Chapter 114: Facing The Crown Vanguard
The Solar-Forged Edge, The Royal Vanguard
The morning sun shone down on the Colosseum like a spotlight.
A hundred thousand fans filled every available seat. The air buzzed with noise, chatter, betting slips, and the smell of roasted meat from the vendor stalls. Banners fluttered from the upper rafters, half of them royal gold, half of them mismatched and homemade, scribbled with names like "TEAM SOUP" and "SLUM BOY."
Emric walked next to Holden. He had his shield ready on one arm, and his other hand twitching at his side.
"Statistically speaking, the Semi-Finals are where most non-Capital teams completely collapse," he said, his voice tight. "The mental pressure alone slows down your reaction time by about twelve percent. Not to mention the Crown Vanguard has a winning streak of forty-seven straight matches across three whole seasons."
"Emric." Renna bounced on her heels behind them, her bow slung over her shoulder. "You’re doing the math thing again. Stop it. You’re making me nervous and I wasn’t even nervous until you started talking about percentages."
"I’m merely stating empirical—"
"Emric."
"That’s fair. I’ll stop."
Holden glanced to his left.
Lyra walked beside him, her spear resting against her shoulder. She caught his eye and gave him the smallest smile. It was a quiet look that said exactly one thing.
I know your secret. And I’m not going anywhere.
He returned it with a faint smirk.
They stepped onto the stage.
The stone platform was enormous, wide enough to hold a small house. The morning sun baked the surface, making the air shimmer with heat. On the opposite side, four figures were already waiting.
The Crown Vanguard.
They wore matching white-and-gold armor, polished to a mirror shine. Every plate was engraved with the royal crest.
They looked less like fighters and more like decorations.
Their captain stepped forward. He was tall, with sharp cheekbones and blonde hair swept back with enough product to waterproof a boat. A heavy golden halberd rested on his shoulder, its blade gleaming.
"I am Gareth Vance," the captain announced. "Captain of the Crown Vanguard, personal student of General Kaelus, and heir to the Vance Ducal House."
He pointed his halberd at Holden.
"Yesterday, you humiliated the Royal Family on live television. That ends now. I will avenge the Crown’s honor and send you back to whatever slum you crawled out of."
Holden tilted his head.
"You talk a lot for a guy wearing that much hair gel," he said. "Does the Duke know you use more product than his wife?"
A ripple of laughter rolled through the crowd.
Gareth’s perfect composure cracked.
The referee stepped between them, raising a hand.
"Combatants ready?"
Both teams raised their weapons.
DING!
Gareth moved instantly. He lunged forward, swinging the golden halberd in a massive overhead arc. The blade whistled through the air, trailing a visible shockwave of compressed energy.
Holden didn’t dodge.
He held out his empty right hand, palm up.
A swirl of dense blue pixels gathered in his palm, spinning faster and faster, condensing into a solid shape. Black metal formed first, then the crimson edge blazed to life, and the full Solar-Forged Sword appeared in his grip like it had always been there.
WHAM.
He raised the sword and caught the halberd head-on.
The impact sent a crack ringing across the stage. The shockwave dissipated harmlessly against the Solar-Forged Sword’s energy-absorbing metal.
Gareth’s eyes went wide.
Behind Holden, Emric nearly dropped his shield.
Behind Holden, Emric nearly dropped his shield.
"That sword..." Emric whispered. "It’s nothing like the one he used yesterday."
Renna frowned. "Just looking at it gives me chills."
"Focus!" Lyra barked, stepping forward to cover their flank.
Holden pushed the halberd aside with a casual flick of his wrist.
"Nice swing," he said.
Gareth growled and pulled his weapon back. He swung again, trying to slice Holden’s ribs. Then he poked forward with a thrust, and spun around for a backhand hit.
Each one was blocked by the black sword with insulting ease. The Solar-Forged Sword drank in every ounce of kinetic energy Gareth poured into his attacks and gave nothing back.
The rest of the Crown Vanguard charged.
Two of them broke off toward Emric and Renna. The third came at Lyra.
Lyra met her opponent’s sword with her spear, ice spreading up the blade and forcing him back. Emric planted his shield and braced for impact, absorbing a two-handed sword strike with a grunt. Renna dashed sideways, loosing arrows that pinned one Vanguard’s boot to the floor.
Gareth saw his squad getting handled and panicked.
"Enough!" he screamed.
He channeled everything he had into his halberd. Golden light exploded along the blade, radiating outward like a second sun. He raised it high above his head with both hands, muscles straining, and brought it down with the full force of a Rank 2 elite.
Holden activated Hellfire Cleave.
He kept his aura suppressed, clamped down tight so he still read as a Peak Rank 1 to anyone watching. But the skill itself didn’t care about visibility. Crimson fire erupted along the Solar-Forged Sword, ten times more intense than it had been with his old sword. The black metal seemed to drink the fire and amplify it, turning the edge into a blazing line of pure destruction.
WHOOSH.
Holden swung.
The crimson arc met the golden halberd at the midpoint of its descent.
The golden metal didn’t break. It melted.
The top half of the halberd blade liquefied in an instant, droplets of molten gold spraying into the air. The bottom half, still attached to the shaft, continued its downward path but carried no weight, no force, no threat.
It dropped uselessly against Holden’s shoulder and fell to the ground.
Gareth stared at the melted stump in his hands. His mouth hung open. His brain hadn’t caught up to what his eyes were seeing.
The shockwave didn’t stop at the halberd.
A wall of compressed crimson fire expanded outward from Holden’s swing, hitting Gareth and his whole team like a giant wave. The heat hit them full force. Their armor started burning hot, and their capes caught fire. The two fighters who were fighting Emric and Renna got caught in the explosion, too, and slid backward across the floor.
All four Crown Vanguard members were blasted off the edge of the stage.
They hit the sand below the platform in a heap of groaning limbs and smoking armor.
The Colosseum went silent.
Then it erupted.
[Ding!]
[Crown Vanguard Squad (4x Rank 2, 2-Star Elites) Defeated!]
[Base Reward: 2,000 KP]
[2x KP Booster Applied!]
[Total: +4,000 KP!]
[Current Balance: 150,790 KP]
Holden dismissed the Solar-Forged Sword. It dissolved into blue pixels that scattered in the wind.
The referee stood still at the edge of the stage, his mouth opening and closing like a fish.
"T... Team Soup advances to the Grand Finals," he finally managed.
Renna screamed so loud it echoed off the walls. She grabbed Emric by the shoulders and shook him violently. Emric looked like he was having an out-of-body experience, his glasses crooked, his shield dangling from numb fingers.
Lyra walked up to Holden, her expression calm and proud.
He turned and looked up at the Royal VIP box.
King Aldric was on his feet, his face turning purple with anger. Beside him, Oscar didn’t move at all in his wheelchair. His paralyzed body was stiff, filled with a terrible rage he couldn’t show.
Holden put a hand on his chest, bowed down very slowly to tease them, and turned his back on them.
He walked off the stage with his team beside him.
They were going to the Grand Finals.