Lucien didn’t reply.

The next few seconds became increasingly difficult for Leo to follow properly. Caius attacked again with fluid sword strikes that seemed almost artistic in motion. Every slash curved strangely, changing direction midway like flowing water. Crimson Aura trailed behind each movement of the blade, leaving thin glowing marks across the air itself.

Lucien, meanwhile, fought completely differently. Without weapons or dramatic movements he fought very strangely. Every dodge looked lazy at first glance yet perfectly timed. Every counterattack carried frightening physical force behind it. Even while being pressured backward, Lucien’s expression never changed once.

That was the confusing part.

Yet his fighting style itself felt almost savage.

At one point, Caius swung his sword horizontally toward Lucien’s neck only for Lucien to suddenly grab the weapon barehanded using Aura reinforcement before slamming his elbow directly into Caius’ jaw.

The surrounding students gasped loudly. Caius staggered backward laughing. Lucien immediately followed with another punch aimed toward his chest.

Two Crimson Cross members suddenly intercepted from the side using chained weapons wrapped in Aura. Lucien twisted between them smoothly before grabbing one by the wrist and throwing him directly into the second student hard enough to send both crashing across the ground.

Leo frowned deeper.

He still couldn’t understand Lucien’s fighting style properly. It looked controlled and reckless at the same time. There was technique behind every movement but also overwhelming physical brutality hidden beneath it. Even stranger was the fact Lucien still hadn’t used any visible ability.

Meanwhile Caius already radiated enough Aura to make nearby students retreat farther away. The purple-haired boy suddenly lunged again.

This time his sword released a crescent-shaped wave of crimson Aura across the ground itself. The stone floor split apart violently.

Lucien finally removed one hand from his pocket.Then he punched forward.

The impact alone shattered the force wave before it could fully reach him.

Leo’s eyes widened slightly. ’What exactly is this guy?’

Caius seemed equally excited now. His grin had widened so much it almost looked painful.

"Good," he laughed. "Very good."

Several more Crimson Cross students joined the battle simultaneously. Some attacked from behind while others rushed from the front using Vesitges. The intersection immediately descended into chaos as students scrambled backward to avoid getting caught accidentally.

Yet even while being overwhelmed numerically, Lucien still looked unnaturally composed.

One student swung a spear toward his side.

Lucien caught the shaft mid-strike and snapped it apart with sheer force before kicking the student across the training grounds.

Another tried attacking from behind.

Lucien ducked beneath the blade casually before driving his shoulder into the attacker’s stomach hard enough to lift him entirely off the ground.

The brutality behind his movements genuinely shocked Leo. Lucien fought like someone who simply understood exactly how much force was needed to break a person efficiently.

Yet despite that, Caius still continued overpowering him gradually.

Each clash pushed Lucien farther backward. Each swing of the black sword carried increasing pressure behind it.

Caius looked almost delighted by the resistance.

"You still refuse to use it," he said while their attacks collided again. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Lucien’s expression remained calm.

"I don’t need it for this."

Caius laughed loudly. The sound echoed across the entire intersection.

"See? This is why I like you."

Without reacting, the ground beneath his feet cracked slightly from the pressure of Aura reinforcement alone. Unlike Caius whose Aura spread outward violently, Lucien’s Aura remained strangely compressed around his own body as though he was forcing every ounce of power inward rather than releasing it freely.

Caius noticed it immediately. His grin widened even further.

"Thereee it issss."

The purple-haired boy suddenly vanished again, though this time even the surrounding students failed to properly follow his movements. Crimson Aura spiraled around his sword as he reappeared directly above Lucien, the curved blade descending toward his skull with enough force to split apart reinforced steel.

Lucien moved at the very last moment. The sword crashed into the ground beside him instead.

The entire training intersection trembled violently as shattered stone exploded upward. Before the debris could even settle, Lucien drove his knee straight into Caius’ stomach hard enough to bend the purple-haired boy slightly forward.

Yet Caius laughed.

Even while coughing blood slightly from the impact, his visible eye remained filled with excitement.

Lucien followed immediately with another strike aimed toward Caius’ face, but the purple-haired student twisted backward unnaturally before sweeping his sword upward toward Lucien’s arm.

The blade grazed Lucien’s sleeve. A thin line of blood appeared.

The surrounding students instantly erupted into whispers.

"He actually injured Lucien."

"No way."

"First blood already?"

Leo narrowed his eyes carefully. The injury itself wasn’t serious but the fact Caius managed to land a clean strike at all seemed important.

Lucien glanced briefly at the blood running down his arm before looking back at Caius calmly.

Caius slowly licked the blood off his blade.

"...Yessss."

Yin Li visibly shivered nearby.

"See?!" he whispered toward Leo. "He’s insane!"

Leo honestly couldn’t argue against that anymore. Who licks someone’s blood?

’Disgusting.’

The battle exploded again almost immediately afterward.

Caius rushed forward with increasingly violent sword strikes while Lucien met him head-on barehanded without hesitation. Every collision between fist and blade released violent bursts of Aura that distorted the surrounding air. More Crimson Cross members attempted interfering again.

That turned out to be a mistake.

Lucien suddenly grabbed one student by the collar and used him like an actual shield against an incoming sword strike from another gang member. Before either could recover, Lucien slammed both of them into the ground hard enough to crater the stone beneath them.

His movements still looked calm. Lucien fought like someone doing routine work.

Meanwhile Caius looked completely consumed by the battle now. His swordsmanship became faster and more erratic with every passing second. Crimson Aura spread across the intersection like flowing blood while deep marks carved themselves into the ground wherever his blade passed.

Yet despite all that aggression, Lucien still continued surviving somehow. Barely though, but because Caius was becoming faster every passing second.

At some point, Caius suddenly twisted his sword downward before kicking Lucien backward several meters across the cracked training floor. Lucien skidded to a stop silently.

Caius pointed his blade toward him excitedly.

"Use ittt."

Lucien remained expressionless. "You talk too much."

"Then make me shut upppp."

Caius disappeared again. This time the pressure behind his movement felt completely different. Even Leo instinctively felt danger crawl across his skin.

The next attack came from Lucien’s blind side.

Caius reappeared behind him with crimson Aura exploding around the black blade as he swung directly toward Lucien’s neck.

Several students screamed.

The attack was so fast and unpredictable even Lucien seemed slightly late reacting this time.

The sword descended. It was inches away from Lucien’s neck when a small blue light suddenly flashed from above.

At first, Leo thought it was just reflected light from the academy ceiling. Then the entire atmosphere changed instantly.

An overwhelming wave of freezing Aura spread across the intersection so suddenly that several nearby students stumbled backward in shock.

Caius’ visible eye widened. A tiny blue projectile no larger than a marble touched his shoulder lightly.

Blue ice spread across his body instantly.

The crimson Aura surrounding him vanished as thick layers of frozen ice consumed his arm, torso, sword, and finally his entire body within less than a second.

Caius froze completely mid-swing.

His black blade stopped inches away from Lucien’s neck and absolute silence filled the training grounds. Even the surrounding students looked horrified now.

Then a voice came from up. "Hey fellow students. Don’t you have classes to attend to?"

Leo frowned slightly looking up. ’Seriously is there not anyone in this school who doesn’t like to make dramatic entrances?!’