumbling spirit in the arena below.
No wonder Dean had roared at Lan Qi from the ring earlier.Of course—the originator of that sadistic multi-phase boss mechanic was sitting smugly right here.
“Yeah,” Sid nodded, “not being able to see how many health bars are left really messes with your head. A normal person would just quit right there.”
She’d spent so much time around Lan Qi that her vocabulary was starting to align with his strange metaphors.
Down below, Shaya’s growth had been nothing short of remarkable.Apart from his average endurance, every attribute was balanced and strong, his greatest gift lying in mental and telekinetic magic—he could learn spells directly and effortlessly.
Lan Qi had completely overhauled his card deck—discarding Shaya’s old “spell-rogue” structure.No longer a mere trickster, Shaya had become a high-mobility, high-stamina berserker, his power rising by several tiers.
Beside Lan Qi and Sid, Viscount Levin Kingston’s eyelid twitched violently.The two of them were chatting so casually… yet he could scarcely imagine what sort of brutal training that poor boy must have endured in those three days to reach this state.
For a youthful romance, this was starting to look far too militaristic.
The Arena
In the second round of the duel, Dean no longer looked as fierce as before.His composure was gone—his mind clearly fraying.
Under the weight of his heavy armor, the tall youth’s bloodshot eyes glared hatefully as he swung his sword like a raging storm, trying to cleave Shaya in two.
But Shaya twisted aside, body flipping with effortless grace to evade the fatal blow.The moment he landed beside Dean, he struck—his willow-blade dagger stabbing deep into a gap in the armor.
Blood sprayed. Dean’s scream tore through the air as he lashed out again in fury, his blade slicing only wind.
Gasping, dizzy, Dean staggered back—his vision dimming.When Shaya reappeared before him, a few cuts marked his leather armor, yet he stood upright and proud, unfazed, eyes like ice.
“AAAAH!!!”
Dean’s roar shook with frustration and fear.Somehow, in the blink of an eye, the calm, confident warrior had become an angry, desperate beast—unable to accept the reversal.
Shaya, by contrast, remained cold and focused.That alone tilted the entire balance of the fight.
Even the untrained townsfolk in the stands could see now—the match was one-sided.
Dean, once assured of victory, was being utterly dismantled.Viscount Blake Bone, his beard trembling with rage, slammed his cane on the floor and turned on the man beside him.
“Professor Meitch! You promised me Dean would win!”
“…The opponent’s fighting style is far too irregular. I advise a post-match investigation,” the professor managed, struggling to keep his composure.“Either way, win or lose… weren’t you scheduled to take office as governor today?”
The deflection did nothing to soothe the Viscount.Watching his son get battered further, he finally shot to his feet.
“Shaya Candis! If you’re a man, fight him head-on!You think Miss Lilith will respect a marriage won through such cowardly trickery?!”
From the opposite stand, Viscount Levin Kingston instantly rose and shouted back,“Don’t listen to him, Shaya!”
His nephew had victory in his grasp—if he got provoked now, it could all fall apart.The two were evenly matched; one mistake could throw it all away.
Shaya smiled faintly.
As if granting Dean one last chance, he took a single step back.
“You said earlier… you wanted to kill whom?”
His voice was quiet, but his gaze was razor-cold, refined, and just a little mad.
“That bastard in the stands—he dies today!Yield now, and I’ll tell my father to spare him!”
Dean’s hair hung in his eyes, sweat and fury twisting his face as he gripped his sword.
Shaya exhaled slowly, letting the dagger fall from his hand with a metallic clang, then closed his umbrella.“This is what your father asked for,” he said evenly.
“Heh…”
Dean’s grin turned feral. You’re dead too!
Before Shaya could blink, Dean lunged—pouring all his remaining strength into one desperate, murderous charge.
Shaya’s stance shifted.
He raised his fists.
“The woman you insulted—do you think you’re worthy to even speak her name?”
In that instant, anger flashed across Shaya’s face for the first time.He sidestepped the blade and drove a straight punch into Dean’s throat.
CRACK!
Dean’s sword clattered to the floor.He staggered back, clutching his neck, eyes wide in disbelief.Drool and tears streamed down his face as he struggled to breathe—no sound emerging.
“Let me show you the sacred art passed down by my seniors,” Shaya said coolly.“That first punch was called Friendly Exchange.”
Dean whimpered. He knew he’d lost—and for the first time, he was truly afraid.He tried to signal surrender to the referee, but even his voice wouldn’t work.
“Before that lady, you kneel—this is basic etiquette!”
The death-god’s voice came from behind him.Before he could turn, Shaya’s low roundhouse slammed into the backs of his knees, sending him spinning to the ground.
“Now, savor the Radiance of Virtue—the Melody of Beauty!”
Before Dean could comprehend the words, a storm of blows crashed over him—blinding lights, concussive bursts, and a final flurry that made his world spin and his ears ring into silence.
“On that foundation,” Shaya said calmly, “I developed a fifth form of my own…”
In the blink of an eye, he leapt.Dean, kneeling and dazed, could only see the blur of a boot swinging toward him.
“This final kick,” Shaya declared, “is called Heavenly Harmony!”
The metal-clad toe struck home.
Dean’s body lifted off the ground, spun several times in mid-air, and collapsed lifelessly, eyes rolled back.
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd—many of the male spectators winced and clutched their own lower halves in sympathetic pain.
That kick… Dean might never “harm” another girl again.As for Viscount Blake Bone—he might need to start over with an entirely new heir.
The Stands
“You don’t actually have a card called [Heavenly Harmony], do you?”The Cat Boss looked up in terror. It feared Lan Qi really had been hiding some unholy card all this time.
Heavenly Harmony usually referred to the bliss of family reunion…but with Lan Qi’s naming habits, who could say?
“Who knows.”
Lan Qi just kept stroking the cat, speaking softly to himself.
Beside him, Sid suddenly covered her face.“Oh no… Shaya’s too overtrained. He’s going to scare Miss Lilith half to death.”
Only now did she realize how far off course they’d gone.Wasn’t this whole thing supposed to be a sweet teenage romance?
Three days of training with Lan Qi had completely erased that premise.
Even the Cat Boss was silent now.
Confused, Sid followed its gaze upward—toward the high viewing platform.
There, Lady Lilith leaned over the railing, cheeks flushed pink, eyes hazy, whispering breathlessly,“…It really is him.”
“Wait—what?!”
Sid’s mind blanked.Had that worked?
Had they actually managed to turn that into a love story?
Was it her coaching that was wrong, or were modern romance scripts just… built different now?
“...Sid, are you happy meow?”The Cat Boss wept openly, staring at the woman who’d once sworn “nothing will go off-track.”
“Not my fault,” Sid replied, whistling and looking away.
Still—
Even with her famously high tolerance for absurdity,she decided she never wanted to witness another romantic comedy starring Lan Qi again.
(End of Chapter)