CHAPTER 56: ACCIDENT

With each exchange she created faster combinations: upward cut, thrust, reverse backhand, and feint into spinning heel-slash.

Kai responded by shifting one step, two steps, or sometimes not at all; he simply raised Emberstorm and parried with lazy precision, like a senior drilling footwork for a junior disciple.

"Stop... playing... around!" The girl hissed, ankle digging into the earth. Her violet ponytail whipped behind her as she vaulted off a stone and slashed at Kai’s ribs.

Clang!

Emberstorm flicked sideways. The impact reverberated up her arm, numbing her wrist. What frustrated her even more was Kai’s expression was calm, bored, and mildly amused.

Kai yawned aloud. "Did you even use your full strength all this time?"

A vein bulged on the girl’s forehead. "You—"

Before she could finish, Kai deflected another attack and whispered, "Too slow," right into her ear, having stepped through her guard without her noticing.

He tapped the flat of Emberstorm against her shoulder as if awarding a point in friendly sparring.

Humiliation flooded her cheeks crimson. She shot backward, landing in a crouch. "Fine. Let’s see you mock this!"

Mana surged. Lunaria’s sword quivered, drinking in light as she used her skill [Luminous Quadrablade].

Four after-images erupted behind her—phantom blades formed of condensed sword intent. Each mirrored her weapon’s exact angle, shimmering like silver petals.

Kai’s eyes lit with mild appreciation. "Sword-type composite skill? Pretty."

He still didn’t shift his stance.

"Break!" The girl shouted.

The four phantoms whistled forward in a crisscrossing X, their trajectories designed to carve an enemy into equal quarters while the real blade stabbed straight for the heart.

Even weighed down by a sleeping tiger, Kai reacted a breath before contact. His left foot drew half a circle, pivoting his frame, and Emberstorm rose in a diagonal guard.

Boom!

The first phantom slammed against Emberstorm and shattered into motes. A second collided from the opposite flank.

Kai’s elbow dipped, sword rotating, devouring that impact as well. The real girl arrived at the same instant—her thrust as swift as a comet.

Kai’s pupils shrank. "Serious enough. My turn."

Brilliant orange mana flared down Emberstorm’s edge. Heat rippled, and grass within three meters wilted.

He slashed forward as he used the sword skill from the Emberstorm Sword [Inferno Splitting Slash].

A crescent of roaring flame burst forth and met Lunaria’s charge head-on. The fiery arc swallowed the remaining two phantoms and her live blade in a single detonation.

BOOM!

When the smoke cleared, the girl was on one knee ten meters away, armor scorched, sword trembling in her grip. A black line smoked across the ground, marking the path of Inferno Splitting Slash.

She stared at Kai in disbelief. "That power... from just one attack?"

Kai slipped Emberstorm over his shoulder. "If I used my full strength, the ridge behind you would be gone."

The girl panted. Pride warred with caution in her eyes. At last she bit her lip and executed a swift sword salute. "I admit defeat in direct sword force. But I still have another move. Can you block a spiritual edge?"

Kai tilted his head. "Spiritual edge?"

The girl inhaled as she used her skill [Moon-Severing Silk]. Mana and intent condensed until her blade shed its steel form, becoming a translucent arc of pure will. Air rippled around it.

The sword vanished. Instead, a thread-thin white line extended from her palm—almost invisible, sharper than anything forged.

Princess Sylvia raised a brow. "Ah, she’s using all of her strength in one thread."

Kai cracked his neck. "Threads are meant to be cut."

He crouched slightly as agility nodes in his body ignited like lanterns. Even at half movement speed, stats were stats. The ground caved beneath his launch.

The girl slashed the Moon-Severing Silk. The thread flickered, slashing boulders and trees along the way, several trajectories bending in midair like a predatory ribbon.

Kai watched calmly. Sudden gusts told him every angle. When the thread whipped for his throat, his physique tensed as blood circulated explosively, and he timed a single sidestep.

Fshhh—

The lethal filament skimmed his cheek, cutting three strands of hair. Before the girl could redirect, Kai’s left hand caught the intangible line between two fingers.

A collective gasp sounded. Even Princess Sylvia’s eyes widened. "He caught it?"

Kai grinned. "Nice trick. Unfortunately—"

He pulled, and mana-reinforced muscles yanked the girl off her feet like a fish on a hook. She was mid-air with eyes opened, unable to release the technique because severing it herself would give a backlash.

Kai channeled mana through his grip. The Moon-Severing Silk flared—then shattered into harmless light.

The girl hit the grass, rolling. When she looked up, Kai was already standing over her, Emberstorm’s point poised half an inch from her nose.

"You’re actually not that bad," he said softly. "Unfortunately, your opponent is me."

The girl closed her eyes, exhaled, and let go of her sword. "I... lost."

Kai sheathed Emberstorm. "Good fight. Your basics are solid. Train your body to match your intent. Next time, you might make me use two hands."

The girl flushed as she felt half shame and finally said,. "I... will."

Princess Sylvia came over, clapping lightly. "I didn’t expect that you’re really this strong. You’ve indeed proven your worth with this since you could effortlessly defeat her like this. No wonder you dared to claim yourself to be invincible within the same rank."

She then shook her head slowly with a smile. "However, this is what makes me much more suspicious of you. Because it still doesn’t make sense for you to be this strong even if you completed the strongest advancement mission and received a 3x amplification rate."

"So..." She stopped and tapped her feet lightly on the ground, then looked at Kai with a calm expression. "What’s your true intention by showing me all of this?"

Kai smiled calmly as he looked at Princess Sylvia in front of him before letting out a deep sigh.

Sigh!

"Are you sure you want to know the reason?" Kai asked with a serious expression.

Princess Sylvia only responded with a nod.

"I hope you won’t regret this." Kai chuckled and showed his class’ information casually.

When she looked at the new information below Kai’s race, Princess Sylvia opened her eyes widely in shock before cursing out loudly. "Fuck!"

She then immediately became wary and crushed the white jade pendant on her waist before moving instantly to her sister and bringing her to Kai’s side.

Afterward, she looked at the two middle-aged men seriously and shouted at the projection that was about to form. "Dad, I’ve found him."

"And don’t let them go." Princess Sylvia unsheathed her sword as she prepared for the worst-case scenario.