Chapter 12: The King in Black

“You aren’t expecting that move just now to have killed me, are you?”

Li Ruoyi asked with a faint, testing smile.

“Or have you yet to give it your all and gone easy on me?”

“It would be far too boring if I were holding back; I see, your magic resistance is truly extraordinary.”

Zigris’s figure trembled slightly, his tension laced with a hint of excitement.

“I judged your bravery before, but it seems reality surpasses even those expectations!”

“Oh? It seems you simply really want to have a good fight. It is my honor to meet a hero like you.”

Li Ruoyi replied with a smile that bordered on the exaggerated.

It was a transparent and tragic smile, the kind that only those who have lived through life-and-death struggles could truly decipher.

“Now… let’s begin.”

Li Ruoyi reached out into the void beside him, easily lifting a giant scythe.

With a reverse spin, he settled into a combat stance.

As he lowered his body, he slowly raised his left hand.

His hands seemed to sprout wings as they unfurled and brandished the weapon.

This was a fighting style Li Ruoyi himself had never seen, let alone used, yet it carried an inexplicable sense of familiarity; every movement was as fluid as flowing water.

The swordsman likewise unleashed his surging magic.

The bursting power stirred up air currents that resembled a whirlwind.

Emerald-green full-plate armor encased his body.

Green threads, originating from his heart, extended not just to his abdomen but reached every corner of his body like a sprawling network.

‘Ruoyi…’

Rhein swallowed hard in nervousness and called out his name in her mind.

Drawn in by the intense fighting spirit radiating from the two, she had keenly realized something.

There was no room for her to interfere in this battle.

However, she did not want to be a mere observer either; at the very least, she was his companion.

‘…Be careful. Although I can use healing and defensive spells, given this scale of magic and the need to remain undetected…’

‘No need.’

Li Ruoyi cut off the thought transmission before she could finish and gave a firm nod.

Trust him—trust this hero who trusted himself; it was better described as trusting her own decision.

‘Understood. Good luck!’

All the guests could do was stare at the Colosseum in astonishment, witnessing this battle of myth.

The combat before everyone’s eyes was proceeding with extreme intensity.

Everyone knew that this was a cruel duel that would only have occurred in that distant era of legends.

An armored warrior and a King of Men who demolished the terrain with broad strokes—two storms fought with all their might amidst a flash of blades.

Feet stepping onto the field shattered the earth.

The atmospheric pressure brought by the magical armaments cleanly sliced through the massive pillars surrounding them.

Most magicians could no longer see their high-speed movements.

They could only feel the aftershocks of power erupting from the clash.

Li Ruoyi swung his giant scythe, unleashing a streak of black light.

It passed almost flush against Zigris’s hairline, ruthlessly scraping a piece of flesh from the swordsman’s face, which fell to the ground along with several strands of glistening white hair.

Iron plating torn from the outer walls by the scythe’s wind was twisted and deformed in the air, swept away past the spectators.

Power groaned.

It was a space entirely different from human physical or magical laws; the surrounding air was tortured by invisible forces, letting out shrieks audible to the human ear.

The melee combat between just these two had nearly destroyed the entire Colosseum.

“Rest assured, everyone! Rest assured!”

Dracula, who had been silent for a long time, appeared once again above the field.

He shouted with the same high-pitched voice as before, “The magicians of the entire Nicolae family will ensure your safety. Please, enjoy the show to your heart’s content!”

The guests were submerged in a mixture of legendary threat and amazement.

The world of myth and legend was unfolding vividly before their eyes.

Seemingly forgetting the threat to their lives, they shouted with near-manic voices, heedless of their already failing throats.

“This is… a battle between Human Kings?!”

Facing a fantasy she had never imagined, Rhein could only stare, motionless.

If the previous exchanges were mere tricks used to test each other’s strength, the battle had now entered a state of white-hot intensity.

However, those so-called ‘tricks’ were at a level that could rival modern weapons of war.

The marks left on the field destroyed by these tricks were quite impressive.

The entire arena had been overturned like a plowed field.

Looking at such a battlefield, one couldn’t help but feel they had witnessed an earthquake.

The arena was not the only thing in tatters; the two duelists were also bloodied and bruised.

They faced each other, calculating the opponent’s next move.

After a life-and-death struggle lasting two hours, exhaustion showed on both their faces.

But in comparison, Li Ruoyi—who was newly recovered from major injuries and had consumed a massive amount of magic power using his Eyes of Life and Death to evade magical flashes—was the first to find his footing unstable.

‘Stop wasting time! Rhein’s Human King is too difficult to deal with. I grant you permission to use Kingship—finish this quickly!’

Amber’s thought transmission reached Zigris’s ears.

Li Ruoyi also felt Amber’s impatience.

Finally, his master urged him to use the strongest skill of a Human King—Kingship!

The swordsman instantly adjusted his stance.

The charms on the long sword in his left hand were slowly unraveled.

It was a silver-white holy sword radiating a dark green light, entwined with unparalleled magic power.

“Just like that! Kill him!”

Zigris held the sword with both hands, letting out a powerful, forceful roar.

Li Ruoyi also lowered his body, simultaneously sending a thought transmission to Rhein.

“Authorized!”

Almost simultaneously, Rhein issued the command.

The effects that Kingship can exert are generally divided into two types: pure destructive power, or a binding force upon the world or oneself.

It was very clear that Zigris’s Kingship was the former.

“※※·※※※!”

“※※·※※※!”

Shock manifested in both their hearts at the same time.

Clearly knowing their own killing moves, they were unable to call out the names or the true power.

They could only release a magic flash that was somewhat stronger than before.

The two forces collided, and the proudly spiraling power stirred up gusts of violent wind.

Like the dawn of myth, the intense visual sensation made it feel as if the miracle of creation was being reenacted.

The sky groaned, and the earth roared.

The expanding torrent of magic shook the laws of the planet.

After a final brilliance, it surged forth, tearing through the barrier and the vision of everyone present.

“Are they merely two uncrowned kings?”

Dracula had disappointment practically written on his face, but he followed it with a smile.

“But perhaps they will have more utility value.”

Before the words could leave his mouth, he was submerged by the torrent of magic power.

In that moment, the world was left with nothing but a blank void.

“Who is it! Who is still standing on the field!”

Several minutes later, the first spectator to wake up screamed.

“It’s him! It’s the King in Black! He actually defeated the descendant of Siegfried!”

Then others followed with loud shouts.

“My God! Just where did he come from?”

Li Ruoyi stood dazed on the field.

He felt nothing toward the victory he had achieved.

Neither the combat techniques he hadn’t mastered nor the Kingship he had wanted to release from his heart at the end were things he possessed in his short nineteen-year life.

They were like precious treasures; he could only touch the chest containing them but could not further understand what the treasures were.

What exactly was he?

And what was it that he had heard before his death—what his father had whispered to him?

The questions his brain could hardly contain rushed to the peak of his thoughts in an explosion.

Li Ruoyi felt his consciousness begin to blur.

He began to lose sight of Zigris, who lay before him with extensive burns all over his body.

He also began to lose the ability to hear the cheers from outside the arena.

He could not even continue to perceive the reality that he had won.