As Prince Magnus rose to his feet after being thrown aside by Xavier, the latter appeared before him in an instant, his fist hurtling toward Magnus's face.
But then—everything slowed. It was as if time itself had lost meaning.
Moving effortlessly, Magnus sidestepped Xavier's punch, a smug grin forming on his lips. "Too slow," he chuckled, watching Xavier's attack miss by a mile in his eyes.
In this altered flow of time, Magnus was the only one unfazed, moving at his normal speed while everything else lagged behind. He retaliated with a devastating punch to Xavier's face, launching him backward just as time snapped back to its regular rhythm.
Xavier crashed into the ground, dazed. "What the hell just hit me?" he muttered, shaking off the impact.
Magnus arrogantly dusted off his knuckles. "I just punched you," he said nonchalantly. "You were just too slow to see it."
Xavier gritted his teeth, recalling what Princess Misaki had told him about the Imperial House of Flashstride—how their bloodline was blessed with godlike speed, allowing them to move faster than light itself.
Before Xavier could fully rise, Magnus struck again—this time with a flurry of blows too fast for the eye to follow. The relentless barrage pummeled Xavier from all sides, leaving him struggling to react, let alone defend himself.
"What's the matter, Xavier?" Magnus taunted between strikes. "Can't keep up?"
Xavier grunted, enduring the brutal assault. Finally, he activated his vector shield, creating an invisible force that propelled Magnus backward, forcing a pause in the relentless attack.
As he caught his breath, Magnus sneered. "You're pathetic compared to your brother and sister. A mere speck of dust in their shadow."
Xavier's eyes narrowed, his fists clenching.
Magnus, sensing an opening, smirked and pushed further. "Honestly, you don't even look like them. Not even like your father." He tilted his head, feigning curiosity. "Maybe you're adopted. Or worse—an illegitimate child your mother abandoned."
That was the final straw.
With fury blazing in his eyes, Xavier lunged at Magnus, their fists colliding in an explosion of force that shook the earth beneath them. Trees were ripped from their roots, the very air trembling from their clash.
Xavier pressed forward, throwing a rapid series of strikes, but Magnus weaved through them effortlessly. With a smirk, Magnus countered—a brutal punch connecting with Xavier's face, sending him staggering.
"Too slow," Magnus whispered before kicking Xavier's leg with pinpoint precision. A sickening crack echoed as pain shot through Xavier's limb.
A follow-up kick to the head sent him flying once more.
Xavier groaned, barely managing to push himself up. His leg throbbed, barely able to hold his weight. Magnus stood over him, shaking his head in disappointment. "I expected a challenge. But maybe I was asking too much."
Then, without warning, Xavier scooped up a handful of dirt and flung it at Magnus's face.
"ARGH!" Magnus recoiled, his eyes burning from the unexpected attack.
Seizing the moment, Xavier reinforced his fist with his vector shield and delivered a bone-crushing punch to Magnus's jaw, dislocating it and sending him soaring backward.
Magnus clutched his face, his fury palpable as he glared at Xavier.
Xavier took a deep breath, smirking. "You look like an old man missing his dentures."
Magnus's face twisted with rage as he forcefully snapped his jaw back into place at instant speed. "You'll regret that."
Without hesitation, he charged again, his speed distorting time itself. But this time—Xavier reacted.
Narrowly dodging Magnus's attacks, Xavier countered with a swift kick, sending Magnus stumbling to the side.
Magnus froze, eyes wide in disbelief. "How—?"
Xavier grinned. "I stole some of your velocity."
Magnus's face darkened. "What?!"
"Remember when I punched you just now? My vector shield wasn't just for impact—it let me manipulate your movement. When my fist got close, I disabled the shield just enough to make contact, absorbing a portion of your speed and transferring it to myself."
Magnus clenched his fists. "Impossible!"
Xavier smirked. "Everything in the universe has a vector, Magnus. And that includes your speed."
For the first time, Magnus chuckled—not out of arrogance, but amusement. "That was clever, Xavier."
But then, his smirk returned. "Not that it matters. My speed is limitless. Whatever you take, I can generate more."
Xavier shook his head. "No. You have a limit. And even if you didn't—I'll just keep taking more."
Magnus's eyes gleamed with sadistic excitement. "Then show me what you've got, Xavier!"
And in an instant, Prince Magnus materialized before Xavier, driving his foot into Xavier's ribs with a crushing kick. But Xavier reacted just as quickly, gripping Magnus' leg and yanking him in for a devastating right hook to the face.
Magnus hit the ground hard, but before he could recover, Xavier attempted to crush him under the weight of his vector barrier. Yet, Magnus rolled out of the way at the last second, swiftly getting back on his feet and retaliating with a brutal punch to Xavier's face.
The two clashed in a furious exchange of blows, Xavier slowly absorbing very small quantities of Magnus' speed with each strike that connected. However, Magnus countered by continuously increasing his speed, pushing himself to outmaneuver Xavier's ability. As their battle intensified, Magnus' movements became so fast that time itself seemed to slow around him.
Yet Xavier, undeterred, matched his opponent's pace, moving through the stretched-out seconds with precision. Magnus' mind raced. Who the hell is this guy? How is he keeping up like this?
Then, in a blur, Magnus disappeared from Xavier's sight. A sudden impact slammed into Xavier's gut, followed by a vicious uppercut to his face, sending him skidding backward.
Dazed, Xavier barely had time to react before Magnus reappeared nearby, a crackling bolt of electricity forming in his hands. In mere seconds, Magnus had run around the entire forest twelve times, generating an immense static charge. With a smirk, he hurled the bolt straight at Xavier's face.
The explosion was catastrophic.
A blinding flash of light engulfed the battlefield, obliterating the surrounding terrain. Trees were reduced to splinters, the ground shattered, and the air reeked of scorched earth. When the dust settled, Xavier lay in the rubble, bloodied and barely conscious.
Magnus approached him leisurely, hands in his pockets, a smug grin on his face. "C'mon, Xavier, don't tell me you're done already?" he mocked, before driving his boot into Xavier's face and stomping down repeatedly.
But then—
A shift in the air. A surge of energy.
The Visors of Time slid from Xavier's face, and an immense power erupted from his body, sending a shockwave through the battlefield. Magnus' smugness vanished, his eyes widening in horror.
Xavier's cosmic-like irises, filled with swirling stars, locked onto Magnus with a cold and terrifying glare. Before Magnus could react, a sickening crack echoed through the air—his right leg twisted grotesquely, nearly torn from his body. He collapsed, screaming in agony, clutching at the mangled limb.
With his Visors no longer suppressing his abilities, Xavier's abilities' full power had been unleashed. His cosmic eyes allowed him to wield vectors with absolute precision, the complex calculations required for manipulation now happening instinctively.
Xavier exhaled, adjusting to the overwhelming clarity of his power. So much easier now. No more tedious calculations… these eyes do everything for me.
Magnus writhed on the ground, struggling against the searing pain. But Xavier wasn't done. He stepped onto Magnus' chest, aiming his fingers like a gun. With a mere thought, he fired a barrage of high-speed air bullets, each one severely injuring Magnus' flesh.
Magnus screamed in anguish as Xavier slowly, methodically, continued his assault. "You don't get to beg for mercy," Xavier said coldly. "Not after what you did to my friends… and what you said about my family."
Another air bullet tore into Magnus' shoulder. Then another into his thigh.
Xavier crouched slightly, watching Magnus' pained expression with a detached calm. "I've been waiting for this day," he murmured. "Ever since you made my best friend Jupiter cry when we were kids."
Twenty more shots. Each precise. Each deliberate.
Then Xavier stopped, placing his palm flat against Magnus' chest. He could feel the erratic, panicked rhythm of Magnus' heart beneath his fingers.
"You remember when you said you'd stop my heart? Vibrate it until it imploded in a fraction of a second?" Xavier's voice was almost casual.
Magnus' eyes widened in horror as realization dawned.
Xavier smirked. "Let me return the favor. Consider it a first-class trip to cardiac arrest."
Using the speed he had absorbed from Magnus earlier, Xavier vibrated his palm at an inhuman frequency, phasing it through Magnus' chest. The effect was immediate—Magnus' heartbeat spiked to impossible speeds. Blood gushed from his nose, mouth, ears, and eyes as his body failed to handle the strain.
His screams turned hoarse, his consciousness slipping.
Xavier finally withdrew his hand, letting Magnus crumple. The once-proud prince was now a broken, blood-drenched mess, teetering on the edge of unconsciousness.
Xavier planted his foot on Magnus' face, pressing down just enough to remind him who was in control. "If you ever come after me or my friends again… I'll make sure you never walk again."
Magnus barely registered the words before his body gave in, dragging him into the depths of unconsciousness. His pride, his power, his arrogance—utterly shattered.
Xavier wiped the blood from his hands, exhaling deeply. But before he could even take another breath—
A deep, apocalyptic bell rang from the heavens, its sound reverberating through the ruined battlefield.
Xavier stiffened, scanning his surroundings. The world itself seemed to tremble at the ominous chime.
What the hell was that?
Then, the sky began to fracture. The first crack was thin—barely more than a jagged line—but as it splintered further, it spread like shattered glass across the heavens. A soundless rupture. A wound in reality itself.
And from that gaping abyss, a monstrous hand emerged.
It was grotesque—colossal, clawed, and dripping with something darker than mere shadow. A malign force oozed from its very flesh, distorting the air around it, warping the very concept of space.
Then, it crawled out.
The thing that followed was beyond mere nightmares. It was the kind of horror that made nightmares themselves whimper in submission. The sheer wrongness of its existence made Xavier's breath hitch in his throat. His body locked up, every instinct screaming—not to run, but to submit. To kneel. To beg.
Every contestant felt it. A sensation unlike anything they had ever known. Not fear. Something worse.
Something primordial.
Something ancient.
The beast exhaled. The simple act sent an unnatural chill racing across the battlefield, as if every soul present had just been touched by something beyond death.
And then—it roared.
A horrific, ear-shattering bellow that wasn't just loud—it was malevolent. It scraped against reality like rusted metal against bone, a raw, deafening shriek that clawed its way into the very marrow of their being.
Xavier collapsed, as did the students. Their hands clutched at their ears, yet it did nothing. The sound wasn't just heard—it was felt. It resonated inside their skulls, in their blood, their nerves, their very souls.
In that instant, the world knew.
The teachers, the staff, the spectators far beyond the battlefield—they all felt it. A foreboding wave of terror that whispered one undeniable truth:
A Varmint had arrived.