Chapter 254: Two Strikes
Kai was standing in this arena to survive.
He wasn’t playing around.
In order for him to stop being discriminated against and live a life that was more bearable and livable than right now, he needed to become the Red Prince. Elevating his class from Lesser Angel to Angel is not possible; the Chancellor made it clear, so he needed to find another way.
And this was that other way. No other choice for him but to win.
Especially when his life hangs in the balance.
Losing would mean being hunted by the people who wanted him dead, and becoming a criminal for what he did in Aurelian Academy. For him—this tournament was everything. Regardless of his condition, he expected his enemy to take it seriously.
He expected Barbara to come at him with all her might.
But she didn’t, and it was an insult.
"Enough, Barbara..." Kai’s voice echoed again. "I’ve had enough of you. Let’s end this."
"Okay." Barbara nodded and summoned something. Mana gathered above her and formed a fiery-red bird with a pair of big wings that had a very wide wingspan. It latched onto her back and then flared its wings to the sides. "I’m going to go all-out. Be prepared, Lesser Angel."
It’s too late.
Kai lowered his stance and channelled the Ending Fragment of Stone—tapping into the Inner Strength of Stone. His body sank and rooted onto the ground like a boulder, and then he used the energy he gathered from blocking her attacks that triggered Retribution.
He channelled it into his right fist, and then waited.
On the other hand, the crowd also held their breath as tension rose in the arena.
"Is he really not going to use his scimitar? Bare-handed?"
"He must be playing around, right? No way that he can defeat Barbara without a weapon."
Doubt spread across the crowd, but it didn’t matter.
Kai knew that this was the end for Barbara. He had been watching her movements and attack patterns closely, and branded it to his mind. And with the intuition of the Perfect Slash Ending Fragment, he spotted her weakness.
Spotted the area where she was weakest.
"Die!"
Boom—!
Kai opened his eyes wide, narrowing his focus to only register Barbara.
The wings behind her flapped hard, blasting her forward in a straight line. She was fast—She must’ve also used another Legacy Imprint that pushed her speed to the limit, judging by how mana swirled around her legs.
Even then, Kai was ready.
He could perceive her coming, and his body tensed to react.
"Raarggh!"
Barbara roared as a trail of flaming red dragged behind her.
She then swung her blazing axe in a vicious horizontal arc—aiming to cleave Kai in two. The heat arrived before the blade, sizzling against his skin like a brand pressed too close. But this time, her swing came higher.
It was going for his upper torso.
Perhaps the anger and strength exertion made her aim worse.
Regardless, it was a mistake.
Kai bravely dashed into Barbara’s savage arc, avoiding the flaming axe by lowering his stance and then rising up again in an instant. The momentum carried her and exposed her body for a counterattack. Her hand let go of the handle and dropped to protect her core.
But Kai expected this, straightening his left arm and striking his forearm against her throat.
He could hear the muffled sound of gasping and choking.
Barbara’s hands reached for her throat on instinct.
Shock flared in her eyes, but she quickly blinked when she saw Kai already leaning forward.
He was leaning low. Very low.
She fought against her baser instincts—and forced her arms to cross in front of her body in an attempt to shield whatever came next. Kai expected this once again, dipping low in a feint to get this reaction, and then whipped his arm wide and came down with a brutal overhand.
No time to react.
Barbara could only clench her jaw and brace for impact.
And with the sound of a thick branch snapping under a boot, his knuckles smashed hard into Barbara’s temple.
Crack—!
Ragnar recoiled on his seat, eyes widening in surprise.
He watched as fragments of Barbara’s mask scattered through the air like broken glass as the blow connected. And then, like a car losing its steering power, she began to wobble, swaying left, swaying right, then stumbling back and forth uncontrollably.
Barbara slipped and fell, and tried to stand up again.
But she couldn’t stand still.
"No..." Ragnar rasped in disbelief. "No, no, no, no—this can’t be happening."
On Barbara’s back, the bird dissolved into mana.
She was desperate to regain her balance. Desperate to remain standing.
But the punch must’ve broken something inside her head.
Her ears were ringing. Her head was throbbing—And the world was spinning in her eyes. No matter how hard she tried to stop the chaos, there was simply no chance. Her body wouldn’t listen to her anymore.
Like the stem connecting her body to her brain was completely severed. She lost control.
For a suspended moment, the silence choked the stadium.
Everyone simply stared—the sight of Barbara wobbling everywhere was too shocking to wrap their heads around. Then, one student rose to her feet and clapped in excitement, ignoring the choking silence.
"Hooray!" Bree clapped excitedly, filled with euphoria to see Kai beating Barbara easily.
A few others stood up.
Dorian and Bryan also rose from their seats and punched the air, roaring like fans who’d just seen their club score the winning goal at the final whistle. But Dorian didn’t stop at cheering. He turned to face the Auric Cabal, grabbed his groin with his hand, mocking them further.
"In your face, bitches! Even playing dirty can’t help your leader win against Kai!"
He laughed out loud, holding his belly and pointing at them in ridicule.
Despite their anger, none of the students from Auric Cabal retorted.
It was their leader’s second defeat.
No more excuses.
"Sit back down." Matilda pulled Dorian to his seat. "Why are you instigating them?"
"Did you forget? They were involved with what happened to Kai." Dorian retorted angrily.
He didn’t forget that it was the Ichor Legion and Auric Cabal that cleared the dormitory.
Both worked together against Kai, and that makes them their enemies.
And then, as if finally registering what happened, the crowd erupted—the stadium was split into two. On one side, there were students who were outraged and couldn’t believe that Kai actually won against Barbara. Some of them were even trying to snap Barbara with their voices.
On the other, the other students who were excited to see the Lesser Angel’s strength screamed and cheered.
A rising tide of absolute euphoria.
Overhearing the discussions between freshmen about the Lesser Angel, coupled with the very sudden surrender from Roan, had increased their anticipation for the Lesser Angel’s strength, and it did not disappoint.
"Holy shit! Did you see that?"
"Nah, I refused to believe he’s a Lesser Angel. His divine lock must’ve mutated at least!"
"Regardless—defeating a High Angel with above-average combat ability with two hits? That’s ridiculous, no? He didn’t even use mana."
Everyone couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
And the more one thought about it, the more surprising this situation became
Several Deans, other than Dean Lincoln, were surprised by the sight, too.
"It was true that all of them are still in the Awakened Supernal rank—so the gap in strength is not that obvious yet. But he’s abnormally strong for a Lesser Angel. Is his divine bloodline really good?"
"Moros, I believe. His bloodline is a high-rated one. And I know that he’s really strong."
"Is he from the Blood Rite you oversaw, Dean Lincoln?"
"Yes."
"A high-rated divine bloodline does raise his base stats before ever climbing up the ranks, that is certain, but he still has only one divine lock. And even if we assume that single divine lock somehow held more mana than a standard one, this is still absurd. No recorded mutation of a divine lock has ever more than doubled its mana capacity other than the special one."
"He can’t have that. Only Supernals of an Olympian God could have that."
"Either way, he’s a really surprising student. He can be of great use in the Second Sky. Shame that he has ambition."
Meanwhile, Kai watched silently as Barbara wobbled a few steps from him.
No matter which way she went, her eyes remained focused on her. It was the fire in her that still refused to lose, but it was already over. Her body was already rejecting her desire to fight, and that much is clear.
Slowly, Kai approached her and grabbed her by her shoulders, stopping her from moving.
His dark eyes then bore into her—looking into her soul.
"You already lost, Barbara," Kai stated and slowly guided her down to her knees. "Accept it."
Strength escaped her body as she finally understood that it was already over.
Just one punch to her face, and she was defeated.
Kai stared intently at her left and then her right, watching the realization settle in like a stone into still water. He leaned in close enough to hear her weak breaths, and his voice dropped to a whisper. "Earlier, you told me to be a man. To hold up my end of the bargain."
He paused, and then asked, "Are you going to hold up your end?"
Memories flashed inside her mind.
She remembered the bet that she made with Kai.
And then remembered how she openly mocked Kai earlier. She was confident then, powerful, believing that she was going to win. Now she was defeated easily, on her knees—and had to be helped to understand she had already lost.
Barbara then felt a weight in her hands.
She looked down and saw Kai helping her hold her flaming battle axe again.
Every pair of eyes fixed on the arena, but Kai didn’t care.
He simply stood up and walked back to where he stood earlier.
Like an executioner waiting for a decree, he stood behind the Blood-phantom Scimitar stabbed into the ground, rested his hands on top of the handle, and watched Barbara. He was still like a statue—waiting.
Barbara threw the battle axe upward.
It spun gently—the blades cut the air in a whirl of fire as all eyes fixated on it.
Nobody knew what she was doing.
And then, she clasped her hands in prayer.
"I have done wrongs. Ruler of the skies and earth, have mercy on my soul."
Swoosh—!
As she finished her prayer, the flaming axe descended in a final, merciless arc. Its searing edge sliced cleanly through flesh—Barbara’s head left her shoulders, dropping to the stone with a soft, terrible thud right as the axe buried into the ground before her.
Blood spilled in a dark, glistening pool beneath the severed crown.
Kai watched her head roll to his feet, and there was no shift on his cold face.