The Author's POV

'The chip inside of my head? …What is he talking about?'

I always used the chip inside of my head.

In the split second that 'Eyes of Chronos' was activated, I wouldn't have been able to think if it weren't for the chip.

Was there another function of the chip that I did not know about? ...If there was, I wasn't aware of it.

It was then that the other me spoke. My attention once again shifted.

'Pay attention one more time.'

With his words fading, the Duke's body stumbled backward.

This came as a result of the previous punch.

As he stabilized his body, there was no longer any look of shock on his face, and in its place was an impassive and unreadable expression.

In front of the silent audience, he attempted to keep a straight face.

His figure disappeared once more as he expanded his wings, casting a large shadow over the arena. This time, his movements were clearly different. It was a lot faster than before.

But…

Bang-!

The results were the same.

"Huaaakk!"

Casually elbowing the right side, the Duke's body reappeared. It was only a casual elbow, but it was that casual elbow that caused his eyes to widen and his stomach to cave in.

A glob of spittle flew towards my face, but my face remained unchanged.

'Did you manage to see?'

The echo of his voice reverberated throughout my mind.

Finding it difficult to digest what had happened, it took a while for me to answer back.

But I eventually did.

'…I have.'

While the answer was quite easy, it was the concept that I found difficult to grasp. Or even accept it as something that a human was remotely possible of achieving...

'Observe everything. From muscle movement to the direction that feet and bodies point, and eye movement. Connecting everything together...'

Lowering my hand, I pressed my thumb against the hilt of my sword.

The moment I did that, the Duke once again decided to move.

But…

Click-!

Shifting my body ever so slightly toward the right, a subtle clicking sound resonated throughout the arena.

Following the sound, the whole arena froze as the Duke's figure once again materialized in front of me.

A gaping hole appeared on the right side of his chest.

'...You will be able to predict their movements.'

Drip. Drip.

It was only the sound of blood dripping on the ground that echoed throughout the arena.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Trying to comprehend what had happened, the Duke's head rose and fell repeatedly as he stared at his right chest.

Throughout the silence, my mouth opened.

"…What a pity."

***

A fluke.

A simple and miraculous fluke.

way

denying the reality that was presented before

way for someone whose rank was weaker than his

Impossible!

he was suppressed, he was still a

A Duke-ranked demon!

supposed to stand at the apex of all worlds. A figure who had

how

Drip. Drip.

as he heard the sound of his own blood dripping toward the ground, he started

'How is this possible?'

one step before feeling a sharp

his hand to cover his wound, Duke Azenoch

"…!"

the participants above. They stared at him with obvious

But that wasn't all.

whispering among themselves, they also displayed a

Duke only

really weaker

is playing

the whispers grew, so did the noise, and their voices

up! How dare

to shout at the top of his lungs toward the crowd. But out of sheer willpower, he managed to

was still

head to stare at his opponent, the

'Huh?'

suddenly felt a chill run

the audience's observation, who became noisier as the performance

you see that? The Duke

Duke actually

"…This is pathetic."

more and more voices inside of his head with each passing

all of the voices against him, Duke

his trembling arms,

'A…am I scared?'

felt when he looked at him

a fluke? ..Or

the sensation he felt before vanished the moment his

'…A fluke.'

thought to

Yes.

to

that wasn't even Duke rank

Impossible.

because of all the voices

simply

"Huuu…"

Duke Azenoch calmed himself down. Drowning out the noise coming from

I will just

rank in an unnoticeable way, he took a step forward and his vision warped. Reappearing in front of White Reaper, he extended his hand and

to before, his movements were

Reaper's head. It

managed to avoid the attack by moving his head back by a narrow margin. Even so, he did manage to graze him just a little bit as a red line traced

Swoosh-!

below, the Duke twisted his body. He too was

proceeded to sweep his leg in a whipping motion, hurtling it towards White Reaper's

Bang-!

His leg was connected.

his leg came into contact with his arm which was raised to block his

Duke gritted his teeth and tried

"Huh?"

trying to shift his body, the Duke suddenly found a hand grasping his foot. Without giving him

as he watched the hand reach out

from his body as he twisted his body at a strange angle

sure to keep his gaze focused on his

a slight change in White Reaper's expression, as his lips slowly curled into a grin and his left hand shot toward the

'Fuck!'

he had been baited into doing such a move, it was

Bang-!

suddenly felt a hand grasp his other leg. Suddenly, he found himself being thrown up in the air before being thrown down with

Bang-!

formed beneath him. In addition, the Duke felt a great deal of pain running down his back

impact was so powerful that he didn't even have time

"Again."

By the time he realized what his words meant, his body