"I'm… injured?" Mauricio muttered in disbelief. His head started to spin as he saw his own blood dripping into the ground. How could he bleed?

He could only see a blur of movement when Jaku disappeared from his sight. His instincts tried to move, but the blade was far too fast for him to even react to.

This only meant one thing: Jaku was far faster than even his own Diva.

This was someone who just awakened?!

Mauricio didn't want to believe it. He ignored the pain in his chest and rushed towards Jaku, his greatsword dragging across the ground.

He swung his weapon down on Jaku, who was laying on his side, yawning.

The weapons in Mauricio's Diva began shuffling, before turning into its final form as a two-handed longsword, meant to cleave anything in half.

"DIE!"

But as soon as the sword reached an inch above Jaku's head, a very annoyed clicking of the tongue resounded out in the arena.

"Tsk…"

Jaku's entire body began to be engulfed in lightning, his speed now beyond anything possible in normal reality.

In a single instant, Mauricio found himself groaning as he got another cut in his back.

"GRAHHH!"

He stumbled forwards before looking around, confused as to where Jaku even went off to.

Behind him, he saw Jaku laying face up on the ground, his hands behind his head with a comfortable smile on his face. This annoyed Mauricio to no end. Jaku looked extremely vulnerable, something that his teachers and masters always told him to avoid. Discipline and hard work was what allowed him to be praised as one of the best talents in his generation.

Yet, he bled because of him, a demi-human who was the complete antithesis of what it meant to be a swordsman.

The worst part was that Mauricio was starting to feel dread as he looked at Jaku. As vulnerable as he may seem, the two deep cuts on his body already proved that fighting Jaku was a fruitless endeavor.

And he wasn't the only one who was noticing this.

"Oh my god… Jaku is winning…"

"I can't believe it. A demi-human is beating Mauricio Aubert."

"Not just any demi-human… but a one-of-a-kind. I think he's the only one in history with a Diva…"

The praises that were supposed to be for Mauricio were now directed at Jaku.

Mauricio couldn't accept that. He wasn't supposed to lose!

He then looked at the crowd observing their fight. "What are you all doing?! You! You! You!"

He pointed at the three swordsmen who were supposed to fight Jaku. "Why aren't you fighting him?!"

Jaku was supposed to fight four swordsmen, including Mauricio, in quick succession under an extreme time limit.

Nobody even thought he had to fight the other three because they thought he wouldn't get past Mauricio. But now, that possibility was not just more than likely; it was inevitable.

"That's not… part of the rules," one of the swordsmen said.

But Mauricio didn't care. He couldn't lose this fight. "You fight him, or you'll have the entirety of the Aubert Company hunting you down!" he threatened.

That seemed to have been enough of a motivation for the other three. Having the Auberts as their enemies was almost a death sentence.

Not only that, but they'd have to fight Jaku eventually. They'd seen his speed and knew that the only way they could stand a change against him was if they pooled their strengths.

They approached Jaku from all sides, holding their swords close to their chest.

It was now four against one.

Even Jaku's speed wouldn't be able to overcome such an inequality.

Or so they thought.

Jaku, faced with this disadvantage, could only smile and express his gratitude. "Thanks. That really saves me the trouble of hunting you all down."

Mauricio and the other three swordsmen charged towards Jaku, each one activating their Aubility Powers.

Three more Divas manifested in the arena—one black cheetah, the other a horse, and the last a shooting star.

It just so happened that the three swordsmens' Aubility Power were specialized in speed.

If there was anyone who could stand a chance against Jaku, then it would be them.

Their speeds increased multiplefold as their swords swung through the air, heading towards Jaku's body.

But just like before, Jaku awoke groggily from the disturbance, with pure irritation powering the lightning arcs that coursed through his scales.

He disappeared from their sights, escaping out of their enclosure.

One of the swordsmen activated his Cheetah Diva, allowing his footsteps to have maximum speed and maximum versatility.

He shuffled his stances, turning around just in time as Jaku was about to slash at him.

Their swords clinked as the swordsman blocked the first attack.

But he was completely helpless against the twenty other moves Jaku performed in the instant after the block.

The swordsman fell to his knees, his body filled with cuts.

Jaku, done with his first opponent, turned around and rushed out into the edges of the arena to take a nap.

But the two other swordsmen were hot on his tail.

The one with the Horse Diva lunged at Jaku from behind, becoming a giant lance that could pierce through anything.

Meanwhile, the one with the Shooting Star Diva teleported in front of Jaku, positioning his sword for Jaku to walk right into.

This would have been a checkmate for any other person.

But what they didn't know was that Jaku's Aubility Power was only strengthened by his annoyance, by his need to become lazy.

The fact that they were in the way of his relaxation only served to empower the lightning arcs on his body.

The whole world turned into slow motion for Jaku as he stepped to the side, dodging the sword in front of him.

Then, he let the two do the work for them.

With Jaku gone at lightspeed, the two swordsmen couldn't stop themselves in time and clashed, injuring each other with their swords.

In just a matter of a few seconds, Jaku severely injured the three swordsmen.

And it was only this time that Mauricio attacked Jaku from behind.

With such perfect timing, he thought he could get Jaku off guard.

But he was dead wrong.

Lightning arced through Jaku's scale as he lunged his katana forwards.

Mauricio stopped mid-swing, his shoulder becoming stained with blood.

The grip he had on his greatsword faltered, letting it fall on the ground.

With such an injury, Mauricio had no hopes left to win.

He fell on the ground, bleeding.

"No… I can't… I can't lose," he grumbled.

In such a desperate situation, he could only swallow his pride.

Mauricio looked at the Werewolf judge on the edge of their arena. He was holding onto a single strand of fur, which was just moments away from completely burning.

As long as any of them survived long enough, Jaku would be eliminated from the competition.

"RUN!" he shouted to the other swordsmen.

They knew exactly what he was talking about.

Without a moment's hesitation, they used the last of their strengths to activate their Aubility Powers and run in opposite directions.

They just needed a second, and they could escape just in time.

But right at that moment, Jaku muttered a single word.

"Stop."

And the ground underneath their feet shook.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.