Chapter 385: The Beginning Of The End [XLVII]

A few weeks passed, and nothing out of the ordinary happened.

Aestrea spent most of his days attending the academy as a normal student or helping Christina manage and train their growing army.

And obviously, because finding the Eternal Tribunal’s base was something really difficult, Selindra hadn’t come back yet.

As for Lunara and Olivia…

Aestrea made sure to spend time with both of them whenever he could. They were ticking bombs, each in their own way, and he had no desire to die young.

Lunara was quite dangerous, but manageable since he couldn’t overpower as long as her authority wasn’t activated.

And even if it was, he was pretty confident about fighting her.

Olivia, however, was a completely different matter.

To even stand a chance against her, Aestrea would need to reach the peak of the 7✯ True God realm.

And even then… he wasn’t confident he would win.

“Mhm…”

Aestrea silently walked through the hallways of the academy without a place in mind, as today was essentially a free day for him since he didn’t have classes for the rest of the day

“HEY, YOU!”

The sudden shout snapped him out of his thoughts.

Aestrea turned, just in time to see a fist flying straight toward his face.

THUD!

He caught the punch mid-air, fingers closing tightly around the attacker’s fist. The impact still forced him to slide back several steps, his shoes scraping against the floor.

Raising his head, Aestrea looked at the man in front of him, noting the surprise clearly written on the attacker’s face.

“…Who the fuck are you?” Aestrea asked coldly.

The man laughed loudly, pulling his hand back with arrogance oozing from his posture.

“You dare ask?” he sneered.

“Listen well. I am the man destined to stand beside President Lunara, her future husband! And today, I have come to sever your ties with her… permanently.”

His killing intent flared as he took a step forward.

“In other words,” he stated with a cruel grin, “I’m here to make sure you never get close to her again.”

“….”

Aestrea didn’t even bother responding.

He simply rolled his eyes.

Actually… his academy days weren’t actually normal.

Ever since the incident with the Goddess of Lust, where her very gender had been changed by his charm, his name had practically reached everyone’s ears.

On top of that, his close relationship with Lunara only drew more jealous eyes toward him.

Trouble was inevitable.

“Let’s go to the arena,” Aestrea replied calmly, wasting no time on pointless words.

The man’s lips curled into a smug smile, his eyes shining with cruel excitement. He slowly licked his lips as killing intent leaked from his body, thick enough to make the air feel heavy.

“Very well,” he smirked coldly.

“I’ll make sure you leave that place in pieces.”

With a casual wave of his hand, space twisted, and then, a shimmering portal tore itself open before them.

’A God of Space, huh?’ Aestrea raised an eyebrow.

He raised his guard and stepped forward without hesitation.

The world around him twisted, and in the next instant, he found himself standing in a massive, familiar arena.

The stone floor was wide and sturdy, with layers of powerful formations carved into its surface. Spectator seats surrounded the field, already beginning to fill.

What caught his attention, however, was the glowing inscription hovering above the arena.

[Aestrea vs. Indrath]

“…Am I really that easy to read?” Aestrea muttered under his breath.

The arena had already been prepared, and even the duel record was set.

Indrath had clearly planned this in advance.

He turned toward his opponent, who stood across the field with his hands behind his back, posture arrogant and relaxed, like he was already certain of his victory.

“You should feel honored,” Indrath chuckled coldly.

“I prepared all of this just for you. From the moment you dared approach Lunara, your fate was sealed.”

His eyes narrowed, emitting an even greater amount of killing intent.

“This arena will be where your life ends…”

THRUUUUM!

Indrath waved his hand.

Purple, star-like energy gathered instantly, compressing and shaping itself until a sword formed in his grasp.

Aestrea watched without much interest.

He thought about something and raised one hand and extended his open palm forward.

His other hand remained behind his back, as if the fight in front of him wasn’t even worth full attention.

“Go on,” he said flatly.

“I’m waiting for your first move.”

He pushed his palm slightly toward his chest, provoking Indrath directly.

“BASTARDDD!”

BAAAMMM!

Indrath moved first because of his provocation.

Space cracked under his feet as he vanished, reappearing right in front of Aestrea. The purple sword slashed down at his head!

CLANG!

Aestrea raised his forearm and blocked it barehanded.

The impact shook the entire arena.

Shockwaves rolled outward, cracking the stone floor in a wide circle. Spectators gasped as divine pressure slammed into them.

Indrath’s eyes widened.

“He blocked it… with his body?!”

Aestrea didn’t bother to reply; he simply stepped forward and threw a straight punch at Indrath’s chest.

THUD!

Space folded.

Indrath twisted reality itself, warping Aestrea’s punch a hair’s breadth away. The fist tore through the air and exploded behind him instead.

BOOM!

A section of the arena wall shattered.

“Fool. You can’t touch me. Space bends to my—” Indrath smirked.

Aestrea vanished.

Indrath’s smile froze.

BAM!

A knee slammed into Indrath’s ribs from the side. The impact crushed space and flesh at the same time. Indrath was sent flying, rolling across the arena floor.

Blood sprayed.

He barely stabilized himself, coughing violently.

“Tch—!” Indrath raised his sword.

Purple light flared as dozens of spatial blades formed around him.

“Kneel!”

The blades shot forward.

Looking at the blades, Aestrea flexed his fingers, and he took a step closer to them instead of dodging them as a normal person would.

’…It’s been a while,’ he smirked lightly.

『 Frostbound Arcana! (✦ Flash Freeze Counter ✦) 』

KRRRSHHH!

Time seemed to slow.

The moment a spatial blade touched his skin, it froze solid. Ice raced backward along the attack, crawling through warped space itself, straight into Indrath’s arm.

“WHAT—?!”

CRACK!

Indrath’s arm froze to the bone, then shattered.

Blood burst out.

Aestrea appeared in front of him and punched upward.

BOOOM!

Indrath’s body lifted off the ground, spine bending the wrong way as he was launched into the air.

Aestrea looked up calmly.

“Bleed.”

SPLASH!

Every wound on Indrath’s body tore open at once, causing blood to spray like rain, painting the arena red.

Indrath screamed as he crashed back down, smashing into the floor and carving a deep crater.

He struggled to rise, shaking, his eyes full of disbelief.

“H-how…?”

Aestrea slowly headed towards him.

“I’m just stronger than you,” he stated flatly.

He stopped at the edge of the crater and looked down at Indrath like he was already dead.

“Stand up,” Aestrea almost yawned.

“Or is this all the future husband of Lunara can do?”

Indrath clenched his teeth, hatred burning in his eyes as space began to twist violently around his broken body.

But just then… his lips curled up.

THRUUUUUUUM!

Suddenly, the air around Aestrea rippled violently.

Indrath’s eyes gleamed, and he raised his hands, chanting softly.

The arena itself seemed to bend to his will.

Space cracked and twisted, forming a visible dome around the battlefield.

Inside, countless portals appeared, floating in midair, each one a potential trap, a strike, or an escape for Indrath.

Aestrea frowned slightly, noticing subtle changes in the air.

And suddenly… a huge pressure dropped on him like a mountain.

BOOM!

The force slowly multiplied… ten thousand times… a hundred thousand… more.

His feet sank into the ground as the pressure climbed past one million times normal gravity.

The air screamed as countless spatial portals opened around him, spinning, shifting, overlapping.

Indrath’s body began glowing with that familiar purple stellar light.

“Welcome to my domain,” he said, voice dripping with arrogance.

“Here, I am the ruler. Every step, every movement… obeys me.”

Before Aestrea could react, Indrath vanished.

BOOM!

A fist slammed into Aestrea’s side from nowhere, sending him skidding across the arena. He barely stabilized himself before another strike hit his shoulder.

Aestrea tried to counter, throwing a punch, but the moment his fist moved forward, Indrath’s form shimmered, and he appeared behind him.

“Missed again,” Indrath taunted, circling him effortlessly.

“Do you even understand what it means to fight inside my space? Every portal is my eye, my hand, my trap. You hit… air. You strike… nothing. You are slow, pathetic, and—”

WHAM!

A kick to the chest silenced him for a moment, sending him flying backward.

Aestrea’s eyes narrowed as he noticed just how fluidly Indrath moved, switching positions through portals faster than the eye could follow.

“Pathetic,” Indrath mocked, hovering above a floating portal.

“I can be anywhere, anytime. You can’t touch me. You can’t even find me!”

BAM!

Another strike, this time a palm smashing into Aestrea’s back.

“Tsk,” he clicked his tongue in annoyance.

“You rely on your fists, your bare hands,” Indrath continued, laughing. “How amusing! Against the authority of space itself… you are nothing!”

Fwip, fwip, fwip!

Countless purple portals floated around him, some opening to strike, some closing just as quickly.

Indrath’s mocking voice echoed from multiple directions at once:

“Where will you go next? Here? There? Or perhaps you’ll stay frozen in fear!”

THWACK!

CRASH!

Aestrea tried to strike back, but the portals twisted the battlefield, making it impossible to predict his opponent’s position.

Indrath continued laughing loudly.

“What happened?”

“Where’s that confidence from before?”

“Go on, counter me again.”

Aestrea slowly wiped blood from his lips.

His eyes were calm, but this time… they contained a strange coldness.

“Did Lunara really fall for someone this stupid?” Indrath mocked him again.

THUD!

Another punch smashed into Aestrea’s face.

Blood dripped from his mouth as he slid backward.

Indrath hovered above him, arms crossed, smiling widely.

“In my domain, distance means nothing. Position means nothing. Speed means nothing.”

He snapped his fingers.

BOOM!

Dozens of portals fired attacks at once, compressed space spears slamming into Aestrea’s body from all sides.

His skin was directly pierced by all of them, but despite that, he remained still.

Instead… a faint scarlet smoke seeped out of his crimson, glowing eyes.

Then… his voice echoed through the space.

“You told me to counter you, right…?”

BAAAM!

A strange black and white aura enveloped his body, slowly interwining with each other as the scarlet smoke seeping out of his eyes intensified.

“Don’t fucking regret it.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep