Chapter 133: The World of Noxara (2)
While Krax moved toward the Titans, Jovian remained suspended above the chaos of the refugee camp, a gleeful smile already stretching across his face.
His long white hair drifted in the hot, metallic wind of Noxara.
The pure white blindfold hid his eyes, yet the tilt of his head made it clear he was studying the two Dark Elves who had appeared opposite him.
’Hmm, both at the Star Union rank,’ he noted inwardly, the playful edge in his thoughts never quite fading.
’And it seems like one is at Tier 17... the other at Tier 18.’
With a single mental command to the divine ring on his finger, a small orb of condensed light and fate appeared beside him.
The Primordial-ranked artifact spun once, then projected a clean reading into the air for his senses alone.
[Total power output of both opponents: Tier 28.]
Jovian’s smile widened into a bright, almost delighted laugh.
"Haha, damn. That was actually worth the Divinity I spent to create this thing."
The two Dark Elves regarded him with cold, open contempt. The one holding the spear spoke first, voice sharp and edged with disdain.
"Who are you, outsider? Do you truly believe you will succeed in whatever foolish plan brought you here?"
The archer beside him already had an arrow of pure darkness nocked, the tip aimed steadily at Jovian’s heart.
Jovian eased into a relaxed, almost lazy sword stance, the Fate Breaker Sword balanced lightly against his shoulder.
The smile lingered, unwavering.
"You know... I’ve spent the last four years on recon," he said, his tone light and conversational despite the taut air between them.
"And... that was plenty of time for me to see the Black Thorn Pantheon for exactly what they are—despicable."
He tilted his head, white hair shifting with the motion, as if a genuinely puzzling thought had just occurred to him.
"Though I still can’t figure it out... how can Elves be this dirty?"
HUMMMMM!!!!!
Jovian’s words hung in the air for half a heartbeat—then darkness slammed down, thick and sudden, as if the world itself had inhaled and refused to breathe out.
Instantly, both Dark Elves melted into shadow, their forms dissolving so utterly that the red-yellow glare of Noxara’s four suns vanished from their skin.
One exploded back into being, hundreds of meters away, bowstring releasing a new arrow of pure shadows.
THRUMMM!!!!
The other burst from darkness, spear thrusting at Jovian’s chest, so close he could see his own reflection in the blackened steel.
CLANG!!!!!
Jovian’s smile curled wider as the Fate Breaker Sword snapped up—meeting the spear with a scream of steel on steel.
The shockwave rippled outward, rattling pebbles and tents alike.
Sparks spat from the locked weapons—darkness writhing around the blade, fate threads snapping and reforming in a storm of silver and black.
[Fate Affinity]
In that moment, Jovian’s fate manipulation closed around the next shadow arrow already screaming toward the back of his neck.
With a single, precise tug on its fate thread, he shifted the projectile’s path by several meters, sending it harmlessly past his shoulder to bury itself in empty air.
CLANGGGG!!!!
In the same motion, he stepped deeper into the spearman’s guard, the Fate Breaker Sword sliding along the shaft of the spear and forcing the longer weapon upward.
The Dark Elf tried to disengage, boots scraping against empty air as he attempted to reclaim the distance his weapon required, but Jovian stayed glued to him.
[Karma Affinity]
In that moment, as Jovian closed the distance again, he activated his Karma Affinity.
And, the force of the spearman’s own retreat was twisted and fed back into the next exchange, making the elf’s arms feel heavier with every blocked thrust.
SHKKK!!!!!
SHHHK!!!!!!
The Fate Breaker Sword slid past the spear’s guard, carving a neat, shallow line across the Dark Elf’s ribs.
Dark blood trickled down the blackened armor, tracing jagged lines as it fell. A swift upward swing slammed into the spearman’s collarbone, wrenching a sharp grunt from his lips.
The Fate Breaker Sword drove on in tight, climbing arcs, each strike slipping toward the openings that emerged whenever the spearman tried to pull away.
High above the refugee camp, the archer moved in perfect coordination to give her partner an opening.
THRUMMMM!!!!!
THRUMMMM!!!!
Shadow arrows left her bow in rapid succession, each one timed to force Jovian into a defensive angle that would open him to the spear.
[Fate Affinity]
"You’re going to have to do better than shooting from afar," he said with a smile.
"My dear rival is a much better shot than you."
As he spoke, he was already cutting down the fate of each arrow while keeping the upper hand against the spearman.
Watching him fend them both off with ease, the spearman snarled and poured more power into his weapon.
HUMMMMMM!!!!
[Darkness Affinity]
[Absence Affinity]
Entire sections of the spear shaft vanished, leaving only the deadly tip that reappeared from impossible angles.
One thrust came from above.
SHKKK!!!!
Jovian twisted, but the tip still scored a thin line across his upper arm, drawing a narrow bead of blood that the hot wind immediately began to dry.
Then... another thrust came from the side.
SHKKKK!!!!
The longer weapon found a brief opening and punched a shallow wound into Jovian’s side, forcing him to adjust his footing for the first time since the close-range exchange began.
However, Jovian smiled faintly as he activated two more of his affinities.
HUMMMM!!!
[Adaptation Affinity]
[Sword Affinity]
In that moment, his footwork adjusted in real time, turning each of the spearman’s attacks into a subtle opening.
SHKKK!!!!!
The Fate Breaker Sword carved a clean line across the spearman’s thigh, immediately slowing the man’s mobility.
Another thin line of blood marked the elf’s forearm, a fresh cut from the clash.
Each swift exchange drove the Dark Elf farther across the open sky, their once-assured cadence with the spear faltering bit by bit under the unyielding assault.
High above, the archer’s eyes narrowed as she followed the rhythm of the duel—a quick mental message cut across the distance between them.
’Stop trying to beat him with sheer reach... He’s reading the spear’s length too well. Pull in your thrusts and push him into tighter angles... I’ll time my arrows for the exact moment he has to shift his footing.
We need this over with before the higher-ups catch wind of the disturbance!’
The spearman gave no verbal reply, but the rhythm of his attacks changed at once.
The long, sweeping thrusts that had sought distance became shorter, sharper, and more abrupt, designed to keep Jovian inside a narrower killing box.
The archer adjusted in the same heartbeat.
THRUMMMM!!!!!
THRUMMMM!!!!
THRUMMMM!!!!!
A rapid cluster of shadow arrows left her bow in a tight, overlapping volley.
Most of them were dummies—fast, loud, and deliberately obvious.
Jovian’s Fate Affinity ignited instantly, and one by one, the false projectiles had their fate threads cut, dissolving into harmless motes of darkness before they could touch him.
However, in the exact instant his attention and blade were occupied with the cluster, the true arrow—slower, quieter, and timed to the precise moment the spearman’s shortened thrust forced Jovian to shift his weight—slipped through the gap.
SHKKK!!!!!