Kill The Old Ones!

Chapter 168: Tournament: Ren vs. Seraphina (End)

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The disdain was heard loud and clear in Ren’s words.

He watched and took everything that made Seraphina special and felt that it wasn’t really that much. He dismissed it completely, especially since it’s proven to be ineffective against him.

While Seraphina stood there as if everything she knew about the world turned out to be one massive lie, Ren was there standing with his back ramrod straight, oozing with confidence and domination and displaying invincibility.

Whether it was his previous enemy or this one, Ren wasn’t moved. It’s like the name, the background, and the reputation of his enemies never concerned him at all.

He’d defeat them all just the same.

At this point, nobody dared to accuse Seraphina of faking it. Charles could be, but Seraphina? No way. Especially after they learned about the deep enmity between their clans.

This also proved that Charles wasn’t pretending either. He’s just as useless against Ren as Seraphina was.

Seraphina bit her rosy lips.

No, she couldn’t end here. She won’t surrender. This isn’t just about who’s right or wrong anymore; this was about ability and pride.

She’s not willing to bow down to the tyrant before her.

And so, she picked herself up. Unable to help it, she revealed more.

She was originally planning on revealing a special move if she faced Adrian somehow, but the current situation calls for it.

Seraphina brandished her sword, and the white lotus petals converged around her. They fused into large clumps to form pure white swords, some even wrapped around Seraphina’s own sword, bestowing it with pure white brilliance.

Then, without any further ado, she disappeared from her previous location and reappeared above Ren.

She held her sword with both hands; she used all her might, fueled with rage, indignation, and desperation, and cleaved down at him.

The pure white brilliance of her sword erupted, emitting a light so strong as if the heavens themselves were smiting down Ren for his blasphemy.

A shocking explosion occurred, kicking up large clouds of dust in the process and obscuring the view of the audience for a brief moment.

When the dust cloud cleared, they saw the situation, and their eyes bulged in disbelief.

They expected Ren to at least be hurt by that. Wounded, at the very least. But no, that’s what they saw.

What they saw was Ren, raising his index finger, stopping the edge of Seraphina’s sword from moving any further.

His face was indifferent; some would even say bored. Not a trace of struggle could be seen or felt from him. It’s completely unlike Seraphina’s state, who’s still desperately trying and forcing her sword to descend. The pure white brilliance still flared strongly, but it’s not advancing despite the strength she’s pushing into it.

It wasn’t just that, though.

The white swords formed from the fusion of lotus petals? They were there too.

They spun like drills, attempting to bore a hole in Ren’s body while Seraphina desperately attempts to cleave him in half.

But they can’t do anything. They were clearly hitting Ren’s body, actively drilling into him, but were stopped by something. The friction was even causing sparks to fly out from the contact, yet they couldn’t pierce even an inch of his skin.

Ren didn’t even grace them with a look. They might as well not exist in his eyes at all.

Seraphina was aiming for his lethal parts, by the way. One sword was drilling on top of Ren’s head. Another one on his nape.

There’s one on his spine, his heart, both his kidneys, his liver, and his stomach.

All of this while Seraphina was pouring all of her chakra into desperately driving her sword downwards to cleave Ren in half.

It was sinister and foul. It was clear that she’d been driven to desperation.

This should’ve disqualified her; after all, it was a clear attempt at Ren’s life. The only reason why she hasn’t been eliminated yet and the referee hasn’t interfered was because Ren had the situation handled.

Also, others may not have seen it, but he signaled to the referee to let him handle this.

But yes, Seraphina’s ultimate attack, the one that she’d been saving up if she ever had the chance to face Adrian in the grand finals, was rendered completely inane and useless by Ren.

"Creative, but far from enough," Ren stated his judgment indifferently.

It sounded like a total dismissal of all of Seraphina’s blood, sweat, and tears to create this move.

Everything that made her special and unique was nothing in front of Ren’s apparent invincibility.

It’s such a heartbreaking and despairing situation.

She thought that this guy was nothing but a clown who got lucky. It turns out that she had been the fool all this time.

Ren wasn’t some random bloke who got the luck of the draw. He’s just as deserving of this current spot as everybody else. In fact, he deserves more.

With a flick of his finger, Ren repelled Seraphina.

She just felt a flare of chakra for the briefest moment, and then she found herself flying backwards. Her chakra flow was disturbed, causing her to cough up blood.

The pure white radiance on her sword was dispelled by that flick, and so were the swords drilling at Ren’s body.

He completely neutralized her that easily.

Then she heard him ask, "Do you still have more to show, or is that it for you? Hurry up, I’m growing bored here."

How destestable those words were. It was an utter dismissal and disdain aimed sharply towards her. He sounded so indifferent and arrogant.

The worst part is that he doesn’t sound like he’s lying. It’s clear from Ren’s eyes that he’s really growing bored.

"Come on, at the very least, do something to move me from my initial spot. Surely as one of the so-called Young Kings of Central City, you should be able to do that much, right?"

This was the part when Ren reminded everybody of one crucial thing...

From start to finish, Ren stood at the same spot as before. He hadn’t moved at all.

He just stood there and took everything that Seraphina could dish out. Not even once did he evade her sharpness and her intent to kill. He met her, meaning head-on.

Yet even with everything that she did, she’s completely unable to force him back, not even a single step backwards.

That horrified a lot of people, especially those who were still thinking that they were special.

Seraphina’s skills already displayed just how large the gap between her and the major populace is. But even still, everything she did was meaningless before Ren.

Nothing even left a wound on him.

Compared to Seraphina, Ren was the true monster.

Seraphina wanted to do more, as well. She really does. But her previous attack drained her chakra immensely.

That was an ultimate move that she was hiding for her match against Adrian, should it ever come to that. It was a final gambit containing her hopes of cinching a victory against him.

But she used it on Ren, and it was met head-on and rendered meaningless.

Seraphina was cornered. She only has enough chakra to stay awake at this point.

"Hmm, I suppose that’s it from you, then." Ren sighed in disappointment. "Very well, I grow tired of this anyway."

"Ah, that’s right! You were curious how I defeat your clan brothers, right? Well, how about I show you? It would be fun and poetic, I think. Me defeating you the same way I beat them."

"Yeah, that sounds fun," Ren smirked.

Then, for the first time since this match began, he went into a stance.

Seraphina’s heart leapt to her throat. She hurriedly raised her sword to put her guard up. She engaged the barrier she still had and hoped that it would still work.

But evidently, she was thinking too much.

"This was originally the Nine Echoes Technique, but I find it insufficient, so I changed it up a bit."

"This one, I call the Nine Echoing Cannons technique."

"I hope you can last up to the 9th echo. At the very least, that way, you would be as disappointing as those clan brothers of yours."

Before everybody’s eyes, Ren made his move.

He drove his fist forward, emitting not a single grunt but with his momentum speaking for itself.

His fist seemingly made contact with solid air. Once it did, a loud booming sound erupted from out of nowhere, resembling the sound of a cannon being fired.

The impact exploded, and Seraphina felt its strength personally.

That first impact was already strong enough to shatter the barrier she still had, shattering it to pieces. And that wasn’t the end of it.

The echoes came afterwards.

Seraphina felt the echoes assaulting her flesh, bones, and chakra network, the impact seeping so deep that she struggled to hold on to her consciousness.

The second echo came, then the third, the fourth, and the fifth...

It’s on the fifth that Seraphina collapsed. Her body was blown away like a kite whose strings were snapped. She rolled off the stage, and her body hit the dome isolating the arena from the outside.

The referee interfered at this point, shielding her body from the remaining echoes easily.

She lost consciousness; that much is clear. The referee’s gaze was complicated as he blew his whistle and declared Ren’s victory in this match.