Kenji watched Fuyumi from the artifact provided by the capital guards. Even in the reserved section of the encampment, he could hear the lively chatter from the crowd booming from the opposite side.

  Since he couldn't communicate with the others while acting as a decoy, all he could do was hope there were no setbacks. I had faith in his comrades' abilities, but they were against the biggest clan in the guild. Although he was relieved to see that the majority of the clan were low to mid-ranking rangers, confirmed from their diversion, he anxiously awaited the high-ranking rangers to make their appearance.

  These were the setbacks he'd anticipated and were the main reason why he wanted most of their high ranks to do the hunting. Watching from the feed, Kane's lieutenants proved to be more troublesome than he initially thought. Marcus had held his own against two rangers and even managed to push them on their back foot. His agility, coupled with his simple yet effective ability to extend his blade, made him a relentless force.

  However, who he was most wary of was Maya. After going from room to room, waving her hand in an odd pattern, she sat comfortably in what looked to be an old counseling office. Every time the screen flickered back to the feed of the drone assigned to watch her, she was still lying in the same room, fiddling with rocks to keep herself busy.

  When the feed switched to Fuyumi, he noted something rather interesting and terrifying. After infiltrating the palace, she followed the same path Maya had until reaching the counseling office. It was as if Maya had left a trail of subliminal breadcrumbs for her to follow until eventually leading her into an ambush.

  Kenji nearly sprung out of his seat, worry etched onto his face as he watched Maya's lips curl into a sadistic smile. Although he didn't know what she'd done, a knot churned in his chest as he helplessly watched a friend fall victim to her trap. A few of the Fiends discharged from the infirmary had been watching along.

  "The witch got to her first. How unlucky." A short Fiend said with pity in his voice.

  "Yeah, I can only imagine what kind of sick game she's playing with her." His buzz-cut friend grimaced.

  Unfortunately, the feed didn't stay on Fuyumi and Maya for long. Most likely because, on the surface, nothing was happening which only made Kenji more anxious about his teammate.

  From how things progressed, it seemed unlikely that Yakeru would have any additional support. A lingering doubt crept into Kenji's mind as he began to question if his strategy was as foolproof as he initially thought. The longer the skirmish went on, the more of his teammates were incapacitated.

  Now Yakeru would have to confront the royal prodigy alone. He wanted to believe Yakeru could pull off a miracle but his faith had already begun to dwindle. Kane's lieutenants had stonewalled his allies and he'd already seen what the arrogant talent was capable of when holding back.

  Kenji couldn't help but think he'd set Yakeru up for failure. Perhaps his plan was fated to fail from the start. Once again, the dark cloud of self-blame started to cast its shadow over him, smothering any sliver of hope he had left.

  "I'm sorry, Yakeru. I should've expected this." He berated himself.

  *****

  Yakeru passed through an old garden overgrown with chaotic vegetation that gave it a jungle-like appearance. Over the years of neglect, it'd developed its own small ecosystem with little critters scurrying out of sight and flocks of birds dispersing as he cut through the curtains of vines in his path.

  Reaching a pair of doors, he pushed them open as the rusted hinges moaned in protest. Surveying the grand room, he carefully walked through some debris near the entrance. The place appeared to be a ballroom, once vibrant with life, now weathered and decayed.

  In the center of the room was a chandelier, its crystals shattered and dulled by layers of grime, but that's not what caught his eye. It was the person behind the chandelier that grabbed his attention. Yakeru narrowed his eyes at the figure sitting on his throne of rubble.

  "Took you long enough. I was beginning to think you were having second thoughts," the 'king' breathed an ingenuine sigh of relief.

  Yakeru sighed. "I'm not surprised. Even your Fiends were hard at work trying to stop us. Were you really that comfortable kicking back in this dump, Kane?" He questioned sarcastically.

  "If I had joined them, this little contest would've already ended. It's rather cruel to rob the audience of a good show, wouldn't you say?" Kane spoke as if taking the role of an entertainer.

  "So that's what this is to you. Just a show."

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  "It might as well be. I figure the world will get a kick out of your laughable attempt." A familiar smug smirk tugged at his lips as he rose from his throne.

  Yakeru's eyes seethed from Kane's palpable arrogance. Flashes of their first fight—if he could even call it that—flickered through his head. As much as he hated to admit it, Kane was undoubtedly more skilled in combat, at least at the time.

  Kane also must've known that Yakeru was more mentally vulnerable after surviving the Misranked Mission Incident. Yakeru couldn't allow him to get under his skin a second time.

  "I'm already aware of your lack of competence from our first meeting. It baffles me how you didn't croak with the rest of the Bison Clan." He blatantly taunted.

  Yakeru's knuckles turned white as his blood boiled at the mention of those Kane mocked. Fortunately, he was familiar with his psychological tactics. If he wanted any chance of winning a battle against a prodigy, steeling his mind came first.

  With a deep breath, he somewhat tamed his anger, depriving Kane of a reaction. His smug expression faltered slightly, clearly displeased.

  "You've gotten boring. Let's hope that won't translate to a mediocre performance."

  "You sure like the sound of your own voice," Yakeru snapped back as he went into a stance, his hand hovering over his sword handle.

  As Kane snapped his fingers, radiance swirled from three points in the roof. Yakeru's gaze shot up to see three human silhouettes, most likely conjurers, as the swirling radiance then encased the entire ballroom in a dome.

  "Just in case. You never know when we might have interruptions," Kane said as he placed his hands in his pockets, not bothering to draw his weapon. "Shall we, commoner?"

  Wasting no time, Yakeru ran forward. The distance between the two gave Kane ample to weave out of the way, however, he intentionally waited until the very last second to dodge, emphasizing his immaculate timing. Yakeru remained open for a split second but rather than capitalizing on it, Kane let it slip to dodge another one of his swipes.

  During his training with Itsuki and Dash, he learned to shave off unnecessary movements to optimize maneuverability and allow for tighter movements. The result produced faster reactions that allowed him to keep up with the elusive prodigy.

  Kane ducked under a swipe and thrust forward in an attempt to strike his throat with the web of his hand. Fortunately, Yakeru had seen this move before and reacted accordingly, sidestepping and countering with another swipe to his midsection. He couldn't tell if he had become bored or if it was beginning to be too cumbersome to solely rely on dodging but Kane finally decided to draw his blade, deflecting the blow.

  His smug grin had somehow grown wider. "Is that really all you've amounted to over the past month? Learning to counter that one move?"

  Ignoring him, Yakeru continued his onslaught but couldn't get a solid hit on him. Kane's style was a combination of Akari's elegance with the blade, precision, and a dash of Itsuki's quick-witted thinking. Every movement he made was fluid and flowed seamlessly together. Even under the pressure of Yakeru's attacks, there was no sign of fatigue and his form never faltered. He hadn't revealed his radiance capabilities but Yakeru could already see why he was labeled a prodigy.

  The ballroom was quickly filled with sharp whistles and screeching metal as every slash directed at Kane's legs was met with air and every swipe to his chest was parried with ease. Kane yawned mockingly as he continued to fend off his opponent's attacks before he surprised Yakeru with a quick jab.

  The flexible blade nicked him on the shoulder before he could react, stumbling back. With one hand behind his back, Kane stepped forward while twirling his blade to confuse Yakeru.

  "You should've forfeited when you had the chance." Kane cursed as he unleashed his own series of quick slashes.

  His blade whipped through the air, producing flashes of silver arcs. Yakeru didn't have the same luxury to respond even if he wanted to as all of his concentration was focused on defending against the barrage. Although his improved reactions and speed allowed him to keep up, he could tell Kane was holding back. If he truly wished it, he could end their clash but the complacent expression etched on his face told him he merely wanted to assert his superiority.

  Each of his strikes was swift and precise, just barely grazing Yakeru as his body became a canvas of cuts. Even leaping back to gain distance didn't give him the luxury of a breather because Kane immediately dashed forward in hot pursuit.

  "Too slow," Kane said snidely.

  However, a faint smile played on Yakeru's lips, satisfied with his findings. Gauging Kane's reaction went exactly how he expected it to. Kane willingly prolonged their exchange, choosing to toy with him even now.

  'Seems like nothing's changed. Good.'

  Although it was a good indication that he'd improved enough to force Kane to draw his weapon, he knew that wouldn't be enough to best the royal prodigy.

  He still had a trump card.

  As Kane's whistling blade shot forward, Yakeru took a deep breath and his mind veered back to his training as his body screamed for him to protect his vitals. Ignoring his instincts, he did what he'd spent the entire last month doing.

  Radiance crawled up the length of his legs, his lower half flickering with gentle almost translucent amber flames. The deteriorating ballroom stretched to an impossible length before his form seemingly blurred out of existence.

  Kane's blade whirled past where Yakeru used to be as a violent gale of wind whipped past him. In that instant, for the first time, the arrogant smirk on his face vanished, replaced with a look of utter disbelief. Looking down, there was a small gash in his chest that wasn't there before.

  "H-How did you..." Kane stammered, feeling his chest as if to confirm what he saw was real.

  He looked behind him with widened eyes to see the commoner's blade trickle with red. Yakeru glanced over his shoulder to meet his flabbergasted gaze.

  "Too slow.”