The dagger tore forward.
Raven tilted his head slightly, just enough for the blade to miss his throat by a breath. At the same time, a barrier snapped into place with precise timing.
CRACK!
The impact rang out, the compressed shadow force splintering the golden layer but not breaking through completely.
For a split second, the dagger stalled.
Raven's fingers moved.
Two fingers clamped onto the construct.
The shadow trembled between his grip, unstable, flickering like something that wasn't meant to exist for long.
Then it dissolved.
Raven's gaze lifted.
Across the battlefield, through the chaos of fire and wind and clashing bodies, he found him instantly.
A boy stood at the far edge of the arena. Dark hair, slightly messy. His posture relaxed, almost lazy. But his eyes—
They seemed odd.
Grey pupils
The noise of the arena seemed to dim around them.
Raven slipped his hands back into his pockets.
"…You're late."
The boy's eyes narrowed just slightly.
"You knew."
Raven didn't answer immediately. His gaze stayed on him, calm, steady, like he had been expecting this moment long before the first punch was thrown today.
"Of course."
Around them, students were still fighting, but attention had begun to shift. Some slowed. Some glanced over.
Something about the tension between the two felt… different.
Above, Lukas leaned forward slightly, arms still folded.
So someone finally decided to step up.
Good.
But his eyes didn't relax. If anything, they sharpened.
Raven was still too calm.
The boy moved
One moment he stood still.
The next, he blurrede in front of Raven
His fist drove forward.
BOOM!
A barrier formed instantly.
Perfect timing.
The punch landed.
CRACK!
The barrier shattered like glass.
Raven slid back several meters, boots scraping against the stone.
A few nearby students froze mid-fight.
"He broke it…?"
Raven steadied himself and straightened.
"…So that's how it is."
His tone remained flat, almost uninterested.
The boy didn't respond. He stepped forward again, faster this time, closing the distance in a blink.
Another punch.
Raven twisted his body, letting it brush past his shoulder. His hand snapped out in response, a precise palm strike aimed at the ribs.
THUD!
It landed clean.
But the boy didn't move.
Not even a step.
Raven's eyes narrowed slightly.
"What?!!"
Before he could follow up, the counter came.
A knee shot upward
Raven brought up a barrier at the last instant.
BOOM!
The impact detonated against it.
CRACK!
The barrier fractured instantly, sending him skidding backward again.
He stopped, adjusted his sleeve calmly, and exhaled through his nose.
"You hit harder than the last one."
It was a quiet remark, almost like he was commenting on the weather.
But it carried weight.
The boy paused.
Just for a fraction of a second.
Then he moved again.
This time, he didn't hold back.
His figure blurred as he launched forward, a barrage of strikes following immediately.
Fists. Elbows. Knees.
Every movement was efficient. Direct. Built to break.
Raven's world narrowed.
He didn't try to overpower him.
Didn't try to match speed.
He read.
A barrier snapped into place—blocking a straight punch.
It shattered.
He stepped aside, letting the next strike miss by inches.
Another barrier formed just in time to intercept an elbow.
Cracked again.
The rhythm was tight.
Precise.
Every defense placed at the exact moment it was needed.
Still—
He was being pushed back.
Each hit carried weight.
Each exchange forced him further across the arena.
Nearby students had completely stopped fighting now.
"…What kind of fight is that?"
"He's not even attacking properly…"
"Then why isn't he losing?!"
Above, Lukas' gaze darkened slightly.
That wasn't normal defensive casting.
That was timing.
Extreme timing.
And that boy...
His attacks weren't random.
Each of his strikes were aimed with the intent to kill.
Raven shifted his footing as another strike came. Instead of retreating, he stepped in.
Closed the gap.
His shoulder slammed forward.
THUD!
The attack disrupted the incoming punch just enough.
Raven's fingers shot upward, striking a precise point near the collarbone.
The boy's posture shifted slightly.
A small imbalance.
Raven's knee followed—
But it never landed.
A hand caught his leg mid-motion.
Grip tightened.
Then—
BOOM!
Raven was slammed into the ground.
The stone beneath him cracked, dust exploding outward.
Gasps echoed across the arena.
"…He got him!"
But before the dust settled—
A barrier formed beneath Raven's back.
Absorbing the impact.
He didn't cough.
Didn't flinch.
He just looked up at the sky
Calm.
Unbothered.
"….."
The boy released him and stepped back.
"I was expecting more from a noble like you"
Raven rose smoothly to his feet, brushing dust off his clothes like this was nothing more than a minor inconvenience.
Their eyes met again.
One was empty.
The other—
Cold.
"You're not the first," Raven said quietly.
Silence stretched between them for a moment.
Then the boy moved again.
Faster than before.
Raven's eyes sharpened.
Good.
Now we're getting somewhere.
A shadow blade formed mid-motion, thrusting toward his side.
Raven stepped aside just enough, a barrier forming at an angle to deflect the attack rather than block it head-on.
The blade slid off.
He pivoted, his elbow snapping toward the attacker's jaw.
The boy leaned back, narrowly avoiding it, and countered instantly with a downward strike.
Raven raised a barrier.
CRACK!
It shattered again.
The pressure behind that attack was insane.
Still—
Raven didn't retreat.
A faint smile touched the corner of his lips.
Not warm.
Not friendly.
Just… sharp.
"Quick question..... how many gold coins were you paid?"
The boy's eyes locked onto him.
"You're going to die talking."
"Am I?"
Raven tilted his head slightly, dodging another strike by inches.
"I thought you were the quiet type."
The next attack came harder.
Faster.
Raven's barrier snapped up again, absorbing the initial impact before cracking apart.
He slid back, then stopped himself with a firm step.
The ground beneath his foot cracked slightly.
He looked up again.
Still calm.
"Based on the way you fight," he said.
A faint tilt of his head.
"I'd say 50?"
Around them, the arena still roared with distant battles, but no one was watching their own fights anymore.
Every eye had shifted.
Because in the middle of all that chaos—
Two people stood.
And it no longer felt like a training match.
It felt like something else entirely.
The boy stepped forward again.
This time with no restraint.
Raven's smile faded.
His golden barrier flickered once—
Then stabilized.
His posture shifted slightly.
The boy didn't budge
He slowly brought his hands together.
Finger by finger.
Joint by joint.
Like assembling something that had been waiting inside him the entire time.
Then the shadows came.
Not from the ground.
Not from him.
But from the space around him.
Thin at first.
Then crawling upward like ink finding cracks in reality.
They didn't block light.
They ignored it.
The temperature dropped.
Like warmth had been removed from the world for a moment.
Lukas' eyes sharpened instantly.
"…That isn't student-level mana."
His hand lowered slightly from his folded arms.
For the first time, his attention wasn't just observation.
It was readiness.
The boy's mouth finally opened.
But the voice that came out wasn't clean.
It wasn't singular.
It layered.
Two tones. Then three. Then more....like echoes arguing through the same throat.
And then—
He spoke.
"ABADDON."