Inside the sphere, the spatial storm erupted. Invisible spatial currents of energy ripped through the air, tearing at the very fabric of space around Levi!
Levi knew if he stayed here for even a couple more seconds, a spatial tear might emerge inside his body, ripping him in half!
He swiftly tried to escape, but alas... the moment he was imprisoned in it, he had nowhere to go.
Yanhuan’s voice, calm and almost teasing, whispered through the chaos, "No matter where you move... I am everywhere."
That’s when Levi realized, no matter where he moved, the blue sphere followed him along under Yanhuan’s control!
If he could teleport himself, he could definitely teleport the blue sphere, wherever he wanted inside the boundary of his control.
"Are you planning to keep on watching until he dies? As much as I hate to admit it, I don’t have any control over the spatial tears," Yanhuan asked calmly as he gazed at Feng Ling and Dominic.
Seeing their silence on the matter, Yanhuan frowned for a moment, thinking that their reaction was a bit weird... but then, it hit him, ’Do they have that much belief in him?’
Once his mind went to this place, his heart turned cold.
’Fine, let’s see how far your belief will take you.’
He watched as Levi tried his best to escape from the blue sphere, but no amount of speed could be faster than instant teleportation.
Unfortunately, the spatial storm was only growing in strength the more time a spatial area was disturbed.
From dealing with a couple of spatial tears emerging here and there, to being forced to evade countless ones emerging at the same time!
Slice! Slice!
In the end, the storm had gotten too much for Levi and before he knew it, he lost two more limbs and barely survived a spatial tear that cut his waist from the right side, leaving him gushing with blood akin to a fountain.
When Yanhuan saw this, he decided to end the battle the proper way, having no interest in adding Levi to his kills list... He swiftly canceled his ultimate ability and teleported behind Levi, who was barely hanging on for his dear life.
Then, with a spinning kick, he hurled him back into the ground.
Bam!
Levi’s body smashed against the dried-up ground, kicking up a cloud of dust and hurling small pebbles everywhere.
Yanhuan manifested a staircase of blue smoke and took slow and steady steps, resembling a divine royal entity stepping down from the heavens.
Once he arrived, he walked up to Levi’s beaten bloody form... or what remained of it.
Blue smoke still rising faintly from his body... His shadow fell long across the ground, looming over Levi, who once spoke with such defiance. He tilted his head and spoke, his voice calm, but as sharp as the spatial tears that ravaged Levi’s body.
"Do you remember what you said to me, Levi? That you’d be the one standing... while I would be the one on the ground?"
A humorless chuckle escaped him as he crouched, bringing his face closer to Levi’s bruised features... His next words dropped into an icy whisper.
"If it weren’t for the weight of my reputation... I would have let you die here. Just to teach you a lesson."
Evangeline was right in her assessment... as much as Yanhuan tried to hide it, he was in love with himself so much he valued his reputation above all else. Thus, if someone sought to ruin his reputation, he would take immense effort to ruin them instead.
Levi’s spiritual aura display made him understand that if he didn’t go this hard on him, they would start comparing them... he hated nothing more than having his name next to another one in the same breath.
He was Zhang Yanhuan... the son and the heir of the Imperial Sun Lineage... he was born under the belief that their Lineage’s name must not be tainted by anyone or anything.
This was his father’s and family’s creed... and he lived by it every single day.
For a moment, silence stretched between them... but then, Levi’s lips twitched into a small, serene smile. Although his voice was hoarse and emerging under a lake of blood in his mouth, it still carried an unsettling calm.
"I’m glad you told me that... It makes me at peace with the decision I have made."
Yanhuan’s brow furrowed for a moment... but then, a smirk manifested as he leaned even closer.
"In this state? What could you possibly do?"
"Look closely... at my face." Levi said, his voice seemingly not so ’pained’ anymore.
Yanhuan’s gaze narrowed, choosing to indulge him, though his heart had already skipped a beat at the unsettling way Levi carried himself despite his broken state.
But, as he peered into Levi’s features, he was startled to see his face beginning to crack, fragmenting like glass... Piece by piece, Levi’s visage broke away, until what stared back at Yanhuan was his own face.
An eerie reflection of himself.
His breath was stuck in his throat, his pupils tightening to the limit, and his heartbeat started accelerating nonstop.
Before he could react, he blinked instinctively... And in that single blink, the world inverted for him.
When his eyes opened again, it was Levi who stood above him, smiling faintly, while Yanhuan lay bound to the ground with his body completely chained up.
When his eyes traced the crimson chains, he saw Levi holding onto a segmented staff... one crown chaining him, the other was placed near his neck, emitting sharp vibrations nonstop.
He could tell, one wrong twitch, and he would share the same ending as Evangeline.
As his mind started regaining its clarity on this sudden, impossible development, Levi’s calm voice drifted down to his ears.
"As I said... in every confrontation, I will be the one standing, and you will be under me... every, single, time."
"I think we have seen enough... Winner, Levi Larson." Dominic announced while rubbing his eyelids after the insanity he had just witnessed.
It wasn’t just him... every single watcher was left absolutely dumbfounded, feeling like they had watched the biggest humiliation ritual in the century.
"Next time, don’t fake being good... either be one or don’t."
With that sentence left behind, Yanhuan watched as Levi unsummoned his staff and walked away towards his friends, not a single scratch on his body.
Memories of what he did to him were still fresh in his mind, so real he could taste them... yet, as he listened to the surrounding chatter, seeing everyone pointing their fingers, chuckling, or shaking their heads in disappointment, he couldn’t help but feel like he was trapped in a dream.
’Orr’Fume... for the love of god, tell me what happened, I am about to lose my mind!’ Yanhuan asked his contracted nightcrawler, feeling like he was about to have a panic attack.
’You were outclassed... nothing more, nothing less.’ Orr’Fume replied calmly as he gazed at Levi’s retreating back.
Hearing what he said, Yanhuan felt like someone ripped his heart out and feasted on it right in front of his face. He knew that his nightcrawler wasn’t the chatty type, and he had no intentions of making a fool of himself and asking his teammates.
"Astra... replay the last ten minutes."
"As you command, Sir."
Astra AI went on and manifested a small holographic screen in front of his right eye, showing him a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.
Everything was normal, Levi taking out Evangeline in the blink of an eye, and then talking to Levi for a few moments... however, the moment he said ’You talk too much’, instead of Levi hurling the shimmering green staff at him, he remained in his place with his arms crossed.
As for him? He teleported away and started smugly talking to himself like a fool... But, this was only the beginning of the worst five minutes of his life.
Yanhuan’s face kept turning whiter and whiter at the sight of him teleporting all over the place, appearing like he was fighting a ghost.
He received telepathic, dimensional, and even messages through Astra AI from his teammates, showing up on the holographic screen too.
’Yanhuan! What are you doing?! He is right there in front of you!’
’Captain? Are you okay? Why are you fighting by yourself?’
As the situation kept developing for the worse, watching their captain absolutely make a fool of himself, and he didn’t seem to realize it, they finally began to realize that Levi had already made his move, and their captain had fallen in it head first.
Unlike Levi’s team, who refused to interfere when Jasmine was hypnotized, Yanhuan’s teammates didn’t give a shit... they knew if they didn’t try to wake him up, he would channel his wrath on them after he finally woke up.
’Captain! Wake up!! I think he has put you inside an illusion!’
’WAAAAKE UP!!’
Alas, they screamed, cursed, and shouted... nothing.
Yanhuan had no memory of receiving any of those messages, leaving him to question his own reality.
Unfortunately, Astra AI recorded everything that went down... the real truth.
He kept watching in stunned silence mixed in with a tint of pure dread... watching as he traded blows with no one, using his ultimate ability on air.
Yet, the worst of it all? Him wasting a technique slot in his limited library of techniques to create a staircase of clouds... Just to walk down slowly and nonchalantly towards Levi, who was standing in the same spot with his arms crossed while leaning against his staff.
Then, right next to Levi, he started talking to the empty ground, chuckling, and whispering... Only when Levi had enough of making a fool of Yanhuan did he chain him up slowly and throw him on the ground.
At the time, everyone watched in utter horror as Yanhuan didn’t even struggle while Levi was chaining him... it was like he felt nothing in the real world, a completely helpless victim that could be killed any second Levi decided.
"Recording complete. Would you like me to replay it, or save a specific segment?" Astra AI said monotonously, having no clue that her words left Yanhuan’s heart scarred even more.