Summoner Sovereign

I ignored them and continued to address a stunned Stuart.

"I mean no offense, but the…uh, ornamental sword you gave us earlier wouldn"t do Mr. Franklin here justice. As you have seen, it has crumbled and cracked under his continuous use of magic, and thus he is unable to show us the true extent of his full strength. I would like to beseech you to give Mr. Franklin a sword of much better quality, one that matches his abilities."

Lionel Stuart watched me curiously, his mind currently buried in deep thought. "That is indeed a bold request you are making. What about yourself? Would you also like a sword that can match your abilities as well?"

I shook my head and grinned. "That will not be necessary. I presume you have watched a few of my matches prior to this. If so, you should be aware that I generally do not use a Divine Device during battle."

"Interesting!" Stuart clapped his hands in undisguised interest. "It is true that I have yet to see any of the spells I have heard so much about. You might have impressed me with three wood techniques, but what I really want to see is your much-rumored Constellation magic." His eyes twinkled mischievously. "Just don"t blow my building up. It cost me a bomb to build it." he nodded and favored me with a smile. "Very well then, I"ll accede to your request. Shawn, you don"t have any objections to this, do you?"

Franklin grinned arrogantly. "If the fool wishes to die facing my real abilities, then I will be more than happy to oblige him."

"Do you really think you"re capable of killing me?" I snorted.

Stuart nodded and beckoned Cecilia over. She exited the box and strode toward him.

"Cecilia, go get an appropriate weapon for Shawn. Oh, and…" he beckoned Cecilia closer. She obediently approached him and allowed her father to lean over and whisper several instructions into her ear.

"Yes, I"ll contact him, Father," Cecilia obliged. "I"ll also get Mr. Shawn an appropriate weapon as well."

She vanished out of the room, the great doors sliding back and allowing her exit.

"Do you have a death wish, fool?" Franklin asked me snidely. "If I was using a real sword, you wouldn"t even last one minute."

I responded with a thin smile. "And how long do you think you"ll last if I was using my real summoning magic?"

Franklin snorted. "It doesn"t matter what magic you have hidden up your sleeves. You"ll regret this."

"Actually, I wouldn"t." I was telling the truth. "I"ve got nothing to lose. The worst that could happen is that I get humiliated in front of everybody, but it"s nothing life-threatening. I can live with a broken ego. You, on the other hand, will lose everything if I defeat you."

"You…!" Franklin snarled.

"How is your father doing?" Stuart took the opportunity to intervene before Franklin and I could squabble further. He was looking at me curiously. "I heard that he was deployed to flush out a terrorist organization that was employing some new weapon to artificially create Emergence events."

"Dad is still out on the field," I confirmed. "It"s been about three weeks now. But given his abilities and experience, I"m not worried. Sometimes, Dad takes months to complete a mission, but he always succeeds, no matter what kind of objective he is tasked with."

"That is true." Stuart laughed heartily. "The highly revered Angel of Fire is the stuff of legends. I"ve always wanted to meet him. When your father returns, send my regards to him. I"ve heard so many stories about him. He is one of the Heroes of the Federation."

That was propaganda bulls.h.i.+t, and something Dad hated, but I tactfully didn"t tell Stuart that. I merely nodded.

"If I"m not mistaken, in addition to summoning a Fire Angel, he is also a skilled swordsman. You said earlier that you learned your sword techniques from him?"

"I did," I affirmed.

"Excellent. Perhaps you will be able to carry on his mantle in future."

Stuart then turned toward Franklin. "How about you, Shawn? How is your family doing?"

"Oh, my father…"

Uninterested in their conversation, I glanced at the spectators. Alicia and Adrian were still off to the back, watching me worriedly. Or at least, Alicia looked anxious. Adrian looked as relaxed as ever, as if he believed I would kick Franklin"s a.s.s eventually. That it was only a matter of time before I won. In some respects, he really reminded me of Harvey Deng.

The two of them should really come together and form an official fan club, except that there was no way I wanted such an abomination to exist, so I vowed never to give them that idea.

However, Adrian suddenly twitched, and then raised his smartphone to his ear. He seemed to be conversing with someone on the other end of the call, nodding and sighing before hanging up and grimacing. Alicia asked him if he was all right, and he nodded, waving her concerns away with his usual candor. Catching my eye, he grinned and showed me a thumb"s up.

I nodded and returned my attention to Stuart.

The patriarch was laughing at something, but before he or Franklin could say anything else, Cecilia chose that moment to return to the room. The grinding gears of sliding doors announced her reentry, the heavy metal clanging noisily against the ground. Cecilia strode in confidently, bearing a long katana.

I almost fell over from the mere sight of the Divine Device. No…it would be more accurate to perhaps label it a Demonic Device. Despite being a fair distance away from the sword, I could feel the immense power radiating from it.

This sword is the real deal… I thought nervously. Yet, at the same time, I was beginning to feel a twinge of excitement in my gut. The prospect of going up against a sword of such caliber was mouth-watering. I could only hope that Franklin wouldn"t disappoint me with all his bragging of being an elite, upper cla.s.s swordsman.

Franklin, too, was stunned for a moment, but he quickly recovered. He began staring at the katana hungrily. "L…Lord Stuart, this is…"

"Yes." Stuart nodded. "This is the legendary sword, Ye Mo, fas.h.i.+oned by Ou Ye Zi several centuries ago. I believe this sword will not disappoint your abilities."

Franklin immediately dropped to his knees and lowered his head to display his grat.i.tude. "T…thank you, Lord Stuart. This is beyond anything I can repay you…"

"I"m not the one you should be thanking." Stuart chuckled. "It was Richard here who made this request." He turned to me. "Are you sure you will be fine without a Divine Device of your own? Ye Mo is an extremely powerful and dangerous sword."

"Forged by Ou Ye Zi, huh?" Apparently the legendary swordsmith hadn"t been forgotten despite the long ravages of history. His near mythical weapons had survived even to this day, in the 30th century. But I had never heard of Ou Ye Zi forging such a demonic sword. Furthermore, the original Ou Ye Zi was supposed to have lived during the Spring and Autumn period millennia ago, yet Stuart said centuries. Perhaps some other guy took on his name? That would make sense.

The katana didn"t seem like the regular Divine Devices, but more of a prototypical. Yet it was in no way inferior to modern Divine Devices. It was an authentic demonic katana that radiated immense waves of killing intent and bloodl.u.s.t, a monster that could only have been forged by a violent and insane swordsmith bent only on wreaking violence and unleas.h.i.+ng death upon the world.

Just what sort of person was this new Ou Ye Zi, and why did he even bother taking on the name of the legendary swordsmith from myth?

However, I suppressed any desire I might have felt for a Divine Device of my own, and bowed deeply.

"Thank you, Lord Stuart. But my sword has not been broken yet." I pointed at my discarded weapon. It was still lying in the corner of the arena, and remained in one piece despite its cracks and chips. The blade was broken beyond repair due to my overuse of extremely advanced wood spells from Green Dragon, but otherwise it should be able to handle one last technique.

However, I had no intention of using it. Focusing my mana into my hands, I summoned my Gemini twin swords. Castor and Pollux materialized in a flash of light, solidifying in my grip and s.h.i.+ning brightly against the golden background of the reception room.

"If you"re fine with it, I would like to instead display my summoning spells."

"Splendid! Splendid!" Stuart applauded, impressed. "Yes, that is exactly what I wish to see." Turning to Cecilia, he asked, "So what did Sir Gan Jiang and Lady Mo Ye say?"

Cecilia nodded with a small smile. "They agreed to it. They said it will be ready in a few days. They"ll send it over immediately once they"re done."

"Excellent." Satisfied, Stuart leaned back and turned his attention back to both Franklin and me. "Shall we continue, then?"

"Yes," Franklin agreed, pointing Ye Mo at me. "Let"s resume the match. With a perfect sword like this, I"ll end the duel within one minute."

I readied my twin swords in an offensive stance. "Oh, I"m so going to enjoy making you eat your words."

Franklin"s eyes narrowed, but he didn"t come up with a snide remark this time. Instead, he immediately dashed toward me, his new sword flas.h.i.+ng down upon me in a wide, murderous arc. Crossing my swords, I blocked his attack.

To my immense surprise, both Castor and Pollux buckled and crumbled under the deadly blade. Gritting my teeth, I struggled to force Franklin back, but my Gemini twin swords didn"t seem to be able to withstand the attack any longer.

"Oh well," I grumbled to myself. "I didn"t expect to use this so soon, but I guess I don"t have a choice. Castor! Pollux!"

Twin waves of energy, one black and one white, illuminated my blades before leaping out of them and blasting Franklin at pointblank range.

The "n.o.ble" was sent flying several meters away, leaving a trail of blood in the air. He crashed heavily onto the ground before letting out a grunt of pain.

Groaning from the damage he had taken, Franklin struggled to his feet, blood trickling down his formerly white suit, fresh wounds opened up under the tears of the stained fabric. The remains of his expensive suit had almost completely turned red from his blood. Spitting out another glob of blood, he glared at me in shock.

"What? Y…you! How…?"

"Did you really not expect me to use any spells?" I asked, irritated. "Why do you think I requested a better sword for you in the first place? It wouldn"t be a fair fight otherwise. Especially since I don"t need a Divine Device to cast my summoning spells."

Franklin continued to splutter in disbelief. "Even so, it"s impossible! You shouldn"t be this powerful!"

"Says who?" I slowly approached him, twirling my twin swords. "What"s the matter? I thought you said you could end this match within one minute with that sword? Time"s nearly up, you know. Oh, and I also remember you telling me that a sword is only as good as its user. With such a perfect sword, you"re only able to display this much skill?"

Normally, I wasn"t one to give over to gloating over a fallen opponent, and I should have just finished him off, but his constant insults and verbal abuse had irked me tremendously. I had allowed his arrogant att.i.tude to get under my skin. Seriously, don"t tell me any of you guys wouldn"t gloat after being mocked and looked down upon for an entire night.

However, that nearly proved to be a fatal mistake.

"Franklin Style: Binary Thrust!" Franklin roared as he thrust his sword, Ye Mo, toward me. Thanks to me temporarily lowering my guard (to be fair, I had never been insulted and mocked this much before, so forgive me if I indulge in a bit of gloating), I wasn"t able to react in time when twin flashes of light shot out of his blade. I blocked them, but they pierced two holes through Castor and Pollux and penetrated my suit, ripping the skin underneath. I stumbled back, forcing myself to endure the pain and cursing myself for giving over to my childish impulses.

Franklin"s attack had merely grazed my flesh, but if I had not blocked the attacked and reduced the impact, the twin flashes of light would have driven deeper into my body and cut through my internal organs.

"That really is a dangerous sword," I remarked, eyeing Ye Mo warily.

"Ha ha! Regretting it now?" Franklin guffawed in triumph. The idiot thought he had already won. "You should have requested for a better Divine Device too! Look at your current weapons! Just a few hits and they"re almost destroyed!"

I glanced at the cracked and battered Gemini twin swords. "Well, Gemini was made for speed, maneuverability and offense, as well as ease of summoning. It wasn"t meant to withstand such punishment, so they"re actually the most fragile Constellation weapons I have in my a.r.s.enal. Too bad they"re also the lightest and easiest weapons to handle."

Sighing, I tossed both Gemini twin swords at Franklin. They spun rapidly in an unpredictable arc before homing in onto their target like boomerangs.

"You won"t beat me with a cheap trick like that!" Franklin yelled, raising Ye Mo to deflect them.

"Of course not," I admitted.

"What? When did you…?" Franklin was completely caught off guard when he realized I was already right in front of him. He instinctively swung Ye Mo down to slice me in half, but I parried it with Aquarius.

"While Aquarius is several times stronger and durable, it really is too heavy and unwieldy in combat," I grumbled. "But I guess its power more than makes up for those drawbacks."

"You…!" Franklin pressed down desperately, applying more pressure to force me back.

"Aren"t you forgetting something?" I asked with a smile.

"Huh?"

Castor and Pollux slashed him from behind, drawing two fountains of blood from the screaming, undignified pureblooded n.o.ble. I seized the opportunity to hit him with a tidal wave from Aquarius, sending the defenseless, staggering swordsman splas.h.i.+ng against the wall.

Franklin slammed into the wall, completely drenched, before cras.h.i.+ng facedown onto the ground.

Overwhelming victory, even when he"s using such a strong katana.

To humiliate him in front of his fiancée and future father-in-law like that, after all that bragging and insolently requesting for over half the Stuart Corporation"s shares, I almost felt sorry for him.
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Almost.

I casually stalked toward him, pointing Aquarius at the fallen elite.

"Argh…argh…" Franklin was clutching his wounds and moaning in agony. He raised his head to look at me in fear. "Y…you…just w…who the h.e.l.l are you?"

"I believe Lord Stuart has already introduced me to you." I bowed curtly. "But I"ll say it again for your benefit. I am Richard Huang from Jing Tian Magic Academy."