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The wind swept across the open plain as Caelum stood motionless, eyes fixed on the approaching figure. His black hair fluttered lightly in the breeze, the silver of his eyes glowing faintly in the dull light of the late afternoon. There was no need to rush. No need to prepare. The confrontation was inevitable, but Caelum had no intention of drawing it out. His gaze flickered over Ares, the boy who had come to challenge him, the boy who believed his bloodline and system could make him superior.
Ares was just a few meters away now, and Caelum could see the confident grin on his face, his blonde, messy hair practically glowing in the dimming light, eyes sharp and determined. Ares, though brimming with power, carried a hint of arrogance that Caelum found almost laughable. It wasn't that he underestimated Ares; no, it was simply that Caelum had seen this kind of challenge before, the same type of overconfident fool who thought that just because they had a strong system or lineage, they could overcome anyone.
"Caelum," Ares called out, his voice filled with both challenge and a certain disdain. "You're as much a mystery as you are a threat. But no matter how you hide behind that power, I'll break you down. I will prove that my bloodline are far beyond anything you can comprehend."
Caelum's lips barely twitched in response, his silver eyes never leaving Ares. The boy's arrogance was almost palpable, but Caelum wasn't interested in arguing with him. The time for words had long passed.
Ares raised his hand, and a surge of energy pulsed through the air, thick and electrifying. The system-enhanced power he wielded was immense, a force that could level entire cities if used correctly. But Caelum remained undisturbed, as if the world around him had paused. Ares' grin widened, and with a shout, he unleashed his first attack—a bolt of pure energy that crackled in the air with violent intensity.
But Caelum didn't move. Instead, his eyes shifted slightly, and the air around them seemed to distort, as though reality itself had bent. The bolt of energy, now just inches from him, fizzled out, its energy dissipating into nothingness. Ares blinked in confusion as he tried to channel more power through his system, only to find it slipping away from him, as if it had been drawn into an invisible void.
"What... what is this?" Ares muttered, glancing around, his brow furrowing. His system, his powerful enhancement, was being hindered, distorted, and broken apart by an invisible force. He tried to force it back, but the energy wouldn't respond. Every time he attempted to gather more power, it slipped through his fingers, useless.
Caelum's lips curled into the faintest of smirks, though his gaze remained cold and calculating. "Your system is useless here," he said, his voice carrying the weight of absolute certainty. "You may be born with a strong bloodline, but in the end, that's all it is—a bloodline. My affinity is the void, and everything you rely on is swallowed whole by it."
Ares' eyes flashed with a mix of anger and disbelief. He had never encountered anything like this before. His system was his trump card, the very core of his identity and strength, and it was failing him. He could feel the void, the suffocating presence of something beyond his understanding, closing in on him, eroding his power bit by bit.
"How?" Ares gritted out, trying once more to force his energy through the system, only for it to dissipate again, swallowed by the expanding void around them. His muscles tensed as frustration mounted, but Caelum didn't seem to care. The black-haired boy stood there with an air of complete indifference, like a predator toying with its prey before delivering the final blow. "You're too reliant on your system," Caelum said, his voice soft but carrying weight. "It's not the system that defines power. It's how you wield it. And from the looks of it, you're not even close to understanding your own limits."
With a wave of his hand, Caelum's power surged, a pulse of pure energy that resonated from him like an invisible wave. Ares flinched as he felt it—nothing physical, nothing he could block or shield himself from. It was a force that didn't need to manifest in visible ways. It simply existed. And as Caelum's energy reached its peak, Ares' legs gave way beneath him. He stumbled back, caught off guard by the sheer pressure of Caelum's presence. He tried to move, to fight back, but his movements were sluggish, the system no longer responsive to his commands.
"Stop!" Ares shouted, but his voice sounded weak even to his own ears. "I'm not done yet. You can't—"
But before Ares could finish, Caelum moved.
It was so fast, too fast for Ares to react. One moment, Caelum was standing there, calm and collected, and the next, he was in front of Ares, his silver eyes burning like cold flames. There was no grand spectacle, no flashy show of power. Caelum simply reached out, one hand gripping Ares by the collar and lifting him off the ground effortlessly.
Ares gasped, his body weightless, his feet dangling in the air. His attempts to push against Caelum's grip were futile. He could feel the crushing pressure of Caelum's energy pressing against him, pulling at his very essence, and in that moment, Ares realized just how outmatched he was.
"You can't win," Caelum said, his voice cold as ice. "Not with your reliance on a system that can be broken and your bloodline that's just a legacy of past strength. You are nothing compared to me."
With a single, fluid motion, Caelum released Ares, letting the boy fall to the ground with a harsh thud. Ares lay there, gasping for air, his mind reeling from the overwhelming force he had just encountered. His once-confident demeanor had been shattered in an instant, replaced by confusion and disbelief. He had never been beaten so decisively. Never by someone like Caelum.
For a long moment, neither of them moved. Ares lay on the ground, his body still trembling from the sheer intensity of the battle. He could feel his system struggling, his bloodline fighting to assert itself, but it was all in vain. He had been utterly dominated.
Caelum, on the other hand, stood above him, his presence as commanding as ever. His black hair swayed gently in the wind, his glowing silver eyes unmoving, almost as if the entire world had paused around him. He looked down at Ares, but there was no triumph in his gaze. No sense of satisfaction. It was simply a statement of fact—he was superior.
Ares, though defeated, found something else in Caelum's eyes—something that made his blood run cold. It wasn't pity. It wasn't contempt. It was indifference. Caelum wasn't interested in Ares. Not as a rival. Not as a threat. Caelum had shown him his place in a single move, and now, he had no further reason to engage.
"I'll make you regret this," Ares hissed from the ground, his voice raw with anger and frustration. He pushed himself up, glaring at Caelum with eyes full of newfound obsession. "You haven't seen the last of me."
Caelum's gaze remained unchanged. "I'm not concerned."
And with that, Caelum turned, walking away from Ares without another glance. His black hair swayed as he moved, his silver eyes set on the horizon, already uninterested in the defeated boy behind him. To Caelum, Ares was just another fleeting challenge. Another momentary obstacle that he had crushed without effort. But to Ares, this encounter would mark the beginning of something else. The beginning of an obsession—a desire to prove himself against the boy who had shattered his confidence with a single gesture.
As Caelum disappeared into the distance, Ares stayed on the ground, still trembling, his thoughts swirling with rage, frustration, and the undeniable recognition of his inferiority. The seed of his obsession had been planted, and he would stop at nothing to make Caelum acknowledge him as a worthy adversary. But for now, he could do nothing but stew in his failure.
And Caelum, with his silver eyes and his unshakable confidence, would remain indifferent to his every move.
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