The eyes of the youths in the area almost bulged out of their sockets.
What the hell had they just witnessed!?
“The ninth vein… defeated the eighth vein?” one of them said in disbelief.
“Are we dreaming? How is this possible?” another asked, stunned.
“It was like he could read every move the eighth vein made. How is that even possible?” someone else muttered.
Murmurs of shock rippled throughout the clearing as the youths stared at Malakai with nothing but disbelief.
The eighth vein, Julius, had been evolved for almost three years now. And Malakai, who had evolved not even three months ago, had beaten him?
They had placed Malakai on a high pedestal, sure. But none of them had ever imagined he’d be able to defeat any of the veins in their class.
While the youths murmured in disbelief, a wide smile had found its way to Renlo’s face.
‘Incredible.’
He had been sparring with Malakai almost every day for more than two months now, and while he already knew Malakai was a monster when it came to fighting… he was just now beginning to understand the gravity of that word.
‘He’s been playing with me.’
That was the only thought that came to Renlo’s mind. What Malakai had just shown in this short battle was nothing compared to how he fought him, it was like heaven and earth.
Renlo couldn’t help but clench his fist.
He wanted to reach that level too.
He wanted to stand by his side and raise his head high.
‘Soon,’ Renlo resolved.
Thud!
Julius dropped from the tree he had lodged in, landing on all fours.
Blood mixed with spit spilled from his open mouth, and his wide eyes stared down at the forest floor, filled with nothing but disbelief.
‘W-What just happened?’
He clenched his fist, gripping a handful of dirt. He looked at it, shaking his head sharply.
‘T-This is real?’ he asked himself.
Had he really been hit? By Malakai!?
If it were at all possible, Julius would have exploded from disbelief.
‘It was a fluke,’ he repeated over and over, trying to regain his composure.
But then, the sound of footsteps reached his ears. Slow at first… then fast.
His head shot upward, only to find a sharp, curved blade filling his entire vision.
His eyes widened.
‘H-He’ll kill a vein?’
He refused to believe it. But as his eyes flickered up and met Malakai’s cold, unfeeling gaze, his heart sank.
There was no hesitation in those eyes.
‘H-He’ll kill me…’ Julius thought in dread.
He had been so shocked by Malakai’s actions that he had allowed himself to be distracted. He closed his eyes.
And just as the blade was about to reach him, a hand appeared between it, followed by another.
BOOM!
A shockwave detonated across the clearing, sending the surrounding youths hurtling backward. Dust exploded outward, cloaking everything in smoke and dust.
‘What just happened?’ Malakai thought as the dust began to clear. But the moment his gaze fell on the scene in front of him, his eyes turned cold.
‘She protected me.’
Standing in front of him was a petite figure he could never forget, Nyx.
She held the blade of his scythe gently, but she hadn’t been the one who had stopped the attack.
No.
It was the figure standing calmly between her and Julius.
A Bloom.
Malakai pieced it together instantly. The Bloom had stepped in to block the strike, and Nyx had intervened as a result.
‘A guard,’ he realized.
Of course. The other veins were naturally assigned protection. It didn’t surprise him that they’d use a Bloom for Julius.
“Eighth vein, are you okay?” the guard asked, bowing toward Julius, who still seemed to be reeling from almost dying.
The guard’s expression darkened as he turned toward Nyx and Malakai, bloodlust rising.
“The ninth vein has gone too far,” he said, voice stern. “If I didn’t step in, you would have killed him.”
But what happened next, was something the guard did not expect.
Nyx’s eyes flashed crimson. Her bloodlust detonated, blanketing kilometers.
“Lower your head,” her voice rang like a decree, “and pay your respects to the ninth vein.”
The guard’s eyes narrowed. ‘What is this?’
The ninth vein had clearly been about to kill another vein. They were in the wrong here, there was no doubt.
And yet… they were trying to use his status to make him lower his head?
‘No.’
He couldn’t allow that. If word got back to Khana, and then to Varnel, that he had done something like that, even his rank as a Bloom might not be enough to save him.
Bowing here, especially with Julius present, would mean accepting that Julius was lesser than Malakai. The clan’s politics ran that deep.
In the presence of the master, a servant bowing to another meant admitting that the master was beneath the one bowed to.
The guard narrowed his eyes and matched Nyx’s killing intent with his own. The air vibrated violently, and the trees nearby trembled, threatening to crack.
Malakai calmly glanced to the side and noticed Renlo standing close to him, trembling. Nyx had pulled him in so she could protect them both together.
“N-Ninth Vein… w-will they fight?” Renlo whispered, barely managing to stay upright. If not for Nyx dampening the bloodlust in the area, he would have passed out.
Malakai turned his gaze back to Nyx and replied, “Yeah.”
‘This is a good opportunity.’
Unlike Renlo, whose eyes bulged in shock at the answer, Malakai was actually looking forward to it.
‘It’d be perfect to see how her strength measures up.’
He knew Nyx was powerful, without a doubt. But he wanted to gauge how she compared to the other Blooms. If he could measure her, he could plan better for the future.
Nyx didn’t say another word. The guard’s actions had said enough.
She stepped forward, and the pressure in the clearing skyrocketed.
The guard’s gaze narrowed to pinpricks. ‘She’s strong!’
He had heard tales of the Red Eclipse, but now he was beginning to understand that the rumors hadn’t been exaggerated.
‘Can I win?’ His expression darkened.
And just as the tension was about to snap, a firm voice echoed from the edge of the clearing.
“That’s enough.”
Heads snapped to the side and their gazes landed on a large man, imposing and still.
Malakai’s eyes sharpened.
‘The Iron Saint…’