"W-What do you want from me, Monster…!?" Seamon screamed out, spit and snot flying everywhere. "You've already annihilated my forces and my teammates! What else could you possibly want!? D-Do you just want to watch me suffer—is that it…!??"
"What do I want?" Knox repeated with a smile.
SHING!
"I want everything that is you," he finished, twisting the blade he had plunged into Seamon's gut. "And I'll get what I want one way or another. See you in the outside world, motherf*cker."
"!!!"
SPLAT!
Before Seamon Meldon had the time to properly react, he exploded like a blood bomb. His guts painted the skies red, his death marking the finale of the battle.
"Could you even call what just happened a battle…?" asked a Young Master who had stayed out of it. "What I saw was nothing short of a one-sided massacre…"
Nala's anger gauge was still extremely high, but that didn't mean she wasn't lucid enough to comprehend the implications of what had just occurred. Even she—as a Supreme Genius—couldn't lie to herself and say that she had ever come close to that level of power when she was in the Core Formation Realm.
"How interesting," Princess Maya mused, her eyes curiously watching as a pink-haired woman with a dangerous aura leapt at the man who had piqued her interest. "A lover? Hmm…"
*Whack!*
The so-called lover was sent sailing with a ruthless slap—one that urged a creepy, euphoric grin onto her face.
"…Maybe not…"
Knox, meanwhile, scowled before turning away from the Yandere who would likely never learn how to stop being so handsy. Up and grabbing his junk like that while sexually assaulting his mouth—was she out of her damn mind??
"Whatever," he clicked his tongue, his focus now on the munchkin atop his head. "Did you like the fight?"
"Mhmm!" Lily happily nodded, making cute martial-arts moves with her arms. "Big Bro was like kacha, then pow, pow, and bang! Then woaww!"
Knox chuckled. "Maybe I'll teach you a few of those moves one of these days. When you're older—"
"Really!?" Lily bubbled with joy as she hugged his head, snuggling her face into his long raven-black hair. "Big Bro is the best!"
"Those guys I beat up would beg to differ."
"They're dum-dums, then! Big stupid dummies!"
"Is that so?"
Lily fervently nodded while snorting in an adorable way. "Yep, Big Bro is awesome."
"Ha…" Knox laughed a little before shifting his gaze toward the spectators in the distance—an action that caused his expression to ice over.
'Should I just kill them now and win this competition once and for all?' he pondered. 'No, there's still time left. And I have no idea what the 3rd Trial will involve, so I might still need them to acquire the most benefits from this Secret Realm.'
Just as his thoughts stopped leaking killing intent, a couple of powerful presences shook the skies.
OOOM!
"Here they come," said Luna. "Like always," said Solaris.
"Still weird… but whatever," Princess Maya shrugged. "Should I help him now or continue waiting? Those before didn't even surpass the Early Soul Formation Realm in terms of combat power, which, from the looks of it, was far from enough to bring out Knox Falazar's full power. But these two—particularly Lucidador; they're an entirely different story."
She decided to continue sitting back, only planning to intervene if things took a turn for the worst.
"Look at him, Senior Brother!" Lenon snickered while pointing in Knox's direction. "He actually believes he's some bigshot! When all he really did was dispose of some useless trash!"
Lucidador stared at Knox, his thoughts running amok. 'This one is talented. A Tri-Saint Rank Talent.'
As the Ancient Blade Demon debated switching out his current body for that of the genius before him, said genius felt his heartbeat quicken.
"Strong…" Knox murmured with concealed excitement.
With the help of System Sight, he learned the truth right away, but that didn't deter him. Not even by the smallest amount.
"Darling, I don't like the way this one is looking at you," Cela chimed in, her words full of murderous intent. "Can I take care of him?"
Knox followed the Yandere's gaze. He found the pompous Lenon standing there, leering like a loose-tongued fool. It went without saying that this conceited young master needed a good beating to help him better understand his place, but the idea of fighting the loser himself bored Knox.
"Are you sure you can handle him?" he inquired. "It seems he got quite lucky and managed to break through twice, achieving the Half-step Soul Formation Realm."
Cela's killing intent oppressed the air around her. An aura far vaster and more powerful than what she possessed in the 1st Trial made its grand appearance.
"I can take him, Darling," she coldly uttered as darkness consumed both her eyes, turning them into pitch-black, swirling abysses.
Knox blinked while looking at her. Then he sighed and waved her off. "Do whatever you want. You don't need my permission."
"Thank you, Darling!"
BOOM! BOOM!
Cela clocked her fist into Lenon's smug face, sending him blasting through the earth below.
"W-Who the hell are you!?"
"I'm the one who's going to smash your face into oblivion! Now die, die, die!! Die! Die! Die! Just DIE!!!"
"You crazy bi—"
BOOOOM!!
Because Lenon's guard had been initially down, Cela was able to smack him silly. And while he worked to gain the upper hand in their abrupt fight, two mysterious robed figures were having a stare-down high up in the skies.
"You're an interesting youngling."
Lucidador's voice spread out like ripples in a pond, sounding unusually antiquated for a young man no older than a hundred years.
"Am I now?" Knox asked, his grin widening.
"Yes," replied Lucidador, his narrowed eyes further appraising Knox. "Your level of talent is very rarely seen. Even where I come from, you'd be considered a Little Prodigy."
"Where you come from, ey?" Knox quipped, tightly clasping two Intent Swords. "Why don't we have a more in-depth discussion about that??"