Both figures slowly approached each other in the empty street. Lucas felt a wave of nervousness wash over him—Flavya’s warning had been more than enough for him to take his opponent seriously. He knew any mistake could be fatal, but he also knew that every second he managed to stall this guy would be beneficial for them. So he figured a bit of chit-chat wouldn’t hurt before the fight began.

When they were only fifteen feet apart, both men stopped and regarded each other. Lucas was stern as he studied the man before him. Up close, Axis appeared even taller, his muscles straining against his clothes. His shoulder-length hair gave him a leonine appearance, and a confident smile never left his face.

"I must say, I didn’t expect someone to reach level 15 before me," Axis said in a deep voice. Lucas had already noticed the man’s level was 14 with a bit of glee. "But if anyone was going to do it, I figured it’d be someone like Halyk—not some nobody I’ve never even heard of."

Axis’s words were laced with contempt and mockery, clearly intended to provoke. But if he thought that would get under Lucas’s skin, he was mistaken. Why should Lucas care if this guy didn’t know about his fictitious character in this fabricated world? He himself had only just learned about some prince named Axis not too long ago.

However, just because he wasn’t offended didn’t mean he would take the insult lying down.

"Halyk, do you mean the guy with the eye? His tricks were kind of amusing; he’d definitely be the life of the party. But honestly, when it comes to battle, he wasn’t much," Lucas replied with a shrug.

The prince’s expression shifted instantly from a casual smile to a deep frown, his anger barely concealed. Lucas couldn’t help but think his taunting skills were improving; he’d managed to rile someone up with just a few words now. Maybe he should invest more time in honing this lost art of trash-talking.

"What did you say?" Axis asked in a hoarse voice, clearly seething.

Axis had been searching for his great rival for a long time but hadn’t seen a trace of him since the Showdown began. His clan had made extensive preparations for the inevitable clash with the prophesied child of the Red Church, so he knew how tricky Halyk could be.

Many believed that, in some sense, the fate of the Khorint Empire rested on this one battle between the two most promising figures from the most powerful clans on the planet. That was a lot of pressure for someone so young, but Axis felt none of it; he was confident in his ability to emerge victorious. Even if Halyk had some tricks up his sleeve, Axis had some of his own.

However, ever since the Showdown began, he hadn’t seen Halyk, nor had anyone else. At first, he thought it was a strategy to catch him off guard, but after a while with no moves from his rival, he started to grow uneasy. Was the mind mage planning something even his clan hadn’t anticipated?

With this tension brewing inside him for so long, hearing Halyk’s name mentioned so nonchalantly by a random nobody infuriated him. Only he had the right to speak lightly of the prophesied child.

"I’m saying it wasn’t that hard to kill him," Lucas replied shrugging, unaware of the man’s inner turmoil.

Lucas’s unbothered response made Axis clench his teeth and tighten his grip on his saber. Lucas’s level 15 had surprised him, but the idea that someone other than himself could kill Halyk had never crossed his mind.

"So you think," Axis began, almost spitting out the words, "that just because you took advantage of some injured nobodies for a few easy kills, you’re now some bigshot? That just because your level is higher than mine, you can say whatever you want without consequences?"

Lucas liked to think of himself as a reasonable man, but something about this high-and-mighty attitude that Axis shared with Nicholas really got under his skin. He was almost certain it was because he absolutely hated people telling him what he could or couldn’t do.

So, even though it wasn’t the wisest choice to further provoke an opponent much stronger than himself, he just couldn’t help it.

"Wow, I knew he wasn’t the strongest, but are you sure you want to call the prophesied child a random nobody?" Lucas said with a smile. "I don’t think the Red Church will take that offense lightly."

Lucas had to admit, he was expecting some action after that comment. But the prince merely frowned and remained silent. After a few seconds, he asked, "Did you really kill him?"

Lucas was caught off guard. He had long given up on the idea that Axis would believe him, but it seemed the prince wasn’t as stubborn as he had assumed.

"Pretty much," Lucas replied, still trying to figure out the best way to stall for time—and failing miserably.

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"Show me proof."

For a split second, Lucas considered showing Axis the eye. But why should he? The guy had been nothing but an utter jerk the entire time.

"My word is proof enough. I’m not like those liars you know from the Khorint Empire," Lucas shot back, before he could stop himself.

In his defense, he was much better at trash-talking than stalling for time—he hadn’t practiced that much. Despite Lucas’s pathetic attempt to buy some time, the prince still didn’t attack him. He just furrowed his brow even more, staying silent longer than before, as if weighing something.

"You talk like you don’t care what happens to your family after I leave here," Axis said after a while.

"Who said you’re leaving?" Lucas retorted.

Another tense silence settled between them, but it was soon broken by a wild laugh from the prince.

"Hahahaha!" The prince wiped tears from the corners of his eyes as he laughed, while Lucas waited patiently.

When Axis finally stopped, he looked at Lucas with a different smile—not one of arrogance or confidence, but of excitement.

"All right, then. I don’t know if what you said about Halyk is true or not, but the fact that you had the nerve to say it, and even had the guts to insult my empire, shows you must have some strength to back it up. Either that, or all this killing has messed with your head. Guess we’ll find out!"

This time, there was no awkward silence as the prince immediately sprang into action. Lucas quickly realized Axis’s speed was no joke. As soon as the prince moved, Lucas was already raising his shield.

The saber struck the force-field with tremendous power, forcing Lucas back a few steps. But the onslaught didn’t stop there. Without any fancy skills, Axis attacked with a series of regular saber strikes and occasional wind slashes. Despite his relentless assault, Lucas held his ground for about two minutes before Axis finally paused.

"This force-field isn’t bad, but if you think you can just hide in your shell forever, you’ve got another thing coming."

With those words, Axis assumed a sumo stance, and his skin began to glow blue. Lucas had seen something similar when fighting Sultan, so he knew what was coming. Instead of waiting around, he started to run.

It was a pretty shameless move to run mid-fight after all that trash-talking, but by now, Lucas was used to doing shameless things. Besides, it wasn’t like he’d get any points for good sportsmanship. He knew very well that all he needed to do was stall the guy until Flavya recovered; there was no point in wasting his shield's durability on those pointless attacks.

Lucas had considered taking the elixirs for a boost before this encounter, knowing he’d be facing Axis alone for a while, but when he really thought about it, why engage in a fight at all? Caught off guard, it took Axis a moment to start the chase.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” he heard the man shout behind him, but Axis had lagged too far behind. By the time he finished the sentence, Lucas had already taken a turn at the end of the street and ducked into a nearby building, quickly disappearing from sight.

Of course, thanks to some unknown method prepared by Axis’s clan, he had a way to track Lucas’s general location. But Lucas wasn’t planning to stay in one place for long; that didn’t mean he couldn’t move around unnoticed.

Hearing angry shouts from the street outside, Lucas knew his plan was working. He was betting that whatever method Axis had wasn’t as precise as Flavya’s; Axis probably couldn’t tell how many people were in the city or their exact locations. Most likely, he could only sense the general location of the nearest target, which meant Flavya’s hiding spot would remain safe as long as Lucas didn’t get himself killed.

…

They played this game of cat and mouse for thirty minutes, but for Lucas, that time had been invaluable. Not only had he managed to stall Axis for that long, but he also managed to upgrade his Stealth skill from Common rarity to Uncommon. That would definitely come in handy in the future. However, despite using all his speed and stealth, Axis was getting closer and closer.

Lucas had seen him use that weird boosting skill three times now—first, his aura glowed blue, then light purple, and now it had darkened to a deep purple. His speed had nearly doubled during this period, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to stay ahead.

Stamina wasn’t an issue for Lucas, thanks to Flavya’s seal, so he wasn’t worried about getting tired. But he was concerned about being caught off guard. With how enraged Axis was, an attack from behind could be tough to handle, and Lucas wasn’t ready to start relying on his regenerative abilities just yet.

After rushing into a run-down building, Lucas quickly assessed his options. A few glances at the decrepit pillars told him what he needed to do.

This will be risky, he thought, but he’d already made up his mind. Aiming at the two pillars in front of him, he unleashed a double fire shot without breaking stride.

Axis entered the building a few seconds later, having grown accustomed to the chase. But in his fury and eagerness, he realized too late what Lucas had done. He only caught a glimpse of Lucas’s feet leaving through a back door before a loud crash made him look up—the building was collapsing on top of him.

Lucas heard a loud curse as soon as he exited the building, but he barely had time to check the results of his mischief when a flying rebar nearly impaled him, forcing him to dive to the side onto the pavement.

As the dust settled and the noise from the collapsing building faded, Lucas cautiously raised his head. Through the haze, he saw the demolished remains of the building. The plan had undoubtedly been a success, he barely made it out in time, but one thing a nagged at him: there was no notification.

Seconds later, a figure emerged from the debris. Axis was bloodied, his hair matted with dust and crimson, and a maniacal look twisted his face as he glared at Lucas with vicious eyes. The previous dark purple aura had deepened to near black, radiating a menacing power that made Lucas instinctively step back.

“Now you’ve done it,” Axis growled, his voice thicker than ever. Combined with his wild appearance, he looked like a creature straight from hell. “No more running. No more silly games.”

With those words, he launched himself from the debris, and Lucas could barely track him with his eyes as he came crashing down, saber in hand. Acting on instinct, Lucas raised the force-field, but his eyes widened in shock as he saw cracks forming on its nearly translucent surface.

Fuck!