Free Web NovelChapter 48: Already a Certainty
Priam and Gangrel stared at each other. Ten meters of cold stone separated them, but the tension on the martial stage was almost tangible.
"Hahahaha..."
Gangrel’s sudden laughter broke the silence. It was a shrill sound, filled with mockery that made the spectators narrow their eyes. Where was the dignity of the clan’s heir? His expression was twisted, ruined by hatred.
If there had been outsiders in that arena, Gangrel’s reputation would have been finished. He would never again be considered the next leader.
People had no idea why he hated Priam so much. It wasn’t just because Priam had beaten and humiliated him in the library, leaving marks on his face that refused to disappear.
The main reason was that Gangrel had clearly seen that his two siblings were much closer to him now. His little sister had deeply hated him before, so it meant something major had happened.
Since they should have died, it was obvious that Priam had been involved in all of it. Adding everything together, he hated Priam deeply for destroying his perfect plans.
"You think you’re amazing, don’t you?" Gangrel’s voice overflowed with malice. "I admit I underestimated you, but the wind element I control isn’t even close to my true power."
He waved his hand sharply. From his spatial ring, a black saber appeared in his hands, emanating such an intense demonic aura that the air around it seemed to grow colder.
"Feel despair!"
With a roar, waves of grayish lightning erupted from Gangrel’s body, converging violently into the black blade. The electric light reflected off the stage’s protective barrier, casting distorted shadows over the young spectators. The feeling of oppression was overwhelming.
Gangrel didn’t hesitate and attacked with a slash through the air. All of his lightning power shot toward Priam.
The lightning from the saber transformed into a thunderous tornado. It looked like a starving beast charging forward with deadly fangs exposed. The power was so great that the weaker Mages in the arena cried out in panic.
"That’s the Quints Storm Domain!" an Elder exclaimed, rising to his feet in shock.
It was the supreme Magic Art created by that most powerful ancestor of the Quints race. Something that only a handful of people throughout history had successfully manifested.
Priam frowned. His feet barely touched the ground as he retreated in a fluid movement.
Unfortunately, the attack was too fast, but he didn’t want to waste too much Ether dodging. So he concentrated his life force into his fist and threw a direct punch.
A wave of tyrannical energy collided head-on with the violent lightning power.
**BOOM!**
In a fraction of a second, Priam’s strike was swallowed by the lightning.
On the other hand, the saber’s power was stripped away layer by layer by the overwhelming pressure of Priam’s attack. At the point of collision, space itself seemed to distort under the conflict between lightning and pure energy.
The explosion blasted both of them backward.
Gangrel quickly stabilized himself, his expression growing even darker.
"Hah, you’ve really surprised me. You survived a strike using sixty percent of my power... Looks like it wasn’t just luck that brought you here. But what a pity. In front of me, you’re still nothing but trash."
A murmur of disapproval spread through the arena.
Where did such arrogance come from?
It was obvious to everyone that Priam, despite being four levels lower, was fighting on equal footing. The Elders exchanged helpless glances; the heir was a genius blinded by his own ego, incapable of accepting talent greater than his own.
Gangrel pointed the saber forward. His posture was proud, as if delivering an ultimatum.
"Everything before was just a greeting. Now, I’ll show you my true power. Something you’ll remember for the rest of your life!"
With an unrestrained laugh, Gangrel charged forward. He became a blur of speed. The lightning covering his body and weapon reignited, leaving a trail of thunderous silhouettes behind him.
Before he had even crossed the first ten meters, the color of the lightning changed.
The dull gray gave way to a vibrant emerald-green hue.
Silence fell over the Elders, followed by widened eyes.
On the mortal plane, gray lightning was considered "ordinary lightning," the most basic level of mastery. But emerald-green... that was an absolute rarity. It indicated a level of elemental control potential that few Mages could even dream of reaching.
There were seven levels and colors. Above gray lightning stood emerald-green. As for the other colors, the people of the mortal plane had simply never seen them and knew nothing about them. freewebnσvel.cѳm
The moment the emerald sparks illuminated the stage, the audience erupted into shouts. Even the younger spectators who didn’t understand the hierarchy of colors instinctively felt the danger.
The air vibrated.
The real battle was only just beginning.
It was said that one needed to become a Disciple to manifest lightning of that level. But of course, very few people at that stage could actually accomplish it. Gangrel’s innate talent for the lightning element was undoubtedly terrifying.
In truth, Gangrel was average at almost everything. But when it came to lightning control, he stood on a level far above any ordinary Mage of the mortal plane.
"As expected of the Clan Leader’s son! Gangrel’s true strength needs to be reevaluated. Haha, it seems Priam has no hope left!"
At that moment, some Elders began showering him with exaggerated praise, trying to restore the morale and dignity the heir had lost. It didn’t take a genius to realize those men were on Gangrel’s side; they needed him to become the next leader.
There was nothing against the rules about supporting an heir. In the previous generation, when the current leader competed against her three siblings for the position, each had their own followers.
The strange thing was that in this generation, only Gangrel had fervent supporters. The other Elders, even if they disliked him, preferred to remain neutral rather than support any other candidate.
On the stage, Gangrel laughed wildly as he spread his power in every direction.
The emerald-green lightning around his body exploded outward. It split into more than a dozen thunderous tornadoes of varying sizes, creating an electrical domain that slowly swallowed the entire martial stage.
Despite all his arrogance, Gangrel didn’t want to attack Priam head-on because of his instinctive fear of him. So he tried to suppress him with the lightning, planning to attack only at the perfect moment to finish him off.
The space was consumed inch by inch. Priam, however, merely retreated with an icy expression.
’These lightning bolts... interesting.’
He simply observed, letting his enemy burn through everything he had. Priam knew this idiot of a young man had plenty of tricks, so it was safer to win by letting Gangrel exhaust his strength first.
There was the option of burning all of his Ether to move with the wind and launch an all-out attack against Gangrel. But what if he had some secret escape method? Priam couldn’t afford to be arrogant and think he was invincible.
Right now, Priam still felt like a slightly above-average amateur who was learning how to fight and discovering the powers of Mages; it was better to stay cautious.
’Cornered’ by the rapidly expanding domain, Priam was forced to retreat all the way to the edge of the stage.
With a thunderous laugh, Gangrel’s body became illusory. He felt that the perfect moment was approaching.
Suddenly, dozens of silhouettes appeared within the sea of lightning. It was as if an army of clones had been born from that emerald storm.
This was one of the deeper stages of the Quints Storm Domain.
Although the ’clones’ were merely illusions created from the lightning element, they were so perfect that it became almost impossible to distinguish them from the original body. Their purpose was to obscure vision, preventing an opponent from selecting a real target.
The silhouettes increased from ten to dozens. They moved chaotically, creating mirages of emerald light. Under the cover of that chaos, the real Gangrel could attack from unpredictable directions, turning every step Priam took into a dance with death.
"As expected! It’s a technique far too profound, coming from a Sage!" The audience watched in genuine amazement.
Seeing Priam retreating, everyone reached the same conclusion: he wasn’t confident enough to face that lightning head-on.
And it was no wonder. The lightning element was famous for its penetrating and devastating power, while also possessing speed rivaling that of the wind element.
Mages who wielded lightning were masters of aggression. The initial explosive damage was often impossible to endure.
Priam was finally cornered against the edge.
And now, to the spectators, Gangrel’s victory was already an absolute certainty.
