Chapter 32: A Battle Without Applause
Moonlight draped the Emberlight courtyard in pale silver, soft shadows stretching across the training stone. The tournament celebration had long faded into silence, the crowd asleep, unaware that blood would be shed before dawn.
Kai stood alone under the sky, the breeze brushing his robes as if warning him. His body, still fatigued from his match against Lysa, pulsed with restrained ki. He had felt it—an unnatural pressure building since he left the arena.
Then it came.
A presence, overwhelming and violent, crashed into the courtyard like a silent tidal wave. Auron Veyron emerged from the far end, his shirt torn and veins pulsating with corrupted energy. His aura was no longer refined—it boiled. Ripped from the harmony of cultivation, it howled with stolen force.
Kai's eyes narrowed.
"You took it," he said calmly. "The black pill."
Auron's lips curled. His voice was a mix of triumph and madness. "You should've stayed in your lane, orphan. You humiliated me… and now I'll erase you."
—
[Auron Veyron – Artificial Martial King Tier]
Strength: 480
• Speed: 465
• Endurance: 500
• Intelligence: 205
• Perception: 320
• Willpower: 380
• Ki: 11,800
—
"I'll be king," Auron said, his voice cracking with unstable energy. "And you'll be my first corpse."
He moved.
Auron struck with the force of a siege weapon. The ground shattered as his first punch came barreling toward Kai, fast enough to warp the air. But Kai—though drained—was already moving, instincts sharpened beyond thought.
Veilstep: Echo Slip.
In a blur, Kai vanished, leaving behind echoes in three directions. Auron's punch cracked one of them, the illusion bursting into mist. He roared in confusion.
Kai spun behind him, fist laced with ki, and struck Auron clean in the ribs. The force would've dropped most Martial Masters.
Auron staggered. Then, he grinned.
"I don't feel pain anymore."
He twisted and grabbed Kai's shoulder, slamming him into the stone tiles. The ground cratered. Before Kai could recover, a flurry of devastating kicks and strikes followed—each fueled by stolen power.
Blood sprayed from Kai's mouth.
He rolled away, hands trembling.
"This isn't your power," he said, standing slowly. "You're borrowing death to fight life."
Auron charged again, aiming to finish it.
Kai's breath slowed.
Mirage Veil.
Seven afterimages danced across the battlefield, flickering in and out. Auron struck one—then another. Nothing.
The real Kai struck from the side, his fist shattering Auron's knee.
Auron howled, dropping to one leg.
But he was still strong.
He exploded with raw ki, his body glowing crimson. He grabbed Kai mid-dash and hurled him into a pillar, stone splintering on impact. Dust swallowed the courtyard.
For a moment, all was quiet.
Then Kai stepped from the cloud.
His robes were torn. Blood dripped from his chin. But his eyes burned steady.
"I wasn't going to use this tonight," he whispered. "But you've left me no choice."
Kai gathered his ki. The wind stopped. The moon shimmered strangely, like reality held its breath.
"Reality Severance."
"With a single strike," Kai intoned, raising his hand, "I will sever the thread of fate binding you to this world."
The courtyard warped.
Kai moved like a phantom, his hand glowing with concentrated ki. In a single, impossibly clean motion, he struck Auron's chest—directly above the heart.
And then the world cracked.
The shockwave blasted outward, shattering stone, flipping debris into the air. Auron's body spasmed violently, limbs seizing as every trace of ki inside him was cut off. His body hit the ground seconds later, smoking and twitching.
Silence.
No applause. No cheers. Just moonlight and broken stone.
Auron lay unconscious—alive, but robbed of his strength.
Kai knelt, breathing hard. The backlash of Reality Severance had strained every muscle in his body. But he stood.
He always stood.
He turned and began walking toward the inner compound. One step at a time.
From the shadows, a figure watched.
Instructor Vale's expression was unreadable, but her hand was on her sword. She'd felt the clash and followed.
"You're not just a student anymore," she whispered.