Chapter 138: Monstrous Father
Azel took the stance for Star Strike as Azariah took his own battle stance.
The air grew deathly quiet.
Every movement ceased, every spectator stilled, as though the entire world had been muted to witness this clash.
The two men faced each other, their gazes were sharp and the silence grew deafening until...
In the blink of an eye, they both rushed at each other.
’First Form – Bone Rush!’
Azariah’s thought burned like fire in his mind as his muscles bulged with divine power.
This technique was the ancient art of the goddess — the technique passed down to her Patriarch bloodline flared to life.
His sword descended with brutal weight, its speed enough to break the sound barrier.
As the blade came down, wind tore free, splitting into countless invisible cutters.
The very air became a weapon; edges sharp enough to strip skin from bone lashed outward in all directions.
Anyone else would have been shredded just by standing too close.
’Alright. I accounted for his healing,’ Azariah calculated coldly.
He had to get that divine energy at all costs.
’This won’t kill him. But he’ll feel it. He’ll understand the difference.’
The sword cut down —
But Azel’s weapon erupted with its own phenomenon.
Aura vibrated along its length, howling like a caged beast.
And he replicated his movement, every single bit of it...
Their strikes collided.
The ground trembled.
The entire training hall groaned.
Aura and wind smashed together in a violent storm that clawed at the walls.
Azariah felt it first — the sting of cutting wind slicing across his flesh.
Thin scratches traced his muscles, shallow but undeniable.
They didn’t bleed, but they burned.
His lips curled into a dangerous smile.
Both men leapt back, forcing distance between them.
Azariah glanced at his hands, flexing them before returning his gaze to his son.
’I didn’t actually expect him to perform the strike,’ he admitted silently. ’Interesting. But it’s not something that I can’t handle.’
Azel exhaled slowly, golden light knitting his body back together.
The healing energy surged through his veins, washing away the sting of cuts before they could even ache.
But his thoughts raced.
’The fuck? That felt like I was hitting a mountain.’
The clash had told him all he needed to know — his father’s strength was unfathomable.
But retreat wasn’t an option. After all this was a friendly spar wasn’t it?
Azel raised his sword again.
Green aura licked at the blade, growing sharper and more refined.
His stance deepened, his eyes narrowing with focus.
With a sudden swing, he unleashed it —
Four invisible slashes, carved from pure aura, tore forward.
The space itself warped around them as they screamed through the air.
Azariah’s instincts roared.
He couldn’t see the blades, but every sense in his body flared.
Danger pulsed from the attacks like the heartbeat of a predator.
He didn’t hesitate.
One slash was aimed straight for his chest.
He hurled his bone sword at it.
The moment steel met aura, the sword was consumed — swallowed whole by the burning green energy that had suddenly appeared.
The bone blade dissolved into nothingness, ripped apart as though it had never existed.
Azariah’s eyes widened.
’Extremely dangerous...’
The other three slashes ripped forward.
With a single explosive push, he leapt into the air, the ground beneath him cracking like shattered glass.
"Caught you..."
Azel’s voice cut through the roar of the battlefield like a knife.
Azariah’s eyes snapped downward.
His son was already there, closing the distance with lethal intent.
In midair, Azariah was vulnerable.
No weapon in hand, no footing to redirect.
The most he could do was swing a fist or a kick — but against a sword, that was suicide.
But then...
From the weapon racks lining the hall, a bone sword trembled, ripped itself free, and flew into Azariah’s grasp.
The Patriarch grinned.
Their swords collided midair.
BOOOOM.
The impact was cataclysmic.
The shockwave detonated outward, shaking the entire chamber.
Tiles shattered under the force, dust and wind whipping violently through the spectators.
Dresses, robes, even hair were flung upward as the two warriors clashed like storms incarnate.
"Son, you really are strong," Azariah admitted as their blades locked, the clash holding for an instant before gravity reclaimed them both.
His grin widened, equal parts pride and madness.
"But this is where it ends."
His aura flared, rippling across the battlefield.
’Second Style – Bone Crushing Arc.’
The blade in his hand gleamed white-hot as it came down, carrying the momentum to split the earth itself.
Azel’s eyes narrowed.
His body reacted instinctively, his aura responding like a second heartbeat.
’Second Style – Reversal!’
Instead of meeting the strike defensively, he inverted his stance, swinging upward.
The blades collided.
The impact wasn’t sound — it was annihilation.
The two forces devoured each other, tearing through their weapons.
Bone splintered.
Aura screamed.
Both swords shattered into nothing.
The backlash was immediate.
A pulse of destructive force ripped outward, throwing both combatants across the hall.
The ground cracked under the pressure.
The walls moaned as fractures spread across their surfaces.
The spectators shielded themselves, eyes wide in disbelief.
Azel tumbled across the ground, coughing, his body aching all over.
But before the pain could register, the light healed him, stitching torn muscle and sealing bruised skin.
His breath came ragged, but determination blazed in his eyes.
He staggered to his feet, swordless, sweat dripping into his eyes.
Across the room, Azariah was already standing.
Not just standing—looming.
His breathing was calm, his gaze steady.
And in his hand... another bone sword.
It had simply appeared, pulled from the rack once again.
He was cheating.
Azel froze.
’How the hell is he doing this?’
The sword slashed toward him with terrifying speed.
Azel twisted, dodging just barely.
Pain tore open along his side, though it was healed instantly.
The pressure alone was enough to wound him.
From the sidelines, Veyra shouted.
Another bone sword was flung through the air.
Azel snatched it mid-motion, spinning into stance.
His chest rose and fell, his body both exhausted and reinvigorated by the healing.
A bitter grin tugged at his lips despite the madness of it all.
’What kind of monster do I have for a father?’
[Author’s Note]
Can’t only have character panels for the women, Azariah character panel out tomorrow...