The Extra Wants Control

While this was happening... Internally, Neveah was having a barrage of thoughts. There were promises he had made and forgotten in the whirlwind of recent events – Amber, Eric, Harvey... The others, obligations he'd shoved aside. But it wasn't his fault he was busy... these years had taken a lot out of him.

"Ugh, focus,"he told himself, then an ice ax in his hand dissolving and forming into a spear of pure ice. He spun it with ease, the air crackling faintly with darkness. "So," he said, a smirk formed"Who's first? Or perhaps you prefer a you'll both attack at once?"

The Twilight Twins remained silent, their expressions unreadable.

Sharon's voice echoed in his mind, "You think you can face two peak 8 stars alone? They have laws, need I remind you."

Neveah's grip tightened on his ice spear. "Laws huh?... This will be difficult... Someone is going to force me to bring it out... Amazing" he thought to himself.

"Wait... don't tell me you have a law?" Sharon said with surprise, yanking Neveah from his contemplation.

"No," he replied curtly, not bothering to continue.

"Whew," Sharon sighed, as she thought to himself, "at least you aren't a complete monster."

Neveah's gaze flicked between the twins. He saw the glint of resolve in their eyes.

"How would they attack? A coordinated assault, or a one on one?..."

A sharp laugh escaped him, a humorless sound that broke the silence . "Am I doubting myself?" he asked himself mentally. " The twins are highly trained. Not like those idiots calling themselves nobles... They are skilled amd highly experienced... But-"

His resolve solidified. Darkness swirled around him, condensing into an armor of obsidian and ice. "So am I!" he declared.

" Since you won't attack... I will do it for you."

Neveah took charge. Puffing out his chest, he unleashed a blast of flame from his mouth. Making his body move back a large distance from the brothers.

"Young Master, we won't gang up on you!" Kael's voice boomed as he cut through the flames, his sword held high. "I'll go first." He put his hand before his brother Constantine back, stopping him from attacking with a look and Constantine nodded.

Kael strode forward, his heavy armor clanging against the road. He stopped a few paces from Neveah, his powerful frame imposing even in the distorted light. "Young Master, be prepared," he announced, his voice heavy with respect. "I, Kael Twilight... will attack you now."

Neveah met his gaze. "Come," he said simply. He knew to win this bout, he'd have to outmatch Kael in pure skill. He won't use magic.

Kael charged. His greatsword descended in a mighty arc, aimed to cleave Neveah in two. Reacting with speed, Neveah attempted to dodge, but an invisible pressure held him in place. A frustrated sigh escaped his lips as he met the attack head-on.

He raised his ice spear, bracing and shielding himself from the impact. The clash was deafening, a crack then a crunch sound was heard the blade tore through the ice spear. Shards of frost shot outwards. Neveah dodged back, jumping several feet away.

"Young Master," Kael boomed, his voice laced with… disappointment? "You need to take this seriously. I put my pride on the line for this test."

Another onslaught followed, a barrage of sword cuts that rained down on Neveah. Each swing was a powerful show of Kael's years of training, forcing Neveah to make dodges and blocks he didn't have a chance to attack.

He parried a blow aimed at his head, feeling the shock of strength rippling up his arms. Neveah gritted his teeth, sweat stinging his eyes.

Kael then coated his sword with aura and his muscles bulged and he swung it towards Neveah.

" Tsk..." Neveah then made Ice shields, imbued with a anti-gravity property, materialized on them, each one desperately trying to slow the unstoppable force of Kael's attack by blocking and repelling.

But...

They shattered one by one, leaving Neveah with only a final, reinforced barrier between him and the incoming blow.

But even this barrier broke.

But the attack was stop. It wasn't magic, not a shield but a hand.

A dark red aura crackled around Neveah's outstretched hand, stopping the impact of the blade.

"I was wrong," Neveah stated, his voice devoid of emotion. His figure blurred, as he disappeared in the darkness. He reappeared right before before a Kael, his fist aimed for the knight's chest.

Kael, despite his surprise, managed to react and block the blow with his massive sword. The force, however, sent him skidding back several feet, the shock of the clash resonating through his heavy armor.

A menacing aura emanated from Neveah, suffocating and thick. He walked towards Kael, each slow step resonating with that unknown terrifying power. "I will show you," he declared, his voice dripping with a terrifying calmness, "what it means to stand before me… What it means to challenge me. What it means to raise your blade against your Prince."

Sharon who always looked at the progress of Neveah saw this and thought,"Oh my ... Does he know how he sounds like? This is... This is... This ... Is ...

Making me cringe hard." As she felt goosebumps forming on her skin.

Kael, however, didn't seem fazed. A slight smile formed on his lips. "Then I won't hold back either," he declared, his voice unwavering.

"Law Initialization... "

Kael tightened his grip on his massive sword. An aura thick and heavy surged around him, intensifying with each passing second.

Twice, thrice, four times it increased, layering upon itself until even Neveah stopped trying to gauge it.

In that charged moment , the world seemed to grind to a halt. The wind ceased its howl, everything faded to an eerie silence.

" D.... Du... ..... Dub... Dub.. Dub Dub." Neveah heard it.

His heat. Slowly beating softly till it began being loud.

Suddenly his pupils moved. He was the world frozen.

Neveah, his senses felt dulled and he could only see. See the sword.

He tracked the slow movement of Kael's sword, incoming with an almost hypnotic allure. His body, however, remained frozen, only his accelerating heartbeat pounding against his ribs.

His senses began to return with a scream...urging him to move, to dodge, to do anything to avoid the inevitable impact.

Yet, a strange sense of exhilaration grew in him.

Kael's mind however raced. He recalled countless grueling training sessions, the stink of sweat and the ache of weary muscles. He had pushed himself to the absolute limit, driven by the burning desire not to be a burden, not to be confined by the limitations of his own mortality.

All those years of wielding a sword, honing his skills until callouses formed upon callouses, were leading to this very moment.

His dream and goal flashed before him – a sword that could cut anything and everything, a sword capable of transcending even the very fabric of time. A sword that could cut through even the space that he hated so much.

He stared down the Neveah, who was frozen in time."Young Master," he thought, "Stop it, Dodge it, take it head-on… do whatever you can… But please stay alive. This is my test... to see if you are qualified. Relentless Blade." thank-you-for-using-NovelFire

"Move... Move... Move damn it..." Neveah thought over and over again as he looked at the sword dropping in slow motion.

Suddenly Neveah closed his eyes, one might mistake that he had given up... But he didn't.

Neveah focused on his heartbeat...

"Dub Dub dub dub dub dub dub dub dub..." It was beating fast, his senses warning him to move. Get out of the way.

But something inside him refused, "take it head on." It demanded.

"Dub... Dub... .... Dub." Neveah's heart began slowing down.

" He dared point his blade?! No, It was a requirement. I made a promise. It is an obligation I have to fulfill." Thoughts were forming and debating each other in his mind. The sword was still dropping. This seemed to be an eternity.

" Evade. Take it on. Evade. Take it on. Evade. Take it on.

Evade. Take it on. Evade. Take it on. Evade. Take it on.Evade.

Take it on. Evade. Take it on.Evade. Take it on. Evade. Take it on.Evade.

Take it on. Evade. Take it on.Evade. Take it on. Evade. Take it on.Evade.

Take it on. EVADE. TAKE IT ON. EVADE. TAKE IT ON. EVADE.

TAKE IT ON.EVADE. TAKE IT ON. EVADE. TAKE IT ON!!!!."

The rational side was telling him to evade, there was still another enemy he had to fight and his law was Apocalypse that caused various status effects, so if his body is messed up before that fight he will be bad.

But his pride refused. " His law is Relentless Blade... A blade that won't stop and supposedly cut through anything right? Let's prove him wrong... No! Look at the state I am in right now that idea is foolish.

.... BUT THIS HERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY!" Thought Neveah as he focussed on his chest, a swirling black-red vortex formed and in it were white orbs varying in size. And energy started flowing from them and Neveah's index finger moved!