In the outer vacuum of the Verdant Moon, a massively incomprehensibly large spaceship sat in the star-lit void of endless space.
Within its majestic star-steel structure...
A figure bearing traits eerily similar to a human could be seen. From skin tone to limb alignment to even their flowing grey hair — if not for the absence of a mouth and the closed lid hinting at a third eye on their temple, they would most likely have passed for human.
The silhouette walked down a neon-lit corridor, their gait steady and firm, aura contained so finely they could have passed for a mortal, until they reached a bulky metallic-rimmed hatch.
Hands clasped behind their back, a compartment by the side self-operated open, bleeding out a red laser scanning ray of light that washed over their frame.
Flashing green, a cold hiss rang, followed by unlocking clicks and mechanical whirrs as the hatch slid open, exhaling a warm harmless mist.
Walking into the room, one could see a series of figures — clearly not of the same race — standing steady, staring at multiple display screens tilted slightly downward above them.
A reptilian figure, practically a lizard-made man, turned his scaled bald head. His lips moved, revealing a glint of razor-sharp fangs gleaming like ivory blades.
"Farad, you’re here..."
The three-eyed figure walked up beside him, nodding in acknowledgement, eyes focusing on the screen displaying trial participants.
Each screen was labeled with a symbol modern humans of Earth might find familiar.
Some lit with spades, some hearts, then there were diamonds and clubs...
But a few bore a sigil Seth had seen recently — the face of a smiling clown. And one among them stood out.
Farad’s pupils constricted as his gaze halted at the screen depicting Seth’s figure combating the Immortal King: Blood Sea.
In fact, he wasn’t the only one drawn to the sight. Everyone stared, murmuring among themselves in amazement.
Because while participants grouped in similar categories barely lasted seconds before the Immortal King duplicates destroyed them, this figure seemed to be putting up quite the fight...
The lizard man glanced at Farad from the side of his eyes. "What do you think? We might just be witnessing the dawn of the long-anticipated inheritor of the Wildcard..."
Farad’s eyes flashed coldly. His voice rang out — even without a mouth, his absurd density and control of Will was enough.
"It’s too early to judge!"
The lizard man smiled silently at Farad’s response and turned his focus back to the screen...
---
Back in the dungeon on Seth’s end...
Crimson welled from below along with the Immortal King’s upward swing, bloody cadence stacking with brilliant intensity.
Above, the sky churned with royal purple, black lightning cackling around Seth’s rapidly enlarging Xenon blade, his eyes burning with crystalline amethyst sheen.
Veins popped all over his body like coiled steel, blood pumping in ungodly torrents, adrenaline streaming with wicked intensity, boosting his physical stats above threshold.
Bronze cells shimmered across his being, his elevated stat effectiveness shining in its true splendor.
Space folded in the wake of the downward cleave, the edge of the massive greatsword glowing red from friction.
Seth’s jaw clenched, his grip tightening like a vice as both clashes met.
In that instant, it was as though the world was stripped of all color. Both blades met, but the raging essence of both parties kept a hair-thin gap between the edges.
No sparks flew, no sound echoed — not because their attacks were weak, but because the havoc wreaked was so great the damage vanquished every air molecule in sight, rendering the entire area of a few hundred miles into a vacuum.
Seth’s arms trembled as the torrential force of his foe channeled into his being. Eyes bulging red, his armor clinked, snapping tighter to his body, boosting both his strength and defense, lightening the load of impact.
Energy thrusters appeared on his back, stabilizing his frame and giving him the momentum he was losing due to lack of footing.
His autonomous battle assistant, Mark, clearly understood the assignment and delivered.
Seth’s eyes flashed with gratitude, tightening his grip. Runes shimmered across the metallic surface of the exoskeletal armor.
The lack of wind and atmosphere bore down on him, but the flashing screen of the genetic suit suddenly filled with oxygen.
’Ah, you could do this all along?’ Seth’s eyes flashed, but as soon as the thought surfaced it was shoved aside.
He pushed forward with all his might, muscles trembling, tendons stretched taut. A billowing crash of blue swelled from his frame, tinged with royal purple glaze.
He roared with a mighty bellow as a Gene skill effect — Hand of Tide — he rarely used surfaced from his core...
[- Overwhelm — After activating Tide to the limit, tides of power can be compressed to the absolute limit, unleashing a 100% sure-hit critical strike.]
The Blood Sea churned furiously, and the Immortal King’s feet sank deeper into the blood-soaked soil beneath the crimson waters.
The pure might he radiated generated cackling plasma currents that tore through the shallow waves.
The crimson eyes of the King burned bright as it felt the force of its foe skyrocket beyond margin.
Cracks ran across the surface of its blood saber as slowly and surely it began losing in the wrestle of blades.
Seth’s Will welled, boosting his strength. Beneath his armor, across his right chest, a certain slumbering glyph dragon’s eyes snapped open.
A furious dragon roar tore through the skies, a thundering voice that bore no regard for the absence of air.
The glyph stirred, and his genetic armor detected it...
[External Force Detected...]
Seth knew what was coming, and he hurriedly declared to Mark, "Don’t you dare restrict it!"
[Understood...]
With that, the pulsing runes died down. With zero hindrance, the glyph spread across Seth’s body like a drop of concentrated ink on water, his skin dyed black.
A monstrous energy welled, his essence output surged, and with newfound strength and a raging groan his sword forcefully cleaved down.
The blade of the Immortal King gave in to the excessive force, shattering under the smothering might of what was once perceived as prey.
The sea crashed and the earth trembled as the King stumbled backward, its eerie crimson eyes filled with a blooming sheen of hate...
"Swordsman, die!!!!" Barely gathering itself from its stagger, it swung its head forward like a bull. Its crimson horns glistened brilliantly, echoing its fury.
The sea rose as though gravity had vanished, the air thick with the pungent rotting stench of blood. Simmering droplets gathered in a whirl before its horns, losing all liquid form and diffusing into an intense plasma charge.
Seth smelled the danger. Already the retaliation attack, just like the first time, was deployed so fast he had barely recovered from the recoil of his own strike.
But this time there was a difference... distance!
Plus, he had the advantage of the sky. Eyes cold and calculating, Seth was already moving.
A scalding beam — at a scale that made the first seem like a joke — tore through space, the burning wave enough to leave blisters on reality itself.
At this point, it was painfully clear that his Willborne ability Chronostasis was useless before this behemoth.
But... ’It can buy me the time I need!’
The searing beam suddenly met the crawling tempo of the time warp around Seth, the blinding light abruptly slowing for a brief instant.
A shackle torn asunder in a blink, the temporal anchor of Seth’s Willborne abilities barely able to hold against an attack of this scale for a single second.
But that split moment was all a person of Seth’s caliber needed. His frame spun upward, blade shrinking as the beam tore beneath him.
The scalding wave turned the back of his armor red hot!
But he wasn’t done. Eyes burning bright, pain tolerance tanking the agony from the burns, energy thrusters popped out from his feet, bursting with jet fumes and propelling him downward as the beam connected to the sky.
His back inches away from the scalding crimson beam, Seth paid the pain no heed, his eyes burning with excitement.
The Immortal King had just given him a clue to win this battle... Victory was in sight!!!