Reborn as the Last van Ambrose

The memory surfaced in Grim’s mind like time had stop for a moment. Cassius standing beside him on a mountain precipice, the old man’s face stern as they practiced the forms of the Aurora Flash Sword Dao.

"You must understand the risk," Cassius had said, his voice carried away by the mountain wind. "Any light technique developed by Caius, Malaxis can detect. He can feel it, no matter the distance."

"Then why teach me at all?" Grim had asked, frustrated by the constant warnings.

"Because here, in these mountains, we are shielded," Cassius explained. "The unique properties of this range block energy signatures. Yongrun has tested this over the years. Malaxis never appeared, despite the usage of the techniques."

"But outside the mountains?"

"Outside, every time you use the Aurora Flash or any of Caius’s techniques, you risk drawing his attention. It becomes a beacon, announcing your presence to your greatest enemy."

Back in the present, facing Jin Tao’s final attack, Grim made his decision.

Echo began to glow, Aurora energy along the blade’s edge. The light intensified, becoming almost too bright to look at directly.

[This will have consequences,] the voice warned.

"Let him come," Grim responded silently. "I’m ready now."

The crowd fell silent as Grim dropped into a low crouch, Echo held pointed at Jin Tao.

"Aurora Flash," he whispered. A Gaint light like a flashback exploded, causing people to become disorientated. In that moment Grim placed Echo in his scabbard. Right as Jin Tao begun to open his eyes Grim said silently. "Aurora Flash: Sundering Slash."

What happened next seemed to occur in slow motion for those watching. Grim’s blade moved in a perfect upward arc, leaving a trail of light that hung in the air like a physical thing. The attack passed through Jin Tao’s converging blades as if they weren’t there, continuing its unstoppable path toward the man himself.

Jin Tao’s eyes widened in the split second before impact, recognition and fear mixing in his expression. He tried to dodge, but it was far too late.

The slash caught him at waist level, the light-aurora enhanced slash meeting his flesh with horrifying efficiency. For a bizarre moment, nothing seemed to happen. Jin Tao remained standing, a look of confusion replacing his fear.

Then the blood came.

It started as a thin line across his midsection, then abruptly widened as the top half of his body began to slide away from the bottom. The separation was grotesquely clean, internal organs glistening wetly in the sunlight as they spilled from the ruined cavity. His intestines unspooled like obscene ribbons, splashing onto the arena floor in steaming coils. The metallic stench of blood filled the air as it fountained upward from the severed arteries in his lower half, which remained standing for a moment before collapsing in a twitching heap.

Jin Tao’s upper body fell backward, his face frozen in that final look of disbelief. His arms moved reflexively, fingers grasping at nothing as his severed spine sent its last confused signals. Blood pooled beneath the two halves of what had been, moments before, one of the Empire’s top-ranked fighters.

But Grim’s attack hadn’t stopped there. The Sundering Slash continued upward and outward, cutting through the stone of the arena as if it were paper. The wall itself split, a clean cut.

The path of destruction passed mere inches from the royal box where Empress Alexia sat, her expression unreadable as stone dust settled on her dress.

A horrified silence fell over the coliseum. Even the most hardened spectators seemed shocked by the brutality and power of the technique. Many had heard legends of the Aurora Flash Sword Dao, but few living had ever witnessed it.

Grim straightened slowly, Echo still glowing faintly in his hand. His white robes were spattered with Jin Tao’s blood, the crimson drops stark against the pale fabric. He looked toward the royal box, his eyes meeting the Empress’s across the distance.

There was no apology in his gaze, no remorse for the display of power. Just a cold certainty, a message delivered more clearly than words could express: This is what I am capable of. This is what has returned to the Empire.

Without waiting for the official announcement of his victory, Grim flicked the blood from Echo’s blade with a practiced motion and sheathed the sword. Then he turned and walked calmly from the arena, leaving behind the bisected corpse of his opponent and a stunned, silent crowd.

As he disappeared into the shadowed exit tunnel, whispers began to ripple through the audience, growing quickly to a roar of exclamation and debate.

In the royal box, Chancellor Levenhart leaned close to Empress Alexia’s ear.

"That," he said quietly, "was not the Celestial Mist Sword Dao."

"No," Alexia agreed, her eyes still fixed on the tunnel where Grim had vanished. "That was Aurora Flash Sword Dao. Grim is alot stronger than he used to be."

In the shadows of that same tunnel, Grim felt a familiar presence waiting for him.

"Was that really necessary?" Lianna asked, falling into step beside him as he continued walking. "Cutting him in half in front of the entire Empire?"

"He didn’t yield," Grim replied simply.

"You didn’t give him the chance." There was something like concern in her voice, beneath the accusation. "And that technique—"

"Is a family heirloom," Grim cut her off. "One I have every right to use. The Empress even said people would die in this tournament. You hear the crowd, they loved that someone met they’re end."

"You just painted a target on your back," Lianna warned. "Every noble house with a grudge against the Ambrose clan will be looking for ways to eliminate you now."

Grim’s smile was cold. "Good. Let them try. It’ll save me the trouble of hunting them down one by one."

Lianna studied him for a long moment. "You’ve changed, Water Boy."

"Everyone changes in twelve years," Grim replied. But as they walked deeper into the shadowed corridors beneath the coliseum little did Grim know that the darkness that invaded his body twelve year ago, continued to pulse as if agreeing with his actions.