Mark stood up, dusting himself off. He glanced at the two boys on the ground, then walked over to pick up his sword. Raze and Gavin slowly pushed themselves back to their feet.

"I'm sure you both thought you'd be fighting sword-to-sword like real knights," Mark said with a grin. "Sadly, the Grindole family doesn't do that. We fight to take down the enemy by whatever means it takes. That is what it means to survive."

He looked between them. "Now that you know that… come at me like you want to kill me. Use anything you can. Only by doing something impressive will I give you permission to go hunt abominations. Show your worth."

Gavin's expression tightened. He had always fought cleanly, disciplined swings, proper form, textbook precision. But what Mark was demanding now meant he could use underhanded methods. And despite his beliefs, he couldn't back down. He had slowly come to understand something important:

Strength wasn't about swinging a sword perfectly.

Strength was about using your brain, and then swinging.

A thoughtless swing was worthless.

"Alright then," Raze said, a smile returning to his face. "Let's see how you handle this."

He channeled all his Qi, yin and yang surging through him like a raging current. Power flooded his limbs. His vision sharpened.

Then he lunged.

Boom!

The ground erupted beneath his feet as he dashed forward. Mark smiled.

Raze leaped into the air and came down with a full-power strike. His sword cut through the air at incredible speed. Mark's eyes widened slightly, surprised. He raised his blade to block.

KANG!

A shockwave blasted out. Dust exploded upward, cracks spidering across the ground beneath Mark's feet. He looked down in brief shock.

Raze tried to retreat and swing again, but Mark reacted instantly, sending a brutal kick into his chest.

BOOM!

Raze was knocked back, tumbling across the dirt.

Immediately, Gavin appeared behind Mark, thrusting forward with his blade wrapped in blue flames. Mark spun in an instant, parrying the thrust aside before swinging a kick at Gavin's head.

But Gavin reacted fast, using the base of his sword to block the kick. The impact pushed him back a few steps.

Mark moved to press the attack, but several flame arrows shot down from above.

He dodged them with effortless grace, weaving through the barrage like he was dancing. He glanced toward the distance and saw Ella standing there, supporting them. She summoned another set of ten flame arrows in a blink and hurled them forward.

Using the opening, Gavin and Raze charged together.

They clashed with Mark, attacking from different angles. Mark blocked and parried, but this time the combined force pushed him back.

Emily, watching from afar, was stunned. Her brows rose, her eyes widening as she watched her brother, the captain of one of the knight chapters, actually being pushed back.

But what shocked her more was the smile on his face. Marl, strict, cold, a man who rarely spoke outside of commands, was smiling like he was genuinely enjoying the fight.

"Seems the both of you are actually quite good," Mark said. "But I doubt that will be enough."

With a powerful swing, he clashed against both their blades at once.

BOOM.

The force blasted them backward, sending them skidding across the ground until they finally stopped, hands numb from the impact.

'This dude is terrifying,' Raze thought as he stared up at Mark. He could tell Mark had barely begun using his true strength. So this was the power of a Knight Captain.

He had witnessed Sophia use hers, and when he clashed with her, she completely dominated him. He had believed that after learning yin and yang qi, after sharpening his abilities and improving his sword technique, he might be able to close the gap, at least a little.

But Mark had just shown him how wrong he was.

The gap was still there.

Wide. Deep. Crushing.

The realization burned in his chest, igniting his frustration.

Raze tightened his grip on his bat, swung it a few times, then braced himself, channeling every shred of qi through his body, and his mana at the same time. Controlling both together, the bat erupted with flames. His muscles pulsed, his qi surged, his body felt charged and ready to burst.

He launched forward.

The force was explosive, the ground blowing apart beneath him.

"Ahhh!" He roared, swinging at Mark.

Mark saw the line of attack. It was simple. Predictable. He moved to block it, but Raze wasn't attacking simply.

God's Eye was active, and in that moment, he pinpointed the most vulnerable opening in Mark's defense. At the last instant, Raze halted his swing, feinting, and redirected the attack mid-motion. He lost power, yes, but the strike would still land.

He aimed straight for Mark's unguarded side.

BAM!

His bat slammed into the point he targeted. Mark skidded back across the dirt.

Raze's eyes widened, excitement flaring, he had landed a hit!

But his excitement vanished instantly when he saw the truth. At the last possible moment, Mark had shifted his sword, perfectly blocking the spot Raze targeted, taking the full brunt of the attack deliberately.

Raze was stunned.

But he didn't stop.

He burst forward again, unleashing a furious flurry of attacks. Strike after strike, each one strong enough to shatter a tree or crush a grown man's skull. Mark blocked and parried every one at the last instant, yet Raze managed to push him back on sheer aggression alone.

Still… something felt wrong.

Despite forcing Mark to retreat step by step, Raze felt no sense of advantage. It felt like Mark was leading him, baiting him, waiting for something.

And he was right.

Because even with God's Eye, even with perfect planning, his human body slipped for half a second. A tiny gap. A small imbalance. But for someone like Mark, it was enough.

Mark's sword shot toward his side, aimed to end the entire spar.

But before it connected—

CLANG!

Another sword slammed against Mark's blade, deflecting it.

Mark looked up.

Gavin stood there, eyes burning. "Don't leave me out of the fight!" he roared, forcing Mark's sword aside and driving forward. He dropped low, blade wreathed in flames, thrusting upward.

Mark bent backward at an impossible angle, dodging the thrust. He flipped, landed cleanly, then saw Gavin already rushing in again.

Gavin slashed. Mark dodged.

Raze flew in from the side.

They began rotating, attacking in coordinated rhythm, Gavin high, Raze low, switching angles, slipping in and out like a two-man storm. Mark was forced to dodge and block repeatedly, pushed back faster than before.

Emily watched with wide eyes, her brother, the strict and cold Knight Captain, was being pressured. And yet… he was smiling. A real smile.

It even unnerved her a little.

But then Mark's smile widened further.

"I guess that's enough for now," he said calmly.

In the next heartbeat, his sword vanished from sight.

He whispered a technique.

"Thousand Sword Strikes."

The flat of his blade moved at a speed their minds couldn't comprehend. Multiple blows landed simultaneously, one after another, slamming into both Raze and Gavin before either of them could react.

BAM. BAM. BAM.

Their bodies collapsed to the ground, defeated instantly.

And just like that, the battle was over.

Mark stood over them, watching them groan in pain.

"That was really impressive," he said. "You two actually forced me to use a technique."

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