Chapter 270: Hidden Thread

Lucen studied Moon’s movements once again; whenever he was about to crash into the sand-filled wind current, he moved his body around.

Sometimes he just yanked himself; other times he used his weapons and Echo(s) to do the job.

He exhaled slowly.

"This is without a doubt Feline Air-Righting."

"How do you know?" Ed asked. "Anyone can do that," he corrected.

"You, Edmond, first fought airborne only after you had enough Echo to fly," Lucen corrected with a hint of anger in his voice. "And that friend of yours was considered a half-lightning being, so don’t compare ignorantly."

Ed pursed his lips and went silent.

On the wooden tower, Enzo, who had been watching since the beginning, was far from being impressed.

"What’s his name, that soldier?" he asked.

Mando coughed lightly. "Hiram." He turned his gaze to Enzo. "Hiram is his name."

Enzo wasn’t stupid; at this point, it was obvious the soldier named Hiram was far from normally strong.

If that level of strength existed in every random fringe empire’s soldier, the Tower’s political structure would have collapsed long ago.

Power level wasn’t something a man could buy with money or talent.

Enzo’s interest in Korr, and even more so in Moon, was not simply because they were strong.

He was interested in their methods, their choices that didn’t have Echo in consideration, as well as the journey they would take to use their newfound Echo.

Yet, Moon’s battle wits amazed him every time, unlike anything he had seen.

Till this day, he had never seen someone use a body that was devoid of Echo the way Moon did, and now he was seeing him use Echo in ways he didn’t expect.

Enzo shifted his gaze to Mando. "That’s too bad." He sighed sadly and didn’t explain a word after.

At that time, Lucen was scanning the screens. His gaze trailed across the console pillar, searching for a certain orange cat.

And soon, he found him, sitting on a faraway cliff, watching the ongoing trial. But that wasn’t everything.

Mishu looked back at the screen.

Scratching his ears, the cat stood and walked away slowly.

Ed didn’t miss it. "Tell me, Lucen, are you perhaps beefing with that cat?" he asked half-jokingly.

"Beefing?" Lucen asked back.

"Oh, that... I heard these brats say it a few times; I’m a cook... beefing... you get it?"

Lucen didn’t answer.

Instead, he magnified the screen of Moon’s fight in front of Ed. "Your kid is losing."

At that moment, Moon had smashed his chest with his Echo to launch himself from the wind current. Instead, the current widened at his descent.

The sand started gathering at the lower side of the current, closing in on his face.

"DAMMIT!"

Moon slashed with his left and brought his arm forth, protecting his eyes.

His sword attack passed through, knocking some of the sand carried within the current away, yet—

That wasn’t enough.

The sand ripped at the exposed fist covering his eyes, and within a second, it sped further—

Ting~Tak~Tak~

The sand smashed at his helmet, denting it from the side.

Cornered again, Moon gathered his Spark Echo around his neck, securing it safely before—

He rammed his Echo at his feet, bringing himself even higher.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Moon angrily threw the sword in his left hand at Hiram.

He felt a warm stream run down under the helmet across his face. The impact and momentum of the current were no laughing matter.

Not only did it bypass the passive protection of the Starlit Matrix Samuel gave him, but it also dented the helmet and produced enough impact to hurt his head.

Not to mention the right hand he used to defend, which was nearly deformed, with sand particles sticking in every wound.

Moon’s split-second decision to protect his neck was thanks to his long experience.

A hand would sooner or later heal; the bleeding could always be controlled, but a neck wound was the end of the line.

And that split-second decision earned him a few mixed gazes.

Mando’s restlessness, Enzo’s smile widening.

Even in the Control Centre, Yutian, Uon and Everly were standing on their toes.

Though some almost cursed the moment Moon threw his sword, as it began orbiting the wind along with Liquid Mountain.

To almost everyone, it seemed like an unreasonable, angry decision... Almost everyone.

Moon was carrying an entire faction on his shoulders; one mistake and his life, along with an entire kingdom, would fall.

He also had some plans meticulously prepared that had yet to unfold themselves.

Yet, amidst everything, Hugh was praying for Hiram’s loss. He didn’t know who Samuel and Edmond were, but he knew Dokkebi, the winged sword emblem, and knew it very well.

If Hiram won this, he would possibly die, or lose more than he could afford to give, even if he was lucky.

But death was the easier answer, chasing after him right now.

If he could, he would have sent orders to Mando now and gotten him to send the entire army to kill Hiram now instead of waiting anxiously.

Meanwhile, behind a rocky cover, Alma stood watching the scene play out.

She paused and started studying the patterns of Hiram, his methods and attacks.

As an assassin, she knew too well she only had one chance, one sneak attack. Without the night cover advantage, without a place to hide as she attacked.

She was also restrained by everything around her and couldn’t just march into the battle to help blindly, lest she become a burden and ruin everything.

She only had one chance to help, one chance and not a second.

Now that Moon was injured and had nothing but a knife in a ripped hand, he was also ascending further away into the sky.

Hiram narrowed the current into a blade again, chasing after Moon’s torso.

Watching it close in, Moon sheathed the knife on his chest under the questioning gaze of everyone watching.

It was unclear whether he gave up and was preserving his dignity, or just went mad under the abnormal threat he was facing for the first time in his life.

His face hidden under the helmet smiled before his Echo smashed into his chest again.

"Cough!"

Hitting a little harder this time than the last, knocking the air out of his lungs. Moon drifted further once again.

Hiram, since the very beginning, hadn’t taken a single step from where he stood.

This time, he sprinted.

Hiram didn’t miss the chance; he started chasing after Moon. Not allowing the chance to slip, he dashed forward under the cover of the wind current and sand surrounding his body and extending all the way to Moon.

Moon wasn’t aware of the fact that Hiram had a quest, had another status window like himself, and that he was fulfilling a quest.

But he was aware of one thing.

That the time had come.

His Echo smashed into him again, but this time... he was sending himself down.

"Gah!"

Smashed into his back, Moon gritted his teeth and braced for impact. He adjusted his stance to absorb the fall damage, before violently—

"RAAH!" He growled and opened his arms wide.

For a moment, the world turned silent... as Hiram, the wind and everything paused for a second.

One short second, then—

His head rolled on the sand.