Samantha saw the air practically sparking between us.

"Ready?"

She swung her hand down.

"BEGIN!"

BOOM!

I didn't wait. I pulled the trigger instantly.

A solid tungsten slug screamed across the arena, aiming for Kael's chest. It was a shot that had shattered Celestia's ice wall.

DING.

A spark flew.

Kael hadn't dodged. He had swung his sword upward.

With terrifying precision, his blade bisected the slug in mid-air. The two halves flew past him, embedding harmlessly into the dirt.

The crowd gasped. Cutting a bullet? That was Master-level swordsmanship.

"Is that all?" Kael roared.

He kicked off the ground.

CRACK.

The stone floor beneath him shattered. He launched himself at me, covering the twenty-meter gap in a heartbeat. He was faster than Elisha. Faster than the wind.

[Skill: Adrenaline Surge – ACTIVATE]

Thump.

My world turned grey. Time slowed down by 30%.

Kael was coming at me like a freight train, his sword raised for a downward slash. Even in slow motion, he was fast.

I sidestepped to the left.

WHOOSH.

His blade slammed into the spot where I had been standing a millisecond ago. The impact created a shockwave that blew my hair back.

"Fast!" I gritted my teeth.

I aimed the shotgun at his flank. BOOM!

Buckshot. Dozens of pellets.

Kael didn't block. He twisted his body, his golden aura hardening like armor.

Ping-ping-ping!

The pellets bounced off his skin like they were hitting a tank.

"Invulnerability? Are you kidding me?" I muttered, retreating backward using [Dash].

"Stop running!" Kael shouted.

He chased me. He slashed horizontally.

I ducked. The blade sliced the air above my head, severing a few strands of my hair.

I rolled, coming up on one knee.

[Smoke Shell]

THUMP.

I fired at the ground between us. A thick cloud of grey smoke exploded, engulfing both of us.

Visuals were gone.

"Coward!" Kael's voice echoed from the smoke. "Hiding again?"

"It's called strategy, meathead."

I closed my eyes. [Detection: ON].

I could feel his mana signature. It was like a burning sun in the fog.

I moved silently to his blind spot. I loaded a [Cryo-Slug].

BOOM!

I fired at his back.

CLANG!

Kael spun around blindly, his sword instinctively blocking the shot. The ice exploded, freezing his blade and his arm.

"Got you," I whispered.

I racked the bolt. [Incendiary Shell].

BOOM!

Fire engulfed him.

"You think this is enough?!"

Kael roared. The golden light erupted from his body, shattering the ice on his arm and blowing the fire away. The smoke cleared instantly, dispersed by his sheer pressure.

He looked at me. He wasn't hurt. He was just annoyed.

"Monster," I spat out.

It was clearly an insult, yet the thought of me acknowledging his power made Kael smile grimly.

"That's my line, Lucien!"

He charged again.

'He's growing,' I realized with a chill. 'His stats are rising mid-fight. Is this the Protagonist Correction?'

My stats were fixed. His were dynamic. If this dragged on, I would lose.

I reached into my pouch. I pulled out three shells at once.

High-speed reload.

I tossed the shells into the air.

My hands moved in a blur.

Catch. Load. Rack. Catch. Load. Rack.

I wasn't using magic to float them. I was using pure Agility: 35.

"Eat this!"

I fired three shots in one second.

[Lightning.] [Armor Piercing.] [Acid.]

A barrage of destruction flew at him.

Kael didn't dodge. He planted his feet.

"[Sovereign Art: Second Form - Sun Aegis]!"

He spun his sword in a circle, creating a literal shield of golden fire.

BOOM-CRACK-HISS.

The lightning was absorbed. The tungsten core melted. The acid evaporated.

Kael stepped through the smoke, untouched.

He was a true monster. He had Bordon's defense, Elisha's speed, and Celestia's firepower.

"You can't keep your distance now!" Kael shouted, lunging.

He was inside my guard.

My shotgun was too long for this range.

He swung his sword—a heavy, horizontal cleave meant to break my ribs.

I dropped the gun.

I drew my daggers.

[Skill: Parry]

CLANG!

My daggers caught his heavy sword. The weight was unbearable. My knees buckled. My arms screamed as the bones threatened to snap.

Strength 28 vs Strength ???.

I was losing the contest of strength.

Kael pushed down, his face inches from mine.

"Give up, Lucien," he grunted. "You can't win. Your tricks are out. Your mana is low."

I looked him in the eye. I was sweating, bleeding from the nose, and my arms were trembling.

But I smiled.

"You're right, Kael. In a fair fight, you win 10 times out of 10."

Kael narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"But I told you," I whispered. "I don't fight fair."

[Inventory: Flashbang ]

I didn't throw it. I dropped it right between our feet.

Kael's eyes went wide.

"You crazy—"

BANG!

A blinding white light and a deafening sonic boom exploded at point-blank range.

We were both blinded. We were both deafened.

But I expected it. Kael didn't.

Kael stumbled back, clutching his eyes, his sword swing going wild.

I didn't retreat. I used [Detection] to see through the blindness.

I lunged.

I didn't aim for his neck. I didn't aim for his heart.

I aimed for his legs.

[Skill: Low Kick] + [Mana Reinforcement].

CRACK.

I kicked the back of his knee with everything I had.

"ARGH!"

Kael's leg buckled. The Hero fell to one knee.

I didn't stop. I tackled him.

We hit the ground, rolling in the dirt. It wasn't a duel of knights anymore. It was a brawl.

I punched him in the face. He punched me in the gut.

Thud. Crack.

I spat blood. He had a split lip.

I grabbed his collar.

"You think you're the only one with resolve?!" I shouted, headbutting him.

CRACK.

Kael reeled back, stunned.

I scrambled up, gasping for air, reaching for my shotgun lying in the dirt a few meters away.

I grabbed it. I spun around.

Kael was already standing up, swaying slightly, blood running down his forehead. His golden aura flickered, unstable but still dangerous.

I leveled the gun at him.

Spotting an opening, I fired another smoke round at the ground.

***

"It won't work twice!"

Kael roared, his voice distorted by the sheer density of his aura.

The biggest flaw in a [Warrior vs. Gunner] matchup is distance. Once a warrior closes the gap, the gunner is dead. But if the gunner can reset that distance… the warrior is nothing but a target.

Kael unleashed a wide burst of prepared mana—not for attacking, but for clearing the field. The golden shockwave blew away the dust, the smoke, and the sensory confusion I had created.

The moment the air cleared.

"...!"

Kael saw a barrel aimed at him, dark and hollow like a skull's eye socket.

BOOM!

I didn't fire one shot. I fired the shotgun, pumped it, and fired again in a rhythm that defied mechanical limits. My Agility combined with the lingering effects of [Adrenaline Surge] made my hands a blur.

Standard Buckshot. Slugs. It didn't matter. I emptied the tube.

Ping. Crack. Thud.

The bullets rained down on him. They pierced his protective aura, shredding chunks of his cadet uniform's mana-shielding.

Realizing the projectile's kinetic force was enough to bruise bone even through his aura, Kael understood.

'I thought I'd grown several times stronger!' Kael grit his teeth, forcing his legs to move forward against the lead rain. 'But he was hiding even this level of speed!'

"Urgh!"

He moved his sword at blinding speed, forming a barrier of steel and light in front of him. His mana and stamina were draining rapidly, but his honed senses screamed he'd be riddled with holes if he stopped.

Then, I moved.

I didn't retreat backward. I circled him.

[Movement Arts: Phantom Step]

I darted around him at high speed, leaving afterimages. To the spectators, it looked like there were three of me surrounding the Golden Hero.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Bullets hailed from behind, right, and left.

"Impossible!" Kael shouted. "How are you this fast?!"

He had to expand his frontal sword barrier omnidirectionally.

"ARGHHH!"

A stray pellet found a gap, grazing his cheek. Another hit his thigh.

"LUCIEN!"

Three times the mana erupted from Kael's body.

[Sovereign Art: Limit Break - Overheat]

It was a desperation move. It drastically shortened his combat time, burning his life force to double his strength.

In the narrow arena, we flashed like lightning. Kael left trails of gold, darting across the shattered stone, while I left trails of black and green, prowling like a hunting dog.

I gave up counting the bullets hitting him. He gave up tracking the sword strikes he missed.

One hit would end it.

'Unbelievable,' I thought, my lungs burning as if I'd inhaled broken glass. 'He just keeps getting faster. Is this the Protagonist Correction?'

Time wasn't on Kael's side. His Overheat would burn him out in minutes. But against ordinary foes, he could've swept an army.

But he couldn't catch one Lucien.

"More! MORE!" Kael screamed.

The golden aura turned white-hot.

******

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