The elves, Seiya's teacher, and his father were utterly stunned, frozen in disbelief as they watched the events unfold before them.
The precision and swiftness with which Seiya struck down the elf—aiming directly at his heart—made even his teacher question if Seiya was truly blind.
Despite the overwhelming skill Seiya displayed, the elves dismissed his feat as mere luck, insisting he only succeeded because his opponent had been distracted.
"Oh my, Seiya," his teacher sighed in exasperation. "Now you've done it! Alerting them. They're all on edge, watching you like hawks. You should've stayed meek and let them underestimate you. That would've given you more chances to outmaneuver them instead of killing one outright."
Seiya's face darkened as he turned toward his teacher's voice. "It doesn't matter," he replied, his tone calm but resolute. "I want them at their full strength when I defeat them."
He knelt and roughly wrenched his dagger free from the elf's lifeless body then straightened up.
His teacher frowned, his brow twitching in frustration at Seiya's defiant response.
Lifting a hand to his face, Seiya brushed his fingers over his scald mark. Slight pain still lingers. Seiya said within him, instinctively expecting Ibyu's voice to ring out in response. But when he heard nothing, he remembered leaving Ibyu back at the facility. "Oh…" he murmured softly to himself, the realization sinking in.
Behind him, the elf with whom he had a one-on-one with, growled impatiently, drawing Seiya's attention. Slowly, Seiya turned, his heavy footsteps crunching on the snow. He stopped a few distance away but within a range his chain dagger could reach.
"Let's begin then, shall we?" Seiya asked, his voice polite but laced with menace. A wide, unsettling smile crept across the elf's face as Seiya announced the start of the match.
The elf was only able to take a step forward when in an instant, Seiya's chain dagger hurled toward him with a speed that whipped the air into a furious gust.
The elf dodged, leaning back with a smirk, thinking he had outmaneuvered the attack. But it was a feint—a ruse to lower the elf's guard.
In the blink of an eye, Seiya closed the distance, appearing before the elf with his palm pressed tightly against his face. Without hesitation, he drove his foot down with immense force onto the elf's foot, shattering his stance and slamming him into the snow. Seiya pinned the elf down and in one fluid motion, his hand pierced through the elf's hardened chest, effortlessly carving through his hard flesh and bone before crushing his core with a single, firm grip. The elf's body went limp.
Confirming his demise, Seiya withdrew his bloodied hand from the elf's chest, flicking away the red liquid with indifference. The snow around him was stained crimson, a stark contrast to the pristine white that had been there moments before.
The onlookers, including Seiya's father watching remotely from the facility, were struck speechless yet again by Seiya's brutality. His father had believed Seiya would falter, his blindness a crippling handicap. To see such unyielding power left him reeling in disbelief.
Seiya turned his gaze toward the remaining elves, his voice cutting through the silence. "Who's up next?"
The elves instinctively stepped back, their hesitation clear as an uneasy stillness settled over the battlefield. It was obvious they had no more intention of engaging him one-on-one, opting instead for a collective approach. While Seiya didn't consider this a significant challenge, he preferred and enjoyed taking them down with devoted time to each one of them.
Letting his head tilt slightly to the side, his hair swaying gently with the faint breeze, Seiya spoke in a voice laced with calm mockery. "What's the hold up?" He drawled, his tone calm yet taunting. "Too frightened for a one-on-one?"
The calm subtle edge in his voice rippled through the air, the taunt spreading to everyone present. His teacher, watching from the sidelines, stifled a laugh, his body trembling as he struggled to maintain his composure.
Among the elves, one stepped forward, his anger ignited by Seiya's taunting words. Brushing past his companions, he approached with deliberate steps, his rage evident.
He gestured with his spear, signaling for Seiya to pick up his weapon lying abandoned in the snow. But Seiya, blind, failed to register the gesture, prompting the annoyed elf to convey his request with words.
"Pick up your weapon," he demanded, his voice cold and commanding.
Without hesitation, Seiya complied, crouching to retrieve it.
"Let's sta—" Seiya began, but his words were cut short as the elf, with a burst of single forceful leap, appeared before him with startling speed and intensity.
Seiya, who had been fighting and relying on the detection of pulsating cores to gauge the distance of movement of his enemies, was caught off guard. The elf's sudden movement disrupted his calculations, leaving him unable to pinpoint the exact distance and position of the elf before him.
With every muscle tensed and veins bulging along the elf's bulky arm, he drove his spear towards Seiya's chest with brutal force. The impact sent a shockwave rippling through the air, stirring up a cloud of snow that veiled them in a swirling white haze.
Seiya's teacher, who had been chuckling from the sidelines at the way Seiya mocked and taunted the elves, froze mid-laugh. A panicking call to Seiya escaped him as he sprang forward, his eyes locked on Seiya.
In the facility, Seiya's father clenched his fist, his head tilting away from the screen with closed eyes like one bracing for the demise of a valued person.
Back in the dungeon, the swirling snow began to settle, revealing the still figures of Seiya and the elf. The elf's spear was firmly lodged against Seiya's chest but there was no sign of penetration—Not a single scratch or wound was on Seiya.
Shock rippled through everyone present, confused and unable to comprehend what they were seeing. Seiya's teacher, moments from reaching him, halted in disbelief.
Even the elf, whose weapon had failed to pierce Seiya, was frozen in confusion. His grip faltered, and doubt crept into his mind. Had he lacked the strength? Or had Seiya somehow countered his attack?
As the confusion hung in the air, Seiya acted swiftly. Grabbing the spear's shaft, he yanked the elf forward and drove his dagger into the elf's chest with unerring precision.
The elf's eyes widened in slow realization, his gaze fixed on Seiya as if searching for the flaw that had led to his defeat. But before he could, his body crumpled, sliding to the ground, lifeless.
Seeing this, rage flared among the remaining elves. Abandoning the pretense of fairness, they surged forward, quickly encircling Seiya—they were done with the 1vs1 bullshit.
Seiya's teacher felt unease tugging at his chest as the elves closed in on Seiya, but seeing how Seiya remained unfazed, he held back, observing from the sidelines.
Understanding their shift in strategy, Seiya exhaled deeply, coiling the chain around his arm in a whipping motion until it was tightly wound, leaving only the dagger in his grasp.
Seiya stood motionless, waiting for the elves to strike in unison. But only three attacked, each coming from a different angle—a move Seiya had anticipated, given their intelligence.
As they drew near, Seiya moved with blinding speed, weaving through their attacks to close in on three other elves grouped closely together. In an instant, he hurled his chain dagger at them, the weapon uncoiling and slicing through the air with a burst of wind. It struck with lethal precision and speed, tearing through their chests and bursting through the third elf's back where it was swiftly intercepted by Seiya who had sprinted there.
With a sharp yank, Seiya withdrew the dagger from their bodies, drawing blood as he pulled the chain free. The three elves collapsed to the ground, lifeless, their blood pooling beneath them.
Seiya's teacher, watching from the sidelines, felt a knot of unease in his chest from how brutal and merciless Seiya dispatched the elves—a method unbefitting for a child.
As the remaining elves gathered their courage, Seiya swiftly continued his onslaught, untouched by the battle. No weapon that came close to him could pierce his skin.
Seiya's teacher watched as Seiya, drenched in red from the battle, dragged the bloodied leg of a half-dead elf through the crimson snow. With a brutal stomp, he crushed the elf's skull, sending it flying into the pile of fallen elves.
Seiya turned again, walking in slow deliberate steps toward a dying elf to repeat the same action. The sight was gut wrenching as he mercilessly dispatched the elves.
Unable to watch any longer, Seiya's teacher stepped forward, halting him just before he stomped down on another dying elf. His actions were one deliberately living the elves half dead to slowly crush them to death.
"Enough now," his teacher said, gripping Seiya's blood-soaked arm. "Just finish them off without dragging it so we can leave."
Seiya turned his head toward the sound of his teacher's voice, silent in response.
Seiya had intentionally left some of the elves half-dead, ensuring the dungeon would not close. He brutalized them in a way that they were too weak to end their own lives, even if they desired to. A short distance away, one elf lay motionless, his weapon far out of reach. A sharp splinter from their spear had been driven beneath his chin, jutting up to his nose and keeping his mouth agape. Seiya had done this to prevent the elf from biting his tongue and succumbing to death, while he methodically passed judgment on the others.
After a long moment of silence, Seiya answered simply, "No."
He pulled his arm free from his teacher's grip and returned to his grim task.
With a heavy sigh, Seiya's teacher muttered, "What a stubborn student you are," before swiftly wrapping his arms around Seiya from behind.
"If you don't stop, I'll give you a long, warm hug," he said, nuzzling against Seiya and tightening his embrace, causing Seiya to shudder in discomfort.
With a swift motion, Seiya wrenched free, rushing to deliver the final blow to the elf he had kept from dying. He then moved toward the last one, preparing to crush him beneath his foot, but his teacher stopped him.
"I've been meaning to ask," his teacher began, his cheerful demeanor shifting to a more serious tone, "Why are you empty?"
Seiya's brow furrowed, his thoughts momentarily drifting to Ibyu, who he had left back in the facility. He wondered why his teacher would ask such a question, since there was no way he could know. But then again, the man in front of him was undoubtedly a top-tier Awakener, so the possibility wasn't out of the question.
"Huh?" Seiya responded, confused.
"Your heart," his teacher pressed. "Where is it?"