The Unrivaled Champion

Damian's eyes shot open, his chest heaved as he tried to calm his rapidly beating heart.

He quickly scanned his environment and realized he was still in his room. He breathed a sigh of relief as he calmed down.

'What the hell was that?' He wondered.

All he saw were those eyes and nothing else. He wasn't sure if that was a part of the meditation process or not, but there was only one way to find out.

As he tried to calm his mind so he could go back into meditation, he noticed that he had another pair of eyes on him.

He turned to see the usual expressionless Victor looking at him with shock written all over his face.

Damian was confused and was about to ask what was going on, when he felt that something was different.

He felt lighter, stronger even.

There was also a feeling of something being trapped in his body. A little bit of concentration and he was able to release it.

The air around his body distorted and shock crept onto his face as well.

He had seen this before.

This was… aura!

Damian had broken through… in twelve hours!

____

The crackling sound of lightning bolts filled the darkened skies.

Darius stood on the desolate plain clad in silver armor and his soul weapon, a sword with a golden hilt held comfortably in his grasp, and released a level of power that made the space around him quake.

His expressionless eyes looked at the clouds, patiently waiting.

CRRK~ BOOM~

A powerful lightning bolt struck his position, creating an explosion whose shockwaves spread for thousands of miles!

Darius shot up through the rising smoke, unharmed by the attack. He raised his sword and swung.

The attack cleaved the heavens, splitting the clouds and revealing the clear blue sky above as sunlight shone through.

As Darius fell back to the ground, the clouds quickly gathered again, tossing the area back into darkness.

Another lightning bolt struck as he descended, but he quickly swiped at it with the back of his palm, redirecting it to the ground below and another explosion rang out.

Darius landed on his feet, the force creating a crater.

But before he could even stand upright, a spear was only a split second from going through his head!

Darius' figure glitched and the spear passed right through, leaving him unharmed. His gaze moved around as he tried to find his attacker.

Even the rising smoke and dust couldn't hinder his enhanced eyesight.

'There.'

BOOM~

He shot forward, the shockwaves from his speed clearing the dust in his path.

In a split second, he appeared in front of a peculiar humanoid creature that had a look of fear on its face.

This creature had long pointy ears, black hair and skin dark as the night's sky.

It was a dark elf.

Darius swung his sword, but before it could reach his target, he sensed an attack coming from above.

He moved his gaze upward, not stopping the momentum of his strike towards his opponent, and there was another dark elf coming down with powerful lightning bolts trailing behind him, enhancing his speed.

The elf would reach him before he could cut down his target, so he needed to compromise.

BOOM~

An explosion even more powerful that the previous ones rang out. A mushroom cloud rose high up into the sky, pushing away the darkened clouds and revealing the sun once more unto the desolate land.

Two figures shot out of the mushroom cloud.

They stopped their momentum with their feet sliding on the ground. The dark elves looked at each other with hopeful expressions, but deep down, they knew this man was called the unrivaled champion for a reason.

And to confirm their fears, Darius walked out of the mushroom cloud with a casualty that made his opponents shudder.

This was the peak of power.

Darius looked at both of them, his expression still indifferent, but his mind raced to find a solution to his predicament.

Unfortunately, he could only kill one of them without any significant implications.

Dark elves were part of the Miodran empire. An empire that Elyandra barely matched in military might and that was only because of Darius' power that they all rightly feared.

These dark elves were Aoi and Ita, both rank 10 and 9 mage powerhouses respectively. Very important personalities to the empire, which meant that unless Darius wanted an all out war, he couldn't outright kill them even though they were the aggressors.

At least not the rank 10, but he could kill the rank 9 albeit a few issues here and there that he could handle.

As for why Darius was fighting citizens of the Miodran empire on Uriomm, a continent that the empire had no significant power over, that could only be explained by two words—The Table.

After his last meeting with Luther, Darius had launched an investigation to find Astriel's sympathizers. Personally.

He had found a few organizations that he had quickly eradicated, but in the process, he had found them.

As far as he knew, The Table should have ten members each at rank 10.

Well, it was one less now.

But this organization was made up of rank ten individuals! How an organization of this level was able to stay hidden for this long was something Darius had yet to grasp.

Rank ten was the height of power in the mortal realm! Anyone who had gotten to this rank was known by all the world powers and so was all their affiliations, and yet, this organization maintained anonymity in all respects.

Just how deep did their influence go to make that happen?

Usually, Darius wouldn't go poking at them, but this time he had made them his enemies. They all had to die.

He had gotten wind that dark elves were heading to Elyandra a few hours ago. After a bit more investigation, it was clear that they were coming after someone—someone of major importance.

Damian.

As both the protector of Elyandra and the boy's father, he couldn't let that stand. He rushed to intercept them before they could pass Kyadi, the land of the fairies, and upon seeing their power levels, Darius wasted no time to attack.

For The Table to be able to deploy citizens of Miodra, especially of these power levels, then their influence ran deeper than he had originally thought.

He needed to wipe them off the map. Fast.

Even though the dark elves were the aggressors, the empire wouldn't care about who was at fault when it came to their powerhouses. This was why he couldn't kill them both.

He didn't want his own personal issues to plunge the entire kingdom to war except it had to.

"This is a waste of time, Darius, you know that you can't kill us," Aoi spoke. He had seen Darius go for the killing blow against Ita but he simply attributed that as a fluke.

He wasn't so foolish as to try to kill them. Right?

"Annoy me enough and I will," Darius responded calmly.

Ita kissed his teeth in anger, "You dare threaten to kill us? High elves of the Miodran empire?!"

Darius turned his gaze to him, "Are you speaking to me?"

Those words held no malice, but Ita felt a chill go down his spine. He gritted his teeth as he held his tongue.

He was a peak rank 9 mage, and yet he was forced to close his mouth in the presence of a mere human. An inferior species who had no access to mana and had to create a whole power system just to contest against them.

It angered him to no end, but he couldn't change the fact that he was in the presence of the strongest mortal.

Aoi too shared this anger. He might be an entry level rank 10, but he was still at the peak of mortal power.

He hated this powerlessness.

But he had a mission to see through. One that could grant him a seat at The Table, making him an official member. He would not let anyone, not even the unrivaled champion stop that.

Aoi had been moving with the mindset that Darius would not be able to attack them, at least not with killing intent. Even if this was an unofficial mission done away from the eyes of the empire, they were still their powerhouses. They couldn't be touched.

At least that was what he thought.

Turning back to Aoi, Darius spoke, "I'll make this easier on both of us—leave now and I won't kill you both. Just this one." He pointed his sword at Ita who subconsciously took a step back.

"Are you insane?" Aoi's anger held no limit. How dare this lowly insect speak to him in such a manner?! This maggot from an inferior race that was nothing but a nasty shit stain!

"I'll take it as a no then," Darius shook his head at his stupidity. "I gave you a way out, you refused. You take my complacency for weakness, Aoi. Do not think I cannot kill you because of your affiliation with the empire. I'll give you another chance, leave now or not only will I kill you, I'll raze the empire to the ground."

Aoi's mana burst forth, destroying the area around him with great ferocity. Even Ita had to brace himself to avoid being thrown back.

He could tolerate the insults thrown at him, but for a mere human to threaten the great empire was one he could not stand.

Ita stepped back, his stance showed he prepared to fight alongside Aoi to the end.

Darius nodded.

Those words were his way of trying to see if the empire was directly connected to The Table, and for Aoi to still have such loyalty to the empire, it meant that they were.

And it also meant that along with The Table, the entire empire was his enemy. There was no need to hold back anymore.

"Do not worry yourselves…" Darius released his aura—and the world stilled. The air around him solidified due to the sheer power.

"…your deaths will be quick."