Skorr POV:

“I thought something was strange, so I came to check on you.”

My eyes shifted to a middle-aged man who appeared out of nowhere. He held a walking stick in his hand and wore a tailored suit. His Ki was subtle, but powerful.

‘Hmm...’

I observed Rose's pupils dilate the moment she heard the man's voice. It seemed the person responsible for her current condition had revealed himself.

“Rose, come here now.”

She instantly moved towards him when I got to my feet and grabbed hold of her arm.

“!”

I leaned back abruptly as her high heel sliced through the air. It grazed past my nose, causing blood to gush out of my nostrils.

“I don’t appreciate you touching my sweet toy.”

I wiped the blood away while watching him place his hand on her shoulder. He ran it down her arm lightly before grabbing hold of her large breasts. He moved his hand all the way down to her waist as a thin smile spread across his lips.

Rose stood there emotionlessly as he violated her body in front of me. She hardly blinked, nor did she move an inch from her position.

“She’s lovely, isn’t she? I worked hard to make her like this.”

I narrowed my eyes at his words. I couldn’t be a saint, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t tell the difference between right and wrong. However, this wasn’t the fight that I wanted.

“So don’t you dare defile her with your disgusting hands. Rose, kill him.”

Deep folds of flesh formed between his sunken eyebrows as he glared at me. Rose immediately followed his command, sending out a fist that shattered the very air itself, forcing me to dash out of the way.

“!”

She flickered in front of me, spinning as her foot crashed into my jaw. It launched me through various buildings, leaving a path of destruction behind me while my head shook.

‘I knew it.’

Rose peered down at me from above as the surrounding area began to collapse. Rubble and debris crashed down to the ground while my hair fell over my forehead.

She shot forward like a bullet, forcing me to twist my neck to the side as her foot aimed for my head. Time slowed down, and in that moment, our eyes met. I saw Rose shift her body weight to the left, altering the trajectory of her attack by a barely noticeable amount.

Her leg blasted through the wall behind me while I heard a slight change in her breathing. She backed away when the man flickered forward and grabbed her neck.

“...Just what did you tell my sweet toy to have her be so disobedient?”

He released his grip and slapped her repeatedly. He grabbed her by the hair, smashing her face into the rubble below while glaring at me.

“Go on. Call out to her. This is the perfect time to re-educate my sweet toy about who owns her.”

“...Sorry, Master.”

A shadow fell over his face as he peered down at Rose. Red rage seeped into his bloodshot eyes; his pupils dilated further, and his hand piledrived her head deeper into the earth.

“Would you look at that? She’s even trying to defend a person she just met? I’ll remind yo—”

“Stop.”

I finally got to my feet and ran my hand through my short curly hair, slicking it back as I faced forward. I released my Ki and let out a frustrated sigh.

“Rise.”

The air around me changed as I activated my ability. The man smirked before retreating backwards.

“Rose, kill him properly.”

I watched her get up and wipe the blood away from her small nose. Even if I called out to her, there was no guarantee that she would listen to me. Furthermore, I didn’t want to do things that way; she had suffered enough.

“Sky Shatterer: Fissure.”

The twilight rings in her eyes flashed as her fist shot forward. Light blue Ki shattered the air while travelling towards me at a rapid speed. Its power increased proportionate to the distance it travelled. It ripped through the earth, gradually growing larger in size.

“Rise: Curtain.”

I splayed my fingers, and a thin transparent layer of Ki formed in front of me. Her attack crashed against it, causing the thin barrier to sink inwards. I watched it try to force its way through before being deflected towards the sky. It exploded with such force that the ground below shook violently.

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‘Hm. That took more Ki than I would have liked.’

I stepped forward while Rose sprinted toward me.

“Rise: Breakthrough.”

My eyes flashed as I released the full extent of my Ki, which took on an orange tint. The technique pushed me a level higher than I currently was, breaking through the barrier both mentally and physically.

“Sky Shatterer: Descent.”

“Rise: Ascent.”

Our fists met head-on, exploding the surrounding area as a mixture of light blue and orange Ki intertwined together. We flickered across the battlefield trading blows at a speed that continued to increase. However, there was no joy to be found in this battle.

‘...’

I slipped past her fist and tapped my hand on her stomach. The air shattered once more as her fist descended from the sky, crushing the ground below with a powerful wave of Ki. I narrowly avoided it while kicking her away to create distance between us.

‘Rise: Diminution.’

I fanned out my fingers as an orange mark appeared on her abdomen. Several strands of Ki sprouted out from it, wrapping around her limbs and keeping her locked in place. The strands pierced the ground below while she struggled to break free from the technique.

“Wait here.”

I walked past her, shifting my gaze to the suited man in the distance who looked visibly displeased. I saw his lips part and instantly splayed my hand in Rose's direction again.

‘Rise: Curtain.’

A thin transparent layer of Ki wrapped around Rose, blocking out all of the sounds from the outside world and simultaneously calming her down.

“...I see now. My sweet toy chose you as her opponent on purpose. How un—”

My fist collided into his jaw, causing a burst of wind to ripple out around us.

“How rude. For a grown man, you have no manners.”

He caught my fist squarely in his hand and threw me back down to the ground as he sneered. He released his Ki while twirling the walking stick around his fingers.

“You don’t know how much I’m going to enjoy taking care of my sweet toy after today.”

He snickered as he lightly tapped the stick in the palm of his open hand. I glanced at Rose, whose eyes shook in fear at the man's action.

‘Rise: Promotion.’

Promotion allowed me to shift a marked target to a marked location. The greater the distance, the more Ki it took to move the target. There was a limit to my range, but it was enough to be of use in this war. It also greatly raised their physical attributes while healing some of their wounds.

A surge of Ki left my body as I chose one of the safest locations I had marked along the way here. Curtain would deflect any rouge attacks she might receive, and Diminution would keep her locked in place.

Rose stared at me with worried eyes for a few seconds before she disappeared out of my view. I turned my attention back towards the man, who was seething with such rage; steam left his open mouth.

“You will regret that greatly.”

He fanned his fingers, shooting out powerful flames that hurtled towards me.

‘Hmm.’

The corners of my mouth rose as I dispelled his flames with a swipe of my hand. His flames were so inferior to my own that I could dispel his own Elemental Ki by overpowering it.

My sister was an Elementalist, so how could I be bad at using my own Ki Nature? I had my own reasons for not utilizing it... But for today, I would put that aside.

“!”

His eyes widened as flames spread out from my feet. It climbed up into the sky, forming a fairly detailed outline of two horns alongside two piercing red eyes that glowed.

“You...”

Veins popped on his forehead as he sprinted towards me. I fanned out my fingers as the flame giant behind me opened its mouth, launching out a wave of flames that covered the entire area.

He spun the walking stick with his fingers, creating a barrier of wind that blocked most of the flames trying to engulf him as sweat formed on his brow.

“!”

I looked up in confusion as large floating screens suddenly appeared around us and in many other areas that I could see. The man smirked while dusting off his clothes.

“The King wants to make a statement.”

***

Jasmine POV:

I landed on top of a rooftop with my opponent, who smirked at me.

“You should have chosen someone else.”

My eyebrows twitched as I realized that all these little scrubs would be better off with their mouths shut. Permanently. I crunched down on the lollipop in my mouth and released all of my Ki.

“Not ba—”

My fist rocked his jaw into a different dimension as the building beneath us crumpled from the force of the blow.

“Shut your damn mouth.”

I wasn’t here to talk or to listen to him talk. The accumulated battles had erased all of my patience. I barely saw Leo for a couple of minutes before it was back to fighting these idiots again.

I watched his body fly into the sky as I crouched down. The single-digit Guards couldn’t be taken lightly; we had held back against our other opponents, but we didn’t have that luxury against them.

What we did have was the fact that they would underestimate us. They would look down on us because to them, they were at the top. And that was a mistake that we wouldn’t let slide.

“Cerulean: Nighting Storm.”

Black Ki with golden brown lines spread out over parts of my body instantly. It formed a dress that contained countless stars of the night sky made out of compressed Ki. A torrent of wind descended, wrapping around me tightly as I glanced at my target.

My eyes flashed golden brown briefly while I reached my opponent a second later. His lips moved, trying to activate some sort of ability, but it was too late—the storm had descended.

My fist smashed into his face, permanently closing his mouth, and the strength multiplier began to stack. By the time it reached x64, black Ki erupted from my fist. It combined with the wind causing a spiralling storm to envelop us.

He shot towards the ground, cracking apart everything in the nearby vicinity while the storm raged on. I splayed my fingers before gripping the air. The stars shot out from my dress, filled the black storm with light and then exploded.

Multiple shockwaves rippled through the contained air. I peered down from above, unaffected by the attack due to the black dress wrapped around me.

‘Hm~’

I popped another lollipop in my mouth once I deactivated my ability. I dropped to the ground slowly as my foot rested against the face of the 6th-ranked Royal Guard. His body was battered and bloodied all over; his eyes completely rolled back into his head while he frothed foam from his mouth.

I twirled the lollipop around in my mouth for a few seconds before moving on.

“!”

My knees suddenly buckled as the recoil from using Night kicked in. I felt my muscles spasm, squeezing together tightly while blood trickled out of my nose.

‘...I overdid it.’

I moved sluggishly, slowly jumping across the nearby rooftops, when I noticed Len standing alone with her arms folded.

I dropped down nearby, messing up my landing due to a sudden sharp pain in my legs.

“Damn...”

Len glanced at me but didn’t move. It took me a second to realize just how messed up her face and body were. I got to my feet while spinning the lollipop in my mouth.

“I didn’t expect you to have so much trouble.”

“Tch. That tends to happen when I can’t kill them.”

I smirked as I saw a trace of the old Len flicker through her amber eyes. If Len moved in her current state, she’d probably collapse instantly.

“Are you worried about Marina?”

“As her sister, I’ll always worry... However, she truly is strong now.”

We narrowed our eyes as we felt a shift in the air. The battle in the dome had started. Leo had finally made a move.