The Great Hall of the Bright Castle transformed into a gladiator's pit. The hundreds of Sleepers who had followed Alista pressed against the walls, their breath hitching in unison. On the opposite side, the armored elites of the Castle looked down with cold, mocking indifference.
In the center of this human circle, Harus uncoiled.
The hunchback moved with a sickening, liquid grace. The heavy iron chains wrapped around his muscular, scarred arms began to slither like metallic serpents. He didn't just stand; he loomed, even with his twisted spine.
Alista Tudor adjusted his grip on the hilt of his sword. He felt the weight of the moment—the lives of Sid and the morale of the Outer Settlement rested on the edge of his blade.
"Begin," Gunlaug commanded from his golden throne.
Harus didn't rush. He exhaled a raspy, wet breath, and suddenly, the world changed.
Alista eyes suddenly blinded,he couldnt see anything,
Alista stood in the void, his ears ringing. He couldn't see his own hand in front of his face. Then, he heard it—the rhythmic clink-clink-clink of chains dragging across stone. It seemed to come from every direction at once.His [Battle Instincts] Kicked In
Whish!
Alista tilted his head instinctively. A heavy iron link whistled past his ear, shattering the stone floor behind him. Before he could reset, another chain lashed out from the dark, catching him across the ribs.
The impact was like being hit by a runaway PTV. Alista was hurled backward, his boots skidding across the hall. Harus was far more durable than he looked; his strikes carried the weight of a falling mountain.
'He's playing with me,' Alista thought, tasting copper in his mouth. 'He wants me to panic. He wants me to swing blindly.'
In the darkness, Harus's voice drifted like a ghost. "Where are you looking, worm? I am everywhere. I am the shadow that cuts."
Alista wiped the blood from his lip. He couldn't see, but he could still think. He reached into his belt pouch and pulled out a small, shard.
'Let's see how you handle a gift,' Alista mused.
He flicked the shard toward the sound of the breathing.
The coin vanished into the darkness. It didn't matter if Harus caught it or if it simply landed near him. The "Bribe" was an abstract contract. The moment the object entered Harus's personal space, the Spell recognized the transaction.
Alista felt the connection snap into place.
Harus, hidden in the void, suddenly felt a strange sensation. The murderous focus he held—the cold, calculated precision of a predator—began to waver. A sudden, unearned wave of overconfidence surged through him. He looked at the blinded Alista and felt a surge of genuine contempt.
'Why am I hiding from this weakling?' Harus thought, his mind clouded by the Bribe's influence. 'He's broken. I don't need the shadows to kill a blind dog.'
The darkness began to recede, not because Alista had broken the ability, but because Harus was becoming too arrogant to maintain the effort of stealth.
Alista's vision returned in flashes. He saw Harus standing only five meters away, his hunched form silhouetted against the luminaries. The butcher's curved blades were still, his guard dangerously low.
"You think a lucky dodge makes you a warrior?" Harus sneered, his voice loud and boastful. "I've broken men ten times your size. You are nothing but a loud-mouthed slum rat."
Alista smiled. It was the smile of a trap snapping shut. "You talk a lot for someone who's about to lose his head."
Harus roared, his ego wounded by the insult. He lunged, swinging both chains in a wide, devastating arc. It was a powerful move, but it was reckless—telegraphed by the very arrogance Alista had injected into his soul.
Alista moved. He was slightly faster, his movements honed by months of life-or-death hunts. He slid beneath the first chain, the iron links grazing his hair. As the second chain came around, he didn't retreat. He stepped into Harus's reach.
[Bribe: Weakening Influence]
As Alista closed the distance, the second part of his "Bribe" took hold. Harus felt a sudden, inexplicable heaviness in his limbs. The strength that had shattered stone moments ago felt like water. His heart hammered against his ribs, and his lungs burned as if the air had turned to lead.
Alista's sword flashed—a silver streak in the dim hall.
Clang!
Alista parried Harus's curved blade, the force of the collision vibrating up his arm. Despite the weakening, Harus was still a tank of a man. The hunchback snarled, trying to wrap a chain around Alista's neck, but Alista was already gone, circling behind him with predatory speed.
"Your chains are slow, Harus," Alista taunted, his voice echoing in the silent hall. "Is the Great Butcher getting tired?"
"Shut up!" Harus screamed, spinning around. He unleashed a flurry of strikes, his chains turning into a whirlwind of steel.
Alista danced through the storm. Every time Harus swung, Alista was an inch out of reach. Every time Harus tried to reset his guard, Alista flicked another "object"—a pebble, a scrap of leather, a button—into his space.
Bribe after bribe. Arrogance piled upon arrogance. Weakness layered upon weakness.
Harus was gasping now, his movements jerky and uncoordinated. His legendary durability was failing him as his muscles refused to respond to his commands. To the spectators, it looked like the Blood Emperor was toyed with a dying animal.
"Enough!" Gunlaug roared from the throne, his patience thinning. "Kill him, Harus!"
Harus, driven to a frenzy by his Master's command and his own inflated ego, gathered every ounce of his remaining strength. He threw both chains forward, intending to entangle Alista and crush his ribcage in one final, desperate squeeze.
It was exactly what Alista was waiting for.
As the chains flew toward him, Alista didn't dodge. He threw his sword into the air, caught the chains with his bare hands, and used Harus's own momentum against him.
Alista planted his feet and pulled.
The weakened, arrogant Harus was caught off balance. He stumbled forward, his heavy body lurching toward Alista.
Alista caught his falling sword in mid-air with his right hand. With his left, he grabbed the iron collar around Harus's neck.
"This," Alista whispered into the butcher's ear, "is for Sid."
With a fluid, explosive motion, Alista spun and drove his knee into Harus's solar plexus, followed by a brutal downward slash. The [Hunter's Sword] bit deep, carving a path from Harus's shoulder to his waist.
Then he wrapped the chain around Harus neck and tightened his neck,Harus started to wriggle,Alista then pick up the stabbed sword and pierced the sword through his mouth
Harus life parted,his body and the chains fell down and blood started to flow slowly over area
Alista stood over him, breathing hard, he heard the Nightmare Spell's Voice
[You have slained a dreamer:Harus]
The Hall was deathly silent. The "invincible" Butcher of the Castle had been dismantled in front of everyone.
Alista looked up, his eyes locking onto Gunlaug's golden visor. He didn't look like a slum rat anymore. He looked like a conqueror.
"The trial is over," Alista declared, his voice echoing with the power of a True Name. "Release the girl."