After Thea asked her rather naive question, Randidly looked at the young woman for a long time. Her armor was still torn from the Zone 7’s wind blades and she had not brought her hammer. Randidly had nurtured some theories about this problem of hers for a while, especially after he worked so long with Neveah to learn Yystrix’s Living Engraving methods. “Well… the truth might be that your instincts are correct.”

“What do you mean?” It seemed that the crying had relieved Thea of all her sadness, so now she regarded Randidly with a tired resignation.

Randidly suppressed the urge to shrug and tried to explain his thought process. “I’m still nowhere near Yystrix’s capability when it comes to bringing life to the lifeless with Engraving. But while I suspect that at its pinnacle, it can create life… what was required at that moment was for life that had been extinguished to be recreated.

“You see Chrysanthemum react to others, but to your senses, she appears lifeless and hollow, correct? Her image grows, but it doesn’t really change. It simply becomes more weighty. I would say that you are the one who is Soulbound to her. So no one would know your partner better than you would.

“What you are sensing might be the real status of Chrysanthemum. The rest… all those playful responses to me or looks might just be habitual reactions that were inherited from the actual Chrysanthemum. Just muscle spasms in response to external stimulus,” Randidly continued slowly, watching Thea’s reaction the entire time. There wasn’t a single ripple on the nearby pond as the two remained three meters apart. “Basically, they might be evidence of some sort of life. But when it comes to Chrysanthemum’s life… trust your instincts.”

Thea’s mouth was open and her bottom lip was trembling. “That… no… then that means that she already… no, I thought-!”

“Like I said, it’s just a theory,” Randidly said in a soothing voice. “But Thea, let me say this. Considering how much pain you are in right now, would the real Chrysanthemum continue to act so apathetic? Without reaching out to comfort you at all?”

“That’s only because… this is all my fault… she’s punishing me for…” Thea’s legs gave out on her. The human Nemesis known as Thea Glasshammer, who had been at least powerful enough that Randidly had to give her some extra attention a few months ago, now collapsed before him. Her destructive image finally imploded, wounded as it was by the fight against Huang Li. And all he felt as he looked down at her was a distant pity.

This world… this existence… there are no perfect Paths. Just appropriate ends, Thea.

Leaving her with those thoughts, Randidly opened a portal and returned to his island. Even though he could empathize with how difficult it was to face the truth sometimes, that didn’t mean he would help her. The harm she had inflicted on humanity in the last two years meant that even the little Randidly did do might be better than she deserved.

Still, Randidly was glad he said something. Living honestly… that was something he could do. Something he wanted to choose. And something he needed to do, to impress that image upon Kharon for after he went up to the Nexus.

*****

Night turned to day and the crowds began to gather; it was time for the third round of the grand duos tournament to name the Earth.

For a second, Huang Li and Huang Shou had no reaction as the first team walked out onto the arena and coolly surveyed the area. The two men’s hair was dark and done up in small buns on top of their heads. Their eyebrows were as sharp and valiant as swords on their faces. But as they slowly observed the two men’s features, Huang Shou’s lined face twisted and bunched like a furious bulldog. “This… this is impossible! The mandates were clear! Without official certification, no one was to enter this tournament-”

“Not all of Zone 7’s population lives within our hive cities, grandfather.” Huang Li said easily. He even found the resolve to smile blithely at his adoptive relative. Something in his heart had changed after the fight against Thea Glasshammer. He was the bright mirror laid over a lake on a clear winter day. “Perhaps… these hardy individuals survived independently and only came here to win honor for our Zone. I watch our ambitious fellows with great pride.”

Of course, considering the determined capability that was present on these two very Chinese faces, it was much more likely that these were two ‘unregistered’ citizens that did not submit to the Glorious Leaders or the mandates. Likely they came, in part, exactly because they had been expressly forbidden by the central government of the Zone to do so.

This was an act of civil disobedience. The further they rose in the tournament, the more livid the conservative faction of Zone 7 would become.

Yet even if they seem capable… Huang Li’s expression turned serious as he looked over toward the other entrance to the arena. The duo walking down in that darkened corridor seemed to shake the whole of the stadium as they approached. They will not pass here. These two…

But of course, Huang Li had thought a lot about fighting the duo walking down the corridor since the final bracket had been released. As long as these two existed, Huang Li’s hopes of clinching the honor of naming the Earth would be stopped dead at the quarterfinals. Such a confrontation was many rounds away… but Huang Li had no doubt that these two would be waiting there.

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The crowd erupted in thunderous cheers as Paolo and Kayle of Donnyton walked out into the arena. Despite the general distaste for Donnyton’s many entrants to the tournament, these two were a special case; they had managed to capture the hearts of many with their straightforward mannerisms.

And as the two’s hands came into view, the cheers only intensified. Huang Li could feel thousands of people screaming and stomping their feet around them.

Kayle glanced sideways at Paolo and spoke with a voice that somehow cut through all the noise. His hands were relaxed and hung casually at his sides. His body was completely free of his trademark long knives. “If you feel incapable of grasping victory, feel free to admit defeat on our bet.”

“Look who is talking,” Paolo grinned while striding confidently forward. He had a tight hold on the hilt of long knife with each hand, the blades pointing downward as he held them in a reverse grip. “If your soft fingers break, you just have to ask and I will toss you these little toys so you can protect yourself.”

The expressions on the faces of their opponents turned ugly. Huang Li did feel a bit of sympathy for his fellow individuals from Zone 7. It was certainly disrespectful that Paolo and Kayle had apparently bet with each other not to use their most powerful weapons in the tournament.

Yet these two had the capability to be so domineering. Relying on the opposites' weapons, they had already won and reached the third round. And the previous fights of theirs had not been close.

As the crowd's cheers turned to excited whispers, a member of the Order Ducis stepped onto the arena. The woman glanced at both duos. “Is everyone ready?”

Both sides indicated that they were ready. Paolo and Kayle’s bodies were loose and relaxed, while tightly controlled fury made their opponents look as stiff as puppets as they inclined their heads. Huang Li tsk’d lightly. So much tension before a fight. If you don’t ready your muscles, when it begins-

“Begin!” The woman announced. Both Kayle and Paolo instantly sprung into motion.

The space between Kayle and his opponent was instantly slashed in half and the man blinked in surprise as Kayle stood in front of him, his hand raised to strike. Then he struck with the same brutal efficiency. The downward blow was so fast that Huang Li even felt Huang Shou next to him lean forward with a solemn expression.

The man receiving the blow jerked backward slightly too late, his eyes widening as he looked down at the deep gouge in his shoulder pauldron from the palm strike. Still, he definitely had the power to back up his presence in the third round. After Kayle’s first attack failed, the man teleported several meters backward and crossed his arms. A dozen javelins of ice appeared and accelerated forward.

Kayle walked amongst those javelins with the pointer fingers of his hands outstretched. He flourished and twisted, looking more like a renowned composer than a warrior. But those conjured weapons of ice were sliced and diced into pieces until only a gentle swirl of falling snow reached Kayle’s body.

He uses his hands, but each of his fingers is just as dangerous as his knives, although the range is slightly decreased, Huang Li thought as he watched Kayle’s quick advance. Before the man could conjure another wave of ice javelins, Kayle planted his feet and accelerated forward. But even more than his fingers…

Kayle’s entire shoulder rotated inward, culmination in a spinning palm strike that seemed to tap lightly against the man’s chest. The man’s mouth twisted and moved; likely he habitually released a curse. Kayle smiled.

A small geyser of blood erupted from the man’s back; instantly he went pale and stumbled several steps backward. Just as he regained his footing, he shook his head helplessly and collapsed. Blood continued to hemorrhage from his back.

There was a hole about two fingers thick from the spot that Kayle had hit him. Even more impressive was the fact that Kayle had managed to land the strike in a position that didn’t clip the man’s lungs or any other organs.

Paolo was even more overwhelming, charging forward while guffawing uproariously. He moved like a boulder bounding down a hill. In terms of which of the two most closely adhered to the spirit of using the other’s weapons, Huang Li leaned toward Kayle. Paolo simply held two long daggers in a reverse grip and threw vicious haymakers forward.

Rather than using long knives, he seemed to be throwing punches while coincidentally holding knives. But each time he threw a punch, the knives in his hand would leave deep scars on the ground. His normally unstoppable punched that could break through steel had now grown claws that could rip a person in half.

While Kayle had faced someone who leaned toward Mana Skills, Paolo’s opponent was more of a speed-based fighter. He wielded two hatchets and seemed like he was used to weaving between his opponents blows. Paolo did not allow him to dodge. With the addition of the long knives, his punches hit a large area.

If he avoided the punches, the knives would cut so deeply into the man’s leather armor that blood would begin to seep outward. If he tried to meet Paolo’s strikes directly, he would be smashed backward and sway dangerously for a few seconds while Paolo continued to laugh and bound forward. The stage shook as Paolo began to gather momentum.

It was a match with very little suspense.

In short order, both of the independent individuals from Zone 7 had been beaten. Huang Li checked his watch. Twenty-three seconds.

“It is what they deserved,” Huang Shou snorted. “We forbade them from participating in this tournament for their own good. Perhaps this will be a lesson to them.”

No, you forbade them from participating so you could threaten our Glorious Leaders with our own Zone’s international standing, Huang Li thought calmly. You wanted to cut off the nose so our face would realize that it was powerless if it couldn’t control both of its hands…

But Huang Li didn’t bother to argue with the older man. It was still too early for that. And in his current condition…

Huang Li smiled, showing his sharp canines like a carnivore.