Chapter 314: Masterpiece (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 314: Masterpiece (5)
It was a familiar sensation.
Seeing the way Kevin glared at him, Chris recalled a memory from the past.
"It was the same back then as it is now. Unlike the others, you always looked at me as a rival."
This wasn't his first duel with Kevin.
Back when Chris had first sworn allegiance to Roman Dmitry, despite his solemn resolve, he had been deeply dissatisfied with the lack of proper instruction. When he demanded to know what on earth he could possibly learn just by watching, Roman Dmitry had, absurdly enough, proposed a duel with Kevin.
Back then, Kevin had been beaten to a pulp.
Yet, even while dripping blood, he had glared up at Chris and said, "Keep going."
He was arrogant.
He didn't know his place.
Only later did Chris learn that Roman Dmitry had been guiding Kevin through Voice Transmission, but he could never forget the look in the boy's eyes—as if he truly believed he could win.
Regardless, that day's event had established the hierarchy perfectly. Kevin faithfully followed his orders without a single instance of insubordination. Yet, whenever Chris caught Kevin looking at him, he felt that exact same sensation.
A fierce desire.
It was a complex emotion—a mix of envy, an inferiority complex, and sheer competitiveness.
Whatever the reason, Kevin viewed Chris as an obstacle he had to overcome someday.
He was different from the others.
Since Chris oversaw the troops' training in Roman Dmitry's absence, most of the men regarded him as an untouchable figure. Kevin was no exception to this training. Yet, even as he swung his sword to Chris's commands, whenever their hierarchy was brought to the forefront, Kevin displayed a burning desire to surpass him.
Chris...
...was not blind to this truth.
He knew.
The gaze, the attitude, the tone of voice.
Kevin wore his emotions on his sleeve, but Chris had never once acknowledged them.
"I knew how you felt about me from the very beginning," Chris said. "But do you know why I never reacted? Because it was pathetic. Even if a child rushes at an adult with a flushed face, the adult doesn't take them seriously. It's the same thing. To me, the existence known as Kevin—the swordsman called Dmitry's Evil Ghost—is nothing more than a child who poses absolutely no threat, just like when we first met."
Slowly, he raised his sword.
As Chris openly brandished First No-Name, Kevin's expression contorted.
"Kevin. I still have a long way to go. My ambitions are not so small that someone like you could ever catch up."
Whoosh!
His Aura flared.
He was serious.
He intended to prove his absolute superiority to the one who dared covet his rank.
"So, give it everything you've got. I will prove with my blade that nothing has changed since that day."
Step.
Roman Dmitry took a step back.
That was the signal.
As if no answer was needed—
Dash.
Rumble!
Kevin rapidly closed the distance.
* * *
He was fast.
Seeing Kevin charge like a nimble beast, Chris thrust his sword forward.
'Lightning.'
Flash.
Boom!
He had no intention of holding back.
The attack pierced through space in an instant, looking as though it would blow Kevin's head clean off.
However...
Swish—
He dodged.
As if he had anticipated it, Kevin slipped past the attack by a hair's breadth, exploded his Aura, and lunged toward Chris's chest. Evading Lightning alone was an incredible feat. When they first met, Kevin couldn't react even when he knew the answer, but the current Kevin had grown incomparably stronger.
However, Chris had also improved.
His sword bent at a bizarre angle, snapping toward Kevin's neck like a striking serpent.
Slash.
It was a combination of Lightning and Jonathan's secret technique—an art that altered the blade's trajectory mid-swing.
Just when Chris thought it had connected, Kevin's eyes turned blood-red as he violently twisted his body. It was a shocking sight. Spinning without losing a shred of his charging momentum, the sword aimed at his neck sliced through nothing but an afterimage.
It didn't even graze him.
It was a flawless evasion, and the moment his back foot touched the ground, a massive explosion erupted.
Boom!
Rumble!
Mana Rush.
A high-speed Dash.
Having closed the gap in the blink of an eye, Kevin immediately pressed the attack, determined not to give Chris a single second to breathe.
Clang!
Clash, clash, clash!
A fierce melee ensued.
When his strike to the head was blocked, Kevin slipped to the side to target Chris's flank. Chris quickly pulled his sword back to parry, simultaneously counterattacking with a vicious slash at Kevin's head. Kevin leaned back, letting the deadly blade pass over him, then bounced forward like a coiled spring, this time aiming straight for Chris's heart.
Clang!
It was a fierce, breathless back-and-forth.
They lunged at each other with savage aggression, as if determined to tear one another apart.
Whoosh.
Rumble!
Chris's Aura tore through the air.
It carried a chilling shriek, warning that mere flesh would be shredded by a grazing touch, but Kevin did not hesitate to plunge directly into the space rippling with Aura. They clashed again and again. Since both utilized Aura based on martial arts, Chris, possessing the denser Aura, naturally held the advantage in raw power.
However, Kevin endured the pain.
With blood pooling in his mouth, he grinned.
Flash—
A burst of light erupted before their eyes.
Evading Chris's attack once more, Kevin unleashed a surge of Aura straight at Chris's face.
Clang.
As expected, Chris's reaction was swift.
But the moment Chris blocked the attack, Kevin slipped into his blind spot, launching a relentless chain of strikes at every conceivable opening. Head, then lower body. Lower body, then the back. The back, then the solar plexus. Darting around his opponent like a nimble beast, Kevin bared his sharp fangs, waiting to seize the slightest vulnerability.
He was fast and lethal.
Chris's counterattacks aimed to take Kevin's life, but somehow, the boy managed to react to every single one of them.
It was then.
Flash.
Rumble!
Another blinding flash of light.
Kevin quickly leaped backward.
This time, he wasn't confident he could withstand Chris's attack at point-blank range.
"I'll admit it. You've definitely changed from before."
Parting the residual Aura, Chris walked forward.
His expression was fierce; he looked genuinely enraged.
"But that's all."
Still, Chris had not yet exerted his full strength.
* * *
His skin prickled.
Facing Chris in this moment, Kevin's instincts screamed warnings about just how dangerous his opponent truly was.
Yet, he could not back down.
For this very day, Kevin had pushed himself to the absolute limit.
'I know Chris better than Chris knows himself.'
All this time, he had constantly observed Chris, searching for a way to defeat him.
He had conducted countless mental spars, identifying exactly what kind of swordsmanship Chris used, his unique habits, and any minor tells he displayed before executing his techniques. Thanks to that, he had been able to dodge the first attack. Lightning was an art impossible to react to on sight, but by reading Chris's muscle movements and the specific stance preceding the strike, Kevin had twisted his body in advance.
It had been by a hair's breadth.
Had he not trained for this beforehand, his head would have been taken off by that very first strike.
The subsequent exchanges followed a similar pattern.
Based on the information he had meticulously gathered, he pressed Chris hard.
Grip.
He tightened his hold on his sword.
He watched Chris walking toward him.
Seeing Chris's still-composed demeanor, Kevin's blood-red eyes gradually descended into madness.
"Don't act so smug, you bastard."
Step.
Rumble!
He kicked off the ground.
In an instant, he closed the distance and slashed at Chris's head.
Clang!
The attack was blocked.
Chris immediately attempted a counterattack, the movement of his muscles conveying a clear intention.
'Right arm.'
It was an astonishing level of perception.
Though it was called 'reading muscle movements,' Kevin was actually combining incredibly minute signals to discern exactly what his opponent intended to do. On top of that, he possessed the hyper-sensitive perception unique to the Ghost Soul Demonic Art.
Kevin intended to deflect the attack and launch his next strike, but his eyes widened at a sudden, burning pain in his right arm.
Splurt—
Blood splattered.
Even though he had clearly anticipated it, Chris's sword had still managed to graze his right arm.
'Shoulder.'
This time, it was his shoulder.
Raising his sword high, Chris attempted a follow-up strike, bringing the blade crashing down.
However, the result was the same.
Even though Kevin had clearly read the intention and reacted, his expression contorted violently as the sword sliced into his shoulder before he even realized it.
Slash.
Pain flared.
He was too fast.
Chris's demeanor—suggesting he hadn't even exerted his full strength yet—was no bluff. He was displaying an overwhelming speed that Kevin simply could not react to. A shiver ran down Kevin's spine.
The second-in-command of Dmitry.
Chris was someone who had reached that position purely through skill, and he was proving right before Kevin's eyes exactly why he was called the Flash of Dmitry.
He was strong.
And that was exactly why it was worth it.
Only by defeating Chris could Kevin prove himself worthy of being the master of First No-Name.
"Grrr..."
His eyes flushed crimson.
With a face gleaming with pure madness, he charged like a maniac.
Clang!
Clash, clash, clash, clash!
They clashed violently.
Neither yielded an inch. Despite Chris's rapid counterattacks, Kevin pressed on relentlessly with movements that transcended human limits. At first, none of his attacks landed. Chris reacted a step ahead and deflected every single one. But as time passed, Kevin's strikes began to graze closer and closer, looking as if they might connect at any moment.
Whoosh—
Rumble!
A blade swept right before his eyes.
Cornering Chris, Kevin tilted his head to the side, letting the incoming thrust slip past his cheek.
It was an audacious move.
In a situation where his face could have been easily pierced through, Kevin chose to charge forward rather than retreat.
Dmitry's Evil Ghost.
He was a monster.
With eyes gleaming with madness, he finally cornered his opponent.
'Heavenly Demon Sword Technique - Former Half First Form.'
Boom.
Rumble!
He exploded with his full power.
This was where the real fight began.
But the moment Kevin took a step forward, Chris's expression turned ice-cold.
"It's over."
Chris's domain.
Kevin had entered his absolute range.
Before Kevin's attack could even be fully executed, the world flashed.
'Single Flash.'
Flash.
Rumble!
He couldn't even see it properly.
With a searing pain in his chest, as if his flesh had been set on fire, Kevin's vision completely collapsed.
* * *
Chris looked down at Kevin.
Though he had achieved the victory he wanted, his expression was grim.
'To think a slum boy could become this strong.'
He was genuinely amazed by the duel just now.
Kevin had anticipated his reactions and pressed him without giving him a moment to breathe. If Chris had still been his past self, he wouldn't have been able to guarantee victory.
That was exactly why he couldn't smile.
He and Kevin had entirely different starting points.
It was unacceptable for him, someone who had been an Aura Swordsman from the very beginning, to be overtaken by Kevin, who was once nothing more than a boy from the slums.
It was frustrating.
He remembered the moment they first dueled.
The boy who had been beaten to a pulp—even with Roman Dmitry's help—had grown enough to threaten him before he even realized it. In truth, Chris hadn't been blind to Kevin's growth. Just as people called him Dmitry's Evil Ghost, Chris had watched Kevin and knew he was completely different from before.
But he couldn't accept it.
Just as Kevin harbored an inferiority complex toward him, Chris could not admit that the gap between them was rapidly narrowing.
Point.
He aimed his sword at the fallen boy.
It was a gesture to officially seal the match.
However, Kevin, dripping blood from his chest, shed tears at the blade pointed at his throat.
"...Ugh, hic."
He clenched his teeth.
Though he was desperately holding back his sobs, Kevin's eyes brimmed with tears. He showed a foolish stubbornness, utterly unable to accept the outcome of the duel. He had thought he would win. No, he had desperately wanted to win.
But he had lost.
Faced with a wall he ultimately could not overcome, Dmitry's Evil Ghost finally showed a childlike side.
Only then did Chris realize it.
Kevin was still young.
Swallowing his tears as if refusing to show his shameful state any longer, Kevin looked up at Chris and spoke.
"...I lost."
It was over.
It was Chris's victory.
Yet, in a situation where he should have been pleased, Chris only felt a lingering sense of misery.
It was that attitude—Kevin's absolute refusal to take defeat for granted, even against him.
He knew it instinctively.
The moment he became complacent, the day would come when he would be forced to his knees by that pure, unadulterated desire.
No longer...
...did Kevin look like a boy from the slums.