Eli, still in her arms, is completely out of luck. He goes flying right along with her. They crash to the ground and roll several times before finally skidding to a pathetic stop.
The crushing pressure vanishes instantly. I brush the dirt from my knees and calmly rise to my feet. I quietly pull back the invisible device. My laser particle shield. Standard issue protection in the interstellar realm. What cultivators here would call an iron body shield.
But actually training an iron body shield to be bulletproof takes at least a hundred years of grinding cultivation. Me? I've got eighty laser particle shields sitting in my warehouse. I use them whenever I feel like it.
Vera is seriously hurt. And the best part, she has absolutely no idea what I just did to her.
She clutches her chest, wheezing like a dying animal, every breath a violent, ragged gasp. "Ash, what kind of dirty trick was that?"
I spread my hands wide, wearing my most innocent face. "Vera, your cultivation is just that weak. How can you blame me for your own failure? Maybe spend more time training."
The word failure drops like a stone. The entire arena falls into dead silence.
Vera reached Gold Core stage at thirty. The sect's golden child, worshipped by everyone from top to bottom. And I, a Foundation stage nobody with a shattered spirit root, just took her down without even trying.
I stand on the stage looking down at Vera's shocked face from above, completely unbothered.
"A bet is a bet. Vera, you lost to me today, so you owe me something valuable."
Vera's jaw drops. She shouts at the top of her lungs. "I never agreed to fight. I never stepped into this ring."
I ignore her outrage and pluck the soulbound sword right from her hands. I'm kind enough to walk her through the rules.
"According to sect rules, anyone who sets foot on this stage is fighting for a side. When you attacked me, you placed Eli's bet, so now it's your debt to pay."
That one sentence leaves her completely speechless. She wants to deny she was fighting for Eli, but the pitiful, wounded look on Eli's face makes it impossible for her to say a single word.
As I casually toss the soulbound sword between my fingers, Vera's eyes suddenly light up with a realization. She looks almost pleased with herself as she says, "Oh. So that's what this was all about. You just wanted my soulbound sword to keep as a keepsake of me, didn't you? Even if you treasure it like a shrine piece, so what? I prefer gentle, devoted boys, not cold, scheming men like you. Even if you cling to me like a parasite, I won't spare you a second glance."
I look up, genuinely puzzled. "How long have you had this condition? This delusional self-confidence. You should really see a healer."
Vera, who has always looked down at the world through her nostrils, doesn't understand a single word of that. "What is that supposed to mean?"
Snap.
That magnificent sword, radiating with spirit energy, snaps apart in my hands piece by piece. Nothing left but a worthless pile of scrap. The pieces scatter and clatter, each one hitting the ground with a sound I could listen to all day.
At the same time, I quietly slip the particle gun back into my palm. A Gold Core cultivator's sword. One mild pulse from my particle gun and it shatters like glass.
The color drains visibly from Vera's face. She picks up the broken pieces with trembling hands and lets out a shriek that could curdle blood. "My soulbound sword. My father drained every last coin of our family fortune to have that made for me."
I glance down at the worthless scraps on the floor with mild disgust. "You know what? You're right. It does remind me of you. So do me a favor, Vera. Break into pieces just like this sword, and maybe then you'll finally cure my broken heart."
Back in my cramped little room at the edge of the sect, I take out the jade spirit mushroom and slowly begin to absorb it. Golden spirit liquid flows warmly down my throat. A long missed warmth blooms deep in my energy core. I can feel my shattered spirit root beginning to mend, knitting itself back together piece by piece in my soul space.
The system is absolutely losing it. "Player, we have a cannon fodder script to follow. You're making this completely impossible. How are we supposed to complete the mission?"
I keep calmly drawing in spirit energy and ask without even looking up. "So what exactly does the mission require?"
"Fulfill your cannon fodder destiny. Survive to the final chapter, die, let everyone have their moment of remorse, and become the one they can never forget. Their eternal regret."
I breathe out slowly and swallow down the last trace of the medicine's power. "There are many ways to make people regret. The more cuts I leave on them, the more scars they carry, the deeper the regret."
Every word gives the system a fresh wave of goosebumps. A very bad feeling begins to take hold.
Then, shouting from outside my door. "Ash, you absolute menace. Get out here right now."
Without a second thought, I reach into my warehouse and pull out a grenade. I yank the pin. The system watches in absolute horror as I toss it outside without hesitation.
The ground shakes like the earth is splitting open. Outside, instant silence. Then, after a long pause, comes a broken, whimpering groan. "Ash, you dirty little cheat."
I push open the door and step out, greeting the visitor with a smile that doesn't reach my eyes. "Oh, Clara. What brings you all the way to my humble little room? To what do I owe the pleasure?"
Clara slaps the dust off her clothes and wipes a smear of ash from her face, her hair in absolute disaster. She screams at the top of her lungs. "Ash, you piece of trash. Bad enough you always pick on Eli, but you had the nerve to go after Vera too."
Clara is practically vibrating with righteous fury. As Eli's number one devoted follower, she is always first in line to fight his battles, ready to hand the entire world to her idol on a silver platter.
I tilt my head, genuinely puzzled. "If a worthless failure like me managed to hurt Vera, doesn't that make Vera even more worthless than me? Are you sure you're not insulting her right now?"
Clara chokes on her own words. Everything gets stuck in her throat. She sputters and stammers for a long moment. Nothing comes out. After all that, she finally spits it out through gritted teeth.
"How can someone as twisted and cruel as you call himself a senior brother? You target sweet, innocent Eli at every single turn. You are an absolute disgrace to this sect."
"Oh, really? Tell me exactly, what have I done that's so cruel? What could possibly make you hate me this much?"
That stops Clara cold. She opens her mouth to list my crimes, but the words die on her lips as she realizes I haven't actually done anything truly wrong. If anything, I'm the biggest sucker in the sect. Always sacrificing and getting nothing back. Giving Eli medicine, risking my life to save my fellow disciples.
But that flash of confusion doesn't lead to any kind of awakening. She still looks at me like I'm something scraped off the bottom of her shoe. Every extra second talking to me seems to physically disgust her.
That smug grin creeps back onto her face, certain that today is the day I finally get what's coming to me. "The master is summoning you to the discipline hall for punishment. Confess and face the consequences. I can't wait to see how you wriggle your way out of this one."