Hawthorne Eastwood was dead. He had been killed by Kayden in a moment when Godefroid let his guard down.
“How could you be so reckless? How could you kill Hawthorne Eastwood?” Godefroid’s face turned pale as his entire demeanor shifted. He stared at Kayden with a mixture of anger and disbelief.
Kayden replied calmly, “He was nothing but trash, unworthy of living in this world. But what about you? You’ve done nothing while the Golden Threshold Society runs rampant-murdering, looting, committing unspeakable atrocities. And you call yourselves the Cultivator Associate? What a joke. You’re complicit in their crimes.”
Godefroid sighed heavily, shaking his head as though resigned to the futility of reasoning with Kayden. “No matter what he did, you shouldn’t have killed him. Do you even know who his master is? His master is Cyrus Nightbane-Cyrus Nightbane, under Asher Voss!”
Kayden frowned, his confusion evident. “And who is Cyrus Nightbane? Someone important? And what about Asher Voss? Should I be impressed?”
The repeated dismissiveness in Kayden’s tone made Godefroid’s face flush red with fury. “You insolent fool!” he yelled, pointing a trembling finger at Kayden. “Both of them are leagues above you! If they join forces with the Four Great Sects and report to the higher-ups, you’ll be stripped of your position as commander. Do you really think you can do whatever you want just because you wiped out The Nightshade? They didn’t have anyone to back them up, so no one cared when you destroyed them. But the Golden Threshold Society is different! You could kill all its members, but the one person you should never have touched was Hawthorne Eastwood!”
Godefroid’s words were filled with righteous indignation, but Kayden simply laughed coldly. “It doesn’t matter. They crossed me, so they deserved to die. In my world, there are no limits to what I can or cannot do. Hawthorne Eastwood? If Elysium Gate provoked me, I’d wipe them out too.”
Kayden’s gaze sharpened as he added, “You still haven’t answered my question. Who is Cyrus Nightbane? And what about Asher Voss? Are they part of Hellblazer?”
His direct question hit Godefroid like a slap in the face. Enraged, Godefroid’s voice trembled as he shouted, “You insolent brat! You dare bring up Hellblazer?” His hair seemed to stand on end as his fury reached its peak.
“You old fool,” Kayden shot back, his tone icy. “Spare me the useless chatter. Anyone who provokes me dies. Forget the Four Great Sects. Right now, I’m dealing with Hellblazer. They slaughtered my Zodiac Generals and tried to manipulate me. They’ll pay for that. Now tell me, what do you know about Hellblazer? And about my master?”
Kayden’s words left Godefroid stunned. The sheer audacity of Kayden’s declaration was beyond anything he could have imagined. Was this boy mad? Did he truly think he could challenge Hellblazer? Even Eldridge wouldn’t dare utter such words.
“You reckless fool! Do you even know what you’re saying?” Godefroid roared.
To Godefroid, Hellblazer was untouchable-sacred, even. No one was allowed to speak ill of them, let alone challenge them.
“Today, I’ll put you in your place on behalf of your master. You need to learn that there’s always someone stronger and that the sky is vast beyond your comprehension!”
With that, Godefroid’s fury exploded. A dark cloud formed behind him as his power surged. He crouched slightly, placing his hands on the ground. Suddenly, two massive swords emerged from the earth, suspended in the air.
“Foolish child, face my blade!” Godefroid shouted. He raised the twin energy swords high above his head and brought them down with crushing force. The blades expanded, massive and overwhelming, aimed straight for Kayden’s head.
Kayden raised his broken blade, resolute and unwavering. He blocked the incoming attack, the energy from Godefroid’s swords battering him like a ferocious beast intent on devouring him. As the pressure mounted, the ground beneath them cracked, collapsing from the thirteenth floor all the way down to the first. It wasn’t until they stood on solid ground that the destruction ceased.
Amidst the rubble and the countless lifeless bodies below, the two men stood locked in a deadly standoff.
One held two massive swords, pressing down with overwhelming power. The other held his broken blade, defying the crushing weight with sheer determination.
“You think that broken blade of yours can stand up to me? You overestimate yourself!” Godefroid sneered. With a flick of his wrist, the pressure from the swords intensified, threatening to crush Kayden completely.
Kayden gritted his teeth, his body trembling under the strain. “This old man really is strong,” he muttered to himself. The energy radiating from Godefroid was suffocating, far beyond anything Kayden had faced before. He could barely hold on.
“You’re just a weakling. I’ll crush you,” Godefroid said, smirking as if victory was already his.
Kayden’s eyes burned crimson as he spat through clenched teeth, “Try it. Let’s see if you can.”
“You arrogant fool!” Godefroid roared. “Do you really think you can stand against Hellblazer? You don’t even know your own limits! I’ll show you what true power looks like!”
The force of Godefroid’s attack grew even stronger. Kayden could feel his strength waning. For the first time, he faced an opponent who truly outmatched him.
On the battlefield, Kayden had always been unstoppable. But now, he was facing a formidable enemy.
Yet surrender was not an option.
If he couldn’t defeat Godefroid, how could he hope to take on Hellblazer? If even Godefroid, who feared Hellblazer, was this powerful, how far behind was he?
No!
No one could stand in the way of his vengeance. Flood’s death and the loyalty of the Zodiac Generals would not lead to this kind of ending. Kayden would never bow his head-not now, not ever.
Hellblazer must fall.
No one could stop him.
Fueled by his unyielding resolve, Kayden felt the fire within him reignite. The Ninefold Dragon-Chi buried deep in his body suddenly awakened. The energy surged through him, wild and unstoppable.
With a deafening roar, the Ninefold Dragon-Chi erupted from Kayden’s body, shattering Godefroid’s energy swords in an instant. The explosion of energy rippled outward like waves from a stone dropped into a still pond, forcing Godefroid to stagger backward several steps.
Godefroid stared at Kayden, his expression one of utter shock.
“Ninefold Dragon-Chi!” he exclaimed, the words heavy with disbelief.
“I can’t believe it. You actually awakened the Ninefold Dragon-Chi. Even Eldridge never achieved that.”