The Assassin's Seven Principles of Manipulation

Chapter 330: Chapter 325 — All Out

”Metal Dance: Domain.”

Zephyrion immediately felt every trace of metal within kilometers... still.

Every strand, every fragment, every broken piece scattered from their countless clashes suddenly surged towards Arcturus, swirling around him like a vast silver storm. Then, all at once, the metal plunged into the ground and spread outward like silver ink bleeding across paper.

Zephyrion narrowed his eyes as the earth disappeared beneath a gleaming metallic sheet that stretched for kilometers in every direction.

’Another one.’

This one, Domain.

Zephyrion immediately noticed the difference. Every attempt to manipulate the surrounding metal or form more of his own was met with intense resistance. Even his metal aura and Titan Armor were being constantly pressured, an invisible force pushing against his control as though trying to wrest it away from him.

It was as though every piece of metal within the plains now answered to one person.

Arcturus.

”Pretty neat, right?” Arcturus asked with a leisurely smile. ”This is the ultimate Eryndor art. You’re actually the first person our age who’s ever made me use it, so congratulations. You should feel honored.” His smile widened slightly. ”Seriously, Lightning Prince, you’re fucking strong. Way stronger than I gave you credit for.”

Arcturus suddenly leveled his blade at him.

The ground beneath Zephyrion trembled violently, and countless blades rose from the metallic plain, filling the air until their numbers became impossible to count. At the same time, the metal beneath Zephyrion’s feet surged upward and hardened around his legs, locking him firmly in place.

”But...” Arcturus lowered his stance, his smile slowly fading as his gaze turned cold. ”...all good things have to end eventually.”

His blade dipped slightly.

”Attack.”

The countless blades filling the sky shot towards Zephyrion at once.

At the same instant, Arcturus exploded forward. Metal surged from the ground and converged around his body, forming a radiant armor that made the surrounding air tremble beneath its pressure.

More metal tore free from the plain, gathering around his weapon until it morphed into a massive hammer that came crashing down toward Zephyrion like judgment.

Across the audience, several eyes narrowed while others sat straighter in their seats.

This attack... it could be the end.

Everyone’s attention locked onto Zephyrion, waiting to see how he would respond. However, the boy in question merely... closed his eyes.

Several expressions immediately shifted to horror and confusion, but all of it seemed to freeze the moment Zephyrion spoke.

”Titan Form: Cataclysm.”

A tremor ran through the Titan Armor. Again. And again. And again. Until... it exploded.

The force erupted in every direction, blasting the countless projectiles into smithereens. Arcturus was caught in the explosion and hurled away like a ragdoll, crashing into the ground before skidding for several hundred meters.

With widened eyes, Arcturus stared at the aftermath. His armor was cracked in several places, while the massive hammer had been completely blown apart. If not for the armor and the added protection his Domain provided, even his monstrous body would have been left in a truly terrible state.

Even more shocking was the massive crater the explosion had carved into the land.

At its center, Zephyrion floated in the air as though gravity had simply ceased to affect him. The metal of his Titan Armor swirled and pulsed around his body, still reacting to the tremendous power it had just released, while the pressure pouring from him overwhelmed the entire area.

Zephyrion slowly descended at the edge of the crater, his expression calm. Even the silver metal coating the surrounding ground no longer dared approach him, stopping several meters away as though it feared him.

He regarded Arcturus for a moment before asking,

”Is that all?”

Arcturus’ eyes darkened. ”You’ve got to be fucking kidding me... You were still holding back?” For the first time, genuine shock flickered across his face.

Within the large office, Ingrid immediately sat straighter in her seat.

’There it is.’

A wide smile spread across her face.

Titan Form: Cataclysm.

A Titan Form created specially by herself.

The Titan Armor naturally possessed the ability to stack several properties together, but Ingrid had taken that principle in a completely different direction.

Rather than allowing those properties to work together, she’d had the sudden idea of violently collapsing them against one another, forcing the armor to release all of their accumulated power at once.

The result was exactly what they had just witnessed.

An explosion on a massive scale.

’That should be his last card.’

Zephyrion had struggled so much just to learn this Titan Form that Ingrid seriously doubted he had anything else hidden up his sleeve. Still...

’Not that he needs another one.’

Having the ability to basically nuke himself should be more than enough to end this battle.

Around her, the other dynasty heads had gone utterly silent, each of them realizing that the battle had finally reached its last stretch. Whatever happened from here on out would decide the match.

On the battlefield, Zephyrion could practically feel the weight of everyone’s gaze on him. The dynasty heads. The cadets. The whole empire.

Yet none were as intense as Arcturus’.

The prince was no longer smiling. For the first time since the battle began, he seemed to have realized that there was a genuine chance he could lose.

Zephyrion could already imagine what everyone watching was thinking. Like Arcturus, they probably believed the battle had reached its final stand, that what followed would be some desperate battle of attrition until one of them finally gave in.

However, that wasn’t what Zephyrion intended at all.

A battle of attrition wasn’t the image he wanted to leave in the minds of the empire.

When they remembered this fight, he didn’t want them saying the Lightning Prince had struggled. That the fight had been close, that Arcturus had nearly defeated him.

No.

He wanted it to be one-sided.

An overwhelming beatdown.

Pure and total domination.

Until now, he’d held back because he needed the Calamity Metal, but that no longer mattered. Whatever amount he needed, he could simply take after the battle.

It was time to go all out.