Eveline closed the door behind them with a soft click and leaned against it for a moment, with her arms folded in front of her chest, and she was studying Selene in silence. The room they had entered was warm and intimate, far removed from the neutral atmosphere of the chamber they were in before.
Selene shifted uncomfortably under her grandmother's piercing gaze, suddenly feeling like a teenager again rather than someone who had stepped into the Transcended realm. "What is it grandma?" she said lightly, though there was a hint of nervousness beneath her tone.
Eveline huffed. "You bring a man like that into our lives, who disappeared for decades, and expect me not to look closely?" She pushed herself off the door and walked toward Selene, her movements were unhurried. "Sit."
Selene obeyed, settling onto a cushioned couch near the window. Eveline took the chair opposite her, crossing one leg over the other. For a moment, neither of them spoke.
"So," Eveline finally said, resting her chin on her hand, "tell me about him. I want to know who Arthur is, I need to know about the person who I am going to hand over my granddaughter to."
Selene hesitated, not because she didn't want to tell her grandmother about Arthur, but because there was so much to say she didn't know where to begin. Then her lips curved into a faint smile, she looked down at her hands, her fingers interlacing slowly as if the answer required careful handling.
"He's… stubborn, incredibly so. Once he decides on something, he won't bend, even if the entire world tells him he's wrong. He'll throw himself into impossible situations because he refuses to let anyone get hurt if he can prevent it."
Eveline nodded, and listened closely.
"But he's also kind," Selene continued, her expression and voice softening. "He always tries to hide how burdened he is, because he doesn't want anyone to feel guilty worrying about him. He just… does what he thinks needs to be done, even when it could hurt him."
She lifted her gaze to meet Eveline's. "He carries a lot of guilt, for things that weren't his fault. For people he couldn't save, he doesn't tell anyone about it, but I can feel it."
Eveline watched her carefully, her expression shifting from scrutiny to something gentler. She smirked and said with mock sadness, "It looks like my precious granddaughter has been smitten by that lad."
Selene's face turned beet red. "W…What are you talking about? It's nothing like that! I just love him very much!"She stuttered as she tried to defend herself.
Then seeing Eveline's smirk she understood she was teasing her, "Grandma!"
Eveline laughed and leaned back slightly, studying Selene's face, as if searching for any trace of doubt. Finding none, she let out a quiet sigh. "Then that's all I needed to know."
Selene blinked in confusion as she had expected for her grandmother to ask more questions about Arthur. "That's it?"
Eveline smiled faintly. "Yes, love isn't something that needs approval, your honesty is enough." Her smile faded, replaced by a more serious expression. "But you should understand this, Selene. The royal families will not support your relationship with him."
Selene's shoulders tensed, though she had expected those words. "I know."
"No, I don't think you fully do," Eveline said, tone firm but not unkind. "Arthur is powerful, but he is not a noble, nor is he affiliated with any kingdom. He is of common birth and top of that a human, that alone is enough to make others look down on him."
Selene looked down. "Then what do you want me to do? Hide him from everyone?"
Eveline reached across the table and took her hand.
"No," she said softly. "I want you to understand the consequences. But also understand this…" she squeezed Selene's hand gently "your grandfather and I will always support you, even if the others are against it."
Selene felt her throat tighten. "…Thank you grandma."
"And beyond that," Eveline continued, a hint of pride entering her voice, "you have stepped into the Transcended realm. Most of those who would dare to oppose you no longer have the strength to do so, even if they wished."
Selene exhaled, some of the tension easing from her chest.
"As for the Dragon King," Eveline added, her tone thoughtful, "my father has always been… neutral. Even when I married Steve, he neither blessed us nor opposed us. So, you don't need to worry about him."
Selene frowned slightly. "Do you think he'll intervene now?"
Eveline shrugged. "That depends on how far this situation escalates, and on how Arthur handles himself." She paused, then said. "Which is why your grandfather wants to test him, he wants to see if Arthur has the strength to survive if there is a fallout."
Selene wanted to ask more questions, when a knock sounded at the door.
A maid entered after receiving permission, and bowed respectfully. "Lady Eveline, Lady Selene. Lord Augustus and Lord Arthur are preparing to spar and are waiting outside."
Eveline closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Of course they are, they just couldn't wait till we finished talking."
Selene couldn't help but smile faintly.
"These men," Eveline muttered, standing up, "all that power and still ruled by hot blood." She shook her head and gestured toward the door. "Come, if they're going to do something reckless, we might as well be present."
They left the mansion moments later, rejoining Steve and Arthur outside. Without wasting words, the four of them teleported away.
…
The next moment they appeared on a remote island, which was isolated and barren, surrounded by an endless sea.
"No one will sense us here," Steve said calmly, surveying the surroundings. "This island is hidden, shielded, and reinforced using multiple formations. Even if the heavens shake, it won't draw attention."
Arthur nodded, his gaze sweeping over the terrain. "That should be enough."
Selene and Eveline moved away, positioning themselves on a distant ridge where the entire island lay in view, far enough to remain safe, but from a distance they could still see the fight.
Arthur rolled his shoulders, stretched his arms as he faced Steve across the cracked stone ground. His excitement was barely contained, and his eyes were bright with anticipation.
Steve watched him with an amused expression. "Eager, aren't you?"
Arthur grinned. "I don't get many chances like this."
The next moment both of them vanished.
The ground trembled violently as invisible forces collided. Shockwaves rippled across the island, splitting stone and sending debris into the air. Selene and Eveline felt the pressure wash over them even when they were miles away from the island, instinctively reinforced their bodies with mana.
"I can't see them," Selene whispered.
"Neither can I," Eveline replied, her expression grave.
If even the peak of powerhouses in Thyrandel like them couldn't track their movements, it was actually terrifying to think what would have happened if someone with this much power had ill intention towards them.
Arthur and Steve clashed again and again, appearing and disappearing in flashes too fast to track. Each collision sent distorted ripples through space itself, as if reality struggled to keep up.
After several exchanges, they halted, facing each other across the fractured ground.
Arthur was breathing steadily, adrenaline coursing through him. Steve, by contrast, looked almost relaxed.
Arthur frowned inwardly, he could feel it now, clearly. In raw physical strength, Steve was still miles ahead of him.
Though the realization didn't discourage him, in fact it thrilled him. If Steve was stronger than him, then that meant he still had room to grow, and he still had a fast way to increase his strength
Arthur vanished again, reappearing in front of Steve with a powerful punch aimed at his chest. But instead of blocking or dodging, Steve simply raised his palm in front of the punch.
When the punch connected, what Arthur expected didn't happen. It was as if he just tapped Steve's palm instead of punching it with most of his strength. He felt no recoil, it was as if his punch had struck empty air.
His eyes widened as he leapt backward instinctively, landing several meters away and looked at Steve cautiously. He couldn't figure out what just happened or how Steve did that.
Steve smiled seeing Arthur's cautious and confused look and said, "Are you confused?"
Arthur nodded slowly, eyes narrowed. "Very."
"What you just witnessed," Steve said calmly, "is an advanced application of dimensional magic. I transferred all the force generated by your punch to a separate dimension, which resulted in your attack becoming useless against me."
Arthur's mind raced, analyzing the explanation. "So… the attack still exists, just not here."
"Precisely."
Arthur narrowed his eyes and tried thinking of ways to counter it. After going through all of his powers he found only his Matter Manipulation and Density Manipulation would be effective against such a power as most physical attacks and magical attacks would just get cancelled or better put transferred to a different dimension.
Still, he didn't believe he would be able to affect Steve with these two abilities he possessed, as Matter Manipulation was still low level.
Steve was clearly stronger than him in terms of rank, he was at the peak of the Demigod realm where he himself could be considered to be as powerful as someone who had just stepped in that realm, he would be unable to directly affect his density.
But he thought of increasing the density of air around Steve making him unable to breathe.
So, he tried that, and increased the density of the air around Steve, compressing it until the space should have crushed any living being.
But seeing the smirk on Steve's face he figured it was ineffective against him. "You have got quite an interesting power there, but you must not know Demigods don't need to breathe to survive otherwise you wouldn't have used it against me."
Arthur clicked his tongue and changed tactics, he shot towards Steve while manipulating the ground to cover him and increased its density to the maximum he could to hold Steve in the position. He then rained punches on Steve continuously from all directions, believing the power to nullify attacks must have some limits.
But Steve only laughed openly, the sound echoing across the island.
"Alright, that's enough," Steve said casually.
Suddenly, Arthur's movements slowed down. His punch crept forward as if pushing through an extremely viscous liquid. And his movements appeared to be happening in slow motion as if time had been slowed down around Steve.
Steve stepped free from the restraints after breaking them effortlessly and walked toward him who was still in mid punch position, but his eyes were slowly widening as if coming to a realization that Steve had freed himself but that too was happening in slow motion.
"This lad, what you are experiencing is a field of slowed time." Steve explained calmly, seeing Arthur was trapped. " In this domain I control the flow of Time to my convenience."
"Take this as a learning experience, you should always expect opponents with abilities you cannot predict." Steve continued, raising his fist, "As they can kill you without you even being able to react..."
He punched forward. Arthur saw it all happening at an extremely fast speed, but he was helpless as he was unable to move his body to defend himself.
The next second Arthur shot backwards so fast that even Steve was a bit surprised, as he could clearly feel his punch had not connected with Arthur.
Arthur skidded across the ground, and barely regained his footing. Steve looked at him with a confused look, as he got up from the ground in the distance.
What Arthur did was in the instant Steve's punch was going to land on him, he covered himself with Aether and warped himself backward, thus tearing himself out of the slowed time field.
Steve stared at him with wide eyes.
Steve widened his eyes as he realized what Arthur did and praised him, "…Impressive, I didn't know you were this adept at utilizing Aether."
Steve rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "If you can grasp Spatial Manipulation so quickly… then Time Manipulation might not be beyond you either."
Selene watched from afar, awe and concern mixing in her expression.
Eveline smiled faintly from her side. "Looks like the world is about to welcome another monster."
***
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