Ace’s words once again provoked a wave of anger ament from the residents of the O’Brien Empire, not that Ace seemed to care o.

  He was just about to tinue speaking when a cold and disdainful voitered his ears. “You certainly speak a good game,”

  Turning his attention to the dire of the voice, Ace saw a handsome young man with tanned olive ski-bck hair and pierg blue eyes looking at him with clear disdain.

  He was sat right in the tre of the students of the college as though he was their leader, or at least sed only to Castro.

  “The way you speak,” the young man tinued. “It’s as though you genuinely believe that you’re superior to us of the O’Brien Empire, but we all know the truth.

  The real reason you sent your beast panion to fight today instead of fighting yourself is because he’s the stronger of you two, and you have no fiden your own ability. Isn’t that right?”

  After his initial look, Ace’s attention never returo the young man cm for his attention. Instead, his attentiouro Castro, the saint in charge of the War God’s College.

  “Is there anyone else, or is that all your little College has to offer?” Ace asked, paying absolutely no attention to the young man.

  His arrogance was simply inceivable. The young man he was holding in such btant disregard was Zaroin – the current number oudent of the War God’s College. Although that was only with Olivier already having graduated, his strength was undeniable.

  Not only that, but his father, Izrain, a middle-aged man with a striking resembo Zaron, was a mid-staged saint and one of the many saints in attendaoday.

  Whether it was his own personal ability or his background, it was top-notch, a Ace saw it fit to py him off like he was air.

  Still, Zaron didn’t get angry as one may expect; he simply ughed. “My master was right; aed to that Aiden Rohault is a liar and a rat.”

  As soon as the words left Zaron’s mouth, a fearful killing i erupted out of Ace; a killing i so potent the temperature in the surrounding area seemed to plummet.

  “Your master?” Ace asked frostily.

  As soon as Ace’s killing i was exposed, everyone present stared at A shock. This was the first time they had seen Ace wear anything aside from that infuriatingly arrogant smirk, but what really caught them off guard was the killing i he was exhibiting.

  Fet the mortals in attendahe killing i of many of the saints present wouldn’t have reached such a level, a here it was ing from a mere teenager.

  Even though he too was surprised by Ace’s killing i, it was nowhere he point of being paralysed by fear. If anything, it was more of a fleeting surprise before he erupted in ughter.

  “I see that got your attention,” Zaron snorted disdainfully. “As for who my master is, something tells me you’ve already guessed, but just in case you’re too slow to put two and two together, I am Zaroin, the disciple of Byrius O’Brien.”

  “Good,” Ace said as he slowly began to walk towards the stage, a malevolent grin suffusing his lips as he stared directly into Zaron’s eyes. “That’s perfect.”

  “And why’s that?” Zaron asked, feigning curiosity.

  “Because this way, I get to kill that trash’s disciple and prove to the world that whether it’s master or disciple, my lineage will always be superior to yours!” Ace said as he made it to the tre of the ring, summoning his give from his ste ring.

  Hearing that, Zaron didn’t rush to make a move. Instead, he turned his head to where the rest of O’Brien’s Disciples were sitting. More specifically, the crimson-haired man sat beside Fain.

  “Go,” Byrius nodded indifferently. “Ooh and Zaron.”

  “Yes, master?” Zaron asked as he suppressed his excitement.

  “Bring me his head,” Byrius replied. “I want to give it to his master as a gift.”

  “As you wish,” Zaron smirked.

  “It doesn’t seem as though you’ll be able to recruit that Ace boy after all,” Desri mused as he tio watch things py out.

  “How troublesome,” Fain sighed.

  Although his master had told him to recruit Ace by any means necessary, fetting the grudge Ace seemed to have against their empire because of Aiden’s problems with Byrius, he knew Byrius would never be okay with Ace joining them.

  And although, overall, O’Brien didn’t care much for his desdants, Byrius was the orue exception. Because of the incredible talent and dedication Byrius had dispyed since a young age, as well as the fact that he was reted to him by blood, despite being separated by several geions, O’Brien saw him as his grandson and doted on him as such.

  Faihat if it were a choice between Ad Byrius, even if Ace was the more talented of the two and even had a Divi as a beast panion, O’Brien would always choose Byrius.

  “For such a talent to have to die here today,” Desri sighed as he watched the two youngsters face off. “How unfortunate.”

  Desri didn’t know whether or not Ace was strong enough to defeat Zaron, but what he did know was that even if Ace was somehow able to win this fight, there was no way Fain and the others would allow a talent like Ace to leave with his life, and if his party attempted to intervehey too would forfeit their lives as well.

  Like everyone else, Olivier was also watg with rapt attention. Like Vena before, Zaron was also a member of his geion and, once upon a time, a former rival of his. As such, he was very clear on precisely how strong Byrius’ disciple was.

  Even among the various veteran generals of the O’Brien Empire – each of whom had decades, if not turies of experience – Zaron ranked he top.

  If it was the Ace of st year, Olivier knew Ace would essentially be itting suicide by stepping into the ring against him today, but between what he had been told by Blumer and Talore, and the unwavering air of fidening from Ace, Olivier wasn’t too sure. Still, one way or ahis match would tell him everything he o know about Ace’s current strength. Luckily, he wouldn’t have to wait long to find out.

  The moment both fighters locked eyes, they both erupted with their stro strength – Zaron with his crimson battle-qi and Ace with his pseudo-battle-qi made from his mageforce.

  Olivier was still a mortal with a retively limited uanding of the infinite mysteries of the profound ws; as such, he couldn’t uand the limits of Ace’s strength, but with his sharp eyesight, he could still sehat Ace’s improvements weren’t small.

  The same was true for all the mortals watg, but the saints were a different matter altogether. The moment they sensed Ace’s fiery aura, they couldn’t help but look at Ace as though he was a mohe likes of which they couldn’t even imagine if they weren’t seeing it.

  “Im…

  That’s Impossible!” Byrius spat out in horror, uo believe what he was seeing.

  “His insights,” Fain murmured, his shoo less than his junior brothers. “Have they…”

  “They’ve reached the level of us prime saints,” Desri firmed.

  When he first heard the rumours of Gol D. Ace, a teenager whose prehension of the ws of fire had reached the Profound realm despite only being in the fifth rank, he thought they had to be exaggerated.

  But he guessed that the rumours were true when he went on to y eyes on him and his exquisite use of ‘Impose’, allowing him to walk on air. Still, at best, his insights only matched that of an early staged saint.

  Then he saw Leonel’s prehension of the ws of fire, which appeared to be fast approag that of a mid-staged saint, and unlike many of the others here who believed Ace to be the weaker of the two, he knew how prideful Divis were. There was no way one would submit to a human weaker than them, not even if they were a genius themself.

  Even still, he doubted Ace’s insights were at the level of a peak saint, and on the off ce they were, it was only just, but it was only now that he uood just h he was.

  But that was just the start of their shock.

  Zaron wasn’t a saint, nor was he as gifted as Olivier, so whilst he could sense fmes at the saint level, he had no idea how powerful they were, and he already knew about Ace’s monstrous prehension, so although slightly envious, it wasn’t enough to make him falter.

  As such, the moment he summoned his battle-qi, both he and Ace stepped off at the same time. What was shog, though, was that Ace’s speed wasn’t the slightest bit inferior to his as a warrior at the peak of the ninth rank.

  Even though he didn’t specialise in speed, he still had a good quality movement teique that made him superior to most at his level, yet Ace’s movement was just as fast.

  Still, that wasn’t enough to make him hesitate. Since he couldn’t overwhelm him with speed, he’d do it with raw power – the attribute he was best at!

  The bde of his sword arced through the air, his fiery battle-qi causing the air to sizzle from the heat it radiated as he aimed to cleave Ace’s head off in one go.

  Ace could sehat, at least in terms of raw power, Zaron was the stro oppo he had ever faced, but unless you were a saint, a test of strength was the thing he feared the least.

  He thrust his haki-infused polearm forth with unparalleled ferocity as the butt of his give erupted in fmes, only adding to his momentum.

  Zaron wao ugh in delight when he saw Ace’s as. If Ace tried to keep him at distahen it’d make this fight a little more plicated, but Ace was just pying into his hands – or so he thought…

  The moment their ons made tact, everyone expected Ace to be sent flying, but instead, they watched Zaron’s eyes threaten to bulge from his eye sockets as he was the o stumbling back with the sounds of bones breaking ringing in the ears of the audience.

  He had no idea what just happened; he went from preparing to chase down his oppo, whom he was sure would be the one flying back, to feeling as though a shockwave of some sort had travelled up his arm, violently shattering the bone.

  Before he could figure out what happened, he sehe hairs on the back of his neck stand on edge.

  He wao leap back to evade the bde of Ace’s give beautifully arg through the air when a mysterious energy suddenly assaulted his sciousness.

  Byrius furiously jumped to his feet as he prepared to make a move to save his disciple. “DON’T YOU DA…”

  Ace sensed Byrius move, but he didn’t care in the slightest. He was determio kill his disciple!

  Ace’s [queror’s Hak was strong, but it didn’t affect warriors at the ninth rank much. Still, that fra of a fra of a sed was all Aeeded to prevent Zaron from being able to dodge.

  By the time, Zaron shook off Ace’s haki, the fme-coated obsidian bde of his oppo’s give had already made tact with his neck. It was then that he uood h he had been; Ace hadn’t shied away from fighting today out of fear. He genuinely just hadn’t seen them as his match.

  He wished he could go bad refrain from provoking this little monster. Unfortunately, hindsight was a bitch!

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  P.atreon./ACoilingDragon

  Book 10: Part 5 – Uhing Potential