Closing his eyes, Henry stood perfectly still as Damon's dagger cut towards him.
His clenched palms shook with frustration.
For an instant, it looked as if he was about to take the hit head-on, yet the next moment he opened his eyes, something unexpected happened.
Swoosh!
With a subtle shift, Henry slipped half a step to the left. The Dagger sliced through empty air, missing an inch away from his face.
Everyone's eyes widened, but the next thing they saw made them doubt their vision. Henry was no longer in front of Damon.
He was behind him!
Hearing the faint crunch of knuckles tightening behind him, Damon's instincts flared. He tried to twist his body. But he was too slow.
As his head swerved around, a blur filled his vision. Henry's fist, wrapped in violet spiritual energy, headed towards his cheek, carrying the weight of a sledgehammer.
Bang!
The blow landed cleanly. Pain spread across Damon's face as blood burst from his nose. His vision fractured, light and shadow bending in dizzying streaks. His body was hurled back, boots skidding across the ground. And yet, through the haze, Damon forced himself to remain standing; his legs trembled, but he refused to collapse. Blood slid down his lip as he steadied his breath.
The onlookers broke into shouts, but he barely heard them; his eyes remained locked on Henry. Throwing that hit seemed to have taken a lot out of him.
Damon wasn't sure, but in that instant, just before the punch landed, he had seen something.
Not just Speed.
Rather, for a split second, a faint image had flickered in Henry's eyes. The outline of a ticking clock
'What the hell was that? …I thought his technique involved manipulating the opponent's neural network. Was I wrong?"
Suppressing his unease crawling up his spine, Damon chose distance over recklessness. His Spiritual Energy surged out, tugging at the three daggers scattered across the ground. They shot forth like hunting hounds.
In an Instant, Henry blurred into motion, dashing towards him. Weaving past the first, then slipping under the second.
Thwack!
The third buried itself in the back of his right shoulder.
Henry staggered with a grimace flashing across his face. He gritted his teeth and slowly reached for his shoulder as the pain set in. He tried quickly removing the Dagger, but as he grabbed it, his body recoiled.
Witnessing this, Damon didn't waste the opening. His body coiled, then launched forward like a spring as spiritual energy flooded his dagger, extending the length of the dagger into a short sword. As his output increased, the short sword hummed with light. Twisting his torso in one fluid motion, his muscles tensed as he let the momentum carry him through.
Whoosh!
What came next was a single, scarlet arc.
Fast and merciless, it cut through the air, aimed straight for Henry's chest.
Watching the deadly arc fly towards him, Henry froze up.
When he had challenged Damon, he initially wanted to just hit him at least once for Cassie, but in truth, he was just eager to find out who among them was strongest ever since the trials were completed.
In Henry's mind, he had imagined himself fighting evenly with Damon until he would be able to wear him down with his technique, but he didn't expect this.
Several thoughts shot through his mind as his emotions ran wild at that moment, but everything inside him shouted it was over.
'I can't dodge that, I'm going to die!'
Clang!
A thunderous Impact split the air. The arc of energy vanished in a shower of sparks, cut clean in two by a broad sword gleaming with Azure Spiritual reinforcement.
The shock wave pushed Henry back a step, snapping him from his daze.
Standing between him and Damon, sword still humming with power, was Vincent. His livid expression only sharpened the weight of his presence.
"Enough, Damon."His gaze bore into Damon, his voice cold. "What were you thinking? Were you trying to kill him?"
Hearing Vincent's words, Damon couldn't respond. His mouth opened and closed as he tried to find the right words. He wanted to refute him, to say it wasn't like that, but deep down, he knew that last attack had been strange.
It felt like something deep inside his mind had stirred, pushing to not spar … but to kill. His chest tightened as a memory surfaced.
The resonating he felt before, when he had touched the intent held in that old diary.
'Xiuying may have broken the connection, but there seems to be lingering effects.'
Vincent narrowed his eyes, catching the hesitation in Damon's face." Isn't there something you should say? What's wrong with you ?" he asked.
Damon flinched.
"That slash…" Vincent's tone sharpened, his gaze steady on Damon. "It wasn't just reckless; it carried killing intent. I could feel it." He stepped closer, lowering his sword but not his presence. "Something's off with you. This isn't like you."
The words hit harder than any scolding. Damon clenched his jaw, forcing himself to hold Vincent's gaze.
'He's stronger than last time. Did he break through to grade I, or was he just holding back before?'
After scrutinizing him for a long, quiet moment, Vincent exhaled through his nose and eased his shoulders. "We'll talk about this on the road," he said at last, his tone carrying no room for argument.
Turning his attention, he glanced at Henry. "How's the wound?"
Henry straightened reflexively under his gaze, then felt at his shoulder. The cut had already begun knitting shut, faint traces of energy mending flesh. "…It's fine. Nothing serious."
Vincent gave a small nod, satisfied, before flicking his hand in a commanding gesture. "Good. Both of you, hit the shower and get dressed. We're going on a mission ."
At that moment, Fin and Josh came rushing over.
"That was so cool, dude!" "One moment, you looked like you were moving really fast, then Damon seemed to get slower," said Josh
"Hmm, how'd you do that ?"Fin asked curiously as he adjusted his glasses.
They clapped him on the back and threw out boisterous words to lift his spirits, even though his defeat still weighed heavily on him. Their laughter and noise did little to hide Henry's frustration, but it softened the sting just enough for him to manage a small, strained smile.
Vincent, watching the scene, shook his head slightly before turning to walk out." Hurry and catch up, it's a day's journey."
"W-wait a minute, what's the mission about?" Damon asked.
Entering the corridor, Vincent nonchalantly replied, " We'll talk on the way, just get ready, will ya?"
Parting ways with the others, Damon made his way to his room. Quickly showering, he threw on a new white shirt, black jacket, and pants before swinging by the kitchen with a leather satchel to grab a couple of meat patties to take with them. Considering it was the afternoon, he knew the chief had already prepared a batch.
After twenty minutes, he met up with Henry, standing in the lobby area.
Approaching him calmly, he spoke first,
"Hey.. have you seen Vincent?"
Henry glanced at him silently before replying, "I have no idea. I was about to try tracking him using spiritual energy, but "He paused in thought for a moment." How about you give it a try?"
"Hey, don't be like that. I'm sorry about the fight, okay. I know I went too far, but it was an accident, I swear!"
"I'm still suffering from some side effects of resonating!"
Henry looked at Damon again.
He didn't speak for several seconds.
"I found Vincent, let's go."
" Eh… So you were tracking him!"