Helial’s Aura erupted. Suddenly, it exceeded by far those of everyone else. Without a second thought, the boy rushed forward like an arrow shot from a bow. A few meters from him, Medusa was caught by surprise. Though, she promptly used the dagger she was holding to take a guard stance.

On the opposite end of the room, Pseudonym immediately calmed his Aura down. “A change of mind?” He was baffled indeed; Helial had just had an afterthought out of nowhere… This immediately changed his idea on the nature of that boy. He appreciated him more, now.

“This… is… Mh… Like, the ultimate test to officially become my disciple,” Iblis muttered as he leafed through his fritters recipes book, sitting at one end of his laid-for-two table. “Don’t let me doawwwn-” the Devil covered his mouth as he yawned noisily. He twisted his face in a grimace, and then went on: “Save them all. One of them dies, you’ll lose. If you win, I’ll help you find a fitting training spot.”

Helial raised an eyebrow. Iblis was behaving differently today. But it wasn’t like Helial had anything to object. After all, when did the Devil have an ordinary behaviour? He took him aback every single time. Helial being willing or not, Iblis would always be as eccentric as that.

At this point, he might as well go all out.

Helial let his voice echo out inwardly. “Promise that if something goes wrong, you’ll take care of Lumia.”

“No,” the Devil sharply replied.

“Promise me, Master, and I’ll promise you that I’ll attack Medusa. Or rather, that I will claim the title of strongest,” said Helial through gritted teeth. “So that even Amaterasu’s heir won’t be strong enough to defeat me. Just promise you’ll protect Lumia on my behalf while I stain myself in someone else’s blood.”

Iblis became slightly somber. He hesitated and finally said: “Fine.”

At these words, the heaviest burden was lifted from his heart. The boy got ready to deliver the blow directed to Medusa.

Helial attuned the energy of Life and that of Destruction inside his Soul. An outstanding rush of power blazed its way through his body. The two energies struck a precarious balance as Helial led all of his Mana towards his arms. He clutched Curse of the Demon. A torrential Mana force streamed through the right Meridians. Helial originated a wondrous momentum which hit the full Medusa’s dagger.

Boom!

The devastating impact got Medusa to fly backwards. She didn’t use her fullest strength to block the blow. She didn’t expect the simplest boy in the middle of the First Phase, not even at Level 90, to have such strength. Helial was only at Level 86 indeed, but he could already boast an exceptional power.

Medusa rooted her feet to the spot as she brought a hand to the corner of her mouth. She glanced down at her hand. A tiny bloodstain glimmered on her spotless glove. She lost her temper. “How dare y-”

BOOM!

Helial had no intention to let her any cease-fire. The boy was pushing his body to the limit. He could already taste the sweet-like flavor of blood. He wouldn’t let the showdown to exceed three exchanges of blows. He must kill Medusa quickly. If he lost his Control over the two Manas, he couldn’t pull that off anymore.

A vague web of black veins framed Helial’s eyes. In that very moment, the boy’s Aura was so terrifying that he made him look like a devil rather than a human.

“Today these slaves will stay here! But I can’t say the same for you, Medusa!” Helial yelled with joy. He didn’t felt no regret towards what he was about to do. Iblis clearly swore he would protect Lumia. There was nothing else for Helial to worry about. After all, the Devil’s and the King’s protection were the best assurance of Lumia’s shelter. Helial was free to vent every frustration he had experience in his life.

He had always had to lower his head. He had always renounced to the highest positions for fear of leaving Lumia behind. But now Lumia was stronger than they could imagine. Both the Devil and Caesar had given their word they would look after her. Helial didn’t trust the King’s promise blindly, he knew that nothing would prevent Iblis making good on his. Nobody would lay a finger on Lumia.

At this point, Helial wasn’t even afraid of Aura anymore. In his life, Iblis killed stronger people than him with a fart.

Meanwhile, behind the corner of the corridor, Circe was growling: “Stop him, Pseudonym! He knows you’re here!”

For his part, Pseudonym hadn’t yet realized what was happening there. He was staring at the scene with a strange glimmer in his eyes; Pseudonym knew that Helial was no ordinary guy. Circe clearly said that his presence had an effect on Helial’s action. What did she mean? That Helial took notice of his Aura and its fierceness? That he attacked first because of the fact that Caesar would lend him a helping hand, while nobody would have done it for Pseudonym?

Pseudonym had no clue whether these hypothesises were true or not. It was an intricate line of thinking indeed. After all, Pseudonym would have promptly attacked, if Helial hadn’t beat him to the punch. He was seized by the doubt that Circe had told him so just to make him stop Helial from making things even heavier for himself.

However, Pseudonym had now re-evaluated the boy and was more than willing to prevent him getting into more trouble. Honestly, he didn’t think Helial would be foolish enough to actually erase Medusa once and for all. But suddenly, Pseudonym sensed a strange fluctuation in the energy all around him. It seemed to thicken nearby Helial as some unusual symbols sparkled over the boy’s hand. Pseudonym’s face got distorted.

After sensing the power of the Skill Helial was about to cast, Pseudonym immediately enveloped himself in a sudden eruption of black flames.

Helial had a maniac expression on his face. He was in sheer ecstasy at the thought he had finally gained the upper hand. “I’m far from being strong, but at least I’ll be one step away from weakness,” he whispered to himself in an insane train of nonsensical thought.

He channelled all his energy in the third final blow. By striking the first two, he forced Medusa step back. Her eyes were now bloodshot. The descendant of the Sect of the Worthy was given no chance of counterattacking. The uncanny Mana enveloping Helial had the power to misbalance that of the others.

Medusa’s limbs were numb and her Meridians did not respond. She couldn’t let her Mana flow, which meant she could cast no Skill. All she could do was gaze dully at Helial as he swooped in on her like the Grim Reaper.

A terrifying-Aurad Curse of the Demon was falling down on Medusa to shear her through front-to-back. Though, a figure engulfed in black flames suddenly appeared before Helial.

The light given off by Helial’s hands grew blinding. A deafening roar exploded.

DOOOOOOONG!

It sounded as if two metal bars had just clashed on each other. A rain of sparks fell down on them.

Pseudonym blocked Curse of the Demon. He gave a cold sigh. Sure enough, Helial was stronger than the average First and Second Phase practitioners. But Pseudonym was in the Third Phase Intermediate stage. Story went that even a Fifth Phase warrior wouldn’t be able to kill him.

“He!” Pseudonym increased the force he was exerting over the two swords. Helial felt like a mountain was crumbling down on him. Despite brute force being his strong suit, the destructive power carried by Pseudonym’s simplest attack got him to reconsider the actual power of the Colosseum champ.

Helial spat a mouthful of blood in midair. He badly slammed on his backside a dozen meters away. Snowflake and the others hastily reached for him to make sure he was still in one piece.

Helial brought a hand to his chest and perceived his Mana seethe out of control through the Meridians. The Skill wasn’t perfect yet, and he even tried to use two at the same time. Someone else would have probably died. It was only thanks to his incredible build that Helial could strain his body without fearing the aftermath.

He looked at Pseudonym, standing not far from him. He furrowed his eyebrows. Pseudonym didn’t put in a great deal of effort into his knockout blow. After using the two Skills together, Helial could hardly lift a finger. The only thing for him left to do was gaze at Pseudonym as he slowly approached him.

The black armor stopped a few meters from Helial and surveyed him indifferently as he said: “No permanent damage.” Then, without further ado, he walked towards Medusa.

“These slaves will stay here to balance out your spared life. Crawl back to the Sect of the Worthy. This is the palace of the King. There’s already a few Seniors coming. You don’t wanna make this even harder, do you?”

Medusa glared at Pseudonym scornfully. Pseudonym had just spared her life, but he had also forced her to spare that of her slaves. She couldn’t turn a deaf ear on him anyway. If Medusa had insisted on killing them, she would have lost any credibility. Also, would she dare face that pile of clankers without a Sixth Phase warrior by her side?

Within the Sect of the Worthy, rumor had it that even Comodus had once challenged Pseudonym, but he had come back home covered in wounds.

No one knew whether the rumor was right or not. What is for certain is that it greatly contributed to the fearful mystique around the mysterious figure of Pseudonym.