[Blooming Petal Slash]
A technique that Jayan had learned from Vitaliara personally.
A series of rapid, unpredictable strikes that overwhelmed opponents with speed and precision.
‘No matter who you are, you can’t win against this.’
Jayan’s eyes burned with fury, her silver-streaked hair whipping around her face as she poured everything into the assault. The azure light flared, creating a mesmerizing display of petals spinning and slashing toward Lucavion.
But he didn’t flinch. Instead, he raised his blade, pointing it directly at her with the calm precision of a predator about to strike.
「Void Starfall Blade: Starsurge」
With a sudden burst of speed, Lucavion dashed forward, his black starlight-infused blade piercing through the azure petals as if they were mere illusions. Jayan’s eyes widened in shock as she realized too late that her technique was unraveling before his.
The estoc moved like a blur, darting forward to pierce her torso with a devastating precision that sent her staggering back, blood spraying into the air. In the same fluid motion, Lucavion’s blade traced a deadly arc, severing both of her arms at the elbows. Her sword clattered to the ground, the azure glow fading as her screams echoed through the courtyard.
“You’re finished,” Lucavion said coldly, his dark eyes glinting with satisfaction as he stepped back, his blade dripping with blood.
But before he could press his advantage further, a roar erupted behind him.
“DIE!”
Varos charged with everything he had, his flaming aura flaring wildly as he swung a replacement axe conjured from his fiery mana. The elder’s face was a mask of desperation and rage as he aimed to strike Lucavion down, if only to buy time for the patriarch to intervene.
Lucavion turned with a bored expression, raising his estoc lazily to block the incoming attack. The clash of their weapons sent a shockwave rippling through the courtyard, but this time, Lucavion didn’t let Varos pull away.
“You’re stalling,” Lucavion observed, his voice calm but sharp with disdain. “You think if you hold out long enough, help will come. The patriarch, perhaps?”
Varos gritted his teeth, his flames intensifying as he pushed harder against Lucavion’s blade. “You won’t win,” he spat. “You don’t know what you’ve brought upon yourself!”
Lucavion tilted his head, his smirk returning. “Oh, I know exactly what I’ve brought upon myself,” he said. Then, with a sudden twist of his blade, he deflected Varos’s axe and stepped inside his guard.
The move was so fast, so precise, that Varos barely had time to react before Lucavion’s flame-clad hand thrust forward.
「Flame of Equinox: Starflare Palm」
A burst of black-orange flames exploded from Lucavion’s palm, slamming into Varos’s chest and sending him flying backward. The elder crashed into the ground, rolling to a stop with his axe clattering away from his grasp.
Lucavion turned back to Jayan, who was crumpled on the ground, blood pooling around her. Her eyes were wide with terror and disbelief as she stared up at him.
“You don’t get to speak for Vitaliara’s legacy,” Lucavion said softly, his voice cold as death itself. “You forfeited that right the day you betrayed her.”
He turned his attention back to Varos, who was struggling to rise, his body trembling with exertion. Lucavion pointed his blade at the elder, his black flames coiling around the weapon like serpents.
*******
Varos staggered to his feet, his chest heaving as the lingering heat from Lucavion’s attack burned against his skin. His fiery mana flickered around him, struggling to maintain its usual ferocity. Blood dripped from a shallow wound on his side, staining the crimson robes he wore as a symbol of authority. His gaze flicked to Jayan, crumpled and broken on the ground, then to the wiry elder, who was barely holding his defensive stance.
Lucavion stood at the center of it all, his dark blade gleaming with black starlight and his flame-clad hand exuding an oppressive heat. His smirk hadn’t faltered, and his dark eyes glinted with an unsettling confidence that gnawed at Varos’s resolve.
‘This isn’t possible,’ Varos thought, his mind racing. From the moment they’d returned to the mansion, nothing had made sense. The Patriarch was nowhere to be seen, the disciples were slaughtered, and now this man—a complete enigma—was cutting through their ranks as though they were nothing.
Where is the Patriarch? The thought burned in his mind, louder than his mounting frustration. How could all of this happen with him here? Did he leave? Was he… Varos forced the possibility out of his head. No. The Patriarch was the strongest in the region. There was no way he could have been defeated.
‘But then how is this happening?’
Varos tightened his grip on his replacement axe, his amber eyes narrowing as he analyzed his opponent. Lucavion hadn’t shown a single opening throughout their fight. Every strike, every movement, was calculated and precise, as though he were toying with them.
‘What is with that starlight?’ Varos thought, his gaze flicking to the glowing estoc. The blade pulsed with a strange, otherworldly energy, its power unlike anything Varos had encountered before. It wasn’t just powerful—it was unnatural.
And then there was the fire. Black and orange flames coiled around Lucavion’s free hand, radiating heat that warped the air and left scorch marks wherever they touched. It wasn’t the fire itself that unnerved Varos, but the way Lucavion wielded it. His control was too precise, too effortless, as though the flames were an extension of his very being.
‘How can he command two distinct elements?’ Varos wondered, sweat beading on his brow. Even if Lucavion were using an artifact to generate one of the elements, it didn’t explain the seamless control he exhibited. The starlight and the flames moved in perfect harmony, as though they were born from the same source.
‘But that’s impossible,’ Varos thought, his grip tightening on his weapon. No human could command two elements from their core. It defied the very nature of cultivation.
Varos’s thoughts were interrupted as Lucavion moved again, his estoc slicing through the air in a blur of motion. The wiry elder barely managed to deflect the strike, his mana shield crackling under the force. Lucavion didn’t pause, following up with a burst of flames that forced the wiry elder to stumble back.
“Is this all the Crimson Serpent Sect has to offer?” Lucavion asked, his voice calm but dripping with disdain. He turned his gaze to Varos, his smirk widening. “Surely you can do better than this.”
Varos snarled, his fiery mana surging as he launched himself forward. His axe came down in a powerful arc, flames trailing behind it, but Lucavion sidestepped effortlessly, his estoc darting out to meet Varos’s exposed side.
CLANG!
The sound of steel meeting steel rang out as Varos twisted his body, blocking the strike at the last moment. But the force of the blow sent him skidding back, his feet digging into the blood-soaked ground.
‘This is…..’
Varos’s chest heaved as he steadied himself, his grip tightening on his axe. Sweat dripped from his brow, mingling with the blood splattered across his face. His fiery mana flared in defiance, but deep down, an unsettling realization began to take root.
‘This is… impossible,’ he thought, his amber eyes fixed on Lucavion. Every strike, every counter, had been met with an unrelenting precision that left no room for error. The starlight-infused blade and the black-orange flames moved with an eerie harmony, forcing him and the others onto the defensive at every turn.
Behind him, the wiry elder stumbled back, his mana shield flickering weakly as he struggled to recover from Lucavion’s relentless assault. Jayan, bloodied and trembling, had managed to push herself to her knees, her silver-streaked hair plastered to her face with sweat. The sight of her—once so composed, now broken—only deepened Varos’s dread.
‘We can’t win this,’ Varos realized, his jaw tightening. The gap in power was insurmountable. Lucavion wasn’t just strong; he was something else entirely, something beyond their comprehension. But they couldn’t retreat. Not now.
‘We just need to hold him off,’ Varos thought, his gaze flicking to the main doors of the mansion. ‘If we can stall long enough, the Patriarch will come. And when he does…’
Varos’s thoughts were interrupted by Lucavion’s voice, cold and mocking.
“If you’re thinking of stalling until Vaelric comes…” Lucavion said, his smirk widening as his dark eyes swept over the remaining elders. “Then I’m sorry to inform you—he’s dead.”
The words hung in the air like a death knell. Varos froze, his grip on his axe faltering as his mind struggled to process what he’d just heard.
“What?” he growled, his voice low and dangerous. His amber eyes blazed as he glared at Lucavion, searching for any sign of deceit. “You’re lying.”
Lucavion tilted his head, his smirk never wavering. “Am I?” he asked, his tone almost playful. “You’ve seen the bodies, haven’t you? The blood-soaked halls, the disciples slaughtered like lambs. Did you really think Vaelric would sit idly by while his precious sect was torn apart?”
Jayan let out a strangled gasp, her hands trembling as she clutched at her wounds. “No… that’s… impossible,” she whispered, her voice barely audible. “The Patriarch… he can’t…”
Lucavion’s expression turned cold, his smirk fading as he stepped closer, his blade glinting ominously in the dim light. “That guy was kind of strong…..If you all were here, then I would most likely have lost an arm or something…..But, that was why those guys distracted you after all…..”
The realization struck Varos like a hammer blow.
‘This was all planned,’ he thought, his grip on his axe slackening as the pieces fell into place. The mercenaries, the chaos across the city, the carefully coordinated attacks—it hadn’t been a reckless assault after all. It was a diversion. A meticulously crafted scheme to lure the elders away from the mansion, leaving the sect’s heart exposed.
And they had walked right into it.
The wiry elder’s voice trembled as he finally found his words. “You… you planned all of this… just to take out the Patriarch?”
Lucavion turned his gaze to him, his smirk widening. “Of course. You don’t cripple a beast by cutting at its legs. You strike the heart. The Patriarch was the heart of this sect, and now?” He gestured to the blood-soaked courtyard around him, the lifeless bodies strewn across the ground. “Now, there’s nothing left but broken pieces.”
Varos’s axe slipped from his fingers, clattering to the ground with a hollow thud. His shoulders sagged, and for the first time in years, the fire in his amber eyes flickered and dimmed. He stared at Lucavion, the man who had dismantled everything he had spent his life protecting, and saw no way forward.
‘He’s right,’ Varos thought, his chest tightening. ‘The Patriarch is gone. The disciples are dead. The sect… it’s finished.’
Jayan let out a shaky breath, her silver-streaked hair plastered to her face as she looked at him.
“Why?” And she asked.
“Why?” Lucavion replied. “I just did uphold my promise. That was why. But if I were to say….it was mostly because of you, Rat Jayan…..I just felt like crushing this sect. If you had not betrayed Vitaliara and lost honorably, I would come to this sect and would have saved all of you guys remaining. Not that Vaelric and Thailon of course, but most would live. But well, I needed to set an example.”
“Example for who? There is no one remaining…..Cough-!”
“Well, an example for the readers of course….Hehe…”