final blow would decide everything.

Some were stunned. Some were afraid. Some stood in quiet awe. Every person watching bore a different expression, yet none could tear their eyes away.

Zed himself was frozen in disbelief, his mind racing to comprehend the sudden shift in power.

Roadie, however, felt something else entirely.

Excitement.

And fear.

A shiver ran down his spine as he took in the sight before him—the boy's blackened eyes, his burning blue pupils, the aura that pulsed like a living storm around him.

Thoughts rushed through Roadie's mind like wildfire.

"Only a handful in this entire empire have ever pushed me this far... And you're telling me this kid is one of them?"

His own aura flared in response—deep red, raw with fury, sending a shockwave that rippled through the battlefield. The ground beneath him cracked under the sheer force. The weight of his Rhu spread across the field like a tidal wave, pressing down on every living thing.

And yet—

SHWIP!

A thin blue line flashed through the air. Before Roadie could react, an earth-shattering punch slammed into his gut, launching him skyward like a cannonball.

His vision blurred. His ribs screamed. The force sent shockwaves through his bones.

"That punch... almost knocked me unconscious—"

His thoughts cut off as another fist crashed into his side, sending him hurtling left. Before he could even process the pain—

BAM!

Another blow struck from the right. Then another from above. Then from below.

Roadie became a blur in the sky, his body ricocheting from one devastating strike to another, tossed around like a mere plaything.

Meanwhile, outside the battlefield, Edgar stood with his arms crossed, irritation plain on his face.

"What the hell is going on in there?" he thought, scowling. "That Ravenhart bastard told us to form a perimeter as if he could take that beast Roadie all by himself."

"Sir! Look—up there!" a soldier suddenly shouted, pointing toward the sky.

Edgar let out an annoyed sigh, rolling his eyes. "Hah? What's there to see—"

The moment he followed the man's gaze, his irritation shattered.

His breath caught in his throat.

His eyes widened, pupils constricting.

Shock.

No—utter disbelief.

Suspended in the air was Roadie—the man even Edgar feared to face. But he wasn't floating by choice.

No.

He was being beaten senseless.

A boy wreathed in blazing blue aura moved like a phantom, appearing and disappearing in bursts of speed. Every time he reappeared, another devastating punch crashed into Roadie, sending him hurtling in another direction like a ragdoll.

Left.

Right.

Up.

Down.

The sheer speed of the assault made it impossible to follow with the naked eye.

Heart pounding, Edgar quickly channeled Rhu to enhance his vision. The moment his eyes adjusted, what he saw left him speechless.

"That's… that's Zed."

It wasn't just some technique. It wasn't just luck. The boy was winning.

Edgar's throat went dry as he watched the monstrous force known as Roadie being manhandled.

"How? How is this possible? That boy—"

Then, with a final, earth-shattering strike, Zed's copy drove his fist into Roadie's chest, sending him plummeting straight down.

The battlefield trembled. The already broken ground split apart even further, the impact so great that shockwaves blasted outward, carrying dust and debris as far as Edgar's position.

The nobles, the bandits, the soldiers—everyone shielded their faces from the sheer force of the crash.

When the dust began to settle, Edgar's gaze remained fixed on the crater. His hands trembled, not from fear, but from the sheer insanity of what he had just witnessed.

"This is impossible..."

His thoughts swirled in chaos.

"So the rumors were true. He really did awaken his Rhu Core… but this? This isn't normal. Just what the hell happened to him in these past few months?"

Zed's copy landed on top of Roadie, his aura flaring like a raging inferno. Without hesitation, he raised his fist—then brought it down.

CRACK!

Roadie's head snapped to the side as the first punch connected. Blood splattered onto the dirt.

Then another.

And another.

Each impact sent tremors through the ground, the sheer force of the blows echoing across the battlefield. The once-unshakable warrior, the Peak Ascendant feared throughout the empire, was now beneath him, his body convulsing with every strike.

Roadie let out a choked, guttural scream, his voice raw from pain. His face twisted in agony, blood pooling beneath him as his bones groaned under the relentless assault.

"Is this what it felt like?" he thought.

For the first time in years—no, decades—he felt powerless. He had always been the monster in the room, the one delivering the pain, never the one receiving it. But now, as fist after fist crashed into him, that reality shattered.

"Damn it… I won't—"

Summoning the last remnants of his strength, Roadie gritted his teeth, ignoring the searing pain, and shot his hand forward—gripping Zed's copy by the head.

His fingers dug into his opponent's skull like iron clamps.

Then—

With a beastly roar, Roadie twisted his body and hurled him away with all the strength he could muster.

BOOM!

Zed's copy was sent flying, his body tearing through the air like a comet. He crashed into the dirt a far distance away, kicking up a thick cloud of dust upon impact.

Finally, silence.

Roadie gasped for air, his body barely moving. His limbs felt like lead. His vision blurred. But despite everything, he forced a bloodied grin onto his face.

"Hah… hah…" Roadie coughed up blood, but his voice still carried.

"You hit like a demon, kid… but don't think it's over yet…"

Zed's copy didn't respond. Their bodies moved on instinct now, each too battered to think, too stubborn to fall. What had started as a duel of blades had devolved into raw brutality—a fistfight where neither side gave an inch.

Each blow landed with sickening force, snapping heads back, sending teeth rattling. Blood painted the ground. The crowd barely breathed as the two warriors struck each other again and again, each refusing to fall before the other.

Roadie staggered back, his vision swimming. His fists ached, his knuckles split open. His body screamed at him to stop, to drop, to give in.

"Why the hell am I fighting like this?" he thought, his breaths ragged. "Before… I wouldn't have hesitated. I would've abandoned the fight, slipped into the shadows, let someone else take the fall while I ran to safety. But now…"

His gaze drifted to Zander.

The boy's eyes held something unshakable—something that pinned Roadie in place. Hope. Trust.

"Damn it. I get it now."

A bitter chuckle escaped his lips, only to turn into a grimace as another wave of pain shot through him.

"I'm not fighting for myself anymore. I'm fighting… for him."

The thought felt foreign, almost laughable. Roadie, the bandit, the man who had always put himself first, who had never once looked back—fighting for someone else?

"I can't believe it. I'm risking my life for another person."

Zed's copy struck again, a sharp, brutal hook to the jaw. Roadie's head snapped to the side, and his body gave out beneath him. He collapsed, his limbs trembling, his breath shallow.

"I can't… I'm spent. My Rhu is gone. My muscles feel like they're ripping apart, my bones might be broken, and every breath burns like fire."

He lay there, eyes barely open, staring at Zander.

The kid wasn't looking at him with fear. He wasn't looking at him with pity.

He was looking at him as if he were their last hope. Their hero.

Roadie let out a rough, humorless laugh.

"Tch. Don't look at me like that, kid… I'm no hero. I'm just a damn bandit."

Then, a voice cut through the silence.

"Come on, Captain! You can do it! Take that bastard down!"

More voices followed.

"Get up, Roadie!""Show him who we are!""Captain, don't lose now!"

The shouts echoed, growing louder, merging into a chant.

Something inside Roadie twisted.

"Why…?" His hands clenched into fists against the dirt. "I lost. I gave everything. So why… why is my body trying to stand?"

He could feel his legs trembling, his muscles barely responding, but still—still—his body moved.

"Stop. Don't get up. Just stay down. You don't need to fight anymore. Just stay down!"

But even as he screamed at himself to stop, his body ignored him.

He stood.

And when he looked up, he saw their faces.

The bandits—his men—were looking at him with the same desperate hope that Zander had.

Not as a thief. Not as a coward.

As their leader. Their savior.

Roadie's breath came shaky, his vision blurred by exhaustion.

"So this is what it feels like, huh?" he thought. "To be seen as something more… to be the one they believe in. This… this is what I wanted my whole damn life."

He exhaled sharply, his gaze snapping back to Zed's copy.

The boy was on his knees, barely conscious, yet still trying to rise.

Roadie let out a slow breath.

"If this is what I've been chasing… if this is why I stood up… then I'll finish this fight for them."

He steadied himself, drawing on the last remnants of his strength.

Zed's copy did the same.

They both knew—this was it.

One last punch.

The final blow would decide everything.