The Assassin's Seven Principles of Manipulation

Chapter 327: Chapter 322 — Eat

This clash was different. The last had merely been a clash of fists, of pure power. This was a clash between the full might of their metal auras.

The shockwave from the clash struck the southern wall like a tsunami. It didn’t even hold for a second, shattering into countless chunks as every southern and northern cadet nearby was hurled away like trash caught in a storm. Eardrums burst almost instantly, with several cadets losing consciousness from the sheer force of the impact.

The head cadets and several elites managed to recover, unleashing the full might of their metal auras to halt their momentum. Several hundred others, either unable to react in time or simply not strong enough to withstand the shockwave, were whisked away in flashes of light before it could do them in.

The eastern and western cadets had it worst. Without a fortress to act as even a slight buffer, they took the full brunt of the shockwave. Cadets were sent tumbling across the plains like they weighed nothing, and only the western Prime, Rhaena, managed to remain standing, forced back just a few steps despite unleashing the full might of her power.

It was pure chaos. The southern fortress had been destroyed by nothing more than the shockwaves of their clash, while the thousands of cadets who had eagerly gathered to watch were now scattered across the plains.

For a moment, dense, choking haze was all anyone could see, accompanied by a piercing ring in every ear.

Then, countless dull booms erupted from within the haze, each one sending tremors across the kilometers-wide plains. Everyone still standing and conscious felt the ground bounce beneath their feet, and with dust-covered bodies and trembling eyes, they turned toward the plains... and froze.

Two streaks raced across the battlefield, colliding again and again in flashes of booming light. All the cadets could see were blurs. However, while none of the impacts could compare to that initial clash, every single cadet could feel their force deep within their bones... this was far beyond what any normal academy cadet should have been capable of.

From the silence, someone gulped.

”What the hell... are those two even human?”

Everyone instinctively, slowly shook their heads. No normal human eighteen year olds should be capable of this.

Still, though, one fact was very clear. The kilometer-wide plain wouldn’t be enough to contain these monsters. Without hesitation, the cadets began scrambling back, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the battle as possible. While all this happened, the battle only became fiercer.

Their blows came at a blistering pace, whipping the air around them into violent gales. Several craters spanning hundreds of meters now littered the plains, every trace of the once-beautiful, dancing grassland long gone.

Arcturus was like a flexible mountain. His metal aura rapidly shifted between different shades of metal, its properties changing alongside every movement. One moment, he was as light as a feather, the next he was immovable as a mountain. His metal aura was hard and stable, adapting to even the slightest shift in his movements, and every blow carried enough force to level mountains.

Zephyrion, though, appeared even heavier. The world in his eyes had been reduced to lines and calculations. Every twitch of muscle, every brief glance, every stir of the WorldPulse was noted and analyzed.

His elements roared within his body, synchronizing with his metal bones and the metal aura engulfing him. Every single one of his punches met Arcturus head-on without giving an inch. In fact, Zephyrion could feel the force of his blows traveling through Arcturus’ body.

From a glance, he instantly knew the properties Arcturus had awakened.

’Iron. Tungsten. Titanium. Silver. Gold.’

All five created a perfect balance that should’ve made Arcturus’ metal unmatched by anyone of the same rank. However, the combination of Zephyrion’s metal bones and the boosts from his elements somehow placed him at an even higher level.

”Fuck... this is amazing.”

Despite all that, the excitement in Arcturus’ eyes only deepened the longer the fight raged.

He seemed like a beast wearing human skin, the savagery in his eyes becoming clearer with every exchange. Any lingering doubt that he was truly Ferravry’s spawn had long since disappeared.

He was a beast, through and through.

And as the battle raged, the reason for Arcturus’ increasing excitement became very apparent. He was getting faster and stronger, while Zephyrion, somehow, was getting slower. Even more, the thickness of his metal aura was steadily thinning.

’...He’s eating it.’

This was another reason why Ferravry spawns were considered a calamity on the battlefield.

Natural metals weren’t the only metals they could consume; Ferran-generated metal wasn’t safe from them either. The only downside was that Ferran metal supplied them with merely one attribute, iron, which in vast amounts was almost useless compared to consuming other metals.

Regardless, the fact that they could consume Ferran metal meant every bit of metal thrown at them could end up becoming food that strengthened them, which was exactly what was happening now.

Like any metal, metal aura was simply metal in a formless state, and right now, Arcturus was consuming Zephyrion’s with every exchange.

Zephyrion could simply replenish what was lost with a thought, but doing so would only add to the metal burden already building from the raging fight. Arcturus would continue growing stronger while Zephyrion exhausted himself trying to keep up.

Zephyrion stared at Arcturus’ growing smile. If the battle continued like this, it was only a matter of time before he lost.

...

Within the large office, King Cassian burst into laughter.

”Hahaha! That’s my boy!” He slammed a hand against his armrest in excitement. ”Look at him! I actually thought this would go on for a while, but what was I even worried about? At this rate, it’ll be over in a few minutes!”

Cassian continued laughing, taking particular pleasure in the silence around him. He had trained that boy since childhood. He knew exactly what Arcturus was capable of, and there was no youth in this empire that could stand a chance against him!

However, the silence was broken by Garrick’s scoff.

”You done sucking yourself off, Your Royal Suckerness?”

Cassian’s laughter immediately stopped. ”Garrick, don’t tell me you seriously still think your boy has a chance of winning thi—”

He turned towards Garrick, only to narrow his eyes when he found the man pointing at the screen with a wide grin.

”Less talking, more watching.” Garrick’s grin widened. ”It’s getting interesting.”

Cassian narrowed his eyes, a sudden sense of dread creeping over him. However, he brushed it off almost instantly, dismissing it as another one of Garrick’s mind games. Then, he turned back towards the screen... and lost his entire composure.

”What the fuck!?”

On the battlefield, the raging battle had somehow come to a halt. Zephyrion stood straight, calmly regarding Arcturus several hundred meters away.

The Undying Prince stood frozen, staring down at his battered arm with trembling eyes. Seconds ago, they’d been exchanging blows normally when, without warning, the metal aura surrounding his arm had imploded, tearing through his defenses and leaving the limb bloodied.

”...The hell did you do?” Arcturus’ expression had turned completely serious, his eyes slowly lifting from his arm to settle on Zephyrion. Somehow, he knew Zephyrion was responsible for this.

Zephyrion’s gaze remained unmoved even as he spoke.

”I controlled what you ate.”

Arcturus frowned.

Within the large office, Cassian was already on his feet, eyes wide as he stared at the screen. Garrick’s laughter came almost instantly.

”Hahaha! What did I tell you? It’s just getting fucking interesting.”

”What... the hell just happened?

Cassian had seen it. Arcturus had been fighting, steadily absorbing Zephyrion’s metal aura, when... when...

”...It exploded?”

”It’s exactly as he said. He controlled what Arcturus ate.”

Severin broke the tense silence, drawing every eye in the room towards him. There was a calculating light in his eyes as he stared at the screen, clearly piecing together exactly what had happened.

”Severin... you figured it out?”

Severin nodded.

”Ferravry spawns are troublesome because they can consume Ferran metal, but that ability comes with a rather simple weakness. Every spawn follows the same process when consuming metal. Make contact, break down its WorldPulse structure, consume, then assimilate. In other words... if you put metal in front of them, they eat it.”

Everyone remained silent, listening to Severin.

”Zephyrion used that against him. He deliberately introduced an instability into the structure of his metal aura and then let Arcturus consume it. Arcturus did the rest himself.”

Severin tapped a finger against the armrest of his chair, his gaze growing unusually cold.

”Ingenious, really... I’m a little annoyed I didn’t think of it first.”

”Wait!”

All eyes turned to Rathen. He swallowed, staring at the screen with a look of disbelief.

”...Forget what he did with it. You’re saying that boy altered the structure of his metal aura itself? Is a Vessel rank supposed to be able to do that...?”

Severin’s eyes narrowed, only now realizing what Rathen was getting at.

”No. He shouldn’t. It requires incredible comprehension, resonance, and a deep understanding of the WorldPulse. A Vessel shouldn’t even come close to that level of control. Hell, most newly advanced Heralds would struggle to pull it off.”

”And yet...” Cassian murmured, his eyes still fixed on the screen. ”He just did.”

The expressions of Cassian, Severin, Thorvak, and Rathen had turned grim. Almost simultaneously, they looked towards the grinning Garrick, the smiling Garaxe and Ingrid, and the visibly proud Kastor, only now fully realizing the sort of monster the southern side had on their hands.

Amid the silence, Garrick was practically trembling with joy.

”God... I fucking love that boy.”

...

”You controlled what I ate...”

On the battlefield, Arcturus finally nodded as everything clicked into place. Then, a smile slowly returned to his face as he looked at Zephyrion and shook his head.

”You’re one crazy fucker, you know that? You actually fed me a bomb. Hahaha... good. I was worried this would end too quickly.”

”...”

Arcturus straightened and suddenly reached into the bag strapped to his waist, pulling out a gold bar. Without hesitation, he tossed it into his mouth and began eating it as though it were candy. Another bar of different color followed, then another, before he formed a large chunk of metal from thin air and casually tore pieces from it with his teeth until there was nothing left.

Zephyrion patiently watched the entire process without uttering a word. Then, Arcturus’ bleeding suddenly stopped. The wounds across his battered arm slowly began to mend, torn flesh closing and disappearing until the limb returned to its flawless state.

”Ahh... much better.”

Arcturus flexed his restored arm once, then grinned, his golden eyes gleaming beneath the morning sun. Then, he rolled the stiffness from his muscles, cracked his neck, then stretched his legs before giving himself a small nod.

He stared at Zephyrion.

”Sorry about that. Now... how about we stop fucking around?”

The cheerful smile vanished from his face, replaced by an icy calm that seemed completely at odds with the excited man from moments ago.

An overwhelming weight settled across the clearing as Arcturus took a single step forward.

”Metal Dance: Momentum.”