The arena fell into complete silence.
Not even the wind dared to whisper in the wake of Leo Aetherwind's overwhelming victory.
Dust lingered in the air, particles glinting in the golden light like stunned fireflies.
The crowd, nobles and commoners alike, sat frozen as if they'd collectively forgotten how to breathe.
Mouths hung open. Eyes wide. Only a single thought echoed in every mind:
He crushed Rio like a paper doll.
Yet amidst the dumbfounded expressions, a few faces brimmed with something else—pride.
Butler Wang stood with his hands behind his back, eyes shining like polished obsidian.
"Hmph. And people said he was just a pretty face," he muttered, puffing his chest with a hidden smile.
Behind him, Leo's personal shadow force members stood tall, their dark uniforms fluttering ever so slightly.
Each of them, trained killers with hearts colder than steel, now wore smirks of satisfaction.
"Our young master isn't just handsome. He's built different," one of them whispered to another.
Back on the battlefield, Leo's gaze slowly turned toward Roxanne, whose lips were tightly bitten as if she were suppressing something.
Emotions? Regret? Or awe?
Leo couldn't tell.
He could've just walked away—let the echoes of victory ring in the air.
But that wasn't him.
With a slow, confident stride, Leo moved toward the center of the arena and raised his voice.
"That wasn't enough."
The crowd blinked.
"I came here not just to challenge Rio," Leo continued, eyes now locked on Roxanne. "But to challenge the twin blades themselves."
A ripple passed through the audience.
He didn't mean just Rio?
Was he truly mad?
Even Roxanne's brows furrowed. "You... want to fight us both?"
Leo smiled, devilishly handsome, the afternoon sun outlining his silver hair like a crown of fire.
"Is that fear I hear in your voice? I promise I'll go easy. Maybe."
Rio, despite his bruised ego, clenched his jaw and stood.
"You're arrogant. Fine. We accept."
Roxanne glanced at her brother, then back at Leo. A faint blush tickled her cheeks—was it fury or flustered admiration?
She nodded.
"We'll show you why they call us the Twin Fangs of House Draelan."
---
The Second Battle Begins
The crowd barely recovered from the shock when the second duel of the day erupted.
Leo faced both siblings at once.
They moved with perfect synchronicity. Their twin blades glimmered, reflecting off one another like mirrors of destruction. Rio launched with brute force, while Roxanne danced with graceful lethality.
A single misstep would cost Leo dearly.
And yet—
He was calm.
Too calm.
He sidestepped a sweeping arc from Roxanne, spun into a crouch to avoid Rio's thrust, and flipped backward.
"Ohoho! Someone's been watching too many wuxia dramas!" Leo quipped mid-flip.
"Shut up and fight!" Rio snapped, lunging again.
Leo's eyes glinted.
Energy Strike Out!
A beam of raw power exploded from his palm, hurling Rio back like a ragdoll.
Roxanne leapt in, her sword tracing silver arcs through the air. She was fast. Precise. Deadly.
Leo grinned.
Light Cannon!
A shockwave blasted out in a wide cone, forcing her to retreat or be scorched. The heat vaporized parts of the ground.
From the stands, even nobles flinched.
"That's... a light-based cannon spell? But it's not even chant-based!" one scholar gasped.
But Leo wasn't done.
Twin combo attack incoming!
Rio had recovered. He and Roxanne surged together, spinning into a coordinated vortex of steel.
"Twin Crescent Arc!"
Their blades merged into a slashing cyclone that screamed toward Leo.
And then—
System Notification:
You have 2 uses of Perceptive Lens remaining.
Leo activated it.
A faint golden glow shimmered over his eyes. Time slowed. The blades became sluggish blurs.
He saw it—the tiny falter in Roxanne's footwork, the moment Rio's shoulder twisted too early.
"Predictable."
Phoenix Break — Burst Mode!
A brilliant flame erupted around him. His power doubled instantly. He launched forward, faster than the eye could see.
BANG!
He deflected both their attacks mid-air with his bare arms infused with phoenix fire.
The twins were hurled backward, landing on the ground—coughing, stunned, unable to continue.
Smoke sizzled off Leo's shoulders.
His cloak fluttered as he stood there, body glowing faintly from the aftershock of his ultimate move.
He walked toward them and stopped just a few feet away.
"You rely too much on your twin-style. It's beautiful. But beauty without individuality... is a weakness."
Rio groaned. Roxanne looked up, dazed.
"If you keep following the same path, someone will eventually exploit that flaw and destroy you both."
He paused. Then smiled slightly.
"Just not today."
---
System Notification:
Ding! Congratulations to Host for altering Twin Blades' future sword path.
Reward: 30,000 System Points.
---
Leo turned without another word and left the stage.
The arena stayed silent for a few breaths, then erupted into chaos.
"Who IS this guy?!"
"Did you see how he moved? How he—how he talked? He's like a noble war god!"
"He made a joke during battle and still beat them senseless!" someone cried, half-laughing.
In the noble stands, Duke Elric—Roxanne's father—sat pale-faced, heart pounding.
He had just seen his children defeated... but oddly, he felt relief.
Because if Leo Aetherwind could do this much at age sixteen—maybe he truly was the right one to entrust with their fate.
Roxanne, from her place on the ground, watched Leo's back.
"Maybe... he's not just a devilishly handsome lunatic. Maybe he really does see things we can't."
Rio just groaned. "Shut up... Sis. My ribs hurt."
She laughed for the first time that day.
And somewhere above them, the clouds stirred faintly—as if destiny itself had shifted just a little more in Leo's favor.
---
[ TO BE CONTINUED ]
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Author's Note:
Boom! The chapter ends… but my journey as a humble author continues!
If you laughed, raged, or felt the urge to slap a fictional character today—don't forget to drop a Power Stone or add this novel to your collection!
It fuels my fingers and feeds the system behind this villainous tale.
Got an idea? A plot twist suggestion? Or just wanna yell at a character?
Slide into the comments—I read everything.
Until next time,
Stay evil, stay awesome, and thanks for reading!
– Your Scheming Author
azuredragonx
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