Chapter 496: The Fourth Hero Takes Control [Part 3]

The Fourth Hero Takes Control [Part 3]

The sight was almost impossible to accept.

Just moments ago, that arm had been lying on the ground.

Now it was back where it belonged.

Attached to Fean’s body.

As if nothing had ever happened.

Evelyne stared at it, unable to hide the shock in her eyes.

The battlefield had already shattered almost everything she understood about combat. Strength, injuries, survival—none of the usual rules seemed to matter here.

And now this.

Another reminder that the enemy standing before them existed on an entirely different level.

Yet the man wearing Victor’s body showed no surprise at all.

Eddy simply looked at Fean’s restored arm.

Then he let out a quiet sigh.

He had wanted to end this quickly.

That was the truth.

With his current abilities, Fean was not someone Eddy needed to fear.

If Victor’s body had been in perfect condition, defeating the current Fean would have been relatively easy.

Unfortunately, this body was anything but perfect.

It had already been pushed far beyond its limits.

The damage was everywhere.

His shoulder was injured.

One leg was suffering from severe muscle trauma.

Several ribs were broken.

Every breath pressed those fractured bones against his lungs, sending a dull ache through his chest.

His jaw was slightly dislocated.

His ears were still ringing from the earlier impact.

Blood had trickled down across one eye, partially blurring his vision.

Even standing still hurt.

Every movement brought another wave of pain.

Eddy could feel all of it.

He could feel the body’s condition deteriorating with every passing second.

More importantly, he could feel how little time remained.

A few more minutes.

Maybe less.

That was probably all this body had left.

Eddy slowly rolled his shoulder.

Pain immediately shot through the joint.

He ignored it.

His fingers tightened around the sword in his hand.

"Troublesome."

His voice was quiet.

There wasn’t any real frustration behind it.

If anything, there was something else in his eyes.

A faint spark of excitement.

A damaged body.

A dangerous opponent.

A limited amount of time.

For Eddy, that combination was strangely appealing.

He had never been someone who needed an easy victory.

An effortless battle held little meaning for him.

But a fight that forced him to squeeze every last bit of potential from an imperfect body?

That was different.

That was interesting.

His grip tightened around the sword.

His eyes slowly became sharper.

"Then let’s see how far this body can go."

Fean moved.

There was no warning.

No hesitation.

BOOM!

The ground beneath his foot cracked apart.

Dust and fragments of stone jumped into the air as his body shot forward.

He was faster.

Much faster than before.

Eddy’s eyes followed him.

For the first time, his expression changed slightly.

He noticed the difference immediately.

Fean’s speed had increased.

And it wasn’t a minor improvement.

The longer the battle continued, the more naturally Fean’s body seemed to synchronize with the seed inside him.

It was almost like watching two separate things slowly become one.

The entity controlling Fean was becoming more familiar with his body.

More comfortable with his muscles.

His nerves.

His movements.

Every exchange made that connection smoother.

Every passing second allowed Fean to draw out more of the power hidden inside him.

His abilities were increasing.

His speed was increasing.

His strength was increasing.

Even his movements were becoming more efficient.

Fean was adapting.

And now he was coming toward Eddy faster than he had at any point since the battle began.

Fean pulled his fist back.

His shoulder rotated.

His waist twisted.

The momentum gathered through his entire body.

He was going to strike.

But—

Eddy was gone.

Fean’s fist tore through empty air.

His eyes shifted.

Too late.

Eddy had already passed him.

There had been no complicated technique.

No flashy movement.

No explosion of power.

He had simply taken a step.

One step.

That was all.

Yet somehow, within that single step, Eddy had crossed the distance between them and slipped past Fean before his opponent could even react.

For a brief moment, everything seemed to freeze.

Evelyne’s pupils contracted.

Diana’s red eyes narrowed.

She had followed Eddy’s movement more clearly than most of the people present.

Even so, she found the timing astonishing.

It wasn’t merely speed.

There had been something else in that movement.

Precision.

Perfect control.

Fean slowly turned his head.

His expression remained unnaturally empty.

He seemed unable to understand what had just happened.

Then Eddy’s voice drifted through the cave.

He didn’t raise his voice.

He didn’t shout.

There was no need.

For some reason, every person in the ruined chamber heard him clearly.

H i s v o i c e t r a v e l e d t h r o u g h the darkness, carried by the strange silence that had settled over the battlefield.

"[M o o n E d g e S t y l e— M o o n l i t D a n c e]"

The moment the final word fell—

Fean’s body stopped.

Silence descended.

Then a thin line appeared across his body.

Another.

Then another.

At first, the wounds were almost impossible to notice.

A faint red line here.

Another there.

Then blood began to emerge.

Evelyne’s expression changed.

She stared at Fean.

The next instant—

His body began to separate.

Not in one place.

Everywhere.

The cuts appeared across his torso, arms, legs, and neck in rapid succession.

There was no single slash.

There were countless.

The sword had moved too quickly for ordinary sight to capture.

Fean’s entire body seemed to come apart at once.

Piece by piece.

Hundreds of clean cuts divided flesh and bone.

Diana’s eyes sharpened.

Eddy had not merely cut Fean.

He had mapped the entire body with his blade in a single movement.

A hundred pieces.

That was the result of one stride.

Fean’s whole body began to separate.

Eddy was able to cut Fean’s whole body into a hundred pieces.