The Demon Queen's Royal Consort

The duel between Athena and Vex had reached an overwhelming climax. The arena was a whirlwind of light, sound, and raw power, with both combatants pushing themselves to their absolute limits. The spectators were on the edge of their seats, holding their breath as they watched the two prodigies clash in a battle that was as much about willpower as it was about skill.

Vex began moving in an unorthodox manner, abandoning all human combat patterns. Her movements were now wild, unpredictable, and brimming with animalistic ferocity. She darted in abrupt zigzags, changing direction mid-leap or twisting through the air like a predator in full pursuit. Instinct guided her, and every motion seemed to defy the laws of physics.

"You can control light and time, but you can't control my instincts!" Vex roared, her claws gleaming with a blood-red intensity.

She advanced in a chaotic pattern, her footsteps echoing out of sync, creating a disorienting effect. Athena, even with her temporal affinity, was being forced to react rather than act. Vex attacked from impossible angles, her claws slicing through the air with near-supernatural speed and precision.

Athena, feeling the pressure, decided to escalate the fight.

Her six orbs of light began transforming, each taking the shape of a unique weapon wielded by her illusory arms. Six arms now held a spear, a bow and arrow, a whip, a maul, and a sword.

Athena's light weapons clashed against Vex's claws, creating explosions of energy that illuminated the arena. Each impact was accompanied by a thunderous sound, like distant rumbling, and sparks of light and energy scattered in every direction.

The spectators gaped as they realized that Vex's claws weren't just resisting Athena's light weapons, they were matching them in durability and power.

"This is incredible! Her claws are holding up against Athena's light weapons!" Seraphine exclaimed from the stands.

The claws, fueled by Vex's prana, glowed with an intensity that rivaled even the rarest and most powerful metals in the world.

"They must be made of a unique material, or maybe it's her energy reinforcing them," Waan analyzed.

"Who invited this guy?" Thadeus muttered.

Neither of them was willing to yield. Vex, despite her agility and instincts, was accumulating burns on her arms and shoulders. Her attacks, though effective, came at a high cost, being too close to Athena's weapons was dangerous.

The heat radiating from the weapons began scorching her skin, steam rising from some spots, but she kept pressing forward, her opaque eyes blazing with determination.

Athena, on the other hand, wasn't unscathed.

Vex's claws had left deep gashes across her torso and legs. Blood dripped down her clothes, staining the immaculate white of her attire.

The real problem was the desynchronization.

It might have seemed superficial, but our instincts are trained to react based on multiple senses, like sight and hearing. When one of those senses was disrupted, overall balance was compromised, resulting in attacks that Athena would normally block effortlessly now landing. Combined with the fact that she was a mage with limited endurance, her condition worsened with every passing second.

Yet, she stood firm, her golden eyes burning with a resolve that refused to waver.

"You're stubborn," Athena said, gripping her light spear with one hand while using her sword to parry one of Vex's strikes. "But stubbornness won't be enough to defeat me."

"And you're arrogant," Vex shot back, her claws vibrating with energy. "But arrogance won't save you from me!"

**

Elian, Selene, Lesley, and the other guests were discussing matters of global importance.

"So the abnormal rate of calamity-class dungeons hasn't just increased in our territory," Saerion remarked politely.

"Some of our mines had to be shut down until they were conquered," Baldur added.

"I myself had to seal one recently that appeared in the middle of the capital," Selene chimed in.

Mid-conversation, Elian frowned and abruptly stood. Everyone turned to him in confusion.

Ignoring the stares, Elian slowly walked toward the grand hall's door, as if sensing something.

"Elian?" Selene questioned.

Elian raised his right hand slightly, signaling for silence. Selene furrowed her brows, wondering if she should reprimand him in front of everyone. But before she could, Elian touched the door.

The mood in the room shifted instantly.

"What the hell is this?!" Kargath bellowed.

Elian acted swiftly.

"This energy! They're attacking our apprentices!"

The grand hall was encased in a massive, semi-translucent black barrier, preventing anyone inside from leaving. At the center of the barrier was an emblem—a dagger with a hilt shaped like a flower.

Elian's body levitated slightly off the ground, and a small black orb formed in his palm.

"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM"

A deafening explosion of sound sucked everything in the room—except the guests—into the orb. Chairs, flooring, plates, food, and artifacts were all pulled inward as if a black hole had formed.

Less than a second later, all sound vanished from the room, followed by color. The entire hall was now in black and white, and no sound could be produced. The black orb in Elian's hand floated slowly toward the barrier.

The moment it made contact, the entire barrier distorted, as if being drained away.

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'Damn, it'll hold for three seconds! That's too long!'

**

As the duel neared its climax, something began to unsettle me. A sense of imminent danger, like a weight on my chest, made me deeply uncomfortable. As a Djinn, my sharp instincts screamed that something was wrong.

My eyes rapidly scanned the arena, analyzing every detail.

'It's not coming from them!' I dismissed the idea that the threat was from Athena or Vex.

Both were entirely focused on each other, and even as they moved toward their final attacks, I was confident I could intervene if needed.

Then, my vision changed.

The world around me turned black and white, as if I were seeing through a filter that highlighted only the essentials. Everything slowed, and I entered a state of hyperfocus, examining every individual in the stands for any sign of threat.

While Glenn searched for the danger, Athena and Vex's duel continued escalating. Athena, realizing that a prolonged fight only favored Vex, decided to go all-out. Her eyes gleamed with golden intensity, and a divine aura began emanating from her body.

"Vision of the Eternal!" she murmured.

Her temporal affinity, though costly and exhausting, allowed her to see seconds into the future, or rewind seconds into the past.

But now, combined with her divine blessing, this ability became even more potent.

She didn't just predict Vex's movements, she could adjust her actions in real-time, as if living multiple futures simultaneously. This forced Vex to miss more attacks and take more damage, while Athena moved with near-supernatural precision.

Vex, however, realized that continuing like this would be her downfall.

She slowly retreated, dropping into a predatory stance. Her legs exploded with energy, and the sound in the arena seemed to vanish, as if the world had been muted. Vex's prana took on a bestial form, covering her body in the shape of a fox with a single swaying tail. Her arms glowed with accumulated power, and her claws vibrated with an intensity that distorted the air around them.

Athena, seeing Vex preparing for a final attack, responded in kind. She fused her six light weapons into a single colossal holy sword, nearly four meters tall. The blade shone with such intensity that it seemed to cut through reality itself.

Both combatants lunged at each other, their energies colliding midair and creating a pressure that cracked the arena floor. Vex shot forward like lightning, her claws blazing with stored power, while Athena swung the holy sword with fierce determination.

The spectators were completely entranced, every millisecond felt like an eternity. The air was thick with energy, and everyone knew the next moment would decide the victor.

But just as Athena and Vex were about to collide, something happened.

A black spear, wreathed in repulsive, corrupt energy, materialized out of nowhere. It moved at an impossible speed, so fast that even the most experienced observers barely registered it. The spear was aimed directly at Athena, with clear intent to kill.

Glenn, still on high alert, noticed the threat at the last second. His eyes widened, and he shouted: "Athena, look out!"

But it was too late.

The spear was already in motion, and not even Athena's future sight could have predicted it, because it had been thrown by someone who wasn't on the battlefield.

Someone who had hidden in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.