Chapter 487: When the Past Comes Knocking

When the Past Comes Knocking

"Hmph. I don’t know who the f*ck is possessing you right now, but I’m no son of yours."

Victor lowered his center of gravity.

His feet shifted against the rough stone beneath him, finding a firm position. His body instinctively settled into a fighting stance.

The strands of his long black hair swayed behind him.

A faint pressure began to gather around his body.

His golden jacket fluttered in the strange wind stirring through the cave. The air itself seemed to have grown heavier, as though an invisible force was slowly pressing down on everything around them.

Victor kept his eyes fixed on Fean.

Or rather...

On the thing that was currently using Fean’s body.

He didn’t recognize that voice.

He didn’t recognize the presence behind those eyes.

Yet there was something deeply unsettling about what it had said.

It knew him.

Not just Victor.

Not merely the man standing in this cave.

It knew something about his previous existence.

That realization made Victor’s expression turn serious.

He couldn’t afford to treat this casually anymore.

Whoever—or whatever—was standing in front of him clearly possessed knowledge that it shouldn’t have.

Fean’s body remained completely still.

The strange being inside him simply stared at Victor.

There was no rage in its eyes.

No murderous intent.

If anything, there was something almost disappointing about its expression.

As if Victor had failed to become the person it had expected him to be.

"It seems your current incarnation is still as rebellious as the first..."

The voice was calm.

Almost strangely calm.

"And just as disrespectful."

Victor’s eyes narrowed.

He didn’t answer.

There was no point.

Something about the atmosphere had changed.

The moment the strange being finished speaking, its gaze gradually became colder.

"I see."

A faint sigh escaped Fean’s mouth.

"Unfortunately, this is where our conversation ends."

Victor’s muscles tightened.

"This life form can no longer control the seed and retain its sanity."

The moment those words fell—

Everything changed.

The strange presence surrounding Fean suddenly erupted.

The calm aura from before disappeared completely.

In its place came something violent.

Something savage.

The pressure slammed into the cave like a storm breaking through a mountain.

Victor’s eyes widened.

The stone beneath his feet cracked.

The air itself seemed to tremble.

Then—

"AAAARRRRGHH!"

Fean let out a monstrous roar.

The sound shook the entire cave.

Dust fell from the ceiling.

Victor’s pupils contracted.

His body reacted before his mind could even process what was happening.

Fean disappeared.

No warning.

No movement that Victor could follow.

One moment he was standing several meters away.

The next—

He was already in front of Victor.

Too fast.

Victor barely had time to think.

Fean’s hand was already coming toward his face.

Victor’s instincts took over.

His Zenith Aura exploded around his body.

He twisted his waist and shifted sideways.

The attack missed his face by a hair.

But—

Not completely.

Fean’s hand grazed him.

The next instant—

BOOM!

A tremendous force slammed into Victor.

His body was thrown backward.

His feet left the ground completely.

The force was so overwhelming that Victor couldn’t stop himself.

He shot across the cave like a cannonball.

His black hair whipped violently behind him.

The surrounding rocks blurred past his vision.

Then he saw the stone wall rushing toward him.

Fast.

Far too fast.

Victor’s eyes sharpened.

He immediately forced his body to react.

"Winds..."

A gust of wind erupted beneath and behind him.

Instead of allowing his body to crash directly into the wall, Victor used the spell to soften the impact.

His boots scraped against the stone as he regained control of his body.

His breathing became heavier.

His eyes remained fixed on Fean.

But there was no time to think.

Another attack was already coming.

Victor’s expression changed.

He moved.

Fean appeared before him.

A fist came toward him.

Victor barely managed to avoid it.

The attack passed beside his face with such speed that the pressure alone made his hair whip backward.

Victor attempted to counter.

But Fean was already gone.

Another strike came from the side.

Victor raised his arm.

The impact forced him backward.

There was no technique.

No special ability.

No visible spell.

Victor couldn’t even feel a trace of mana or Zenith Aura being used.

That was what made it terrifying.

Fean was simply moving.

Yet those simple movements were enough to overwhelm Victor.

Another blow struck.

Victor’s body staggered.

Another followed.

Then another.

The fight had barely lasted a few seconds.

Yet Victor already looked battered.

His clothes were disordered, his breathing uneven, and his body had accumulated several painful injuries.

His clothes were disordered, his breathing uneven, and his body had accumulated several painful injuries.

The difference between them was obvious.

And Evelyne could barely understand what she was seeing.

Evelyne’s eyes widened.

"Master!"

She instinctively moved forward.

But Diana immediately noticed the hesitation in her movement.

Diana herself wanted to help.

Her grip tightened.

Her red eyes followed every movement of Fean.

She could see how one-sided the battle had become.

But Victor had already told her not to interfere.

And Diana understood something else.

Even if she entered the fight, she might become nothing more than a liability.

The enemy was too strange.

Too fast.

Too unpredictable.

Her gaze shifted toward Victor’s scythe.

If only he would use it.

With the scythe in his hands, his options would be different.

But Victor had refused to use it.

Fean was fighting with his bare hands.

And Victor, proud of his own strength, had decided that he would face him without relying on a weapon.

Diana clenched her teeth.

She hated watching Victor being pushed into such a disadvantageous position.

But she knew him.

Once Victor decided to fight someone on equal terms, forcing her way into the battle would only interfere with what he wanted.

So she could only stand there.

Watching.

Waiting.

And hoping that Victor would somehow turn the impossible situation around.