Somewhere in the western region of the Ultras Continent...
A barren land, scorched by death .. a perfect arena.
An arena for a battle unknown to all, between two members of House Starlight.
One from the new generation... and the other, an old relic worn down by time.
Leonides Starlight charged at Frey, his body cloaked in starlight aura, unleashing pressure that had finally reached the long-coveted SS- rank.
The Immortal Lion was not alone. Many of his followers .. traitors who had abandoned House Starlight after their loss to Adaâjoined him.
After forging a demonic contract that allowed him to shatter the limits that had restrained him for decades, Leonides had one goal: redemption.
And the first step was Frey Starlightâthe thorn in his side, the ghost of the man who had once dethroned him.
In theory, his power shouldâve been enough to crush a young man who had barely broken into Rank B recently.
But reality was far from what the old man had imagined.
From the very first clash, Frey sent him flying, crashing violently into the ground behind him.
Dual black swords gripped in each handâone of them, a katana Leonides recognized instantly.
"The Dark Sister..."
The sword Abraham Starlight once used to crush him and claim the throne.
And now, that same sword was wielded by his son .. who effortlessly sliced through two of Leonidesâ followers, releasing a pressure well within SS Rank.
One of the traitors, Khalifa, a spatial manipulator and teleportation specialist, attempted a surprise attack from behind.
He thought heâd succeeded .. only to realize he had cut through an afterimage left behind by Freyâs sheer speed.
By the time Khalifa turned around, Frey had already severed his head.
With the same terrifying speed, Frey unleashed a relentless storm of dark slashes, tearing through the rest of the traitors like paper.
They were all Rank S.
Yet it only took a few minutes to reduce them to corpses, leaving Leonides utterly alone.
Frey walked toward him slowly, cold violet light glowing from his eyes, his body drenched in the blood of the fallen.
It was a look of disdain.
A look that reduced Leonides to nothing more than a stone on the side of the roadâsomething to be stepped on and forgotten.
"Why did you show your face to me again, Leonides?"
Frey vanished from Leonidesâ vision before he could react.
Moments later, he reappeared at his right flank, slashing with both swords.
Leonides barely managed to block before stumbling backward, gasping for breath.
But Frey didnât let upâhe pressed on, wave after wave of dark aura clashing violently against the starlight.
"You shouldâve stayed hidden among the Ultras and begged for their protection!"
They exchanged blow after blow, but the power gap was enormous.
Frey attacked freely, while Leonides struggled to breathe .. let alone retaliate.
"Youâre nothing but a cowardly bastard... a useless, pathetic traitor!"
BOOM
Leonidesâ blood soaked the ground as Dark Sister and Balerion carved into his flesh without mercy, reshaping his body into a grotesque, mangled mess.
"Is this the power you sought after for so long?!"
SLASH!
Frey pushed further, breaking through Leonidesâ defenses completely.
And thenâ
A scream of agony echoed across the wasteland.
With a single swing, Frey severed Leonidesâ left arm at the shoulder. Blood gushed out, painting the ground in crimson.
Leonides staggered back in horror, but Frey stayed on him like a shadow.
"What made you think you could win against me with such pitiful strength?"
Their blades clashed againâdarkness versus starlight, each aura trying to devour the other.
"Youâre pitiful, Leonides Starlight."
With ease, Frey parried the old manâs blade and grabbed his face, slamming it into the ground with brutal force.
He dragged Leonides across the earth, using his body like a mop, before hurling him away, his blood marking a red trail across the battlefield.
"Youâve lived longer than anyone else... yet youâve learned nothing."
Frey crouched beside the broken man, his expression blankâcoldâas if he were staring at a buzzing insect, not a human being.
"You lost to my grandfather. Then to my father. And now, here you are... losing to me. Have you ever known anything but failure?"
"You damnâ!!"
Leonides roared, lunging forward in a last-ditch effort to strike Frey.
But Frey caught his blade with ease ... then, with the other sword, slashed across the old manâs throat.
"Donât raise your voice at me, Bastard."
Frey spoke with the same cold tone, as Leonides coughed up blood from his half-severed throat, desperately trying to hold it with his only remaining hand.
"Ack... ackk... akhh..."
From his mutilated mouth, Leonides could no longer form words. All that escaped were strange choking sounds mixed with the steady flow of blood gushing from his mangled throat.
"They call you the Immortal Lion, donât they?"
Slash!
"Letâs put that title to the test."
With another swift swing, Frey severed Leonidesâ remaining right arm from the shoulder, causing him to collapse to the ground as torrents of blood sprayed violently, staining both the earth and Frey himself.
Now bleeding from both arms and his throat, Leonides had become nothing more than a pile of mutilated flesh, his body relentlessly spilling blood.
His bloodshot eyes locked onto Frey in hatred ..
A hatred that quickly faded under the overwhelming pain, giving way to hopelessness.
Because deep down, he realized... Frey Starlight was right.
"You lived for 150 damned years. Long enough to build a civilization. Tell meâwhat do you have to show for it?"
Slash!
Frey cut off Leonidesâ left leg. The old man tried to scream, but no sound cameâonly more blood from his mouth.
"You let your childish obsession with power rule you for all those years."
"You asked me once, two years ago, what I had to offer House Starlight as its Lord. So now, let me ask you the same thing, you filthy lion..."
"What the hell have you ever done for this family?"
Slash!
The final leg fell.
And with it, Frey finally said the words heâd longed to speak for so many years.
"Youâre nothing but a disgrace to House Starlight."
Dark Sister and Balerion vanished into their tattoo forms with a flick of Freyâs fingers. Then he picked up Leonidesâ own swordâand drove it deep into the old manâs chest.
Leaning against the blade now embedded in Leonidesâ heart, Frey stared down at the dying relic beneath him.
The so-called Immortal LionâHouse Starlightâs oldest surviving memberâcould do nothing but gaze back in terror at the man who had utterly destroyed him... stripped him of voice, dignity, and life.
Within seconds, Leonides drew his final breath, dying like a mangled wretch, his body torn to shreds, his face disfigured beyond recognition by the merciless blades of Frey Starlight.
And with that... Frey finished what his father and grandfather had started.
He eliminated the malignant tumor that had long festered within House Starlight.
Leonides barely lasted a single minute from the moment Frey began his assault.
When it was over, Frey stepped back, leaving the sword planted in Leonidesâ corpseâan insult in death to the man he had always despised.
"The Immortal Lion? What a meaningless title."
Turning his back on Leonides and his pathetic entourage, Frey wiped the blood from his face and armor before vanishing into the distance, leaving the corpses behind to rot.
"I need to find the others. Fast."
The battle hadnât even lasted ten minutes.
Just a few minutesâthat was all it took for Frey to end a two-year-old grudge.
He killed him swiftly...
And forgot him even faster.
His focus was now fixed on something far more important.
The final round of the Witchâs Game was about to begin.
And battles far crueler than this one were looming on the horizon.
What Frey didnât know...
Was just how dark the future would be.