"It's your turn to shine, old geezer."

Immediately, a brilliant light lit up the arena, and blinded everyone's vision.

When it dispersed, what remained was a single figure, emitting a impossibly powerful aura.

"He unleashed his battle soul," I said to the old man before me. "I can't handle that...yet."

The man stroked his beard and nodded as Ghosteye and the three girls stared in awe at who it was.

"You've done more than enough. I will take things from here, Xuan Kai."

I backed away, and the instant I did so, a pressure that far surpassed that of Ghosteye's battle soul filled the room. Though this pressure wasn't directed at me unlike Ghosteye's, I could still feel the tension. I immediately knew what it was - his own battle soul. It was a ferocious dragon, matching his name.

Ghosteye trembled slightly. He tried to hide it, but his voice was definitely quivering. "Y-You are..."

His opponent, the old man, smiled. "Song Qian Long, The Dragon of Shenzhen, at your service."

*****

(Ghosteye's Perspective)

Song. Qian. Long. The number 1 mage in this city, known as The Dragon of Shenzhen.

In terms of raw power, the two of us were probably equal. However, his battle soul, a Mythical Magic Beast type, was far stronger than my own Animal type. I didn't stand a chance...I had to escape!

"Thinking of escaping?" Song Qian Long said with a smile, still calmly stroking his long white beard. "I've been on the verge of breaking through to the Holy Emperor stage for a while now...this could just be the fight that allows me to do so. Thus, I cannot let you get away."

"H-Heh....I can provide you with someone else to fight, someone stronger than myself," I offered, hoping to trick him.

"Ah...but I'm afraid even then, I cannot let you escape," Song Qian Long replied, and look at the boy I was planning to recruit - Xuan Kai. "This boy here would absolutely never forgive me if I were to do that. Isn't that right?"

Xuan Kai only gave a slight 'Tch' and turned away. Song Qian Long was clearly saving him, but he doesn't show an ounce of gratitude at all...was there some sort of dilemma between the two of them?

W-Wait. That's not what I should be worrying about...

"Y-You see, Mr. Song-"

"Enough talk. Let's begin," he cut me off without hesitation.

If that was the case...then I wasn't going down without a fight. I gritted my teeth and prepared for the incoming bloody fight.

*****

(Xuan Kai's Perspective)

"Level One Wind Magic - Wind Barrier." The three girls and I had backed away as far as possible, and we now had our backs against the cold stone door that we had entered to get in here. It was locked, of course, but soon, it wouldn't be...

I put up several wind barriers to protect us from the battle of Golden Monarchs that was to ensue. To be honest, I didn't know if this entire room could even hold up. In the case that it collapses, I would have to jump around a lot to avoid getting crushed by a rock weighing 10 tons. Wind barriers wouldn't do shit. Bothersome.

"I will end this quickly to save time," Song Qian Long said quietly. "Unless you want to have a long fight?"

"Heh...do whatever you wish," Ghosteye replied.

"Very well..." Song Qian Long closed his eyes for a brief moment, and snapped them open once more.

"Level Two Fire Magic - Abomination Flare - Tier III!"

Flames erupted around him and his battle soul, and converged into a massive ball of fire above him. His dragon battle soul then seemed to inhale, and breathed out into the sphere of pure fire. The original ball shaped flame turned into a death ray, and shot out downwards, aiming for Ghosteye.

"Legendary-Tier Magic right off the back?! Potentia Excitant: Celeritas!" Ghosteye cried in surprise as he quickly cast Blessing Magic (a Potentia spell family speed boost spell in particular, further enhanced by his tiger battle soul) on himself and moved to dodge the attack. "Damn you, old geezer!"

Abomination Flare was originally only a Level Two spell, but after being upgraded two times using Upgrade Runes, it has become equivalent to a Legendary-Tier spell in terms of power - for Song Qian Long only, though. The spell itself is still only Level Two. Tier I meant the original spell, Tier II means upgrading once, and Tier III means upgrading twice.

Ghosteye narrowly dodged it thanks to his speed-type battle soul, but was still recovering from the shock. Song Qian Long wasn't about to give him any time for rest though, and was already beginning to cast his next attack.

"Legendary Fire Magic - Solar Nova."

I winced as a gigantic ball of light rose up in the air. It was even bigger than the one before, and certainly more powerful. Song Qian Long then launched it at the entire area before him, with a mere wave of his hands.

Ghosteye looked around frantically, and realized that the attack was too big for him to dodge. He gritted his teeth and tried to block it instead.

"Legendary Sky Magic - Fang of Zeus!"

A huge purple spear of lightning appeared above him, and with a gesture of his arms, he sent it flying towards Song Qian Long's attack.

BOOM!

I shut my eyes tight, blinded by the bright flash that occurred when the two legendary strikes met. I opened one eye hesitantly, and the first thing I saw was the sky. Feng Mian, Qing Yue, and Yu An Xue soon followed.

The ceiling had caved in, and in its place was the starry night sky. I opened my other eye and struggled to find who was the victor, and sighed in relief as I saw Song Qian Long standing nonchalantly, as if nothing had happened.

He also must've protected us from the collapse of the entire room, since my wind barriers were gone. Besides, there was no way a barrier made of literal air could block an entire throne room's worth of rubble.

I stood up and made my way towards him.

"Did he escape?" I asked.

Song Qian Long merely smiled at me and pointed underneath a pile of rocks, and...was that a throne?

I looked to where he was hinting at, and found a human-like figure crushed under all the debris, his mask still on.

"Crushed under his own throne, huh..." I muttered.

"This was fate. I did not do anything to make it happen," Song Qian Long explained, stroking his beard as calmly as ever.

"Will this cause any problems? You just punched a hole through the ceiling of a part of the Coastal Metropolis Central Mall," I said, switching the topic since I did not want to hear an old man's ramblings about fate.

Song Qian Long raised a hand to stop me, and answered. "You need not worry about that. I will deal with anything that comes up."

I nodded, and was about to ask about Yu An Yan (the whole reason we got into this mess), when he read my mind (maybe with Psychic Magic? I knew for a fact that he had Fire and Earth, but...).

"If you are concerned about Yu An Yan, then rest assured. The seal should've undone itself already."

"Undone itself...?" Yu An Xue came up behind me and appeared to have been listening in on the conversation.

Song Qian Long nodded. "The safest type of seal is one that links directly to the caster's body."

"...Meaning now that the caster in question - Ghosteye - has died, the seal should have automatically unlocked," I finished. "And the Midnight Syndicate, who's so careful about everything, is sure to use such a method to place seals."

The principal smiled brightly at my conclusion, which I winced at. He looked like some pedophile. I knew he was only being nice to me since he felt he owed me - my parents in particular - but still, this is excessive. Besides, anything he did now could not change the past. Maybe if he was a Time Magic expert, but unfortunately he is not (that's what I assumed, anyway).

"Now then...that matter is solved," I muttered with a sigh, and looked up at the beautiful starry sky.

What's next in store, I wonder? I needed to improve my own magic abilities quickly, and raise my strength in general, of course, but that's not what I mean.

Will there be more troubles coming? More allies to be met, and with them more enemies to fight? I didn't know.

But no matter what came my way, I will never lose sight of my true goal:

Revenge.

Everything else was just a side quest - quests to make me stronger and smarter.

I would meet friends and foe alike in this journey, but neither can stop me from getting my revenge. I will never stray from this path, and will not rest until the bastards who murdered my parents are erased from this world.

That is my ultimate goal. And I am slowly getting closer and closer to it.

"H-Hey, Xuan Kai!" a familiar female voice hollered. "How did you suddenly summon our principal?! You went off and did something on your own again this time, didn't you?!"

...But first, it seems, I would have to get some explaining and lecture-avoiding done.

One step at a time.

One tiny step at a time, I will edge closer to my ambition, and complete my mission.

Mother...father...I will succeed. I promise.