CHAPTER 223: CHAPTER 223 - CLASH

The crowd noticed something odd.

"Uh... why are those black-robed women not moving?"

"They’ve been standing like statues since they arrived."

"Are they... searching for the keys like that?"

Lucien and Marie noticed it too.

The black-robed duo stood silently at the very front of the spire’s lowest ring.

Completely still.

Marie’s ears twitched. "Are they... analyzing the spire?"

Lucien shook his head slowly.

He didn’t understand them but something about their stillness was wrong.

A chill slid down his spine.

"Are they waiting," he murmured, "for the keys to appear before they strike?"

Marie’s tail poofed out like a startled cat.

"That’s worse."

Suddenly—

RUMMMMMBLE—!!

The entire spire shifted.

Platforms rearranged.

Bridges rotated out.

Rings realigned with thunderous clicks.

And all ten pairs scattered across the first ring, searching.

Runes flickered across the pillars. Light beams blinked in patterns.Shadow silhouettes hinted at invisible paths. Some bridges only materialized when viewed at an angle.

The clues were scattered, but decipherable... only if one had a sharp mind and sharper instincts.

Marie glanced at Lucien. "Luc... what do you think?"

He activated Perfect Calculation.

Lines, angles, rotations. The entire structure unfolded in his mind like a geometric flower pulling itself open.

"Five potential key-signatures," he murmured. "Two likely fakes. Three genuine."

Marie gaped. "How do you know?"

Lucien shrugged lightly.

"Just because."

"...What does that even mean???"

"Later," he said. "Run."

Across the ring—

The Obsidian Scholars froze at the same instant.

Then the third eyes junior whispered:

"...There."

The 4th brother gasped.

"I see it! The resonance point!"

They sprinted toward a rotating platform.

Marie turned to look.

"Luc! They found one!"

He exhaled. "As expected of them..."

A pulse of light shimmered under one spinning platform.

There’s a spectral glint, barely visible, only for a heartbeat...

The first Astral Key.

Marie’s eyes widened.

"We have to hurr—"

But she cut herself off.

Because the black-robed women finally moved.

The air cracked like brittle bone.

In the instant the key materialized... the black-robed duo vanished.

Marie’s breath hitched.

"They’re—!!"

Lucien’s instincts roared.

"They’re going for it."

The two women flickered into existence in front of the Obsidian Scholars... moving faster than the previous trials.

No hesitation. No warning. No words.

Just—

SSSHHHK—!!

A whip-like strike intercepted the scholar holding the key. A sweeping kick nearly knocked the younger one off the platform.

Their movements are cold and precise as if they’d rehearsed this ambush hundreds of times.

The scholars staggered.

Marie hissed. "They’re stealing it..."

But the third-eye scholar snarled,

"NOT TODAY!!"

He slammed his palm onto a hidden rune.

BOOOOOOM—!!

A shock barrier detonated outward, throwing both pairs apart.

The key spun into the air... gleaming like a falling star.

And that single glittering arc...

...set off absolute pandemonium.

Five pairs lunged instantly:

• the Black-Robed Duo

• the Obsidian Scholars

• the Dawnblade pair

• the Scarlet siblings

• AND the shaved-head traitor, diving headfirst screaming,

"MINEEEEE!!"

Marie deadpanned:

"Oh gods, he’s going for it too."

Lucien grabbed her hand.

"Stay away from the pile."

Marie nodded fiercely.

"That’s a blender. Not going near that."

The black-robed women adjusted their position mid-air. Their double strike forced the Dawnblade pair completely off the key’s trajectory.

The Scarlet Sect disciplease tried to argue mid-fight—

"MOVE YOUR BIG HEAD!!"

"STOP YELLING—THE CHAIN—!!"

The Astral Chain snapped tight, yanking them together so hard they rolled across the platform like angry dumplings.

The scholars tried to shield themselves with runes but the black-robed women shattered them effortlessly.

The shaved-head traitor... somehow missed the key entirely and tackled his own partner instead.

"WHY DID YOU JUMP ON ME?!"

"YOU LOOKED LIKE A KEY—!!"

"WHAT ABOUT ME LOOKS LIKE A—?!"

Lucien covered his face with a groan.

"I can’t believe they made it this far."

Marie, equally baffled:

"Honestly? I’m rooting for them."

Just then...

Lucien felt something subtle.

A shift.

His Perfect Calculation activated naturally.

"...The keys’ location aren’t random..." he whispered.

Marie blinked. "What?"

"It’s following a gravitational alignment based on the Spire’s rotation."

"Meaning—?"

"We can predict where the others are."

Marie’s eyes widened.

"Luc... are we going for it?"

He didn’t answer immediately.

He stared at the contenders.

Five pairs had fallen into a furious clash. The others scoured the spire for any sign of another key.

In that chaos, with everyone’s focus scattered... Everyone was distracted.

Marie squeezed his hand.

"...Luc?"

He exhaled softly.

"Yeah. We’re going for it."

"And the black-robed women?" she whispered nervously.

Lucien’s lips curled into a dangerous grin.

"They’re all focused on the center."

"So we take the path no one else sees."

Marie grinned back, tail flicking.

"Now that... is our style."

•••

The battlefiel roared as the clash intensified.

Their restraints were finally gone. Everyone stopped holding back.

The Scarlet Sect disciples abruptly stopped bickering.

Their eyes sharpened and their flames steadied. The battlefield seemed to tilt toward them.

Then—

They moved.

Perfectly. Like twin meteors chained together by living fire.

Their feet struck the platform at the exact same angle. Their blades swept in synchronized arcs. Not once did the Astral Chain tighten or hinder them. It flowed behind their movements like a burning ribbon.

The crowd exploded.

"WAIT—THE SCARLET DISCIPLES WERE HIDING THIS?!"

"They were HOLDING BACK?!"

"THAT’S WHY HE CHOSE HIS SENIOR SISTER. THEY’RE MONSTERS WHEN THEY’RE SERIOUS!!"

Their fiery tempo forced the Dawnblade pair back...

...until the Dawnblades finally shed their own restraint.

Their stance shifted.

Two swords. Four edges. A mirrored killing rhythm.

The chain pulled them closer...

...and they used it.

Tight, brutal patterns. Sword arcs weaved in complementary motion. Dawnlight clashed with twin flame in a danse macabre of steel and fire.

A metallic shockwave erupted as they collided...

CLAAAAAAANG—!!

Marie’s ears flattened.

"Okay—NOW they’re scary."

Lucien nodded grimly.

"I guess they’re all taking this seriously now."

In the center, the Obsidian Scholars recovered from the blast.

Runes spiraled up their arms as the third-eye junior flicked a barrage of sigils at the black-robed duo.

"Senior Brother—pattern six—intercept!"

The elder scholar kicked off the platform, dragging his junior by the chain and turning their bind into a pivot point.

Together, they spun...

A rotating runic barrier spiraled outward from their movement like a mechanical halo.

The crowd gasped.

"THE SCHOLARS ARE ACTUALLY GOOD AT FIGHTING?!"

"THAT SPINNING RUNIC WHEEL—WHAT TECHNIQUE IS THAT?!"

"IT’S LIKE WATCHING A HUMAN EQUATION COME ALIVE!"

Their movements weren’t forceful...

...they were mathematical.

Every strike redirected force through the chain.

Every parry used angles to minimize impact.

Every leap used shared momentum.

And slicing straight through all of them...

The black-robed women.

Their attacks were unnerving.

Precise. Silent. Unfaltering.

When one attacked, the other mirrored.

When one stepped, the other flowed.

When one blocked, the other countered in the same breath.

Their chain drifted behind them like a ghostly ribbon.

It never tightened. It never hindered. It never misaligned.

The crowd shuddered.

"THEIR SYNC... IT’S INHUMAN!"

"HOW DOES THE CHAIN NOT AFFECT THEM?!"

"THE SCARLET, DAWNBLADE, SCHOLARS... THEY’RE ALL AMAZING, BUT THIS—THIS IS ANOTHER LEVEL!!"

•••

But while the arena focused on the explosive battle—

The shaved-head traitor and his partner quietly edged backward. Slow. Quiet. Unnoticed.

His unconscious partner dangled over his back like a sack. He knocked him out again for good measure.

Step by step... he slipped into the shadow of a pillar.

Not even the crowd realized it.

But Marie did.

"...Luc. Where’s the baldy?"

Lucien blinked.

Scanned the battlefield.

"...He’s gone."

Marie’s tail bristled.

"That’s worse than him screaming."

Lucien’s eyes narrowed.

"He’s up to something. Stay sharp."

Just then—

Lucien felt it.

A gaze.

A slow-burning, predatory pressure that crawled across his skin.

He turned...

...and froze.

Lilith.

Leader of the Star-Forge Cartel.

She was draped in starlight armor. The Astral chain linked her to her space prodigy partner.

Her presence was a cold aurora of quiet power.

And her eyes...

Were locked directly onto him.

She wasn’t searching for clues. She wasn’t running the puzzle. She wasn’t even pretending to engage the others.

She was simply... watching him.

Waiting.

Like a lioness waiting for her prey to make the first move.

Lucien swallowed hard.

Marie noticed instantly.

Her ear twitched.

"...Luc?"

He didn’t answer.

Lilith’s gaze didn’t blink.

Marie followed his line of sight—

"Ohhhh."

Her tail curled like a hook.

"Oh no. She’s making eyes at you again."

Lucien flicked her forehead.

"Don’t say it like that."

Marie giggled.

"Wow. Lucky guy!"

Lucien clicked his tongue.

"Shut up."

But inside—

He was rattled.

Lilith’s stare wasn’t admiration.

It wasn’t interest. It wasn’t threat.

It was... calculation.

As if she already knew—

Lucien could find the keys.

And she was merely waiting for him to show her where.