"A ha ha ha! Dead! Dead! He's dead!!!" Seeing Calvin Unknown's figure completely submerged by the Thunder Dragon, Tucker finally succumbed to his bloodthirsty excitement, throwing his head back and laughing wildly. "Hit directly by my strongest ultimate technique, the Furious Thunder Hammer, there shouldn't even be a speck of him left now, should there?! A ha ha ha ha—"
"You seem… very pleased…" Suddenly, a faint voice sounded right beside his ear. Tucker's wildly laughing face instantly froze. Stiffly, he turned his head and slowly looked towards the source of the sound.
"Not dead?! How is that possible?!!" Upon seeing him, Tucker's eyes narrowed abruptly, his huge pupils instantly shrinking to pinprick size. He stammered incredulously, "Th-this… how is this possible?!!!" By the end, his voice had changed, becoming sharp and grating, utterly unpleasant.
"Impossible, huh…" Calvin stood quietly in the original spot, muttering to himself in a somewhat gloomy tone. In his outstretched right hand, which had been empty moments before, he now held a sword that radiated a melancholic, sinister aura. The original magic rapier lay quietly stuck in the ground at his feet. Furthermore, his entire body was utterly spotless, without a single scratch! No! Not only were there no scratches! Not a speck of dust clung to him!! This seemed exceedingly strange, simply too unusual! How could a person be hit head-on by such ferocious magic and not even be dusted?!
Tucker clearly noticed this too. Although logic told him that the little brat in front of him, while capable of some magic, was nothing more than an ordinary Mage with low skill—posing no threat whatsoever—his intuition was blaring a high-pitched alarm! It seemed to be telling him that the little brat before him was far from simple! This feeling of extreme danger was something he had never experienced since birth! Not even from the Lords had he ever felt this level of threat, causing the hairs on his entire body to stand involuntarily on end!!
This feeling—was it pressure? Yes! It was pressure! An unimaginable, dominating pressure was subtly emanating from the young body before him. Though faint, almost imperceptible, it bizarrely captivated his entire mind!!!
And so, the scene formed an extremely strange picture: a young boy stared silently at the ground with a gloomy, indifferent gaze that hinted at despair, while a short distance away, a burly, strong man stood utterly motionless, staring at the boy with fearful, suspicious eyes. Although his face was covered in large beads of sweat, he didn't dare to wipe them away! It was as if the slightest movement would result in instant death at the hands of the boy before him!
"Is it truly impossible, then…" Calvin seemed trapped in some kind of spell, repeating the same phrase over and over. Just as Tucker, dripping with cold sweat, felt the urge to let out a loud shout to relieve his crumbling sanity, Calvin slowly lifted his head. He gazed blankly into Tucker's eyes, whispering softly, as if asking or murmuring to himself, "If some things have been decided by heaven, is it truly impossible to change them…"
"Aah!!!" Finally unable to endure the mental pressure, Tucker let out a desperate, hoarse roar! He lifted the massive club in his hands and charged towards Calvin's position, his face flushed as he furiously bellowed: "You are dead!!! Because that was decided by the gods a long time ago!!!!!!"
"Decided? Gods?…" As if the phrase had touched a nerve that should not be touched, Calvin's previously calm face instantly became exceptionally grim and ferocious! Staring intensely at the rapidly approaching Tucker, Calvin roared softly: "My own destiny can only be decided by me! What damn nonsense about a cursed Heaven?! From the moment Archille's soul completely dissipated, from the moment my memories and Archille's remaining memories fully merged! I completely and utterly rejected it!!!"
"I am just me! I only decide for me! If anyone tries to change my destiny, no matter who they are, I will destroy them completely!!! Even if it is the so-called ephemeral Heaven! Even if it is the God who created everything in this world! It's all the same! No one is allowed to manipulate or play with my destiny!!! Never! Never! Never! Never! Never! Never!" Calvin yelled, his voice strained and utterly manic, roaring towards the sky: "My name is—Calvin—Un—known!!"
The moment he finished speaking, a captivating, sinister magic power suddenly erupted from Calvin's small body! Like a wild wind howling or ocean waves roaring, it surged out of his body in wave after wave, desperate and wanton!!!
"The Miracle Flower that cannot bloom can only be opened by one with eternal belief…" Calvin's face returned to tranquility, as if the person who had been roaring madly just moments ago wasn't him at all. Looking at the crude brute Tucker, who had already reached him and was swinging his massive club, Calvin's sword-holding right hand subtly trembled. That trembling wasn't the excitement of being about to strike, nor the fear of the enemy's proximity, but rather a strange, sorrowful, chilling sense of despair, as if brought on by the impending combat…
"It was through constant prayer, hope, and countless acts of yearning that it finally granted me a chance to blossom within my heart. Let me show you my miracle, Tucker…" Calling the name of the man he deeply despised for the first time, Calvin gently held the longsword straight out in front of him, the tip pointing directly at Tucker, who was now less than six feet away. Calvin slowly and softly whispered in a gloomy, drawn-out tone: "Let the magnificent blossoming of this Miracle Flower obscure all traces of your existence… Now, Look Up—"
"Wabisuke!!"
It changed! The moment the word left his mouth, the shape of the sword in Calvin's right hand subtly transformed! The pitch-black blade seemed to be dyed with a deep, dark ink, black enough to make one tremble and fear! The previously upturned tip of the blade now bent strangely, forming two perfectly straight, ninety-degree angles downwards toward the sharp edge! This made the entire sword look like a giant inverted '7'! The sharp blade, contrasted against the black, occasionally reflected streaks of chilling, heart-stopping cold light! The bizarre shape, the distinct black and white of the blade and body, caused the sword to exude an indescribably sinister aura!
That feeling was despair!!!
"Clang—" A crisp sound of metal striking metal. The massive club, swung with all its owner's might, heavily struck the strange longsword in Calvin's hand.
"It's over…" Calvin softly breathed out the words, immediately retracting his sword and shifting to the side of Tucker's body.
Seeing this, Tucker was about to pivot the club and swing back towards Calvin, but a massive force was abruptly transmitted from the huge club in his hand! Losing his balance in a moment of carelessness, Tucker stumbled and dropped heavily to one knee on the solid ground!
"Boom—" The tip of the club sank heavily into the ground, instantly forcing the firm earth to crater downwards!
"Hmph—" Tucker grunted, his right knee also slamming heavily onto the ground. His body seemed to have been weighed down by the club's power, pressing the ground and creating noticeable, jagged cracks!
"Wh-what's going on?!" Tucker stared at the club in his hand, his expression utterly aghast! Because he could clearly feel that the weight of the club had at least doubled!!!
Wh-what the hell is happening?!!! Tucker screamed inwardly.
"I told you, everything is already over…" The faint voice sounded by his ear. Tucker was horrified and tried to look sideways, but just then, a sudden change occurred! Tucker suddenly felt his own body weight increase several times over! It was as if a small mountain had suddenly been placed on him. The immense force instantly surpassed his physical limit! It violently crushed his body down onto the ground!!!
"Thud—" With a heavy, muffled impact, Tucker's body crashed onto the solid ground! The immense force even pressed a large, human-shaped indentation into the earth!
"M-mercy, please—" Struggling to lift his head, Tucker looked up at Calvin with terror, pleading for his life.
"The moment you decided to attack me with magic, your life…" Ignoring Tucker's plea, Calvin gently lifted Wabisuke, which he had quietly pressed against Tucker's back while the man was distracted by the doubling weight of his club. He walked to Tucker's rear, placed a foot on his back, and used the bizarrely hooked tip of Wabisuke to gently hook Tucker's head, which was lifted high in supplication. Calvin spoke faintly, without a hint of emotion: "...was already over." With that, he gently pulled the sword back.
"Pffft—" With a spray of blood, a massive head shot up into the air…