Chapter Fifty-Three: Halftime Break (?)

“Meeting again, gray-haired dragonkin. I am the Shadow Guest.”

The Shadow Guest lowered his twin blades and nodded with a smile.

“That’s a rare surname. Hello, Mr. Shadow Guest. I am Gongsun Ce.”

After a polite reply, the esper said, “I’m very busy right now and have no time for a fight. I’ll take the young lady away first. You can enjoy the scenery up in the sky at your leisure. Farewell.”

“...Huh?”

The gray-haired youth didn’t even glance at the swordsman. He turned decisively and waved his hand in front of his good friend and neighbor. “Let’s go, young lady! What are you standing there for? The fight’s over, hurry down and have dinner.”

Qin Qianbai, sharing the same family lineage as Qin Ming, kept a steady expression but her eyes reflected a bewilderment as if cast from the same mold.

“Look at that, look at that—a truly perplexed look. A Ce, do you understand what’s going on?”

The gray-haired youth shrugged both hands.

“I’m completely baffled. Originally, I went to support Caldesia and ended up fighting a random idiot woman halfway through. After finally rescuing Miss Qiluo, I thought it was all over. Then I looked up and saw a derailed Galactic Rail train happily flying above the city center. Having a bad feeling, I came to check it out and found two Morton knights hanging upside down from the last carriage and several people dressed like they just left an intense hardcore nerd gathering. At the front, you were fighting an unknown man and nearly got cut down with a single stroke—can you make sense of this situation? I don’t think so. Most people couldn’t. Gongsun sir, the fact that I can calmly talk to you now is a testament to my mental fortitude!”

Judging from the stunned looks on the two warriors’ faces, they needed some time to digest the torrent of words from the gray-haired youth.

“I understand that A Ce has gone through a lot this afternoon, but more importantly, can you please take your hand off my shoulder?”

The esper snapped his hand away like he’d been shocked.

“Sorry, it’s a habit—I didn’t mean to.”

“Why such a habit? I hope you can explain it clearly.”

“Now’s not the time for that! Can we leave this obviously dangerous person first?”

The obviously dangerous person finally seized the chance to interject.

Qin Qianbai had reached this age so quickly... Seeing the children bickering, she couldn’t help but think such thoughts naturally.

What a relief, what a relief—the tension suddenly eased, almost making them forget the matter at hand.

“Ahem.”

She deliberately cleared her throat, a subtle hint that she was still standing here.

“Is your throat itchy? I don’t have any lozenges. Do you want me to go buy some?”

Shadow Guest’s face darkened. He wasn’t good at handling people who spoke like this.

“Hmm... If you want to leave, that’s fine. Since no one objects, I’ll awaken all the dragonkin in this city.”

The gray-haired youth pushed up his glasses. “Dragonkin? What’s that?”

So that’s it.

This gray-haired dragonkin, right in the eye of the storm, didn’t even know his own nature. No wonder he couldn’t grasp the severity of the situation.

However, revealing the truth outright might trigger a rampage among the dragonkin. What kind of mighty dragon would descend once this gray-haired dragonkin awakened? And if awakened, what would happen to the sword sealed within his heart...?

Very intriguing. The sword, the dragon, and the man’s battle—he wanted to see all three.

The Shadow Guest pondered carefully and spoke in a way the other could understand: “It’s what you call espers. If you don’t stop me, I’ll make all the espers in the city go berserk.”

“...Huh?”

Gongsun Ce’s face twisted with disbelief. He turned to the young lady and asked, “Miss, is this why you fought him?”

“I have my personal reasons, but that’s basically it. Understand now, A Ce? We’re facing a grave crisis.”

Gongsun Ce clutched his forehead, his expression contorted.

“You believe whatever he says?!”

“Huh?”

Seeing their stunned looks, the gray-haired youth sighed in frustration. “Young lady, young lady! You really need to be more sensible. Our Sky City has 5.7 million espers. This guy has just two knives on him. How could he possibly make millions go mad? Does he cut them one by one to force them berserk? Even if they were all pigs, he couldn’t chop through them all in a year!”

“Making the entire city’s espers go berserk? Even that madwoman Cecil couldn’t do it. Just saying it doesn’t make it true. I can spout nonsense too, watch this.”

Gongsun Ce flipped his left hand and produced a white substance fashioned into a detonator switch.

He raised it high and mimicked the tone of the man in blue, “Hmm, this is the bomb switch that can destroy the Earth. If you don’t wear a cat-eared maid outfit for me, I’ll let the Earth go boom—”

The young lady’s uppercut defended the Earth from imminent explosion.

“Ouch, ouch, ouch.” The esper tossed the white detonator aside and rubbed his jaw in pain. “Anyone can brag. Anyone vouch for him? Evidence? None. No ability. He just wants to trick you into fighting. Don’t listen to him…”

“That actually makes some sense.”

The two espers looked over simultaneously. The Shadow Guest felt his reputation suffering.

“Seeing this, you should understand. If you don’t believe me, just leave.”

He said petulantly and produced the portable music player he had “accidentally” acquired.

Gongsun Ce pushed up his glasses, wiping away the playful look from his face, and focused intently on the item in Shadow Guest’s hand.

“...”

His expression shifted slowly, a fascinating process. With seventy percent confusion and thirty percent annoyance, this man who saw through lies said:

“—Isn’t this a movie ticket?”

“?!”

Shadow Guest turned his head in surprise, only to find his hand suddenly empty!

When he looked back, the black music player was flying away, pulled by an invisible tether toward the gray-haired youth. Gongsun Ce surged forward, while at the same moment, Qin Qianbai threw a broken weapon directly at Shadow Guest’s head!

“Oh.”

Shadow Guest flicked his short blade slightly, brushing away the flying shards. With a slash of his long blade, he severed the telekinetic tether. He caught the music player, its weight still intact. With certainty in his heart, he smiled, “Looks like it’s not fake.”

“Too bad, it’s genuine,” Gongsun Ce replied icily. “Still got energy for round two, young lady?”

“My stamina far surpasses yours. Be careful—his blades can cut through anything.”

Cut through anything. This description was likely not an exaggeration. He had clearly felt the sensation of telekinesis being “cut off.” Whether it was his unpredictability technique or swordsmanship, the fact remained: this man could easily sever even invisible forces.

However—

The gray-haired youth raised his hand and conjured a white wall mid-carriage. He made countless sharp spikes sprout from the wall and hurled it toward Shadow Guest nearby.

“Can you cut through this?”

White substance. A degraded form of the unpredictability technique inherited from a certain knight. This was one of his fighting abilities and the hardest material he’d ever seen in his life!

If this man could split white substance in two with a single strike, Gongsun Ce would seriously consider taking up the sword. He watched intently, his face calm but his mind tense.

Not a single crack appeared on the white wall.

“Very hard.”

Before he finished speaking, the white wall shattered into countless fragments.

The man in blue stepped out from behind the wall, excitedly saying, “Needs two cuts.”

The conclusion was clear.

Even the hardest material he knew was but a piece of cardboard requiring just one more cut when facing this man.

The qualitative difference was laid bare.

“Tsk, what a ruthless guy—!”

The gray-haired youth’s voice came from afar.

While Shadow Guest was momentarily blocked by the white wall, Gongsun Ce swiftly retreated with the girl, positioning themselves beyond a carriage.

He shook something hidden in his palm in front of the girl and asked before she could answer, “Weapon? Armor?”

“...A Ce, you’re being unreasonable too.” The girl was about to say something, then changed her mind. “Anything will do, but no helmet.”

The gray-haired youth clapped his hands, and Qin Qianbai transformed. Her eyes still burned with fighting spirit, but in her hands was no longer a black blade; instead, a pure white long sword made of the same material. White armor of the same substance adorned her slender frame, resembling a female general charging into battle.

At this moment, she was less a knight and more a war commander. This preparation was barely sufficient—the man named Shadow Guest was far more dangerous than any mortal war.

“Hmm.”

Shadow Guest advanced.

A warrior’s intuition was sharpest; it was issuing a warning. The girl’s demeanor changed abruptly. No longer thinking of struggling in a losing fight, she was ready to fight with her life for a life—

A battle aimed at victory!

“Coordination between two doesn’t always surpass one.”

A kindly reminder from an elder.

In an instant, the man crossed dozens of meters with his body. The dull yellow blade flashed before their eyes.

“Not necessarily.”

Clang!

The lightning-fast attack was met with an equally swift counter by the girl.

The white long sword bore countless cracks but did not break.

Having a usable weapon allowed her to barely block the attack—not just that.

It was a difference in speed.

Her speed had improved qualitatively.

From a desperate block to a swift parry capable of counterattack—

In the domain of speed, she had reached the same starting line as him!

“Hah!”

For the first time since the fight began, Qin Qianbai took the initiative.

The speed increase brought an all-around enhancement. Even if he could read battle intent first, fighting at equal speed rendered Shadow Guest unable to dodge again easily and forced him to parry with his blade!

“Oh, another dragonkin ability!”

The man in blue used short blades to repel the girl’s strike. The white long sword, riddled with cracks, shattered completely at the moment of collision. Through the snowflake-like fragments drifting in the air, he saw the gray-haired youth’s expression.

“—Acceleration.”

He focused intently on the girl wielding the blade, barely glancing at the enemy. The white long sword flew from the youth’s hand but was caught by the girl just in time, slashing toward her long blade.

High above, the sound of metal clashing rang out.

The duel ground for the warriors shattered under the impact like an earthquake fracturing bedrock, collapsing.

The three bodies fell toward the earth. Gongsun Ce unleashed his ability in midair, creating a white terrain of the same material to replace the blue train.

What appeared was a pure white dueling arena conjured from nothing.

“Very good! Can you go faster? Stronger?”

Shadow Guest shouted, questioning the two who opposed him.

The gray-haired youth forced himself to strengthen his spiritual support once more.

“Try and see if you can!”

The warriors landed simultaneously, drew their blades, and launched a new round of deadly combat on the fresh ground.

–––––Side note–––––

(For continuity, two updates today... then a day off the day after tomorrow)