Chapter 93 - Vincent VS "Fodder"

Chapter 93: Chapter 93 - Vincent VS "Fodder"

Bron walked over to Natasha and Deina, folding his massive arms across his chest as he watched the two combatants size each other up.

"Hahaha! Look at him, Commander Natasha! Just look at that posture. That kid is my pride and joy."

"Your pride and joy?" Looking at him, she took a slow sip of her tropical fruit drink through a straw, tracking every micro-movement of the midnight-blue haired recruit. "Well, he certainly talks a big game for someone who hasn’t even swung a blade yet, Bron. Who is he, really?"

"Heh! Normally, I’d tell you to come back to the barracks to see for yourself, but I’ll indulge you. That kid is the undisputed top prodigy of the entire Divine Military Academy. Unbeaten in over two hundred consecutive duels. He is lightning-fast, a master of the rapier, and is deeply devoted to your legacy."

Natasha paused mid-sip, tilting her head slowly upwards. "... What?"

"You heard me. He idolizes you. Studies your past battle logs, copies your warm-up exercises, sleeps with a copy of your strategic manuals under his pillow. When word reached the barracks that the legendary Commander Natasha was here with a... certain partner... he came all this way just to see if that person was worthy of standing beside his hero."

Natasha felt a strange mixture of flattery and confusion washing over her. To hear that she had a fanboy was jarring.

"Normally, people fear my name, Bron. They whisper that I’m a demon in goddess clothing. It’s... weird hearing that I actually have an admirer."

Deina, who had been listening silently, let out a soft giggle. She rested her chin on her palm as her golden eyes sparkled with glee. "Oh, don’t pretend you’re not loving this, Nat. I bet your secret ego is being thoroughly massaged right now."

"Shut up, Dee!"

A subtle smirk finally played on Natasha’s lips as she turned back to the shore. She adjusted her sunglasses and turned serious.

"Regardless of his intentions, he shouldn’t underestimate V. He might be a demigod... but he’s no push-over. We saw to that ourselves."

Out on the golden sand, the recruit’s ears twitched. Hearing Natasha refer to Vincent as a "demigod" from across the beach seemed to ignite a fresh wave of irritation within him. His violet eyes zeroed in on Vincent with visible distaste.

"Demigod..."

Vincent rolled his shoulders and neck as blue and gold divine aura crackled softly around his frame like static electricity.

He kept his posture relaxed, looking at the handsome, androgynous youth with a casual expression. "Since we’re about to swing at each other, do you have a name? Or do I just call you ’Fodder’?"

Smirking, the young man bent his knees into a textbook fencing stance. "Beat me first, demigod... and maybe you’ll earn the right to know it."

"Right. The classic shonen trope. Not that it’s going to happen... but I have to ask: what happens if I lose?"

"If you lose... you turn around, and cut all ties with Commander Natasha. Forever. A half-blood has no right standing beside a true, pure-blooded Goddess such as her. Your existence tarnishes her image."

"PFFFT!!! HAH?!" Over by the beach mat, Natasha sprayed a mist of her tropical juice into the air.

Her wings flared out as she sprang to her feet in an absolute fury. "What kind of stupid-ass condition is that?! You don’t get to gamble my relationship, you little brat! I’ll break your face, you hear me!"

The relaxed, easygoing demeanor on Vincent’s face evaporated.

His blue eyes dropped into a dead-serious glare as the blue aura around his body flared so violently it kicked up a perfect circle of sand around his feet.

"No deal. I don’t put my women, or my feelings, on the line for a playground spar."

"Heh. Spoken like a true coward. You hide behind her, just as I suspected. What, can’t handle the pressure of a real divine being in a duel of consequences?"

Having had enough of the recruit’s arrogant, bloodline-obsessed rant, Vincent finally moved.

BOOM!

The sand beneath his feet exploded outward in a massive crater as he launched himself forward.

Appearing right in front of him, Vincent opened with a hyper-aggressive, high-speed rush intended to overwhelm his opponent. He aimed a right hook aimed to fracture the recruit’s skull, followed immediately by a sweeping low kick at the ankles.

Although most of his attacks were blocked or dodged, he was far more nimble, fluid, and brutal at turning his entire body into a deadly weapon.

Back at the mat, Bron raised his eyebrows in genuine surprise. He was not expecting this level of speed from him.

"Ho... look at how well he moves. Very impressive!"

Natasha couldn’t help but smirk with pride. "I told you he wasn’t a push-over, Bron. He doesn’t need a sword to break skulls."

However, the recruit quickly proved why he was the military academy’s undisputed top prodigy.

After absorbing the initial shock of Vincent’s opener, he began to move like an angelic phantom across the sand.

Utilizing minimal refined footwork and subtle, instant assistance from his wings, the recruit began easily sidestepping Vincent’s crushing punches by a hair’s breadth each time.

Vincent was relentless. He ducked, weaved, and launched a spinning back fist, but every time his fist swung through the air, it struck only empty afterimages. The recruit seemed to be flowing around him like water, his eyes calm and analytical as he read Vincent’s muscles.

Suddenly, he counterattacked in what looked like a supersonic flash.

The tip of the rapier moved so fast it seemed invisible. Vincent’s standard defenses were easily bypassed. He stumbled back as three stinging grazes appeared across his forearms and shoulders, and thin lines of red dripped down his skin.

’Damn... What the hell? His technical sword choreography is perfect. It feels like he’s not only faster than me, but his reaction time and dexterity are miles ahead.’

Realizing he was being outmatched in physical combat, Vincent decided to stop playing the recruit’s game. He changed tactics, tapping into his divine power toolkit.

"Alright, sword-boy, let’s see you try to parry this!"

BOOOOM!

A massive wall of superheated sand and ocean water erupted from the beach like a volcano. The eruption was designed to blind, deafen, and scorch his opponent.

Before the curtain of steam could settle, a pair of luminous, crackling golden lightning coated around Vincent’s wings. He launched himself high into the sky with a thunderous clap, looking down at the steam cloud.

He opened his palms and rained down a deadly volley of plasma blasts intended to obliterate the shoreline.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The barrage attack kicked up apocalyptic clouds of debris and steam.

"Did that catch him?"

SWISH!

Suddenly, the cloud of steam was split cleanly down the middle as if by a gigantic invisible blade. The recruit emerged from the explosion completely unharmed, spinning his celestial rapier above his head at blurring speeds like propellers.

The spinning blade acted like a funnel, absorbing the divine energy of Vincent’s plasma bolts. The power stored within the glowing metal caused the rapier to shine brightly, and with a powerful thrust, the recruit directed all that absorbed energy back tenfold.

THOOM!!!!!!

A massive wave of reflected golden energy shot directly upward from the rapier, tearing through the sky. It moved too fast for Vincent to dodge on time, causing the wave to clip his left wing.

"Argh–!"

Losing stability, Vincent tumbled through the air, spiraling downward before barely arresting his fall on the surface of the ocean, about twenty yards out from the shore.

On the beach, Bron smirked approvingly, while Natasha and Deina’s relaxed, casual amusement turned into concern. They stood up together watching the battle closely.

"Little Bird..."

"He absorbed V’s divine power and sent it back to him? Reflection, huh? *Tsk*" Natasha’s her crimson eyes narrowing dangerously behind her glasses.

Out over the deep blue ocean, the fight entered its second, far more spectacle-driven phase.

As Vincent stood on the surface of the water, he healed his wing and looked up just as the recruit glided out over the waves on his white wings, landing gracefully a few feet away. The youth looked completely unbothered as his midnight-blue hair fluttered gently in the sea wind.

"Is that all you can do, demigod? You have immense power – more than I expected, I’ll give you that – but your execution is barbaric. Pure power is useless if you cannot apply it with precision."

"I’m literally just getting warmed up, Fodder! I have more in the tank than that! Let’s see how ’precise’ you are under overwhelming pressure!"

Vincent clapped his hands together, channeling power directly into the surrounding environment.

CRASH! SPLASH! CRASH!!!

The very ocean rose to his command. He summoned two towering serpents made entirely of roaring sea water. They erupted from the waves on either side of the recruit, converging with enough force to crush a mountain.

However, Vincent didn’t wait for impact.

He erupted his lightning wings again and followed up with a vertical dive, gathering power for a devastating meteoric attack aimed at the recruit from above.

"Hmph. Useless." With a circular slash of his rapier, he carved the water serpents into harmless rain. But as he looked up, he saw Vincent diving through the spray in a flash of lightning, executing a devastating mid-air spinning heel kick.

"HAAAAAA! CONCASSé KICK?!!!"

CLANGGGG!!!!!

The recruit barely brought the flat of his blade up to block the strike.

The sheer physical weight of Vincent’s kick blasted the recruit downward, sending him skipping across the surface of the ocean like a stone before he finally caught his footing.

He coughed slightly, wiping a streak of saltwater from his chin as his eyes narrowed with dangerous thrill.

"Hehehe. Good..."

The fight exploded into a high-speed storm across the open water.

It was a blur of blue and gold divine lightning, blinding plasma blasts, and sparks of razor-sharp sword thrusts. The scale of the battle began to create massive, rolling waves that crashed and shook the coastline.

Vincent launched a massive fireball, only to zip behind the recruit while he parried it, aiming a crushing punch at his blind spot. But the recruit was quicker. Right after parrying, he dodged Vincent’s attack and executed his own zip, landing a piercing attack on his flank before retreating.

It felt like the rapier was a living entity on its own.

It didn’t just parry; it guided Vincent’s strikes away, leaving him overextended. By now, Vincent was bleeding from a dozen minor grazes.

Sensing his growing fatigue, the recruit landed softly on a gentle wave. He traced the point of his weapon in a circle on the water.

"You’ve put up a far better fight than I anticipated, demigod. Raw power and elemental versatility. I will acknowledge that your training has been... interesting. But talent without true divine heritage reaches a ceiling. And you’ve reached yours."

Vincent gritted his teeth and spat out blood. *Ptoo!* "The hell are you talking about? I’m still standing, aren’t I?! Shut up and swing your sword!"

"Hmph. I’ll show you mercy by ending this now." The ocean water began to calm around his feet, as if in awe of what was coming.

"Allow me to show you the fundamental difference between a demigod and a true divine being. This is a form that every one of us awakens to unlock their full potential."

The recruit raised his celestial rapier horizontally to his forehead, closing his eyes as a terrifying pressure began to build around him.

"Divine Awakening: Celestial Form."

BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!

The entire ocean around them violently shook. A towering pillar of pale-blue divine energy erupted from the recruit’s body, shooting straight into the clouds and pushing the entire sea back fifty feet in a massive circular trench.

The sky themselves seemed to split open, bathing the world in a cold, starlight glow.

Vincent was forced back by the sheer atmospheric pressure of the power-up.

He could only watch, his eyes wide with genuine shock and awe. The aura radiating off the recruit was suffocating. He understood at that moment; he hadn’t even been fighting at full strength.

As the light faded, the recruit remained floating above the water. His appearance had fundamentally changed. His midnight-blue hair was no longer braided; it loosened and turned a flowing mane of pure, icy-blue light.

His eyes were no longer violet, but burned with an icy radiance. An addition of two extra wings expanded from his back, casting constellations upon the waves beneath him.

He was no longer just a handsome young man. He looked like an celestial deity of death, and his gaze was focused on Vincent with unsettling calm.