Far below, Isabel clenched her small fists until her knuckles blanched, whispering over and over, "Ms. Dusko, please, win."
The Celestial Guards behind her stood rigid, necks craned, armor rattling with every shift of the duel above.
Near them, Enaricus watched the prince falter and felt a cold knot tighten in his gut.
His own disciples traded uneasy glances. One muttered, "Is Prince Percival truly up to this? What if he drags us down with him?"
Enaricus shot the speaker a single, storm-dark glare. The disciple fell silent as though his tongue had been cut out.
Esorin frowned faintly. Onneas' prowess had exceeded every private report, and the elder's disappointment in Percival settled like dust on his shoulders.
High above, Percival felt impatience gnaw at his composure. Each failed strike fed the hunger of his fury.
He kicked against empty air—once, twice—and shot forward like artillery. Complex seals flickered through his fingers. Demonic aura erupted from his pores, congealing into snarling dragons that hurtled toward Onneas with open maws.
Onneas' expression never wavered. Her sword danced in a blur, weaving blades of moonlight into a vast lattice. Each phantom dragon met that shimmering net and shattered into ash, one after another, as though salvation had never been an option.
The dragons shattered, dissolving into a swirl of pitch-black vapor. That vapor thickened a heartbeat later, knitting bone, scale, and claw back together before hurling itself at Onneas all over again.
"Hmph. Is that really the best you can muster?" Onneas asked, her voice as cool as dripping frost.
She slipped sideways—nothing more than a ripple in the air—then re-materialized behind Percival. Her blade lunged forward, cold steel arrowing straight for the center of his back.
A chill raced up Percival's spine. He threw himself forward in desperate flight. The sword missed his heart by a whisper, yet the trailing edge of its aura carved an angry crimson line across his shoulders.
"D*mn it!" he roared, hot blood seeping through the rent fabric of his cloak.
Every exchange left him reeling. Against Onneas, he felt like a chained beast—reactive, slow, forever forced onto the defensive.
Panic gnawed at the edges of his mind. If the balance did not tilt soon, this grand plaza would become his grave.


VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABEL
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: A Man Like None Other (Jared Chance)
Josephine's first time seeing Jared kill isn't with Leyton but with Falcon. Pay attention to your work....
You need to correct yourself,dear author. Josephine was in the City of Herbs when she was a kid, so why is the city's smell surprising to her?...
I need more chapters...
When can I get the next chapter...