I am the Only Son of Nyx-Chapter 43: Luring the Monster Out

A shift happened in the air.

Subtle, but it made Snake’s senses sharpen into focus.

’What is she talking about?’ His eyes narrowed—eyes searching Layra’s face for any sign of a bluff. He found none. ’What makes her so confident to say that? In fact, what even is her goal? She knew the hill was surrounded by us.’

Snake became more and more confused the longer he thought about this situation.

If Layra’s plan was to cut open a path as a desperate measure, then she wouldn’t even stay for a conversation like this. That desperate plan would only work if she caught them by surprise, hoping that Team Coeus couldn’t regroup fast enough to block them.

But she didn’t seem in a rush.

And it was the same with the students from her team.

Despite the situation, most of them were focused, like they knew what they were doing.

"Hey, am I seeing things, or are they wearing red armbands?"

"Huh? You’re right. What in the hell?"

Hearing the banter from the students to his side, Snake’s eyes widened in realization.

Unlike the supposed purple armbands that were identical to Team Hyperion, Layra and the students behind her were all wearing red. And that change could only mean one thing. One thing that made his skin crawl. "Fuck, they have been hijacked!"

Swoosh—!

Ronald hissed in pain when something struck his Achilles tendon.

His gaze snapped over his shoulder and saw a phantom moving past him with blurry speed.

After rendering Ronald incapable of running, the phantom moved straight towards Snake. All that could be perceived by Snake in that instantaneous moment was the glint of a blade that cut through the air toward his neck precisely.

It happened so fast that Snake couldn’t even react.

Clang—!

Kai’s eyes widened slightly when he saw that his sword couldn’t slice through Snake’s neck.

A hardened bone plate was protecting it from under the skin.

Snake is a Supernal of Hydra—a divine beast renowned for its resilience. That much he knew. What he hadn’t anticipated was this caliber of defense. But considering what he’d witnessed of Snake’s fighting style, he should’ve anticipated this.

His Legacy Skill or Imprint was clearly tied to altering his own bones.

"Lesser Angel..." Snake grabbed Kai’s wrist and smiled. "I’ve been expecting you. Matilda!"

From behind the tree line, Matilda charged in with the force of a bull.

Both her golden sword and shield were already in her hands. No more underestimating Kai.

After what happened to Wolf, presumably killed by the rogue Lesser Angel, Snake had stayed alert at all times. It was apparent that the Lesser Angel’s specialty was stealth and ambush, so this kind of confrontation would be the perfect moment for him to strike.

His focus was on Team Hyperion, but he had already made preparations.

One was to protect his vital spots, and the other was Matilda, hiding behind the tree line.

As she neared, her muscles contracted and hardened, preparing for impact. She tightly tucked her body into the shield, turning her into a human cannon. Once the shield bashes into Kai, he should be launched away, allowing her and Snake to counterattack.

But reality is unpredictable.

And this time, it beats her expectations.

Clang—!

Matilda’s eyes widened when her momentum was reversed in an instant.

Before impact, Kai front-kicked her shield, and the force surprisingly pushed her back.

Everyone was taken aback.

None of them expected to see Kai easily thwarting Matilda’s charge like that.

It was practically known by all that Matilda is superior in terms of raw physical strength to most of the students in Ixos due to the blood of Athena in her. Only Lion and perhaps a handful of students were stronger than her.

Kai shouldn’t be one of them, but this proved otherwise.

And worse, raw strength is not only the trick up his sleeve.

Snake blinked and focused when Kai’s gloves hummed with a pale blue hue, charging mana into the sword. A chilling coldness brushed against his skin, and instinctively, he leaned back, narrowly avoiding having his head decapitated.

Once the Permafrost Gloves were active, Kai’s sword was able to cut through the bone plate.

It only grazed Snake’s neck, shallow, but he knew that the cut was a stroke from death.

He almost died right there.

Matilda screeched backward, stopping only after twenty feet away.

But when she raised her gaze to help Snake again, she was already too late.

Snake lunged—with his bone-arm, intending to drive it through Kai’s chest. The blow never landed. Kai slipped around him, already seeking another opening, forcing Snake to pivot and throw his arms up in defense.

He parried a slash, but coughed out a mouthful of blood when a fist drilled into his stomach.

"Kaahk?!" Snake’s eyes widened.

Not too long ago, he had already unlocked his second Divine Lock, and the power that came with it had made him significantly stronger. But even that wasn’t enough. Kai’s punch to the stomach folded his body, blood filling his mouth.

Stopping at nothing, Kai forced the bone-arm to extend and slammed it down to his knee.

A sharp crack echoed as it broke clean in two.

Snake’s scream of pain echoed across the deafening silence.

Everyone watched as Kai easily dispatched Snake like he was nothing. Like he was not a High Angel, while Kai was a Lesser Angel. The number of Divine Locks is a consistent metric to know how strong a Supernal is and can be.

But Kai broke that stigma.

Mercilessly, Kai grabbed Snake’s face and used Deep Slumber.

Darkness seeped into his mind; his eyes rolled back as something else took hold. Still carrying Snake, Kai walked over to Ronald. He stood over the kneeling man, a menacing shadow under the moon, and extended his hand. "Give it to me."

For a second, Ronald was at a loss for words.

But soon, he quickly took the ring from his pinky finger and handed it over.

Kai flicked the ring toward Layra without looking. And then, his eyes found the students from Team Coeus. He looked at each one in turn, as if cataloguing a victim. "Lion..." His voice was loud enough to reach far. Taunting.

In cold blood, he stabbed his sword through Snake’s arm, wrenching it until the joint split.

"Come out and face me," Kai continued, playing with the sword inside Snake’s body—while still channelling the Deep Slumber, "Unlike someone that I’ve been hearing about, I don’t find any excitement in crushing weaklings."

Realizing that it was the Lesser Angel, the betrayers recoiled.

"It’s the Lesser Angel..."

"I heard he killed Wolf and made a painting with the corpse."

Every single one of them was struck with fear. Upon entering Team Coeus for the first time, Wolf had warned all of them to be wary of the dark. None of them knew why, but now, they realized it was because of the Lesser Angel.

Just then, a baritone chuckled rang.

A pair of glowing predator eyes emerged from behind the tree lines.

And with a violent surge of fire, the trees around them were reduced to blackened crisps. Even before the flames cleared, a figure could be seen standing at the center of a burning circle. It was the infamous Lion.

He was smiling, his body radiated waves of steaming mana, and his gaze was already locked onto Kai.

Kneeling beside him was a familiar figure, Dorian.

Fortunately, he looked like he was still in one piece.

Kai had only known Lion through his infamy—fragments of fear passed between students as he dominated everyone he came across. They had painted a picture of a man who was both formidable and menacing.

But seeing him now, in the flesh, Kai realized those stories had been generous.

Lion was far worse.

An air of the apex predator swirled around Lion, making it hard to look him in the eyes.

He was built of layered muscle, and his frame radiated an astonishing amount of mana.

Even in Kai’s current condition, he could feel his knees threatening to give. He had heard that every student feared Lion. Now, standing before Lion in the flesh, he understood completely why other students felt that way.

"Your name precedes you," Kai tilted his head fearlessly. "Now that I have seen you in person, it seems the rumor was exaggerated."

"I can say the same about you," Lion dragged the unconscious Dorian, passing by the students from his team, and stopped when he was at the very front. "You’ve been on a roll lately, Lesser Angel. I’m surprised such a small, puny body can even harm others."

He was staring at Snake, who was under Kai’s mercy.

A flicker of interest could be seen in his eyes at the darkness that was swallowing Snake.

"Are you going to hide behind a hostage?" Kai raised a brow.

"Of course, not," Lion chuckled at the comment. "I don’t care about the princess."

Lion tossed Dorian aside like he was mere trash and extended an inviting hand, "What about coming under me, Lesser Angel?" His smile curved across his face like a crescent moon. "We are both strong. It would be a waste for mankind to lose either of us in this rite."

He turned to Team Hyperion. "They’re helpless against me. Fragile. Weak. You, on the other hand, fought back. Thrived. You don’t have to protect these weaklings. This rite was meant to be a graveyard for the weak. Let them meet their inevitable death and join me. It’s for the greater good... of mankind."

Greater good of mankind.

Kai wanted to laugh at that saying.

Even when he said the same thing to the established Angel to get out of that prison, it felt like he wanted to puke. But right now, with eyes watching, he can’t show his disgust. "Only the strong get to live. I agree with that."

A sparkle flashed behind Lion’s eyes.

Seems like Kai was also like him.

Even Layra, Aaran, and the rest of Team Hyperion turned to look at his back. A chilling cold seeped into their bones. The plan had been simple: descend the hill, lure Lion out of hiding, and let Kai end it once and for all.

A duel against Lion. Fair and simple.

But if Kai changed sides, then Team Hyperion would simply vanish.

Fortunately, that wasn’t going to happen.

"However, I also agree that the strong can do whatever they want," Kai tossed Snake aside, the same exact way as how Lion tossed Dorian aside. Like throwing away trash. "And I so happen to want to kill you."

"You’re starting to entice me more and more, Lesser Angel," Lion’s maddening eyes flashed with mana as his aura grew heavier. Much heavier than it was a second ago. "Are you sure you want to do this? Once I start... I’m not going to stop until there’s nothing left."

"Good," Kai activated the Permafrost Gloves, infusing mana and ice into his sword. "I won’t either."

And in the next second, he charged.

Clang—!

Kai brought his sword overhead and swung down with everything he had.

Instinctively, Lion raised his massive arm and blocked it with his red steel, fiery vambrace.

As the two blasted away, Layra summoned her bows and aimed at Matilda.

"Attack!!"