Chapter 493: This Is Not the Boy You Once Knew (1)
"Apologies for the delay. Now, where were we?"
Frey said that to Zenith as he calmly sat down beside her, having just taken down six of the Empire’s finest warriors in mere seconds ..barehanded.
Zenith was impressed by the display, but not surprised.
She had already seen what Frey was capable of.
His effortless victory was expected.
What the old witch didn’t anticipate, however, was what happened next.
Just as Frey turned back to resume his conversation, they found themselves suddenly surrounded.
Dozens of knights ..both men and women .. appeared seemingly out of nowhere, their threatening auras unmistakably brimming with eagerness for battle.
"What’s the meaning of this?"
Frey asked, glancing over the large crowd that had gathered around him.
One after another, the requests came flooding in:
"Lord Starlight! Allow me the honor of dueling you!"
"Me too!"
"Wait! I asked first—get in line!"
"Fight me, Frey Starlight!"
Challenge after challenge rained down, so many that Frey couldn’t even make sense of what was happening.
Zenith, seated beside him, couldn’t help but burst into laughter at the absurdity of the situation.
"Seems like everyone was curious about you, Lord Frey. And the moment they saw that fight, they all pounced at once."
Ever since the strange rumors had begun spreading about him .. his feats, his alleged miracles, even comparisons to Abraham Starlight ..countless eyes had been locked onto Frey.
Yet none had dared take the first step.
But the moment those six earlier challengers broke the barrier, the rest wasted no time in seizing the chance to test the man whose blade was said to be godlike.
Realizing this, Frey sighed in frustration.
"I’m supposed to be the one watching you fight so I can evaluate your strength, Zenith... not the other way around."
Hearing that, Zenith slowly leaned away and pulled out another luxurious cigar, lighting it with amusement in her eyes.
"Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait for my debut until the next real battle.
For now, they’re all yours, Lord Frey."
Seeing her deliberately distance herself to avoid being dragged in, Frey stood up again with an annoyed huff.
"What a dependable subordinate you are..."
Turning back toward the soldiers who had come for him, Frey briefly considered his options.
Should he just release a wave of killing intent alongside his aura and scare them all off in one blast?
He was confident it would work.
But he quickly abandoned the idea.
He had other plans for the Empire’s soldiers, and if he pushed too hard now, it might backfire later.
So, with a resigned sigh, he stepped forward ..
and stood calmly in the center of the crowd.
"Gentlemen, you came seeking a duel, and that is what you shall receive.
Come at me, one by one ..don’t hold back.
Fight me with the intent to kill, not to spar."
He declared as he assumed a relaxed stance ..full of gaps and openings .. without even summoning the blades he was famous for.
It left many in the crowd wondering if he was even taking them seriously.
Clearly, he wasn’t.
And that offended quite a few.
The first to step forward was a towering soldier with a massive greatsword resting on his shoulder.
He had long black hair, a muscular frame, and a giant scar running across his chest and neck.
He looked like a true battle-hardened warrior.
"Frey Starlight... I know there’s no smoke without fire in this world.
If the rumors say you’re strong, then you must have something to back it up."
He wasn’t the Champion of the Victoriad for nothing .. many had already witnessed his feats.
Gripping his greatsword, the seasoned warrior stepped forward.
"My name is Davos of House Sunlight. Allow me to test the strength that makes you stand so casually in front of me!"
With that bold declaration, Davos lunged forward at a shocking speed ..surprising some, considering his massive build.
Swinging his sword in a powerful vertical arc, he aimed straight for Frey’s head .. intending to cleave him in two.
The strike was incredibly fast, and out of nowhere, his blade ignited with flames,
turning the attack into a blazing catastrophe meant to erase Frey from existence.
But Frey barely needed any effort to see it coming.
At the very last second, he shifted his body to the right by mere centimeters,
letting the flaming greatsword crash into the ground where he had just stood.
Seeing his blade miss its mark, Davos gathered his strength to attack again ..
Only to find he couldn’t move his weapon.
Trying to pull the sword free, he realized ..
Frey was stepping on it.
Just one foot ..casually pressing down on the blade.
Davos pulled with all his might, veins bulging across his muscled arms,
but no matter how hard he tried, the sword didn’t budge.
He had lost a contest of raw strength...
to a lean young man who wasn’t even trying, merely resting his weight lazily on one leg.
What stung Davos most wasn’t just the power .. it was that Frey hadn’t even taken him seriously.
"Davos of House Sunlight... you place too much trust in your physical strength.
And that puts you in a terrible spot when your opponent is stronger than you."
Frey said as he moved for the first time since the duel began.
And with that motion ..
Davos suddenly saw the world flip upside down.
He was slammed into the earth with a single blow.
"Find your true weapon, Davos.
This world is full of monsters far beyond what brute strength alone can overcome."
Frey ended the match with those words,
as Davos remained sprawled motionless on the ground.
He hadn’t even seen the last strike coming.
It wasn’t a duel . it was a one-sided demonstration of power.
With his arm raised over his face, hiding it from view, Davos slowly stood up and dragged his greatsword away.
"Thank you for the match, Lord Starlight."
He said it quietly, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear in the silence that followed the earlier display.
Frey, on the other hand, simply nodded indifferently and announced:
"Next."
Sure enough, a second challenger stepped forward ..a swift assassin specialized in speed and precision strikes.
But Frey brought him down easily—with a single blow, once again.
"Your stealth technique is useless once I’ve already sensed your presence.
Hiding your aura isn’t enough.
Stealth extends to your breathing, your heartbeat, and every sound your body makes."
Frey ended the second duel with another piece of advice, then raised his voice again.
"Next!"
And so it continued ..
duel after duel, challenger after challenger.
Dozens upon dozens of soldiers stepped forward to face the young prodigy who had stirred their curiosity.
Frey faced every kind of warrior,
but not a single one lasted more than ten seconds against him.
He was terrifying ..a true martial artist of the highest caliber.
It seemed like no matter what kind of opponent or situation he was placed in,
Frey adapted flawlessly.
Unbeknownst to them, his Shadow Adaptation ability was at work ..
and one by one, the soldiers began to see him in a completely different light.
Slowly, cheers began to erupt across the training grounds.
The area was no longer filled with dozens, but hundreds of soldiers, all watching in awe.
Bit by bit, the atmosphere shifted.
They no longer challenged Frey to shatter his legend,
or to test his strength out of skepticism.
They fought him simply because they wanted the honor of standing before a great warrior ..
to see how far they could push themselves.
Frey ended every duel with advice.
And strangely, those small insights always seemed to be the missing piece in the challengers’ combat styles.
The nineteen-year-old looked less like a peer...
and more like an ancient master who had lived for centuries,
versed in every combat style under the sun.
It didn’t make sense.
But Frey was called a miracle for a reason.
And miracles were never meant to make sense.
His knowledge came from more than just experience ..
it came from countless life-or-death battles, and from the insight he’d inherited through the Nameless Mask.
Lord Starlight had far exceeded their expectations.
And that’s why the crowd kept growing...
more and more filled the grounds, eager to watch, eager to learn.
Hours passed ..one after another.
So much time went by that Zenith had already left, leaving Frey to face the endless stream of challengers alone.
But contrary to what one might expect,
laughter began to fill the air.
The soldiers were enjoying themselves, cheering every time Frey brought down another opponent with effortless grace.
And before he even realized it...
Frey had just defeated challenger number one thousand.