Novel Full Chapter 667 - 667: Gamble
He focused harder, trying to listen in, but they’d ducked into a side room before a word passed between them. The fly tried to follow, but the door had already shut behind them and it was reinforced with some kind of anti-listening and infiltration sigils.
Kain opened his eyes again, the stadium coming back into focus.
His mind still lingered on that strange gesture.
A signal? A code? A greeting?
A secret society?
He didn’t know.
Not yet.
But he would.
———————————
There was no suspense in Kain’s subsequent matches. After Addison and Lukas, he beat Hailey, Kairos, and Dwayne rather easily.
Surprisingly, it was Dwayne—whose affinity was for descendants of the Triton bloodline—that proved the most difficult.
He’d obtained a new fourth spiritual creature since they last fought.
It was… weird.
Kain didn’t even know how to describe it properly.
The creature hovered in midair like a jellyfish—but that’s where the similarities ended. Its limbs weren’t soft tendrils but strange, jointed branches that looked like polished coral, each tipped with a glowing eye, like a barnacle that could blink. Its main body was shaped vaguely like a seahorse, but flipped upside down, with a shimmering metallic shell that looked like it had been twisted and turned inside out. Shiny fish scales caught the light in patches along its sides. A line of thin, leaf-like fins spiraled up its neck, fluttering slowly with every movement. It didn’t make a sound—not a screech or roar—but instead released a soft, haunting tone that hummed through the air like a deep, underwater song you could feel more than hear.
Its name, Dwayne had declared proudly, was Mirecall Echo—a rare species that exclusively inhabited lightless trenches.
Looking at this fourth contract, Kain was once again struck by the diverse reproductive taste of the Sea God Triton…
Truly, the man had no standards. Or maybe too many…
The Mirecall Echo gave Kain such a hard time not because of raw strength—both Bea and Aegis were technically a level above it now—but because of how uniquely built it was to disrupt higher-ranked opponents.
Its cry wasn’t a cry at all—it was a disruptive pulse that bent the resonance of spiritual energy in its surroundings. Bea’s Pale Thought Field was unable to allow Bea’s splits to inhabit the creature passively, she had to expend a great deal of energy and focus to forcefully implant it with a split—and then even more energy to seize control of its body.
Not to mention that the circuits of energy along Aegis’ exterior very noticeably dimmed and sputtered. Occasionally, after a dramatic cry from the opponent, in which it would expend at least a quarter of its energy, Aegis’ control over spiritual energy would completely halt momentarily.
But still, the level gap between the two sides was hard to overcome. And just weakening Bea and Aegis by around 50% for a minute practically drained all of its spiritual power. Still, it was the toughest fight Kain had had yet, and Dwayne’s showing won him applause and respect from all of those watching, even though he was unable to beat Kain.
By the sixth day of Phase Two, the rankings were as follows:
Kain Newman – 5 Wins, 0 Losses
Serena Storm – 5 Wins, 0 Losses
Soren Lysander – 4 Wins, 1 Loss (Serena)
Kairos Umbrae – 3 Wins, 2 Losses (Kain and Serena)
Dwayne – 3 Wins, 2 Losses (Kain and and Soren)
Hailey – 1 Win (over Addison), 4 Losses
Addison – 1 Win (over Lukas), 4 Losses
Lukas Reeve – 0 Wins, 5 Losses
Each participant had two matches left. The final pairings would decide everything.
And of all the remaining matches, none had stirred the audience to a frenzy yet quite like this one:
Kain vs. Soren.
Two of the Top Three, who were known to have the worst relationship amongst the Top 5.
The skybox overlooking the arena was packed. Professors. Advisors. Even a few representatives from noble houses not officially affiliated with the College. Everyone wanted to see how this would go.
A rematch months in the making. The top two from the initial entrance exam in first year (which Serena was exempt from).
The Genius Young Evolutionary Planner versus the Golden Prince. One born from obscurity. The other bred in legacy.
They met in the center of the stage. No words exchanged. No smiles. Just brief strong handshakes. Kain could not resist tightening his grip until he saw Soren’s eye twitch. But he didn’t go so far as to damage his hand like he did with Lukas.
The war of nerves between the two had clearly begun before the match had even started.
The two went back to their positions on opposite ends of the arena.
The bell rang.
Soren didn’t hesitate.
A pulse of spiritual energy flared from him—far too powerful for it to just be an average spiritual skill.
Kain narrowed his eyes.
A technique unfolded behind Soren—a translucent sigil that looked like many interlocked golden triangles. A sigil Kain didn’t recognize.
And then came the contracts.
Four beasts appeared at once, but their auras were different. Grander. Sharper. Blazing with an unnatural strength. They moved in perfect tandem, not just synced to Soren, but to each other, like limbs of the same body.
Kain felt it then.
This skill matched the description of a famous one he’s only vaguely heard about.
“Emperor’s Binding: Triune Coronation.” One of the nobles spectating from the box seats murmured in awe and apprehension.
A difficult to master spiritual skill exclusive to the royal family and actually developed by the first King, and one of the founding individuals—Casimir Lysander.
It is said to let a tamer temporarily unify their spiritual network with all of their contracts, granting full shared awareness, accelerated reaction, and instantaneous coordination. Moreover, the strength of all contracts would be shared and amplified.
Note, this doesn’t mean that their strength will be added and then split evenly amongst them to result in them all having equal strength (with some increasing and others decreasing in strength)—such skills were not rare, how could it be the famous trump card of the Imperial family if it only amounted to that?
No. Instead of splitting the group’s total strength evenly, each creature kept its full original power—and then borrowed strength from the others on top of that. Up to half of each contract’s strength could be obtained. That meant 50% of the total group’s power was added to each individual. In Soren’s case, each of his four dragons now fought with the strength of 2.5 dragons: their own full power, plus half the combined strength of the other three.
So, for the short duration of its use, the user could fight at a level above what their actual grade allowed.
However, great power came at great cost.
Side effects included backlash from any one contract getting hit, echoing through the entire link—including the tamer. Spiritual fatigue. Overclocking of the nervous system. Potential spiritual collapse, and more.
And yet, Soren had chosen to use it.
To face him.
Kain took a slow breath.
‘So that’s your bet, huh?’
Of the two undefeated opponents, it would’ve made more sense to gamble on beating Serena. She was still at 4-stars. Easier odds.
But here he was.
Risking everything on beating the 5-star Kain.
‘Don’t tell me he actually does have a crush on Serena…’
He didn’t have time to finish the thought before Soren’s attack hit.