The Young Master in the Shadows

Chapter 550 : LILY VS VICTOR!

NOW THAT THE WEAKLINGS HAVE BEEN TERMINATED, THE REAL FIGHT SHALL BEGIN!

ROUND 2 RULES

YOUR NEXT FIGHT WILL START IN 0:05:59

After answering the questions, a new screen appeared in front of Victor with a timer right below it.

He sighed, looking at this. In his past life, nothing about the second round or what happened afterwards was revealed to the public. In fact, none of the players said anything about it, and what was compiled was based on the spectators’ speculations. That’s why he knew that people would fight the ones they needed to fight most and least, as many ended up facing their enemies, but that was it.

“Margret, are things ready on your end?” he asked through the system, trying the wife connection.

“....A…… G….. R………S…..NG….”

He only received some incomprehensible noise.

Frowning, he tried to connect to his soul fragment on Lily.

“....”

The connection was there; he could sync with it, but for some reason it felt strange, like calling someone with a bad cell network… A very bad one in the countryside of a third-world country.

Frowning, he quickly checked his system log for any strange effects.

There was nothing unusual.

Then he tried to connect to his Blood slaves… They were there, but for some reason, all of them seemed frozen in space and couldn’t really communicate. Still, four of them were also in an infinite white space like his: Alex, Rita, Mike, and Tom… Wait… Was Tom here too? How the hell did he get here? Wasn’t he busy torturing Nova? Did something happen while he was busy in the tournament?

Damn scions… He quickly tried to connect to them, but it didn’t work. As if the signal was arriving wrong or something.

“So thatʼs it…” he said after thinking for a moment. This place might be under some Temporal distortion. This was enough to disturb any communications, even those that didn’t need the system.

He sighed, eyeing the timer again. This was to be expected; there were a lot of fights to take place here, and it might take forever otherwise. Still, with multiple fights taking place at the same time, his commentary was no longer necessary. Well, he already revealed a few things using it, and the rest would be left to Margret if needed!

3… 2… 1…. 0!

The world turned black.

WARNINGMEMORY MANIPULATION SKILL FAKE RESOLVE, SS IS TRYING TO AFFECT YOU, DO YOU WANT TO ALLOW IT?Please selectYESNOAuto-accept in 10 seconds

.”> As the world twirled around him, Victor, who kinda lost track of time, was confronted with a sudden notification, squinted his eyes, realising something, before he naturally pressed .

SO THAT’S IT!

BOOM!

The world shook, and the next moment Victor was standing in a stone-paved clearing in front of what looked like a destroyed mansion engulfed in fire. All around him, whether they were stone statues, railways, or gazebos, were aflame under the starless night sky.

Standing in front of him was none other than Lily, who was glaring at him with hate. Her veil was long gone to reveal the most pretty face he had ever seen, painted with the exertion of absolute hate.

“VIC VOLT… WHEN YOU KILLED MY HUSBAND, VICTOR, IN COLD BLOOD, YOU NEVER THOUGHT THAT THIS DAY WOULD COME, DIDN’T YOU?” she spat, her Nutslicer drawn as she glared at her nemesis with hate. Her revenge for Victor was about to be completed tonight after she destroyed the power behind this bastard!

“Days don’t cum… And use the right pronouns!” He corrected her with a smile, then began to chuckle as if laughing at his stupid joke. Still, trying hard to connect to his other soul half. The other part was there, but it had lost contact with Lily, who was not responding to it! Troublesome…

Still, one had to really appreciate this setup. It would really guard against any manipulation, and would make people reveal their real face by making their opponent their mortal enemy.

Now he had three questions…

The first was whether Lily’s memories were read, or this was just surface-level manipulation. From the name of the skill, ‘Fake resolve,’ it was most likely the latter, but one can never know…

The second question was whether someone was watching or recording this… He could not tell, but it was better to act as if there was such a thing!

The third was what to do now…

He tried to connect to her using the soul fragment, but she completely ignored it. Waking her was going to be a hassle… And he would have to do it in a way that wouldnʼt alert anyone watching this!

Then should he just surrender? He was planning to let Lily win from the start to get to fight Caspian. But on the other hand, he really needed to connect with that other soul part she had.

Then… A fight it was!

It would be a bit tricky, as Lily’s Time Avatar was simply too overpowered- at least according to what she told him. Still, he always wanted to test how strong he had become lately, and this was a good opportunity to reignite old feelings!

“Bastard…. TODAY YOU DIE!” Lily spat as she watched a lewd smile slowly appear on his smug face as he began to inspect her from head to toe as if she was some prostitute.

“My dear Lily, those few months that this emperor didn’t get to see you, you really grew prettier… This seat can’t wait to see you a few years later when you become a bit more curvy!” he said, telling the truth. Lily would definitely remember this later.

“HOW DARE YOU…!” she screamed angrily as she stepped forward.

BAM!

The next moment she was next to him with her sword swinging down, missing him by half an inch as he moved to the side. “A new sword?” he asked, eyeing the sword. Had seen this thing somewhere… Right, it was the one used by Zoe in his past life. The Soul Cutting Edge. How did she have it?

Damn it, this was dangerous!

SWOOOOOOOSH

He arched back as another swing came his way. Although Lily was very strong, she was still at level 73, so against him her movements were too slow, especially as he partially activated his Chaos dragon bloodline, making himself faster!

“Damn it… Stay still!” Lily, who was frantically swinging, disappearing, and reappearing all around him, screamed as her attacks failed to land.

“Why would…. “ Victor, who was about to reply, paused as he felt his body slow down significantly; it was as if time itself slowed down around him. Even his thinking process slowed down. It was just for a moment, but in a battle, it was deadly!

BAM! Lily’s sword cut right through him… Or, in better words, through his illusion. He was not there!

“AN ILLUSION! DAMN IT!” Lily quickly jumped back and looked behind her, but the attack she expected never came. “REVEAL YOURSELF!” she screamed as she began to sniff around for a smell, trying to locate her enemyʼs soul, but for some reason she could not find anything…. That bastard was definitely disguising his own soul smell! “WHY AREN’T YOU FIGHTING BACK, YOU BASTARD?” she screamed again, trying to agitate him.

“Use the right pronoun… call me, YOU IMPERICAL BASTARD… No… Wait, that is a bit wrong…. Imperial bastards don’t get to be emperors…. Just call this emperor ‘Your Highness ’…. You can call me Husband too, I wouldn’t… “ Victor, who was standing behind her, said before stepping back.

SWOOOOOOOSH!

Another swing came a moment later.

“BASTARD! Die!” she screamed.

BAM! It hit the ground, leaving a deep cut as he jumped back. “Wow! This emperor didn’t expect you to find us!” he said playfully as he activated his disguise again and hid in the shadows. He didn’t really want to harm her, but approaching her was going to be tricky! Still, with his newest addition to his powers, it was possible!

“I didn’t expect that either…” Lily spat as she looked around, searching for him. Maybe it was all the hate she felt against this bastard, but it allowed her to develop a new way to use her skills.

SWEEEEEEEEEEEESH! She attacked again, not aiming for the visible Vic, but at the space beside him.

BAM!

It naturally missed, but it was far closer than he expected!

“Wow, that was close… How are you doing it?” he asked curiously as he dodged. Her aim was getting better!

“A dead man doesnʼt need to know that!!” she spat as she sprang up again, moving in inhuman speed; she struck again and again.

“Well, it is not hard to guess…. You are using time… It flows differently around objects… Using the slight difference due to gravity time dilation after activating your skills, you are trying to pinpoint my location!“ he said, making a spot-on analysis as he dodged again. This technique was very hard, but in a subspace like this one where only the two of them existed, it was manageable. And Lily was no longer the one he knew, but the more experienced one who regained memories of fighting on the frontier for years!

“Not bad! Let’s try to see if you can fake that too!” She attacked again. This disguise skill of his was so annoying; no wonder people had trouble with Victor back in the day. How dare this bastard use the same skill! Still, she didn’t believe he would be able to fake time dilation itself! “So are you still not going to fight back?” she asked again as she moved.

BAM!

Her sword hit the ground again, but this time it didn’t come empty, as it managed to scrape past Vic’s robes for the first time.

“I am doing my best…. But this seat doesn’t want to leave a scar on my future empress!” Victor told the truth as he jumped back, keeping his smug smile as he vanished again, appearing a dozen feet away, inspecting his cuff that now had a small cut. Damn, that was close… Thankfully, his last piece was finally set!

“BASTARD! DIE!” she spat as she turned behind her and attacked, barely missing the right thing again by half an inch. She didn’t know why he wasn’t fighting back, but it didn’t matter. His death was already determined the moment she made that last attack! The net was already closed!

“Girl, you should really accept facts; you can never harm this seat… It is not a matter of skill, but you are simply too low-level for that!” he said as he reappeared. “Why don’t you surrender and give yourself up, saving us a lot of hassle? The moment this emperor saw you, that was what I decided!” he said, licking his lips.

“GO TO HELL! THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE MAN IN MY LIFE!” she spat as she attacked again with an ever-increasing speed. Three slashes this time in three different directions.

SWOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

WOOOSH!

WOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

Naturally, she hit nothing as Vic, who became more serious, jumped back.

“This emperor really appreciates your faithfulness… Butt… Why not try this seat’s skills? This emperor promises to make you forget all about that lousy husband of yours!” he said jokingly.

Lily paused, then her frowning face finally smiled. “That lousy husband of mine is a far better man than a piece of shit like yours… DIE!” she said, slamming her sword again, waiting for him to dodge. The moment he moved, he would fall into one of the Myriad of temporal time-delayed slashes she created around the stage. He was already surrounded; there was no escape!

He didn’t move!

Woshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

The nutslicer’s blade went right through his heart, appearing on the other side before she sliced upwards…. The sword didn’t move, as if being stopped by something!

“Hssssss………. YOU!” Lily gaped, immediately realizing that she might have fallen into a trap. Although she felt her weapon going through something, there was no blood! And the smug smile on Vic’s face only grew deeper!

Feeling the danger, Lily quickly jumped back… She couldn’t move! Her body was like her weapon, frozen as if it was grabbed by something slimy. And it was getting more and more numb by the moment…. WHAT THE HELL?

Watching the despair in her eyes, Vic walked toward her and, taking out his sword he aimed it at her. “This fight should be over…”

“NO!” she screamed as she activated her time travel skill!

BOOOOOOOM! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

The world wrapped around her, changing back to how it was a few moments earlier, just as Victor was jumping back, dodging her attack after she found him.

“Wow, that was close… How are you doing it?” he asked with his casual smile.

Lily stopped moving, ignoring his provocation as she activated all of her skills to inspect the entire arena. There was nothing… The Gravity field was completely homogeneous except for the area 7 feet behind her. That’s where Vic’s real body was standing, but she ignored it for now.

It took her a moment, but she finally noticed it…. A small vase-shaped thing placed at a random point in the arena at some point, totally invisible. Its nature was not clear, but its position was the exact one where she lost her ability to move earlier….

She turned and glared at the real Vic’s position. She thought she was smart, setting that trap for him, but this bastard was manipulating her from the start! Her movements were all guided by him!

“So… you seem to have figured out this emperor’s trick!” he said as he appeared out of thin air right when she knew he would be. “Not bad… Truly fitting to be this seat’s partner!” she said, winking at her.

“...” she clenched her teeth, hearing him. Due to her anger earlier, she really failed to notice his trap and fell for it, just as she fell for that Twilight demon’s trap in the other timeline when Nova, whom she thought was tortured to death, came back alive and attacked her from the back….

Thankfully, this time, she had a far more powerful class than her old one! Allowing her to try again. “I must thank you for waking me up…. “ she said as she prepared her sword. Lately, after getting a bit more powerful, I was under the illusion that I was invincible… But as my late husband used to say, one must always be extra careful!”

“Wise words!” Victor nodded. “Now, are you going to attack again, or will you just let this emperor have his way?”

“I am going to go all out! Thanks to you, I just realized the meaning of my master’s teachings!” she said.

“Your master’s teachings?” he frowned.

“She always used to say that system skills are for fools; the real good ones go beyond the skill, to figure out its true power!” she explained, buying some time to adjust her power. Slowly, her eyes turned black. “ACTIVATE!” she hissed as some strange air began to wrap around the arena.

“Oh…” Feeling the strangely familiar atmosphere, Victor opened his eyes in shock as he also began activating his demonic bloodline while disguising it.

A moment later, he felt it as the ground began to pull him down…. GRAVITY? It was really strong, equal to the power he felt between the worlds, but… Maybe because of his demonic bloodline, it was totally useless against him.

Thinking for a moment, he stopped resisting, let it take over him…

“TIME AND SPACE ARE TWO PARTS OF THE SAME EQUATION, YOU KNOW…” Lily, feeling a bit stressed due to having to finely manipulate time around her at a grand scale, said as she turned toward him. The real him collapsed on the ground, spitting blood.

“YOU…. “

She slowly walked toward him as the buildings around the arena all began to collapse under their own weight. Even the stone tiles below her feet were shattering like dry twigs.

“Die…” she said as she pulled her weapon and struck right through his head.

BAM!

The sword went through easily, but… It felt wrong… It was the same way she felt when she was entrapped earlier. And… There was no blood!

“Ahhhh…” A moment later, she realized that it was the same; she couldn’t move…. “How!” she asked as she watched Vic spread two feet to her left, appearing totally calm as if he was not under the effect of a 100-times gravity multiplier.

“Not bad…” he smirked as he flicked his finger, making the fake Victor quickly reveal its true shape.

It was not human, but a humanoid shape created by numerous vine-like tentacles that were at the moment already engulfing Lily’s body!

It took her a moment to register what she was looking at when the illusion was dispelled.

In the center of the arena, there was a somewhat familiar old Cauldron, and out of it, a myriad of vines and tentacles spread evenly around the arena, creating a kind of carpet… Shit, no wonder she felt nothing wrong; this place was already evenly engulfed by it! No wait… That Cauldron? Impossible… Could it be? “You…. Since when…” she asked the approaching Vic as she stopped using her power. Her mana was already depleted and....

“Since the start…” he said as he walked toward her, noticing that her eyes were no longer radiating hate against him. “… This seat had to trick you for your own good…”

For others watching, they might think that Lily was asking when he laid that trap, but she was not. The moment she saw that cauldron, combined with the disguise skill, his stupid puns and Astran, she realized something. Vic Volt might be her dead husband! She quickly connected to her pendant that had been silent for years since Victor died, and sure… His soul fragment was there, telling her that it was really him!

It had been calling for her, but she was totally ignoring it in the heat of the battle earlier!

Lily didn’t remember that this place was a tournament, but knowing Victor well, she quickly imagined that Victor might have had to fake his own death back then, and Vic was just another front.

Her question earlier was asking him since when he had been fooling her with his fake death, and his answer, ‘Since the beginning,’ meant that he was Vic from the very start. His world about it being for her own good was also interrupted by her, as him, apologizing for tricking her with his death!

Damn it… What kind of enemy forced him to do that? “I… I will submit it to you… Can you let go of me?” realizing that he might be wary of someone watching, she said.

“No… I like you like that better…” he said as he inspected her body that looked super tempting, wrapped by those vine-shaped tentacles. “Now, let this emperor take a taste…” he said as his lips approached hers.

She wanted to resist… What if he was not Victor and was just fooling her using some strange method… She was not sure…. What if… What if… No, just by kissing him she should be able to tell! If it was really Victor, then so be it… If it was not… Then she would blow herself to death along with this bastard!

Hssssssssssssssssss……………….

That kiss took 15 minutes, and by its end, she was sure it was him! And... they were no longer just kissing, but that was no one could see, as the two had long been engulfed by a tentacle cocoon!