Chapter 146: Yves vs Twins [5]

The waves of darkness surged toward the twins, threatening to swallow everything in their path.

"Ana!"

Arnold called out as he sensed something ominous about the approaching darkness.

Ana immediately tightened her grip around the hilt of her katana.

Mana surged through her body and flowed into her blade, causing it to vibrate with power.

She shifted her stance forward.

Then, in a blur, she drew her sword.

A wide, vertical blue arc of mana erupted from her blade, tearing through the ground as it travelled toward the incoming wave of darkness.

BOOOOOOM!

The two forces collided.

A massive explosion of black and blue energy erupted, rising high above the surrounding trees.

However, even that wasn’t enough.

Despite the explosion, the darkness continued pushing forward, swallowing everything in its path.

"What the heck?! Did that thing just block my attack?" Ana muttered in disbelief.

She had poured a considerable amount of mana into that slash, yet the darkness had simply pushed through it.

"There’s something creepy about that thing!" she shouted.

Arnold immediately responded by creating several more fireballs and launching them toward the approaching darkness.

But the moment they made contact, they were completely devoured.

Not even an explosion remained.

Arnold frowned.

My fireballs aren’t working.

He quickly understood that continuing to attack the darkness directly would be pointless.

"Ana, let’s back off. I don’t think he can spread it that far."

Arnold didn’t need to repeat himself.

Ana had already turned around and bolted in the opposite direction.

He followed immediately, running deeper into the forest until they had put a considerable distance between themselves and Yves.

And, just as Arnold had expected, the darkness eventually stopped spreading.

Its maximum range appeared to be around fifty meters.

Arnold was irritated.

Not because Yves had survived his attack. He had already gotten over that.

No.

He was irritated because that bastard had actually made him run away!

His face turned red, and veins began bulging along the sides of his forehead.

How can that trash make me run away like a scaredy-cat?!

He’s nothing but an ant, and I’m running away simply because his darkness keeps destroying my fireballs?!

Both twins looked toward Yves, who was standing dozens of meters away.

He had stopped walking and was silently staring at them.

For some reason, seeing him clad in that obsidian armor sent chills down their spines.

Arnold’s miniature sun was still floating above him, following his movements. Consequently, the area where the twins stood remained brightly illuminated.

However, that also meant that Yves was standing in darkness once again.

Arnold couldn’t understand how his younger brother had obtained such strange powers.

"Ana, has anyone in our family history ever awakened darkness or shadow-related abilities?"

He turned toward his sister.

Ana was rather familiar with the family’s history. Reading the books in the family library was one of her hobbies.

"No."

She shook her head.

"Although I haven’t read every single book in the library, I know for a fact that nobody in our family’s history has ever possessed such abilities."

Arnold narrowed his eyes.

The Laurents were famous for their swordsmanship, and their Gifts usually complemented their use of katanas. Their abilities and fighting styles were often closely intertwined.

But Yves?

He had awakened something completely different.

He could use Shadow Step, conceal his presence, and release strange waves of darkness capable of swallowing even his fireballs.

And now...

Arnold’s eyes widened.

"You bastard! You cheated!"

He pointed his katana toward Yves.

"You brought a relic into the Rite of Passage when it was explicitly forbidden!"

Bringing relics into the Rite was strictly prohibited.

And Yves had just used one to protect himself.

That should have been enough to get him disqualified, not to mention the severe punishment he would receive afterward.

Arnold had no idea how Yves had managed to sneak it past everyone, but he certainly wasn’t going to let it slide.

Ana seemed to have reached the same conclusion.

For a moment, she had completely forgotten that the armor could simply be a relic.

"Little brother, you’re a fool."

She smiled mockingly.

"You knew you couldn’t win, so you sneaked in a relic?"

Her smile widened.

"Heh. I can already imagine the kind of punishment you’ll receive."

Both twins sneered at Yves.

But he simply stared back at them without showing the slightest reaction.

"Lord Altair should be arriving by now," Arnold said with a smile.

One minute passed.

Then two.

Then three.

And before they knew it, ten minutes had gone by.

Yet there was still no sign of Lord Altair.

"Huh?" Both twins muttered simultaneously.

"Where’s Lord Altair? Shouldn’t he be here to fetch this chea—"

"That’s because I didn’t cheat."

Yves’ voice suddenly reached their ears.

It was perfectly clear, almost as though he were standing right beside them.

Both twins immediately assumed defensive positions.

They had thought he had teleported closer, but when they looked toward the battlefield, he was still standing in the same spot.

I swear, I felt like he was right next to me...

Arnold frowned.

"What do you mean you didn’t cheat? You’re clearly cheating! You have that armor!"

Ana pointed an accusing finger at him.

The darkness surrounding Yves suddenly began retreating.

It flowed back toward his body before disappearing without leaving a single trace.

"Are you dumb?"

Yves tilted his head.

"Did you forget that nothing escapes Lord Altair’s eyes?"

He paused.

Then shook his head.

"If I had actually tried sneaking in a relic, he would’ve noticed it back in the hall this morning."

His voice carried a hint of amusement.

"Unless you’re suggesting that I somehow managed to fool him. That’s practically an insult to his abilities."

Both twins wore confused expressions.

But it didn’t take long for them to understand.

Yves was right.

Lord Altair was the deadliest assassin to have ever existed.

There were even rumors that he possessed the eyes of a god.

There was no way someone like him would overlook something as obvious as a relic.

They had been foolish to assume that Yves could get away with something like that. ℴ

So, if it wasn’t a relic...

"...It’s part of your ability?" Ana asked.

"Correct."

Yves raised his right hand and patted his left arm, as though applauding her for getting the answer right.

"Three points for you, my dear sister."

Arnold couldn’t help but admit that it was an incredibly useful ability.

Having an armor-type ability was a significant advantage. It meant Yves wouldn’t have to spend money acquiring protective equipment.

And judging by how effortlessly he had survived Arnold’s attack, its defensive capabilities were probably extraordinary.

Lucky bastard.

"You were lucky to get such an ability," Arnold scoffed, his voice carrying a hint of envy.

"I just rolled the right number on the dice."

Yves took a step forward.

But his foot never touched the ground.

His figure suddenly disappeared.

Both twins’ senses went on high alert.

Yves had vanished from their sight.

They immediately positioned themselves back-to-back, watching each other’s blind spots while spreading their senses as far as possible.

Left.

Right.

Behind.

Nothing.

They couldn’t find him.

His presence had completely disappeared.

He had done the same thing earlier during their fight, erasing his presence until even someone standing nearby would struggle to notice him.

Arnold had initially assumed that the ability only worked when Yves was surrounded by darkness.

But he was wrong.

Because right in front of him—

Yves was already there.

His fist was shooting toward Arnold’s chest at a frightening speed.

And Arnold couldn’t see a thing.

The fist was only inches away from making contact when something caught his attention.

A disturbance.

The temperature beneath his miniature sun had changed.

You see, Arnold’s ability allowed him to sense disturbances within the area illuminated by his miniature sun.

It didn’t matter whether it was an insect or another person.

Anything moving beneath its light could be detected through the subtle changes in temperature.

And at that moment, he had sensed something.

No.

Someone.

Right in front of him.

He couldn’t see anything, but he knew someone was there.

And he knew that if he didn’t react within that split second, he would regret it.

His body moved on instinct.

With incredible speed—and perhaps a little luck—Arnold crossed his arms over his chest.

THUD!

A hard, cold, metallic object slammed against his forearms.

Then came the pain.

An overwhelming force erupted through his arms and sent his entire body flying backward.

Like a bullet, Arnold was launched dozens of meters through the forest.

CRASH!

CRASH!

CRASH!

He collided with tree after tree, breaking through their trunks until his body finally slammed into a massive boulder.

BOOOOM!

The boulder cracked.

Arnold coughed violently.

Blood spilled from his mouth.

Meanwhile, Yves finally allowed his presence to become known.

He appeared directly in front of Ana.

Everything had happened so quickly that she hadn’t even had time to turn her head.

But she didn’t need to.

From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a dark figure.

"Hello there, sister."

Yves greeted her.

Then—

SMACK!

He slapped her across the left cheek.

The force was so tremendous that Ana’s body was sent flying dozens of meters away.

She crashed into the ground and rolled several times before finally coming to a stop.

Yves glanced in her direction.

He was about to dash toward her when—

BOOOOOOM!

The enormous fireball floating above the battlefield suddenly descended toward him.

Yves looked up.

"Seriously..."

He sighed.

"This thing is really starting to piss me off."

He raised his hand, palm facing upward.

And just like that, the enormous fireball came to a complete stop.

It remained suspended above him, unable to move any further.

Arnold, who was still lying against the cracked boulder dozens of meters away, widened his eyes.

He coughed up another mouthful of blood.

"What...?"

Yves slowly closed his raised hand into a fist.

"Begone, light..."

Darkness began gathering around the enormous fireball.

"And let there be darkness again."

The darkness spread rapidly, wrapping itself around the miniature sun.

Its brilliant light began to fade.

The surrounding forest grew dimmer.

And then, within moments, the light disappeared completely.

Darkness returned to the forest.