Chapter 178: Lux Versus Blake
"It is scheduled that we’ll meet the girls this afternoon before heading to the main house," Lux declared, his silver eyes calm as they swept across the room. The other three gave a nod of acknowledgment, each in their own way—Nero with his usual impassive look, Adam with a casual shrug, and Blake with a yawn that barely masked his growing interest.
"Good. Then let’s kill some time with the new virtual game," Lux suggested, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
It was the same cutting-edge simulation Elreth and Azalea had been obsessed with the night before.
Nero tilted his head slightly. He had never touched one of these before, and curiosity stirred in him. For a moment he thought of texting Khione, his finger hovering over his phone—but he decided to wait until later. This, too, could be... interesting.
Adam leaned back. "I’ve tried it a few times. Fun, I guess, but not really my thing," he admitted with a dismissive wave.
Blake, however, perked up instantly. "Finally! Something decent! I could live in these worlds if I wanted to," he grinned, eyes lighting up with the unmistakable fire of a gamer about to enter his element.
With the maids’ help, the sleek console was unveiled and installed in the entertainment room. The machine itself was a work of art, dwarven engineering infused with human magic, wires glowing faintly like veins of liquid light. The air hummed with energy as the game loaded, projecting a smooth interface in midair.
Lux and Blake volunteered to go first.
They carefully crafted their avatars—virtual reflections polished to perfection. Lux’s appeared first: a tall young man with silver hair gleaming like moonlight, silver eyes calm but sharp. He wore a set of radiant armor that seemed woven from light itself, golden gauntlets pulsing with holy brilliance. In his hand, he carried no sword, no staff—just pure light shaped at will.
Then came Blake’s avatar. A sharp contrast. His purple hair fell in messy locks, his purple eyes glinting mischievously. Cloaked in dark, tattered robes, he wielded a crooked staff that looked as if it had been plucked from some cursed battlefield. Shadows coiled at his feet, whispering promises of death and ruin. His Law of Darkness allowed him to summon hordes of undead—skeletons, wraiths, abominations—each dripping with malice.
"Figures..." Adam muttered, smirking at how perfectly their avatars matched their real selves.
The countdown flashed across the hovering screen.
3... 2... 1... GAME START!
The scenery materialized around them, vivid as reality. They now stood in an enormous, ancient coliseum—its cracked marble pillars towering high, banners of forgotten empires fluttering in the phantom wind. The ground beneath their feet was sand, warm and shifting, stained with the ghostly echoes of past battles. Above, the sky burned with eternal twilight, and the roar of an unseen crowd thundered through the arena, as if thousands of spirits had gathered to watch.
And at the center of it all—two avatars, facing each other.
Light against Darkness.
Order against Chaos.
Lux’s gauntlets gleamed, golden light rippling across his arms. Blake spun his staff lazily, shadows slithering across the sand.
The match had begun.
The instant the word START dissolved into sparks, silence fell over the coliseum.
Lux and Blake stood across the sand, both motionless for a heartbeat, eyes locked. Two mages, two opposite Laws.
The crowd of phantom voices roared, chanting names neither of them knew. The sound pressed down on them like a storm.
Lux moved first. His gauntlets flared with divine brilliance, and a radiant circle of light unfolded beneath his feet.
"Radiant Manifestation!" His voice rang like a bell, and spears of golden light erupted from the ground, lancing forward like shooting stars.
Blake smirked. "Tch. Already going for the flashy stuff." He slammed his crooked staff into the sand. Shadows writhed outward, swallowing the ground around him like spilled ink. "Arise, my servants!"
From the blackness clawed skeletal warriors clad in rusted armor, their eye sockets burning violet. They raised their chipped swords and shields, forming a wall before their master.
The first volley of Lux’s radiant spears struck. The skeletons shattered into bone dust, yet more clawed their way up from the darkness to take their place.
"Annoying as ever," Lux muttered, raising a hand. With a gesture, his gauntlets expanded into a blinding halo. Dozens of swords made of pure light formed in the air, hanging around him like angelic wings.
"Judgment Barrage!
"The swords screamed down like meteors, slicing through skeletons by the dozens. Explosions of light erupted across the arena, shaking the sand, consuming shadow with every strike.
Yet through the storm, Blake only grinned wider. "You think I’ll roll over after what you put me through this morning? Hell no!" His staff pulsed darkly.
The shadows beneath the shattered skeletons bubbled, then burst. This time, abominations rose—hulking creatures of bone and rotting flesh, their roars shaking the coliseum. They surged forward, charging Lux with mindless fury.
Lux narrowed his eyes, his light flaring brighter. With a single step, he vanished, reappearing above the battlefield, golden wings of light unfurled from his back. He hovered high, raining beams of holy energy down like arrows, each blast searing through the abominations.
But Blake had been waiting for this. "Got you."
He raised his staff high. A black magic circle spread across the sand, devouring the arena floor itself. From the circle’s edge, spikes of darkness shot up, jagged and cruel, trying to pierce Lux from below.
Lux clicked his tongue, weaving through them midair, his body a streak of silver light.
"Predictable."
"Not quite." Blake smirked, his eyes gleaming. He slammed his staff down again. The shadows twisted, spikes bending unnaturally mid-flight. Lux’s eyes widened as they changed direction, curving toward him like serpents.
"Tch—!" He barely had time to cross his gauntlets, a shield of golden light flaring up just in time. The spikes struck, shattering against the barrier, but the impact hurled him backward, slamming him against a coliseum pillar. The phantom crowd roared, sensing blood.
Blake laughed, a harsh, breathless sound.
"You see that? That’s for the mountain run, Lux. And that’s for the four hours in your damn gym!" He unleashed another wave of shadows, skeletal archers now crawling up from the ground, nocking arrows of dark energy and aiming skyward.
Arrows blotted the sky. Lux, regaining his footing, unleashed a pulse of light.
"Sanctuary Burst!" A dome of brilliance erupted from him, vaporizing the arrows mid-flight and erasing the nearest skeletons.
But Blake wasn’t finished. His staff pulsed with raw power, and suddenly the shadows merged together into a single, colossal figure. A towering undead knight, clad in blackened armor, wielding a massive, corroded greatsword. Its very presence made the ground tremble.
"Go, my champion!" Blake roared. "Cut him down!"
The giant knight stomped forward, swinging its blade with terrifying force. Lux caught the strike on his gauntlets, but the sheer weight of it forced him to his knees, sand cracking beneath his boots.
Lux’s silver eyes hardened. "So this is how it is..." His gauntlets flared, and the arena was filled with blinding radiance. He roared, forcing the knight back. His body glowed like a star descending upon the battlefield. "Final Art—Heaven’s Descent!"
He shot upward, then plummeted like a comet, his fist wreathed in golden fire. He struck the undead knight square in the chest, light erupting in a cataclysmic explosion that shook the coliseum to its foundations.
The giant knight shattered into fragments of shadow.
The light faded. Lux stood in the middle of the crater, chest heaving, golden aura dimming. "It’s over."
"Over?" Blake’s voice cut through the dust.
From the shadows behind Lux, tendrils lashed upward, wrapping around his arms and legs like chains. His eyes widened. "When—?!"
Blake stepped out from the darkness, smirking, his avatar’s robes tattered but his staff glowing with victory.
"You were so busy with my knight, you forgot one thing—" His staff pulsed, shadows tightening around Lux, pulling him to his knees.
"Dark Binding."
The phantom crowd screamed as Lux was dragged down into the sand, his light dimming until nothing remained. The word VICTORY blazed across the arena in violet light.
Blake raised his staff in triumph, grinning ear to ear. "That’s for dragging me out of bed, you silver-haired slave driver!"
The simulation flickered out, leaving them back in the villa’s entertainment room. Blake yanked off his visor, still smirking. Lux leaned back in his chair, sighing, while Adam doubled over laughing.
"Holy hell, Blake," Adam wheezed, clutching his stomach. "You actually beat Lux! That was—hah!—brutal!"
Blake stretched, smug as ever. "Damn right. If I can’t win in the real world, I’ll win here. Consider this revenge."
Lux chuckled, shaking his head. "Enjoy your moment, Blake. Next round won’t be so merciful."
Nero, who had been watching silently, smirked faintly. "Interesting... Maybe I’ll try next."
Blake’s grin widened. "Oh, I’m just getting started."
The daemon prince proudly raised his chest, he would teach one of them the joy of supremacy, the ultimate bliss of laziness.
For some reason the three shuddered, each looking at each other and secretly communicated, they would get their revenge without doubt tomorrow, hehehe.