Outside the city walls, the ground groaned under the weight of the approaching titans. Each step they took was a localized earthquake, sending tremors through the cobblestones of Aurion. Panic had fully seized the populace; while some huddled in their homes in prayer, others took advantage of the chaos to loot shops, and many of the city guards, overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the threat, abandoned their posts and fled.
Rei, sensing the retreat of the defenders, used his wind manipulation to soar up to the abandoned guard posts. Beside him, Dell activated his bloodline, his muscles bulging as he leaped to the battlements in a single, powerful bound.
Deep beneath the city in the underground chamber, the air was thick with desperation. Mages poured their remaining magica into the ancient formations. The shimmering dome of the city shifted from a pale white to a deep, resonant blue.
"The barrier has strengthened by two hundred percent," Rei noted, his sightless eyes fixed on the horizon. "But it won't be enough. The kinetic force of those punches will drain the mana pools faster than they can be replenished."
As if on cue, the titans reached the city and began a relentless assault, their mountain-sized fists slamming into the blue shield. In the chamber below, alarms blared. "Mana levels dropping! Amplifying formations are overheating!" the head mage shouted. Despite their efforts to construct new transfer circles, the sheer force of the titans' blows caused the magic to destabilize within the hour.
Large cracks spiderwebbed across the blue sky. The barrier shattered.
"Get ready, Dell," Rei commanded. "The wall is down."
As a titan's massive hand reached into the city streets, Dell didn't hesitate. He launched himself at the giant, his right fist glowing. The force-amplifying crystal in his gauntlet hummed with a violent frequency. When he struck the titan's chest, the air exploded. The massive creature wasn't just pushed back; it was launched skyward, flying several kilometers before crashing into the distant wasteland.
"I... I'm that strong?" Dell whispered, staring at his hand. Dell while falling towards the ground said "there is no way I have gotten even stronger than my father cool"
Rei said "Dell focus Rei used his wind manipulation to sent Dell towards another titan"
Rei then took to the sky, releasing a massive cloud of his silver exotic matter. The "silver air" coated the battlefield, granting him a perfect topographic map of every titan in the vicinity. "I can sense them all now," Rei muttered. To him, the titans felt like massive pillars of heat and meat, while he was no larger than a nail.
Rei thought "they are huge and Dell said they have regeneration powers traditional method of killing them wont work here, I have to fry their central nervous system"
Rei began a high-speed slaughter. He moved with cold efficiency, his mind acting like a supercomputer. He calculated the atmospheric pressure, the convergence of ions, and the wind resistance to manifest Thunder Lances. He fired them with pinpoint accuracy, piercing the foreheads of the titans and frying their brains instantly.
From a safe vantage point, Researcher Wells watched the display through a telescope. "Thunder Lances? fryings brains using to kill large amount of these titans, interesting I thought by giving them regeneration power and heat radiation I have made them invincible but he found a flaw i overlooked, interesting, very interesting so Janie what methods he is using to make those thunder lances?" he asked.
Janie said in a robotic voice "he's calculating complex physics equations in real-time to create thunder lances as well as silver matter field." Researcher Wells said "Really? he is doing that? How long can a human brain sustain that overdrive? and why he is using such an efficient method in the first place?"
He turned to his subordinate, a girl named Janie with a robotic demeanor. "Janie, dear, use your eyes. Tell me what makes him special. I want to see his bloodline, his factors, his marks and his guardian spirit."
Janie removed her goggles, her eyes glowing with a clinical light. "Analysis complete," she droned. "Subject has below-average Qi capacity. No guardian spirit detected. No bloodline. No factors. No marks. he is completely an average guy with nothing special to note."
Wells froze. "Impossible. No extraordinary power? Then how is he fighting like a god?"
"The scepter," Janie continued. "It is an anomaly. It replenishes his Qi the moment it depletes. Furthermore, he contains multiple consciousnesses: one monster, two males, and one female."
Wells' eyes widened with manic excitement. "Fascinating! so he is using those consciousness to help him do the calculations." Janie said "incorrect he is calculating on his own those consciousness seem to weigh him down more than to keep him up" Wells was surprised and said "then must have one heck of a mind to be using such calculations even while being put down, Janie, go. Merge with a titan. Let's see how he handles a beast with a brain. I want to see whether any new consciousness will come out or whether he would be enough"
Janie leaped from the tower, her body liquefying as she hit the chest of a titan. Her nervous system fused with the giant's, and the clumsy monster suddenly shifted into a martial arts stance.
Rei felt the change immediately. A titan swung a punch with the technical precision of a grandmaster. Rei dove backward, narrowly avoiding the shockwave.
"A titan using martial arts?" Rei whispered.
"Not just martial arts," a voice echoed through the air. Wells had joined the fray, his skin started turning into spikes and sending a barrage of biological spikes toward Rei. Rei spun his scepter, creating a tornado to deflect the projectiles. "If you want to fight me, Wells, let's go!"
Deep within the darkest core of the Chaos Scepter, the female consciousness—the girl who had been sleeping—opened her eyes just a crack, watching Rei face the titan and Wells.
While Rei battled for the survival of Aurion, far away on a dusty road, Kaiser walked alongside his companions: Adriel, Sentry, and Hella.
"I want to kill everyone at this Five Swords Competition," Adriel declared, his voice dripping with arrogance.
"Its a competition Adriel and we would just be there to represent sword saint technique's power," Hella sighed.
Sentry, however, was looking at a scroll. "I don't care about the trophies. I want to meet Rei. He's the one who codified modern sorcery."
"You've gotten soft," Adriel mocked. "Stick to your sword."
"Actually," Kaiser interrupted, "I am interested in Rei too. He is the true successor of the Central Sword Style."
Adriel paused, his interest piqued. "The forgotten defensive style? If he's a swordsman, why does he use sorcery?"
"He's... more of a supportive character," Kaiser said awkwardly, remembering his past with Rei who is more interested in creating new things than combat.
They were interrupted by a beggar sitting by the road. The boy had dark skin, black hair, and wore a straw hat and a tattered cloak, around the same age as them. He held out a tin can, his eyes closed. "Do you have any spare change?"
"Piss off," Adriel snapped.
Kaiser, however, stopped and dropped several gold coins into the can. "Here. Use it well."
"Thank you," the beggar whispered. "May the gods give you strength."
"Talking about gods in front of me might make you regret it," Adriel growled, his Sin of Pride mark glowing faintly. The beggar didn't flinch, acting as if the murderous aura meant nothing.
As the group walked away, Adriel continued to grumble about wasting money on beggars, unaware that everyone's paths were slowly converging on the same point: the arena of the Five Swords.