Chapter 244 — Showdown

Chapter 244: Chapter 244 — Showdown

Chapter 244 — Showdown

Victor stared at Daniel Graveborn.

He wasn’t surprised.

Maybe he should have been.

The man behind Snake Mask was someone Victor had spoken with inside the Graveborn estate. Someone who had sparred with him, joked with him, and even tried to recruit him into the family.

But Victor had already suspected the truth.

When he’d sparred with Daniel, there had been too many similarities.

After that, it hadn’t taken much to put everything together.

Victor looked at the bloodied man in front of him.

"Oh, Daniel."

His sword remained lowered at his side.

"Looks like you finally decided to show yourself."

Daniel laughed quietly.

"I have to admit, Victor. You somehow manage to surprise me over and over again."

His eyes moved across the black flames surrounding Victor.

"Who would’ve thought you were carrying the Black Phoenix legacy in your blood?"

Victor’s eyes narrowed.

"The things they would do to you if they found out..."

"Well."

Victor smiled.

"It’s a good thing they’re not going to find out."

He raised his sword slightly.

"At least not today."

Daniel tilted his head.

"Oh? We’re confident now, are we?"

"Barely."

Victor studied him for another moment.

"You know, for a while there, I actually felt bad for you."

Daniel’s smile faded.

"Once I learned about Scarlet."

For the first time since Victor had met him, genuine anger appeared on Daniel’s face.

"Don’t speak her name."

That reaction was real.

Not the playful irritation Snake Mask usually displayed.

Real anger.

Which made the question Victor had been carrying even more interesting.

"It makes me wonder."

Daniel’s eyes hardened.

"Were you part of the Evil God Organization before you married her?"

Victor paused.

"Or after?"

Something flickered across Daniel’s face.

His eyes widened slightly.

Just for a moment.

But Victor caught it.

Interesting.

He didn’t pursue it.

There would be time to think about what that reaction meant later.

If there was anything left to investigate.

"Honestly, it doesn’t matter anymore."

Black flames rolled across Victor’s shoulders.

"I felt pity for you, Daniel."

His fingers tightened around Liam’s sword.

"But I think it’s about time we put you out of your misery."

Daniel’s expression twisted.

The broken remains of his spear tightened in his hand as Spiritual Energy erupted from his body.

Then something changed.

Dark energy began pouring into his right arm.

Victor’s expression sharpened.

He hadn’t seen this technique before.

The muscles in Daniel’s arm swelled violently.

Twice their normal size.

Then three times.

Dark veins crawled beneath his skin as the limb continued expanding until it looked almost grotesque compared to the rest of his body.

Dark energy spiraled around his fist.

More.

And more.

The air around it began to tremble.

Victor’s smile disappeared.

That’s not good.

He could feel the danger immediately.

Whatever Daniel was preparing, Victor couldn’t allow him to finish it.

He shifted Liam’s sword.

Too late.

Daniel grinned.

"If you can survive this, maybe you really do have a chance at saving humanity."

The dark energy around his fist compressed.

The metal floor beneath Daniel’s feet began to buckle.

"But I don’t think you will."

Victor’s mind raced.

He was stronger now.

Far stronger.

With the Black Phoenix Form and Liam’s sword, he had enough offensive power to kill Daniel.

But that wasn’t the problem.

There was too much energy packed into Daniel’s arm.

Even if Victor cut him down before the technique landed, there was no guarantee the energy would simply disappear with him.

If it detonated—

Victor’s eyes narrowed.

What do I—

A roar erupted behind him.

Victor turned.

A massive dragon had formed behind Grace.

Its body was almost translucent, its shape constantly bending as the space around it warped and folded. The walls behind the creature looked distorted through its body, as though the entire room had been twisted around it.

Daniel’s eyes widened.

"You stupid witch!"

The spatial dragon surged forward.

Daniel twisted toward her.

"You think that’ll be enough?!"

Victor smiled.

"Maybe not."

He raised Liam’s sword.

"But between that and me?"

Spiritual Energy flooded his legs.

"I don’t think you’re surviving this one, Daniel."

The spatial dragon struck.

Daniel roared and drove his enlarged fist directly into its head.

BOOM!

The room warped.

For a fraction of a second, Victor’s vision twisted with it.

The dragon folded inward around Daniel’s fist while the dark energy surrounding his arm fought against the distorted space.

Neither technique gave way.

The collision compressed.

Tighter.

Smaller.

The pressure building between them became almost unbearable.

Then Victor felt it.

They were about to explode.

He moved.

Flash Step.

Victor appeared beside the collision.

Liam’s sword came down.

The blade tore through the unstable energy.

The spatial dragon shuddered.

Daniel’s technique flickered.

Victor twisted his body.

Daniel’s eyes widened.

"No—"

The blade passed through his arm.

For an instant, nothing happened.

Then the massive limb separated from his body.

Blood erupted from the wound.

And the two destabilized techniques collapsed into each other.

BOOOOM!

The blast swallowed the room.

Victor lost sight of everything.

Daniel disappeared into the explosion.

His body flew backward like a broken doll, blood trailing behind him as he crashed into the metal wall.

CRASH!

The wall buckled.

His head snapped backward.

Daniel dropped to the floor.

Victor never saw him land.

The explosion caught him a heartbeat later.

His feet left the ground.

"Victor!"

The world spun.

Victor saw metal.

Fire.

Then darkness moved across his vision.

Lyra emerged from the shadows directly in his path.

She caught him.

The impact nearly tore him from her arms anyway.

Both of them flew backward.

They crashed into the wall together.

They both coughed out a mouthful of blood.

Then they slid to the floor.

For several seconds, Victor couldn’t move.

His ears rang.

His vision pulsed in and out of focus.

Every part of his body hurt.

He tried to breathe.

Pain stabbed through his chest.

Across the ruined room, Grace was still standing.

Barely.

She had used far less power than during their previous battle with Snake Mask, but the spatial technique had still taken a heavy toll.

Her sword touched the floor.

Then Grace dropped onto one knee beside it.

Victor forced his hands beneath himself.

His arms trembled.

He pushed himself onto his knees.

Lyra reached toward him.

"Victor—"

"I’m fine."

Daniel was still alive.

Victor could hear him breathing.

Victor forced himself upright.

His legs swayed beneath him.

He crossed the ruined room.

Daniel lay against the dented wall, covered in blood.

One arm was gone.

His remaining limbs rested at unnatural angles, and every breath came with a wet, broken sound.

Victor stopped in front of him.

For a moment, he simply looked down.

The man who had sparred with Victor.

Scarlet’s husband.

And the man who had tortured Lyra.

"You know, Daniel..."

Victor breathed heavily.

"I really did like you."

Daniel’s eyes slowly moved toward him.

Victor looked down at Liam’s sword.

Black flames still crawled across the blade.

Daniel’s mouth opened.

Maybe to laugh.

Maybe to explain himself.

Maybe to say something about Scarlet.

Victor would never know.

He didn’t let him speak.

"Hopefully you make better choices in the afterlife."

Liam’s sword flashed.

Daniel’s head separated from his body.

It struck the floor and rolled several feet before finally stopping.

Silence returned.

Victor stood over him.

He expected to feel something.

Satisfaction, maybe.

Regret.

Sadness.

Instead, there was only exhaustion.

The Black Phoenix flames surrounding Victor began to disappear.

The cloak faded first.

Then the fire around his arms and legs.

As the transformation ended, the strength holding Victor upright vanished with it.

His knees nearly buckled.

Oh.

He had used far more Soul Power than he’d realized.

Victor turned.

Lyra was still sitting against the wall, injured but conscious.

Grace remained on one knee.

Alive.

Everyone who mattered was alive.

Good.

Victor smiled weakly.

Then another thought reached him.

Grace.

He hadn’t even had the chance to tell her not to reveal what she’d seen.

Space distorted beside him.

Grace appeared just as Victor’s legs finally gave out.

She caught him beneath the arms.

Victor tried to speak.

Nothing came out.

He was done.

Completely.

So he looked at Grace and raised one finger to his lips.

Grace stared at him for half a second.

Then she understood.

"Don’t worry, Victor."

His eyes remained on hers.

"I won’t tell anyone what I saw."

She adjusted her grip around him.

"After Samal chose you as his successor, your secrets are my secrets."

Some of the tension left Victor’s face.

His eyelids grew heavier.

"Don’t worry, Young Master."

Grace gave him a small smile.

"Go ahead and sleep."

Victor stared at her.

Young Master?

He didn’t even have enough energy left to shake his head.

One final thought crossed his mind.

Not this again...

His eyes closed.

Victor went limp.

Grace remained on one knee, holding him.

She was exhausted herself.

For several moments, the only sounds in the ruined room were Lyra’s breathing and the distant echoes of battle.

Then—

Footsteps.

Grace’s hand tightened around her sword.

A figure appeared in the doorway.

Cyrus.

His clothes bore the marks of battle. Blood stained one sleeve, though Grace couldn’t tell whether it belonged to him. His two swords remained in his hands.

He stopped.

His gaze slowly moved across the room.

The shattered walls.

Daniel Graveborn’s severed head several feet from his body.

Lyra injured against the wall.

Grace barely able to stand.

And Victor unconscious in her arms.

Cyrus stared for several seconds.

He had absolutely no idea what had happened in here.

He sheathed his swords and walked over.

Without a word, he lifted Victor from Grace’s arms.

Whatever had happened, Cyrus had been assigned one responsibility above everything else.

Protect Victor.

And he intended to do his job.

"The fighting is finished. The rest of the organization either fled or is dead."

Grace looked up.

Cyrus glanced toward Lyra.

"Help her."

Grace slowly pushed herself upright.

"I think it’s time we head back."

Cyrus looked once more around the ruined room.

"The rest of the team is sweeping the base and recovering anything useful."

Grace nodded.

The others could handle the cleanup.

The captives would be freed.

The base would be searched.

And anything the Evil God Organization had left behind would be taken apart piece by piece.

Cyrus carried Victor toward the exit while Grace helped Lyra follow behind.

For now, it was over.

Their first operation had succeeded.

And for the first time in years, the Order had won a battle.