Chapter 85: Chapter 85: Alex vs Alicia (2)

The dueling platform was quiet.

Too quiet.

Alex stood across from Alicia von Crestvale, the renowned Student Council President of Zenith Academy. Her eyes were calm, her posture poised with lethal precision. But Alex… he was trembling.

Not from fear.

From strain.

He tightened his grip on the blade in his hand. The battle had reached a point where simple techniques weren’t enough. And so, he did the unthinkable.

He reached deeper.

“Astral Void Rend…”

[System Alert: High-tier technique detected.]

[Warning: Current physical condition is not optimal.]

[Proceeding may cause permanent muscle damage or internal strain.]

[Use is not recommended at this time.]

System notifications blared like sirens inside his mind, flooding his vision. But Alex didn’t even blink.

His gaze was locked on Alicia.

And as he invoked the fifth form of his sword art, his body screamed in protest. Muscles tore. Bones creaked and cracked.

Blood vessels burst beneath his skin as if his body were collapsing inward. The pain was indescribable—like fire, lightning, and gravity crushing him all at once.

Still… he did not stop.

[Warning: You are exceeding your current tolerance threshold.]

[Unyielding Will activated.]

[Will: A-Rank is in effect. Pain suppressed temporarily.]

Alicia’s smile faded the instant she felt the change in the air.

Her instincts roared.

“STOP! Whatever you’re doing—STOP IT! It’s tearing you apart!”

But Alex didn’t respond.

His lips parted—and with the rasp of a dying breath, he spoke:

“Fifth Form… Dimensional Sever.”

Alex’s voice cut through the arena, low and resolute.

And then—

The world shifted.

The air in front of him didn’t explode with energy—it bent.

His sword gleamed with a sinister glow, a mix of deep violet and abyssal black. Strange runes pulsed along the blade, ancient symbols that flickered like they were alive.

They weren’t part of any known magical language. They were something older—something that didn’t belong in this reality.

And then, the audience saw it:

Space itself distorted.

Not shattered. Not broken.

Twisted.

The space in front of Alex rippled like waves moving through a mirror. The slash he unleashed didn’t fly forward like a beam or wave—it didn’t even move in the traditional sense.

Instead, it folded reality.

His strike didn’t travel through air. It cut through space, appearing wherever Alex intended it to land, ignoring the normal rules of distance and defense.

This wasn’t a physical attack—it was a spatial incision.

Across from him, Alicia’s breath caught.

It was beautiful. Terrifying. Divine.

Alicia’s heart jumped.

There was no more room for holding back.

She could feel it coming—not because she saw it, but because the very world around her warped under its effect.

Her instincts screamed. She moved in a flash.

“Sovereign Blade – Seventh Form: Regal Reversal!”

The seventh form’s specialty was to absorb and redirect overwhelming attacks back at the attacker—no matter the scale.

Golden light burst from her sword as radiant glyphs lit up. A majestic, translucent shield of compressed aura wrapped her weapon, shimmering with mana and power.

She didn’t hesitate.

As the invisible spatial slash reached her, she stepped forward and met it with precision, channeling her sword art to absorb the incoming energy.

Her aura flared brilliantly.

The slash was caught—not fully blocked, but captured like lightning in a bottle.

Then she twisted her body, redirecting the stored force into her own counterattack.

She struck.

A golden arc of rebounded power flew toward Alex—fueled not just by her strength, but by his.

The arena held its breath.

But something went wrong.

Her blade shook violently. The golden energy destabilized.

She’d used this move dozens of times before—it never failed.

And yet—

Her sword’s energy fractured mid-swing.

The crowd didn’t understand it at first.

But Alicia did.

Dimensional Sever wasn’t just an energy-based attack.

It didn’t carry normal force.

It carried a rift—and that rift had been targeted at her.

When she redirected it, she hadn’t reflected a clean attack—she had tried to turn back a tear in space itself.

Reality is rigid. Warp it too far, and it tries to snap you in two.

The rebounded force shattered mid-air.

Alicia’s eyes widened in disbelief.

She had used her family’s sword art’s seventh form—

One of the most potent counters in existence.

And yet—

She was losing.

And out of the collapsing energy, the real danger emerged.

The true slash.

A ripple in the air appeared near Alicia—far from where Alex had originally attacked. The dimensional slash had skipped through dimensions, sidestepping even her strongest barrier, and re-emerged behind her like a ghost.

Her eyes widened.

“It’s still coming?!”

In desperation, she cast a high-level defense spell:

“Aegis Bind: Quantum Shell!”

A hexagonal barrier of blue light wrapped around her.

One of the most advanced spells for dealing with fast or complex attacks.

But it was too late.

The void slash passed through it.

Not broke. Not pierced.

Passed through.

The spatial cut ignored the distance between barriers. It slipped between the atoms of her shield, between the molecules of her armor—as if the concept of space no longer applied.

And then—

Pain.

A burning line slashed across her chest. Her uniform tore. Blood sprayed. Her body was flung backward like a ragdoll, her boots skidding to a halt.

Her sword slipped from her fingers.

She hit the ground—hard.

The arena went dead silent.

Dust settled slowly.

Around them, the entire training ground had gone quiet.

The students—first-years, seniors, even Alistar—stood frozen.

Alicia von Crestvale, mid-Master rank, Student Council President…

Was injured.

Badly.

And the one who did it…

…was a first-year.

“W-what…” Seraphina whispered, her hand trembling. “Did he just…”

Ava’s mouth opened, but no words came out.

Even Charlotte, known for her sarcasm, could only stare.

Ethan stood motionless, his usual confidence drained into awe.

“The goddess was right…” he thought, eyes narrowing.

“He’s not normal at all.”

Alden looked like his entire worldview had just shattered.

His sister—his role model—was bleeding on the ground.

And it was Alex, someone Alden knew wasn’t stronger than him…

Who did it.

—

Meanwhile, Alex wasn’t faring any better.

He collapsed to his knees, sword still in hand. His entire body was breaking apart from the inside.

Ribs cracked. Muscle tissue shredded. His mana circuits were overstrained, blood pouring from his mouth. His vision blurred, red tinting the edges.

[Warning: Internal damage critical.]

[Pain dampening threshold exceeded.]

Still… he was smiling.

Not out of joy.

But pure, mad satisfaction.

As the dust settled, he saw Alicia still standing—barely.

Her body was shaking, her blade dragging along the ground, her breathing ragged.

The slash on her chest was deep, crimson staining her tattered uniform.

She walked toward him, eyes filled with disbelief and… respect.

She stopped in front of him, her voice hoarse.

“Just… what kind of monster are you?”

Even through the ringing in his ears, Alex heard her.

And that sentence, that recognition, made something twist in him.

A smirk curved his lips.

He coughed blood and whispered hoarsely:

“You’re still standing. That’s not enough.”

Alicia’s eyes widened.

And then, to everyone’s shock, Alex pushed himself up again.

Slowly. Painfully. As if every nerve in his body were rebelling.

Yet he rose.

And now—standing at full height—his tall figure loomed slightly above Alicia’s. Their faces were inches apart. Close enough to feel each other’s breath.

Their gazes locked.

One trembling.

One mad with resolve.

A tense silence.

Then, Alex spoke softly, a crooked grin tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“Allow me to demonstrate another one. To show you what I’m really capable of.”

His voice, though weak, carried an eerie determination.

Alicia’s instincts screamed danger. She stepped back instinctively, eyes narrowing.

Alex’s legs shook violently as he struggled to raise his sword once more. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, but he didn’t care.

He took his stance.

And whispered—

“Astral Void Rend—Sixth Form.”

At once, system notifications exploded into his vision like flares in the night.

[System Alert: High-tier technique detected.]

[Warning: Current physical condition is not optimal.]

[Proceeding may cause permanent muscle damage, nerve collapse, or internal rupture.]

[Estimated survival rate upon execution: 0.0000001%]

[Mana capacity: 98% depleted]

[Cardiopulmonary strain: CRITICAL]

[Host is NOT READY.]

[Emergency Protocol: Initiating Forcefull Awakening of Physique…]

[Attempting to break Curse Layer I…]

[Result: FAILURE. Host vessel too weak and damaged.]

[Initiating forcefull Awakening of Bloodline Attempt 1 …]

[Attempting to break Curse Layer I…]

[Result: FAILURE. Host’s blood cannot withstand the strain.]

[ALL EMERGENCY TRIGGERS ABORTED.]

[Warning: FORCED CONTINUATION WILL LEAD TO DEATH.]

But Alex ignored every word.

It was as if his mind wasn’t even there.

He was filled with something twisted.

His eyes glowed faintly—not with rage or darkness—but with something unreadable.

Alicia’s expression shifted. Confusion. Shock.

The aura surrounding him changed. No longer did shadows coil around him like before.

Instead—his entire body exuded a soft, radiant white light.

It wasn’t fiery. It wasn’t explosive.

It was calm, ethereal… like reality itself warped gently around him.

Beautiful. Mesmerizing.

Even Alicia couldn’t help but take a step back, stunned by what she was witnessing.

Alex opened his mouth, drawing his last bit of strength.

“Temporal Ec—”

WHACK.

A blur of movement.

A hand, swift as lightning, struck the back of Alex’s neck.

It was Alistar.

The blow was precise—meant to incapacitate, not harm.

Alex’s eyes widened slightly before everything went black.

As he collapsed, barely conscious, he heard a faint voice above him—

“Useless brat. If you’d finished that technique, you’d be dead right here and now.”

Darkness swallowed his vision.

—

The air in the arena was still.

Everyone was too stunned to speak.

Alex’s glowing body now lay motionless on the ground, the radiant light slowly fading. His sword dropped beside him with a dull thud.

The runes that entranced it moments ago disappeared.

Alistar stood silently above him, his expression unreadable.

Then, with a sigh and a flick of his cloak, he turned toward the audience.

“Winner: Alicia von Crestvale.”

———–

A/N:-

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