Second Genesis

Grey felt that he would have looked a lot cooler if his hair was whipping in the wind or something. Instead, he felt his stubble shift a bit and that was going to have to be good enough.

Patience wasn’t exactly his strong suit, so he was already moving forward after he spoke those words, his Shadow Forces leaving trails of dark fog in his wake as he blitzed forward at a pace that shouldn’t have been remotely possible for even someone of the Established Class.

"Grey! Stop!"

Edmun tried to step between them and Grey immediately frowned.

"You’re going to get yourself killed, old man." Grey said quickly.

To his surprise, though, it was Calixan who formed a barrier around Edmun that carried him away right as another sword whizzed forward from Frantz.

The blade passed right through where Edmun had just been, seemingly with every intention of skewering the man right where he had stood just moments ago.

This one was even faster than the last, only made worse by the fact Grey’s own speed only added to it. But after Grey saw Calixan’s actions, he just sneered and took it in stride. If the Bishop was going to play the good guy for now, so be it.

Chi.

The Turning Shield shrank into an even smaller parrying shield from its larger round shield form. It was so tiny that it barely went beyond the size of the back of Grey’s hand when he clenched his fist. Yet, this didn’t seem to hinder its effectiveness in the slightest.

Grey deflected the sword with a flick of his wrist, leaping up as another came from Frantz, spinning through the air, and parrying that one as well.

Did he need to do that? Nope.

Did it feel fucking awesome?

Yes. Yes it did.

His body was as light as a sparrow’s, his every thought and action firing like blazing lines of lightning were coursing through his every vein. Usually, only when he used an Active Link would electricity spark in his eyes, but right now even a twitch of his finger seemed to trigger it.

And then he was suddenly in front of Frantz. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"Surprise, fucker."

Frantz summoned a spear and hurried to block Grey’s sword, only for it to be a feint. Grey’s fist drove into the man’s gut so deep that the parry shield forced his ribs to crackle.

A rebounding force dispersed the rest of the energy before any real bones were broken, some weak application of Sacred Bulwark to be sure, but that didn’t stop Frantz from flying into the distance, end over end, until he ground to a halt along the floor.

Face first, ass up.

"Well, if you swing that way." Grey shrugged. "Who am I to judge?"

Grey’s gaze shifted and landed on Calixan who stood barely a meter from him. The man was smiling a calm smile and didn’t seem to have any intention of interfering at all.

"It seems I was wrong." Calixan said calmly. "You did, indeed, grasp success in the Paladin Trial. That is the only way you could ever counter the rhythm of a Vanguard Mid-Tier Holy Knight like Frantz, here."

Grey looked Calixan up and down, trying to find something off or different about him without replying. The man was unfathomably deep, and he was storing a well of something within him that was beyond anything Grey had ever seen before.

Calixan didn’t need to attack for Grey to be sure he had to treat the man as an enemy. He could feel it in his bones that Calixan was a danger to him.

But it was probably also easier for Calixan to control the narrative of exactly what happened here if Frantz was out of the picture.

No... not the narrative. The credit.

But this also meant that Calixan was confident that whatever new status he had gained was also worth the same level of protection a Paladin Frame was capable of.

While Calixan looked quite calm, the others were in abject shock. The boys couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Before, Frantz’s aura alone had pressed them all to the ground, and now he had been sent flying by a single punch from Grey.

Edmun didn’t even know what to think. On the one hand, he was ecstatic that Grey had managed to make it so far, but what good would it be with a Command Class right here? He also got the feeling that Calixan was still hiding something. That breakthrough was not normal.

Even for a Command Class, the commotion of Calixan’s advancement was too much.

And then there was Sir Ovaal who still didn’t know what to do with himself. His only hope was that everything would end before anyone questioned him too deeply.

A roar came from Frantz.

"Good talk." Grey said, his sarcasm not really reaching his eyes. For once, there was a cold seriousness in his gaze when he looked at Calixan. "I’ll take his head first. And since you want to be an arrogant cunt, I’ll take yours later."

"Hoho," Calixan chuckled, but didn’t seem particularly bothered by this at all.

Grey didn’t care for his reply in the first place. He had already moved.

The swords that had clattered to the ground behind him suddenly rose up, but then Grey’s aura flashed.

The smile on Calixan’s face was instantly wiped away as a blazing white-gold halo of fire appeared above Grey’s head. His Resonant Frame Domain spread so far and wide it swallowed everything whole and what control Frantz thought he had on his swords instantly became all Grey’s own.

They formed a resonant formation high in the air, a synchronized hum of nine blades—nine Vanguard Class blades—echoing.

Grey could already feel the blades draining him, and he felt like he couldn’t use much of their strength at all, but it didn’t matter.

He just wanted to end this battle with Frantz as quickly as possible.

Danger cut right through Grey’s domain, his sixth sense roaring at him.

He only had time to summon his helm frame before he could only look down at the bloody hole in his chest.

"Slimy bastard." Grey coughed out as Bishop Calixan slowly lowered his staff.