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.

the only way to explain

denying the reality that

for someone whose rank was weaker than his to be able to

Impossible!

he was suppressed, he was still a

A Duke-ranked demon!

at the apex of all worlds. A figure who

at least that was how things

Drip. Drip.

of his own blood dripping toward the ground, he started to question

'How is this possible?'

step before feeling a sharp pain on the

his wound, Duke Azenoch

"…!"

on, he could see all the stares coming from the participants above. They

But that wasn't all.

whispering among themselves, they also displayed a clear sense of

Duke only

weaker than

playing

voices, but as the whispers grew, so did the noise, and their voices were heard

up! How dare

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

situation was still

his opponent, the Duke stared deeply into

'Huh?'

their eyes met, the Duke suddenly felt a chill run down his body as he subconsciously took a step

was no avoiding the audience's observation, who became noisier

you see that? The Duke took

Duke actually

"…This is pathetic."

Duke heard more and more voices inside of his head with each passing second. All he could hear were voices

despite all of the voices against him, Duke Azenoch's focus

trembling arms, he

'A…am I scared?'

sensation he felt when he looked at him

it really a fluke? ..Or was he just imagining

sensation he felt before vanished

'…A fluke.'

Duke thought to

Yes.

had to be a

someone that wasn't even

Impossible.

of all the voices around

was simply no

"Huuu…"

a deep breath, Duke Azenoch calmed himself down. Drowning out the noise coming from the

rank doesn't work, I will just

and his vision warped. Reappearing in front of White Reaper, he extended his

to before, his movements

White Reaper's head. It was so close, just a couple of inches away,

his head back by a narrow margin. Even so, he did manage

Swoosh-!

from below, the Duke twisted his body. He too was able to

he avoided the attack, he raised his head and proceeded to sweep his leg in a whipping motion, hurtling it towards

Bang-!

His leg was connected.

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

gritted his teeth and tried

"Huh?"

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

rose within the Duke's mind as he watched the

body at a strange angle and swung his other foot

sure to

as his lips slowly curled into

'Fuck!'

the time the Duke realized he had been baited into doing

Bang-!

felt a hand grasp his other leg. Suddenly, he found himself being thrown up in

Bang-!

into the air as a crater formed beneath him. In addition, the Duke

that he didn't

"Again."

time he realized what his words meant, his body had once again been flung toward the