Within the hall where every Wargrave had gathered, the aura which had been absent suddenly appeared. The entire hall was drenched in presence as battle intent and madness exploded outward in a controlled chaos. It erupted from every single one of them at this moment, causing their blood to boil.
What they were seeing defied reality, they watched the Tenth Sun sleep for over an entire hour during the True Awakening. Which of them had ever even done this? They wouldn’t dare to. No, they didn’t dare because they never had the time; they were running for their lives.
They saw the way he fought. They could see his battle experience increasing with every motion, every movement. Their eyes burned into the heads-up display before them. Their gaze didn’t dare peel away from the screen; they didn’t even dare blink or miss a moment.
They watched with absolute clarity, pride overflowing in their blood and pumping through their veins at this very moment. But none spoke. They simply watched.
They watched as the Tenth Sun plowed through assassins like a lawnmower through blades of grass. They could tell he had learned the dagger techniques on the spot, then went ahead to use the whip like it was just another weapon in his arsenal.
Then they saw him close his eyes. They didn’t know why, but they assumed it was one of the assassins’ abilities. Still, the Tenth Sun moved without hesitation, without pause, without delay, as though vision never mattered to begin with.
They watched him jump into different abilities like it was nothing. They could see the way he moved like he was one of the assassins, absolutely silent. Heads soared as he moved. Blood painted the sky like a canvas. Bodies dropped like flies with every motion.
They saw him dodge attacks that should have been impossible, as though he possessed an ability to see a split second into the future. But as they were all battle maniacs, they could tell the Tenth Sun was reading the assassins and predicting their movements and attack through their muscles movement.
But someone whose battle experience over the past six months came from a controlled environment shouldn’t be capable of this. Even if it was due to talent, it shouldn’t be at this level, not yet.
In their eyes, everything was beautiful. It was epic. It was divine. It was graceful. They could only watch in silence, not daring to speak and break the moment.
Then it came, the assassin... the Knight. They heard his monologue... which soon turned into a dialogue. They couldn’t be bothered to ask the First Sun which noble household the assassin was talking about. They couldn’t be bothered with the words of a weakling for any reason.
But they couldn’t help but wonder if the Tenth Sun’s winning streak had finally come to an end. Maybe it was time for him to change tactics, from attack to perhaps defense.
The Knight had two centuries of battle experience. That alone was outrageous. Coupled with a cultivation level that stood above the Tenth Sun’s, it seemed like the Tenth Sun had no hope at all.
But their thoughts proved wrong, the Tenth Sun had done the opposite. He confronted the man face to face without taking even a step back.
Then it came.
The battle of rapiers.
There they saw it, talent like never before, movement like never before. They saw rapier techniques and movements the Tenth Sun had never shown since the beginning of the True Awakening.
The Tenth Sun hadn’t shown his true rapier skills until now due to stamina conservation. He had allowed the rapier to act on its own and handle some enemies. But from the few moments they saw him use the rapier fully, they knew, he was extremely talented.
But what they saw now was different. It was overwhelming. He stood against a mountain and clawed his way through every single attack, through every single exchange. They watched him learn an attack technique on the fly, on the spot with one try, and then perfect it in the next.
They watched his battle experience peak in real time as he devoured everything the Knight poured out. Although two centuries of battle experience can’t be swallowed within minutes, it still didn’t matter to the Tenth Sun.
Then their elements came. Crimson and Purple. Searing and crackling. Flames and Thunder.
The world changed colors in the heads-up display as the battle peaked to its utmost. They watched the forest they had chosen flatten across kilometers. None dared to breathe at this moment as these two rapier users fought even mid-air, plummeting from the sky without a moment’s pause.
They all knew deep down, none of them had such a True Awakening. Many of them had run away and fought as they ran and hid for a few minutes. After all, the True Awakening was meant to survive, not to plow your way through like they were seeing now.
But even then, they had lost limbs, eyes, ears. Their mouths were torn open. Some had injuries tear through their necks. In a nutshell, they all came back half-dead in every sense of the word.
But here stood the boy they once thought a failure. The boy they once thought a stain. The boy they once thought useless.
The failed Heir.
The dim Sun.
Then a word echoed through the hall just as it echoed through the forest. FREEZE.
They watched as the Tenth Sun came face to face with literal death. Malrik had already prepared to move. After all, they didn’t know the restrictions on the Tenth Sun’s teleportation abilities. But at the last moment, he vanished.
A grin spread on their faces like madmen. Then again, the grin vanished just as quickly, for the moment the Tenth Sun vanished, the Knight vanished too. His words cut through the hall and forest once more, FREEZE.
This time, they didn’t doubt. They watched with expectation. The Tenth Sun had pulled off so many miracles that they now felt inferior in terms of talent. And as though meeting their expectations once again, the Tenth Sun vanished, he had already thought ahead yet again.
Then they watched as the Tenth Sun and the Knight ended it in one move that could only be described with one word: Divine.
Through the haze, through the dust, through the fumes... they saw their bloodline stand upright without a single injury. His back straight. His weapon in hand. The sun pouring down its rays on him as if bowing to the show he had put on earlier.
Seeing all this, their battle intent and aura erupted in utter controlled madness. The hall shook. Cracks snaked across its walls. The windows shattered as grins widened and various whites of eyes could be seen throughout the hall.
Even Azeron Wargrave, the Primarch, was not left out. His own aura flared at this moment as the air screamed in defiance.
Thalric, the Ninth Sun, was no different. Although he hated the Tenth Sun, the truth right in front of his eyes couldn’t be denied. He had loved every bit of the past six hours.
And so, these madmen welcomed another madman into their mad rank.