Farmboy becomes King with the Lust System Chapter 264: Defeat

His crimson eyes narrowed, a faint smirk playing on his lips."I was beginning to doubt you’d made it. Glad you could finally arrive."

Byun drew nearer, shadows pooling around his boots as if they too were privy to secrets."You two should simply kiss and dispense with these needless theatrics."

Tirel let out a low, rumbling laugh, incandescent flames beginning to waltz around her fingertips."If Veynar’s kissing resembles his fighting, it would surely be a clumsy and desperate affair."

Elise’s dark gaze flickered between them, her hands restlessly clenching and unclenching at her sides."Please, I implore you, don’t joke about this. He is not like us. He commands a palpable danger."

Veynar, arms outstretched, beamed with an even wider grin."Heed the words of the healer. She discerns truth with uncanny accuracy. To call me merely dangerous would be an understatement, maiden." His spear was raised, intricate runes flaring with potent light."Now, farmboy, step forth. Let us ascertain if the fire within you still burns as fiercely as it did the last time we engaged in our little dance."

Jae offered no verbal response. He took a single step forward, and in that instant, the world erupted into a maelstrom of motion.

The general initiated the engagement, his spear thrusting forward in a blur of lethal intent. The strike gouged a deep furrow into the earth, flinging dust and rock skyward in its wake. Jae, with uncanny agility, sidestepped the onslaught, his Ember Step propelling him forward in a sudden effusion of smoke and searing heat. His retaliatory strike flashed brilliantly, a wave of flame arcing towards Veynar’s unprotected throat.

With practiced ease, the spear deflected the fiery assault, catching the flame and scattering incandescent sparks into the atmosphere. Veynar, twisting fluidly with the weapon’s momentum, executed a vicious, sweeping arc designed to cleave Jae from his hip to his shoulder.

Jae swiftly ducked beneath the deadly swing, his own forward momentum carrying him closer. He drove a fist encased in searing heat directly at Veynar’s chest. The impact resounded against the thick armor, insufficient to breach it, yet potent enough to force the larger warrior to stagger back a single step.

Veynar responded with a booming laugh."Yes! Precisely! Press the assault! Strike me with all your might!"

The spear thrust once more, a brutal and whistling jab that cut through the lingering smoke. Jae intercepted the strike with his blade, the clash of flame against rune-etched steel sending jarring tremors up his arms, yet he held his ground. With a powerful upward shove, he deflected the thrust, immediately following with a sharp kick aimed at Veynar’s shin.

The general faltered momentarily, his counter being a sweeping ground strike that fractured the earth into jagged shards. Fragments of rock launched upwards, striking the surrounding cadets.

Elise winced as a stray fragment grazed her arm, but she pressed onward, her mana already flowing, tending to another student who had sustained a more serious abrasion.

Byun's shadowy tendrils shot out, ensnaring a large chunk of falling debris just before it could crush a young boy. He cast a look at Jae, a smirk playing on his lips despite the palpable tension."Do endeavor not to demolish the entire training field during your skirmish, farmboy."

Jae met his gaze with a returned smirk, his breath coming in sharp gasps."I make no such guarantees."

Veynar let out a guttural snarl, whirling his spear overhead. The runes etched along its length blazed intensely, and he brought it down with a thunderous roar. The impact split the compacted earth in a line that surged towards Jae like a bolt of lightning.

Jae surged forward, flames erupting from the soles of his boots. He soared above the newly formed fissure, bringing his blade down in a powerful, two-handed arc. The fiery descent met the runed steel, the collision exploding outwards in a shockwave that sent soldiers in the vicinity tumbling off their feet.

The two combatants were locked in a moment of intense struggle, their faces mere inches apart. Veynar’s grin wavered at the edges, yet his eyes blazed with a wild, exhilarating fervor."Do you feel it? The immense gravity of history converging upon us? You are no mere soldier, boy. You are a tempest, a storm that I am destined to break."

Jae’s crimson eyes narrowed further, his smirk faint but resolute."Your words are excessive."

He shoved hard, twisting his blade sideways and delivering a vicious slash across Veynar’s armored chest. The unleashed flames tore through the metal plating, searing the flesh beneath. The general staggered backward, his triumphant laughter dissolving into a pained hiss.

For the first time since the duel began, his confident grin visibly faltered.

A wave of shouts erupted from the cadets, their morale visibly bolstered by the sight. Tirel’s flames blazed with renewed intensity, her voice laced with a cutting mockery."Alas, has the mighty general encountered a minor singe? What a truly lamentable turn of events."

Veynar bellowed, his fury escalating. He lunged once more, his spear becoming a whirlwind of rapid thrusts and deceptive sweeps. Jae moved with fluid grace, dodging left, then right, then forward, his Ember Step a flickering silhouette with each evasive maneuver.

The spear tip managed to graze his thigh, tearing through fabric and drawing a line of crimson blood. Jae hissed in pain but did not falter, twisting inside the wild arc of the weapon. His blade met the spear shaft, leaving deep, smoldering grooves in its wake.

The runes adorning the spear sputtered erratically.

Veynar’s eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed again with renewed ferocity. He lashed out with a powerful boot, kicking Jae backward, his chest heaving."You dare presume to shatter my defenses? I have annihilated warriors far superior to you!"

"Perhaps," Jae responded, coolly brushing a trickle of blood from his leg. "But I am not a morsel you can simply devour."

And then, he moved once more, with lethal intent.

His fist slammed forcefully into Veynar’s chest, the sheer heat radiating from his skin searing even through the protective armor. Veynar grunted, stumbling backward, his spear dipping for the first time in the prolonged engagement.

Jae pressed his advantage, his blade wreathed in roaring flames as he executed a relentless series of arcs—high, low, feigned, and thrusting. Each precise swing compelled Veynar to retreat, step by agonizing step.

Byun emitted a low whistle from the sidelines, his sharp grin betraying a current of pride."Observe his prowess. The farmboy is elegantly outmaneuvering our deranged general."

Elise’s voice, though quiet, carried with an undeniable clarity. "He will not cease until one of them yields. And it certainly won't be Jae."

The battle escalated to its zenith.

With a final, desperate lunge, Veynar thrust forward, his spear radiating an intense, blinding light. All the runes blazed simultaneously as he directed the strike straight for Jae's heart. The very ground splintered beneath the immense force of his attack.

Jae made no move to evade. Instead, his molten skin intensified, fire coalescing into burning plates that encased his body. He intercepted the incoming spear with his bare hands, flames incinerating the glowing runes as he violently pulled the weapon aside. Before Veynar could even process this, Jae's blade sliced through the spear's shaft.

The weapon, now broken, fell into two pieces.

Veynar's eyes widened dramatically, a flicker of disbelief piercing through his battle-frenzied state. Jae seized the moment. His blade swept out once more, fire carving a path through both Veynar's chest and his armor. The general stumbled backward, a gush of blood escaping his lips as he fell to his knees.

"A mere farmboy..." Veynar wheezed, his voice now frail, his smug expression finally shattered. He then collapsed, flames engulfing the remnants of his being.

For a single, suspended moment, an absolute silence descended.

Then, the opposing soldiers began to waver. Their formations wavered, fractured, and broke apart. Cries of panic erupted as men turned and fled, the overwhelming despair following their general's defeat shattering their will to fight.

The cadets remained rooted to the spot, eyes wide with astonishment, as they watched Jae lower his blade, the intense flames sputtering into wisps of smoke.

Byun let out a deep breath, a faint smile playing on his lips as he shook his head. "Well then. It appears we've discovered who the true storm is."

Tirel smirked, a trickle of blood on her lip that she promptly licked away. "Mmm. And I thought I had witnessed him at his most fiery earlier."