The attack landed.Kenneth's Dantian shattered on impact.At the same time, the flames from the Nine Suns Break caught his robes instantly, spreading fast and eating straight into the Dantian area again.Kenneth scream tore through the entire arena causing the crowd to freeze.Even those who had watched every brutal match of the past few days froze at the sight of this.A shattered Dantian wasn't just an injury.It was the end of everything. Even a genius would be cast once once their Dantian was destroyed.So in one word, it was over for Kenneth.Seconds later, Owen and Drexel appeared on the platform at the same time.Owen raised his hand and the flames died immediately.The smell of burnt cloth and something worse hung in the air as footsteps came rushing up into the stage.Kenneth had stopped screaming. He lay curled on the stone, both hands pressed against the scorched area of his robes, shaking, eyes unfocused.Kael stood where he was blood dripping slowly from the wound on his

Kael didn't slow down. The afterimages spread across the platform in a curtain of blurring steel, every one of them moving at killing speed, impossible to separate from the real strike by sight alone. But Kael wasn't using his eyes. His soul perception spread outward quietly, thin and compressed, staying within a few metres of his body, just enough. The real lance lit up in his awareness like a torch in a dark room, cutting straight through the wall of afterimages. There. Phantom Void Steps! His figure blurred, stepping wide to the right as the real lance drove through the space he had just vacated. The afterimages collapsed around the point of impact, stone chips scattering across the platform. Kenneth pulled the lance back immediately, his eyes narrowing. "So you can read them," he muttered, his grip shifting on the shaft. Kael said nothing. Kenneth came again. "Lance Art: Bone Crusher!" The lance drove downward at a sharp angle, not toward the chest but toward Kael's k

The attack landed. Kenneth's Dantian shattered on impact. At the same time, the flames from the Nine Suns Break caught his robes instantly, spreading fast and eating straight into the Dantian area again. Kenneth scream tore through the entire arena causing the crowd to freeze. Even those who had watched every brutal match of the past few days froze at the sight of this. A shattered Dantian wasn't just an injury. It was the end of everything. Even a genius would be cast once once their Dantian was destroyed. So in one word, it was over for Kenneth. Seconds later, Owen and Drexel appeared on the platform at the same time. Owen raised his hand and the flames died immediately. The smell of burnt cloth and something worse hung in the air as footsteps came rushing up into the stage. Kenneth had stopped screaming. He lay curled on the stone, both hands pressed against the scorched area of his robes, shaking, eyes unfocused. Kael stood where he was blood dripping slowl

Kael found his father in the east study. Keith was still working through the household records when Kael pushed the door open, the same stack of papers spread across the table that had been there that morning, only thinner now. He looked up when Kael entered, his expression shifting into something more attentive. "Sit," Keith told him. Kael sat. He didn't spend long building up to it. There wasn't a clean way to frame it, so he didn't try. He simply told Keith what he had seen that morning. The alcove. The empty kitchen. The narrow side door that no one else used during active hours. The woman who had come through it and crossed to his tray without hesitating, who had lifted the cover and added something and replaced it in under fifteen seconds, her eyes checking the doorways first the way a person did when they had learned through repetition exactly how much time they had. Keith listened without interrupting once. When Kael finished, the room was quiet. "You've been watching

The instant he said that, all expressions turned to Kael. "Brother!" Lina panicked, tugging at Kael's robes "Don't worry, it's fine," Kael patted Lina's hands, his gaze locking onto that of James before finally settling onto that of the twin who was now glaring at him. Jasmine watched with a smile at the corner of her lips, this was getting interesting. James had obviously been targeting Kael for a while now and even a fool could see it. But then, she wondered what Kael could have done to provoke someone as scheming as James. "What do you have to say!" The Twin, Alex broke the silence, his voice revibrated against the plateau. "I've got nothing to say," Kael shrugged, spreading out his arms, refusing to explain any further. At this point, there was no need to talk anymore. James had already sown the seed he wanted. "So you admitted to killing my brother?" Alex raised his brows, at the moment, his aura rising slowly. "No," Kael declined, his expression still calm. "What do