Vryndall VII

What was Lucifer seeing with his eyes?

Even if someone asked him, he would be at a loss for words.

This went beyond the realm of absurdity.

He'd known that Arthur had surpassed him, but he hadn't realized the chasm was this vast. Ren, Lucifer, and Rachel had all joined the fray against the Ascendant-ranker, of course, yet the battle's outcome felt as if Arthur alone had turned the tide.

Arthur's swordsmanship had always been formidable, almost unnaturally so. But here, it transcended every limit Lucifer had ever imagined. His skill was beyond even that of the Ascendant-ranker, rendering his foe's astral blade all but impotent against Arthur's own pseudo-astral energy.

And that pseudo-astral energy. Arthur had made his sword resonate once more—not as a fluke, like he had against Jack, but now as a controlled, continuous feat.

Lucifer felt a cold realization sink in: even if he reached the Wall himself, it might not be enough. The gap between them was now almost insurmountable, a dizzying height he could scarcely fathom.

Arthur had achieved the impossible. He'd created a legend, doing what no one in recorded history had ever done: defeating an Ascendant-ranker while still at Integration rank.

It was as awe-inspiring as it was daunting, a sight that would echo in Lucifer's mind long after the battlefield fell silent.

'The greatest talent,' Lucifer recalled bitterly.

That was what they'd all called him in his youth, back when he was the prodigy everyone watched with awe. But now, standing before this absolute force in human form, Lucifer felt a dark scoff rise within him.

Achieving Resonance alone, and so quickly after reaching Integration rank—that was the stuff of legends. But defeating an Ascendant-ranker while still an Integration-ranker? That was something else altogether. Arthur Nightingale didn't just possess talent. He was mythic.

Lucifer found himself arriving at the same place Ren had long since reached. After witnessing Lucifer unlock the same Gift he wielded—the God's Eyes—Ren had quietly relinquished his pursuit of being the strongest. He trained with unmatched dedication, but he accepted the reality that he would never be the finest of his generation.

Lucifer had kept up, fighting tooth and nail to match Arthur. He still believed he might surpass the likes of Sun and Jack someday. But after this... even his own fire, that unquenchable ambition, flickered.

There was no denying it: Arthur wasn't just ahead. He was something far beyond them, a power that eclipsed them all. And perhaps for the first time, Lucifer felt the weight of his own limits settling coldly on his shoulders.

Arthur turned back, his azure eyes fixed on Lucifer, and a shiver coursed through him. Those eyes—they were the same shade as before, yet something was profoundly altered. They were dangerous, intense, as if they held a quiet promise to devour the world whole.

The silence among the students was thick, each of them staring at Arthur with a mixture of shock and awe. No one dared to speak, held captive by the eerie shift in his presence.

But then, Cecilia moved. She stumbled forward, closing the distance between them, and grabbed Arthur by the collar. Her eyes searched his, her voice low and furious.

"Where is he?" she demanded.

Arthur's head tilted slightly, watching her with a curious glint that seemed to sharpen her anger. Her grip tightened as she shouted, "Where is the real Arthur, you bastard?"

A faint smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, a smile devoid of warmth, one that stayed cold and calculating. It was a smile that might have been playful, if not for the emptiness in his gaze.

"Perceptive, aren't we?" he murmured, almost to himself, before glancing up with a faint smirk. "Well, I suppose there's no point in hiding it now."

Jin took a step forward, his grip tightening on his twin shortswords despite the cold sweat beading on his brow. The tension among them was palpable; everyone understood the unspoken truth—any attempt to fight Arthur, or whatever entity currently inhabited his body, would end in utter annihilation.

"Things are… different this time," Arthur said, his gaze lingering on Jin, eyes hollow and inscrutable.

"Where is Arthur?" Seraphina demanded, joining Cecilia, her face set with determination as Rachel lay nearby, too drained from her healing to rise.

He raised his hands in a casual gesture of surrender. "Relax," he said, an odd amusement flickering in his gaze. "I haven't harmed him. Let's just say... he's adapting to some new circumstances."

His tone was light, almost mocking, but the chill beneath it struck them to the core.

None of them could quite grasp what he meant, yet they couldn't bring themselves to strike him down, bound not only by the knowledge of their own limitations but by the unsettling reality that this was still Arthur's body.

Arthur's smirk deepened as the sigils of Lucent Harmony flared across his skin, their light intensifying until it enveloped the Class A students in a soft glow. The warmth seeped into their bruised bodies, mending injuries with an effortless grace.

"Is this proof enough?" he asked, his head tilted, voice laced with mock innocence.

Cecilia's fingers slowly released his collar, her gaze filled with frustration. She knew, as they all did, that pressing further would yield nothing. They were helpless in the face of whatever force had taken hold.

"Soon," Arthur muttered, glancing back over his shoulder, as though sensing some distant approach.

Just then, Nero appeared, staggering forward, his once-formidable form now marred with blood and open wounds, marks even his Immortal-rank resilience struggled to heal. His eyes flicked to the fallen Ascendant-ranker, widening with shock before they turned, sharp and assessing, to Arthur.

Nero's gaze lingered, and his shock deepened. He had always known Arthur was strong, prodigious even, but the aura now radiating from him defied all sense. This was no mere leap in power—it felt as if Arthur had reached across realms, embodying a strength absurd for someone who'd only recently entered Integration-rank.

"Let's wrap this up," Arthur sighed softly as the chaos in Vyrndall City settled, though he knew it wouldn't end simply.

After the incident, the injured students were taken to heal and swiftly returned to Mythos Academy. But things had changed. The seven Class 2-A students cast cautious glances at Arthur, a wary tension hanging in the air as they remembered the unfamiliar presence they had sensed within him. The three girls, in particular, couldn't seem to look at him without suspicion, their gazes sharp with unease.

Arthur, however, seemed unfazed, his eyes distant as he leaned back in his seat on the bus, lost in silent contemplation, his mind far from the present. He barely noticed the cold stares or whispered speculations.

It wasn't long before word spread, and the story of an Integration-ranker, only a month into his rank, defeated an Ascendant-ranker and achieving Sword Resonance rippled across the world. It was a feat unheard of, a shock that shattered expectations, igniting intrigue and rumors that would echo far beyond the Academy's walls.