Silence poured over the martial arts arena. Imperial Guards who had been laughing minutes earlier stood frozen, smiles fossilized on their faces.
A mere Earthly Immortal Realm Level One had dismantled an Earthly Immortal Realm Level Seven captain as though swatting a housefly. Everything they thought they knew about strength lay in shambles.
A faint smile touched Yuliana’s lips. She turned to Rylan and asked, “Commander Drake, do you still believe Jared unworthy of a proper match?”
Color drained from Rylan’s face. He fixed Jared with a hard stare.
“It doesn’t count,” growled. “Martin went easy! He feared killing you outright. Had struck in earnest, you’d have had no chance.”
Even Martin, sprawled on the ground, nearly spoke in protest, had poured every drop of fury into those blows and still never brushed Jared’s clothes. However, couldn’t possibly defy Rylan, so had no choice but to agree.
Jared’s mouth curled in thin contempt. “So, according to you, my victory is somehow dishonorable?”
“Of course!” Rylan snapped the words like flint against steel, chin jutting as if sheer defiance might carve the air to his shape.
His throat bobbed once before yelled, voice raw with bruised pride, “You were nothing but lucky. Had Martin traded honest steel for lives, you’d have fed the dirt beneath his blade by now!”
“Very well…” Jared nodded before uttering coldly, “Then let’s have a death match… No restraints, no seconds, nothing but the last man standing. But a death match deserves proper stakes. I’ll put up one million celestial gems. Should I fall, the celestial gems are yours. Should you fail, you pay one million celestial gems in kind. Agreed?”
One million celestial gems was no pocket change; even a commander of the imperial Guard, Rylan, would toil decades to hoard such a pile.
Humiliated beyond reason, and spurred on by jeers still ringing in his ears, Rylan flung caution aside. “Done! I accept! I can’t wait to watch an Earthly Immortal Realm Level One try to claw his way through me!”
The armored circle of Imperial Guards tightened, helmets clanging together as they pressed in, eager for the spectacle, Earthly Immortal Realm Level One challenging Earthly Immortal Realm Level Nine in a death match.
Yuliana started forward. but Jared’s silent glance pinned in place. He needed Rylan broken, needed every watcher in Celestia to see why a mere outsider could stand as an equal to Celestia.
Rylan strode into the martial arts arena, silver spear whirling until its point steadied on Jared’s chest. “Brat, I won’t be accused of bullying. You strike first.”
Jared said nothing. He merely turned his wrist. The Dragonslayer Sword flickered into existence, the metal humming like distant thunder.
Lightning rippled down the blade’s spine-liquid silver edged in stormlight, its killing aura blooming so fiercely that the Imperial Guards shivered as if winter had arrived in a single breath.
“So it all comes down to toys,” Rylan sneered, rolling his eyes. “For a moment, I mistook you for a real fighter, not some brat hiding behind fine steel.”
Jared’s figure dissolved, one heartbeat there, the next a smear of motionless air.
Startled, Rylan snapped the silver spear into a spinning wall, every inch of its haft weaving an unbroken shell of metal gleam.
Metal rang. A shrill crack followed. Half the spear arced away, severed clean, clattering across the flagstones like a discarded dream.
“What?” Rylan gasped, eyes flaring wide. Disbelief warped his features, sweat gathered at his temples like dew on cold glass.
The silver spear had been forged from century-tempered mithril, an heirloom said to shrug off Earthly Immortal Realm Level Nine strikes. The Dragonslayer Sword scythed through it as if it were rotted bamboo.
Jared allowed no pause. The bright blade traced a straight, inevitable line toward Rylan’s throat.
Terror cracked Rylan’s composure. He twisted aside just in time, even so, the passing wind sliced open a red thread across his neck.
“S-Stop!” yelped, stumbling backward through dust and broken pride.
“This match is void!” shouted, clutching the torn edge of his collar. “You used a divine weapon while I held an ordinary mithril spear. The advantage is outrageous, this proves nothing!”
Murmurs rippled through the ranks of Imperial Guard, agreement mixed with lingering awe, some insisting Jared’s victory rested on steel, not skill.
