CHAPTER 283: EASY WIN!?

At this moment, Zarek was already pouring everything he had into his sword. Its sharpness was beyond comparison but so was the backlash.

Each swing felt like it was tearing his body apart, as if death itself was pressing in with every heartbeat. His muscles screamed, his bones threatened to shatter, and yet his grip did not loosen.

A low grunt escaped him, brows drawn into a deep frown.

With every breath, the backlash gnawed at his flesh and soul, but in that same moment, he was adapting. His body was adapting and getting stronger by every moment.

His raw strength surged once more, climbing to yet another peak.

In a few more breaths, his stance stabilised. The massive, blood-red blade rose high, its jagged edges with thorns catching the light, before Zarek leveled its point directly at the two Paragons.

The two telekinetic Paragons swallowed hard.

"Come," Zarek said, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "Let’s fight."

"Uh... about that..." Aiken’s smile twisted into something halfway between awkward and fearful. "We might not be able to."

Zarek’s brows rose. "Oh? And why is that?"

"That sword..." Aiken hesitated, scrambling for words. "It was forged by the Demi-gods. How could we possibly compare to that? We simply can’t. And..." he blurted, "...the one who made it is the Demi-god of Weapons herself."

It wasn’t just an excuse, it was the truth. A Demi-god’s weapon was no laughing matter, especially one forged by the woman seated upon the throne. Her status reigned supreme in the House of Demi-gods; challenging her craftsmanship was unthinkable. How could anyone fight against such power, unless, of course...

"Well, that is true," Zarek said with a slow nod, as if acknowledging the fact. "However, a weapon is only as strong as its wielder. If I reach a bottleneck, I’ll naturally be inferior to you."

"This..." Aiken’s throat tightened as he swallowed. His eyes darted to the sword, its bloodthirsty presence gnawing at his nerves. The longer he stared, the more his heart quaked with fear.

"But this is unfair. Let’s be honest, if you really use that sword, we won’t be able to defeat you no matter what," Eden said, his voice steady but his eyes locked sharply on Zarek.

"Then?" Zarek tilted his head, curiosity flickering in his gaze. "What do you suggest I do?"

"If you want to fight, then fight without that weapon. Do that, and our past grudges will be settled." Eden’s tone was firm, though it took every shred of his courage to say it.

Zarek didn’t answer. He stood tall, his back straight, his expression unreadable and the silence stretched on.

Never in their lives had the two imagined that, as Telekinetic Paragons, they would feel genuine fear before a mere Telekinetic Master, fear that their very survival hung in the balance.

If someone had said these things, they would have thought it was fantasy and shrugged it off as a joke—but it was happening right now.

A Telekinetic Master could so easily make them meek, like a cat to a mouse with a Telekinetic Paragon, no less.

After a moment, as if Zarek had seriously contemplated it, he quickly nodded. "Well, you guys are technically right, so I’ll give you a chance." Saying this, he used his Telekinetic power to make the red sword float in front of him before casually tossing it aside.

He took a fighting stance and grinned. "How about now?"

Both Aiken and Eden were left speechless. They wanted to scream, ’Wasn’t this test supposed to be about testing his weapon?’

But they didn’t say it aloud. After all, they were Paragons, technically more powerful than Zarek, so they had to save face. Otherwise, they’d look like complete cowards.

’What’s the worst that could happen?’ Eden thought, quickly agreeing to Zarek’s proposal. "Alright, let’s duel."

"I agree with Eden," Aiken added.

Zarek looked at them both, unable to hide his grin. "Alright."

The two parties locked sharp gazes, ready to duke it out.

At that moment, the Lord clapped her hands, drawing the three’s attention. "This is not a place for you to fight. I have another place to show you."

With that, she clapped her hands again, and reality began to warp around them.

Zarek’s pupils dilated as he took in the familiar scene. He muttered in his mind, ’Again.’

Indeed, reality twisted for the three of them, and Zarek couldn’t summon even an ounce of resistance. The next moment, he found himself outside, under the bright sun, standing on a paved surface much like an arena.

In front of him stood the two Telekinetic Paragons.

Surrounding them was a vast audience, the demi-gods, watching silently. Even Zytharia, that little girl, was present in the crowd.

Zarek’s brow twitched as he took in the scene.

His eyes locked on the woman seated highest above them all. She really made us come here so quickly and I couldn’t even muster any resistance, just how powerful is she?

Regardless, Zarek was eager to test his strength. He wasn’t about to let this opportunity slip away.

"Get ready." She raised her hand casually, and immediately all three tensed, their gazes locking onto one another.

Aiken and Eden versus Zarek. Who would come out on top?

"Go." Her hand fell.

Boom!

The air echoed with a deafening blast as Zarek shot through it, aiming straight for Aiken first.

Aiken gritted his teeth and unleashed blue spheres of water at him.

Zarek sneered, "That same trick won’t work on me twice." His speed became a blur, Telekinetic energy flaring fiercely. At the same time, his special power, Gravity, activated instantly.

The blue spheres of water plummeted to the ground, dissolving into puddles.

Zarek ramped up the gravity to ten folds, and kept increasing it, so even if the water tried to rise, it was crushed under the immense weight of his gravity.

Aiken’s eyes widened as he realized Zarek this but he was already way too close to him. Gritting his teeth, Aiken summoned his Telekinetic power to form a shield while clutching his spear and thrusting it toward him.

Zarek remained completely unfazed. His fist collided with the spear, and another deafening boom echoed through the air.

In an instant, the spear crumpled, but Zarek’s punch didn’t falter, its relentless momentum cracked Aiken’s shield and pressed onward.

"How...!?" Aiken barely managed to utter a sound before Zarek’s fist was blocked by his shield. But even that only lasted a moment before the shield shattered completely, and Zarek’s fist slammed directly into his face.

"Ahhh–"

A horrifying scream echoed as Aiken felt every part of his body break, his defense crumbled in another second, and everything he had was completely obliterated in the next instant as he fell to the ground with almost hollow, lifeless eyes.

Zarek looked at this with a cold expression on his face. He cracked his neck and turned towards Eden with a grin on his face.

"You..." Eden looked at this, and his body stood rooted in fear. This man no longer felt like a Telekinetic Master, instead a terrifying brute.

Zarek, step by step, reached Eden and grinned, "Why are you not attacking? Defending? Or running away?"

Eden fell to the ground and bowed his head: "I accept my defeat."

"Good." Zarek put his arms on his shoulder and nodded his head encouragingly. "It seems that you have learned your lesson. Remember never to be arrogant again."

"You forgive me already?" Eden said with a confused tone.

"Yes, I am not a narrow-minded individual. Besides, you guys only helped me to increase my strength further. Of course, it would be different if you had actually caused me harm." Zarek’s eyes narrowed with a murderous glint.

"T-thank you." Eden felt tears well up in his eyes, then his gaze was drawn towards Aiken, who seemed to be already dead. "What about him?"

"Well, he isn’t dead, not yet anyway, but he’s on his last breath right now. Surely, with so many demi-gods around, they could heal him, right?" Before Zarek could even finish his sentence, a gentle woman descended onto the platform and casually pointed with her palm.

In the next moment, Aiken was completely healed in the blink of an eye.

Aiken looked around in confusion, seeing that everything was settled.

Before he could say anything, the lord spoke from her throne, "Congratulations, Zarek. Defeating a Telekinetic Paragon while you are only a Telekinetic Master means you have already surpassed all of humanity."

"I see." Zarek nodded casually with a shrug.

"So, what do you want to do now?" she asked curiously, seeing such a casual expression of Zarek.

"I want to increase my Telekinetic level. I’m still only a Telekinetic Master, and my strength is limited by that." Zarek honestly said.

"There is a potion you can use if you want to level up quickly."

"No, I have a better way, but I’ll need your cooperation," Zarek grinned.

"Oh?" the Lord tilted her head.

What faster way is there to increase his level instead of adapting?