"What's the matter, Gad? Is this all you've got?"
Gad slowly lifted himself from the rubble. This was the second time he had nearly lost his life, and it felt as though Asher was deliberately letting him live. He was being toyed with.
"How? How is this possible...? After everything I've done, yet somehow, you're still stronger than me, even when we fought at the same level," Gad stammered.
He paused and looked at Asher, terrified.
"What are you? What trick are you using? This must be a trick... Yes, it can't be possible!"
Now Gad seemed to be losing his mind, clearly conflicted about what was happening. Though, in a way, he was right—it was strange. Both of them were fighting at their peak.
Although Asher was a Nine-Star Imperium Rank and Gad was only at the Seven-Star Imperium Rank, Gad had compensated for the gap by using class awakening to boost his power by a staggering thirty percent. That should have been enough to overcome the two-level difference. Yet somehow, through it all, Asher stood there, unharmed—not even a scratch on him.
Furious, Gad yelled, "You're not human! You're a monster! I thought the blessings of the gods were on my side... How wrong I was. But…"
Though broken and clearly injured, Gad summoned all his strength and charged toward Asher, who had just landed before him.
Asher observed Gad approaching with a clenched fist, visibly aiming for his face. He didn't bother to move, as Gad's speed was now laughably slow.
"Even now, you won't give up, huh? What a fool."
Asher muttered, sighing as he stared straight into
Gad's greedy eyes. He stood prepared to take Gad's punch head-on, knowing it wouldn't cause him any harm—not even to a regular human in this state.
But it was a decoy. A faint, evil smirk spread across Gad's face, making Asher instantly alert—too late.
Gad's clenched fist suddenly opened, revealing a small, gleaming crystal. Without hesitation, Gad crushed it.
A surge of mantra energy exploded around them, forming golden lines that traced intricate patterns in the air. In moments, a massive barrier took shape, enclosing them in an entrapping array. The array floated, lifting the two of them and cutting them off from the rest of the battlefield, trapping them in the dark sky.
Asher, surprised, turned his focus back to Gad, who was overjoyed at having tricked him.
"This is your last resort? You've fallen that low, huh?" Asher asked in disappointment.
But Gad placed a hand over his face and, with a sinister grin, began to laugh. Looking down at Asher again, he gestured toward the battlefield below.
"Do you really think I came here unprepared?" Gad asked, his voice brimming with confidence.
"My instincts told me something wasn't right about you. Even though I was confident in my strength, I still had my doubts."
He paused, lowering his hand to his chin as he studied Asher, who remained silent but visibly puzzled by this sudden move.
"In the human continent, it's rare to see anyone in the Mystic Rank or Ancient Rank. It's even uncommon to encounter a demi-god; ranker who's achieved Semi-Divine Rank but I know they exist in secrecy and the world knows such monsters exist. Yet here you are, proclaimed the strongest ranker. Something doesn't add up."
Gad stretched his arms wide, thumping his chest as he shouted.
"You are a false ranker!"
False rankers were individuals who concealed their true level or rank to deceive others or gain certain advantages. They were especially dangerous, as they often appeared weaker than they truly were, like predators lying in wait.
Asher, visibly confused, asked what Gad meant and how it related to his current stunt.
With confidence, Gad gestured to the battlefield once more.
"Don't you find it strange that all those rankers I brought with me—soldiers from different empires—don't include their strongest prodigies? Shouldn't they have sent their best warriors to capture Lady Helle?"
Now that Gad had spilled the truth, Asher began piecing it together. He glanced at Gad, then at the barrier, recalling how Gad had single-handedly led an army of rankers from various empires.
"No empire would let an outsider lead them so easily...unless you made an agreement to use this entire battle as a distraction,"
Asher concluded, suspiciously staring at Gad.
"Checkmate!"
Gad laughed mockingly, taunting Asher to pay attention to the battlefield below.
"You're about to witness the downfall of your army and the capture of your wife."
At that moment, a small light shot into the dark sky, glowing like a signal fire.