The Last Dainv

Chapter 279

Gale saw William standing there with his eyes directly glaring at him. Not once did this man blink ever since he came here and looked his way. In other words, this man was looking for a challenge, and it was on.

Mr. Yang raised his hand. "That would not be allowed. Combat stress tests are conducted by certified instructors to prevent unnecessary harm to either party."

"I understand your concern, Mr. Yang. However, I will enact my right as a United Knight affiliate," William said confidently. "Under Article 16, Section 4 of the Neutrality laws signed by the three major factors in 1985, should a problematic Aurian be identified, a more thorough investigation can be requested."

"I'm assuming the paperwork on your end is done?" Mr. Yang asked.

"Of course."

"And the processing fee?"

Will took a pouch from his blazer's inner pocket and threw it to Mr. Yang, who caught it with one hand. He loosened the drawstring and his eyes counted the contents inside.

"50 gold coins." Mr. Yang smiled coldly. "Your patronage is most welcome, Mr. Elisworth. Very well. Under Article 16, Section 4, Line 22 of the Neutrality Law enacted in 1985, I hereby declare this evaluation to be given to Mr. Elisworth, affiliate of Order 17 of the United Knights."

"What?!" Rachel shouted, turning to Esther. "Grandma, do something about this!"

Esther remained upright. Her expression didn't seem to change from the amusement she'd gotten since watching Gale earlier.

"I don't see any harm in this. A test is simply a test. Not something that would endanger Gale's life," she said.

"That's not the point!" Rachel snapped back toward William, her fists clenched at her sides. The temperature in the gym-sized room climbed by a few degrees.

"Mr. Yang is more than qualified to verify whether Gale used foul play on his stage increases. He's been conducting these tests for decades. You're being completely unreasonable."

William offered a slight bow to Mr. Yang. "I apologize if my request has insulted Mr. Yang's capabilities. However, as my family is an affiliate of the United Knights, we possess the most extensive knowledge regarding demonic entities and their occult manifestations. It is only prudent that such an evaluation be conducted by someone with direct field experience in these matters."

Mr. Yang chuckled slightly. "No offense taken. Mr. Elisworth makes a valid point. Theoretical knowledge and practical experience are two different beasts."

Fifty gold coins probably helped him with that opinion. Gale wanted some of those too. What kind of things does he need to do to earn some of those coins that Lily also used? And most importantly, what kind of yummy food and snacks could he get?

Gale tugged at Rachel's sleeve. She resisted for a moment, then turned back to him. "What's wrong?"

"I'll be ok," he whispered.

Rachel raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Gale leaned closer, now whispering into her ear. "He's weaker than me. I can feel it. This one's in the bag."

Rachel sighed and then whispered back into his ear. "That's exactly why I'm worried! You might hurt him, and that'll become my family's problem. What if he breaks an arm or a leg or maybe both?"

"A quick gun syringe and a spit and shine should do the trick."

"No way."

Gale looked into Rachel's eyes. She really was more worried about William. But her worry made him want to take on the challenge even more.

"I want to hurt him," he whispered sternly.

Rachel stammered, staring at him for a couple of seconds. "What did you just say?"

"I said, I wanna hurt him."

"Why?"

"Just because. I don't like how you don't want me to hurt him."

The temperature around Rachel climbed a bit faster after he said that. She cleared her throat, then said, "Fine. But make sure he's still able to use his mouth when you're done. We need him conscious enough to admit the test was clean."

"Only if you give me two Bueno bars."

"Two?!" Rachel's whisper turned incredulous. "That's a steep price. Are the twins really getting to you?!"

"Please?"

Rachel glared at him. "Deal. But I don't have it with me. What about after?"

Gale nodded. As long as she has the two bueno bars no later than next week, it's future calories. Two bueno bars were a jackpot. Maybe he should've asked for three.

William had already walked up to the arena, positioning himself at the far end of the circular stone platform. He turned to face Gale with a smirk that made his face look even more punchable.

If only he could punch it, but for today, William was lucky. He'd only have a broken arm and a leg.

"Come along then, feral," William called out. "I should warn you. This test is meant to push you to your absolute limit. It's meant to bring out whatever demon lurks inside. Or should I say... Dark Hunter?"

The words slapped Gale right in the face and into the stomach towards his guts that made it feel like this was probably William's ultimate move. He said the forbidden name that was never to be said out loud--dark hunter.

That was one goddamned time. One time in Bowmanville, now everyone knows about it. If he could go back in time and slap his younger self for saying the line, he would. However... although he didn't like it when other people were saying it, the dark hunter now will clean up this young master idiot that just said the forbidden words.

The cringe transformed into pure rage that sent essence into his fist.

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Stepping onto the arena, Gale took the position opposite William. Looking down at the stone, he noticed the myriad of runes engraved onto the stone floor.

Mr. Yang walked to the edge of the arena. He placed both palms against the outer boundary and pushed his ether into the stone.

The runic inscriptions began to emanate a teal glow that spread across the floor, filling up the whole runic inscription array like flowing water. The light intensified with each pulse, and a transparent barrier erected along the edge of the arena.

William stood across from him, wearing the most punchable smirk that Gale had ever seen. His stance was loose as if not taking him seriously. His eyes darted from him to Rachel, and that slightly too long of a stare at her made him even more mad.

"Both personnel, please ready up," Mr. Yang said.

William reached into his blazer. His hand emerged with a small metal rod, no longer than a pen. With a flick of his wrist, the rod extended telescopically, segment after segment clicking into place until it formed a full-length wand.

It looked like a magical wand, except not wood. Gale almost grew disappointed, expecting something straight out of one of those magical school books that he read. Too bad reality was very far off from those books.

Looking towards Rachel, they both made eye contact.

Rachel nodded once, as if she knew what he wanted to ask.

Mist formed in his hand as Erebus materialized onto his right hand. The dark hunter welcomed his friend who resided deep within the vast ocean of darkness.

"A sword made of darkness," William's eyes locked onto Erebus. "How very fitting for a feral."

Gale smiled. "Thanks."

William coughed. "For what?"

"You called me a feral."

"That's not supposed to be a compliment, you stupid feral."

"It's a compliment." Gale adjusted his grip on Erebus as the darkness inside the sword yearned for the blood of the one who was trying to make him feel bad. "It means I can survive a rift better than you."

William's smirk vanished. The confidence he once showed no longer to be seen from his loose posture. "You're going to regret saying that."

"And you're going to regret calling me Dark Hunter."

William groaned as his wand flickered with a slight intense golden light. "Enough talk."

Mr. Yang cleared his throat from outside the arena. "It appears everyone has gotten it out of their systems. A reminder of the rules: no lethal attacks. If your opponent can no longer continue fighting, the match immediately stops. Any violation will result in severe consequences under Neutral Grounds law."

He paused, then turned toward Esther.

"Lady Ann, I must ask for your assistance. Should the match require stopping, I may need to intrude upon your skills."

Esther nodded once.

Gale took on a low stance, Erebus right behind him.

William kept his stance loose as orbs of light rotated around him.

Mr. Yang raised his hand high.

"Evaluation, START!"

"Tempus Catena! Orbis Tardus!" William moved first. A given, as an Attuned would be slower than him.

His wand traced a complex star pattern in the air, golden light trailing. A temporal array of chains bloomed across the entire arena floor.

This was basically cheating. The arena was far too small for anyone to avoid a full temporal field. Every inch of the stone platform now fell under his domain. Since the feral was a pure physical type, this would easily be his win.

Except the feral vanished from the arena's floor.

William's eyes darted across the arena. The dark-haired boy had been just there a split second ago. Snapping his head left to right, now there was no one there. But then he noticed Esther's eyes looking above him.

Impossible.

One of his light orbs exploded above his head.

"Sanctus velocitas!" William shouted. Ether surged inside of his body as he zipped three metres to the left. That temporal explosion where the feral had struck, if he had stayed in place, the slow would have applied on him too.

Which would mean the feral was stuck by it, exactly as he pla-

Gale faded into view as the haziness that covered his entity dissipated. The dark sword was pointed at his neck, all with that lowly grin.

"That's all Richie Rich has to offer?" Gale asked.

William gritted his teeth. The arrogance of this low born, uneducated, uncivilized feral dared to mock him? He'd never had this kind of mockery since that spar with Rachel four years ago. A lowly attuned daring to provoke a Mid-Resonant.

How foolish.

"Lux Sagittae!" William shouted as he swirled his wand in a rapid spiral. Behind him, 120 arrows of light materialized, each one spun, causing a ring. With a thrust of his wand, all 120 launched simultaneously.

The feral moved. Too fast that he couldn't keep track of the movements. For snapshots of a second, a dark blade became visible that swatted away an arrow of light. The rest missed.

His blade hit each arrow at the tip of his blade and at the tip of the arrow's point. An impossible feat that no Attuned possessed. Unless he was a demon... but no.

Mr. Yang and Esther were basically the proctors of this test. There was no way they felt any demonic energy or occult residues in the way this feral fought.

The feral closed the distance again in almost an instant. But William already anticipated it.

"Sancuts Velocitas!" William displaced backward just as that dark blade sliced through the space his neck had occupied.

"Aegis Temporis!" he shouted again, this time waving his wand in a cross and encasing it into a circle.

240 golden orbs lit up into existence, forming a protective barrier that rotated around his body. Close-range combat was clearly this feral's domain. He would simply deny him that advantage.

But again, William had to dodge another strike. The sword was gone. In its place, a dark halberd in the feral's grip.

When did he?! How?!

William expanded the rotating orbs outward, sending them hurtling toward Gale in a spiralling wave.

Each orb carried a temporal debuff. One touch of the orb, and it would explode and slow the target down completely by at least a stage.

Suddenly, the halberd vanished into a black mist and a shield took its place.

The feral raised it and charged directly through the wave of orbs. Golden light splashed against dark metal, each collision releasing a temporal burst that should have slowed him down.

But the demon wasn't slowing down.

William saw the sprinkles of light that bent around the demon's body that were supposed to slow him down. Yet it seemed to have no effect, or was it just that fast?

Again, he had to displace himself to avoid the sword to his neck.

"Enough playing," William shouted, raising his etheric signature to its peak. The full weight of Mid Resonant bore down on the arena. This lowly Attuned demon had actually forced him to get serious.

"Septem Gladii Lucis!"

Seven swords of light materialized around William's body. Each one was a golden condensed light of ether, sharp enough to cut through any demon's trick. He waved his hands directly down at the demon's middle, and the swords took action.

They moved in flowing patterns that took on a relentless assault on the target. Overlapping trajectories flowed one into another. Feinting strikes that should have put him off balance. This was a technique that Brother Ignius had taught him, a Late-Mystic. A simple Attuned could possibly not have defended against this.

So then why!?

The demon danced with the blades. At times, it blocked them completely. Most of the time, it captured the sword's momentum onto its own. And what was even more daring was using the other blades as footholds to create an inhumane dodging pattern that mocked gravity.

The sword changed multiple times in seconds. One time, a halberd. The other time, a sword.

Then a hammer smashed into the first sword, completely shattering it into bits of light.

Then the second with his sabre. Shattered once again.

William couldn't even keep up with the transformations anymore.

The third came from behind. The demon spun, using the momentum of its parry from the front to redirect its own blade. Again, shattered.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth attacks in rapid succession met with a giant hammer.

All shattered after meeting the dark metal.

Only the seventh remained.

William breathed rapidly. Panic was setting in. He'd lose at this point, right in front of Rachel and Esther Ann.

"In nomine regis, gladius iudicii descendat!"

The arena shook. A massive circle bloomed above the arena. Inside the circle were 7 heavenly golden stars. A giant Sword of Light poked out of it, as if descending from the heavens.

His most lethal move, which was only approved for rift-only use. The conjuration of this was an accident. Esther would understand the necessity against an unknown demon, he smirked.

Then his eyes caught the demon smirking back at him. A flash of billions of inky dark patterns bloomed across the demon's skin and eyes.

A dull pain emanated from the crown of William's head. His eyes blurred for a second.

When his vision returned, the sight was clear. Gladius had shattered into a thousand fading fragments.

Before he knew it, he was sailing through the air as his right arm spiralled through the air; his left leg followed close behind.

A demon? Probably not. But that one was a monster in human skin.