Chapter 153: Chapter 151 — Threads That Do Not Break

"Is this your favorite moment, then?"

I whispered.

Then I raised my hand.

"He disappeared."

"It had nothing to do with speed or penetration. I completely restrained his movement... then he appeared somewhere else."

Teleportation. Without a doubt.

I fell silent for a moment. My thoughts clashed with one another, my analyses colliding alongside them.

Then I smiled.

A thousand wind blades surged from my hand, slowly merging together until they became fewer in number—but vastly larger and far more powerful. They settled beside one another like an army before battle.

"Trying the same trick again?" The Lord of the Seven Steps mocked.

I didn’t answer. I raised my hand toward the sky.

In a single instant, every blade shot upward, aligning perfectly until they covered the entire arena. A colossal circular ceiling formed above us, shaped exactly like the arena itself.

The sound of its rotation was like rising thunder. Even the air itself began to tremble, and the audience lifted their eyes upward in silent shock.

"Hah?"

The Lord of the Seven Steps’ mockery gradually faded.

As for me, I stared down at him calmly from the sky.

"If the cage can’t contain you," I whispered, "then the ceiling descending over the entire arena... will strike any place you can teleport to."

Slowly, I lowered my hand.

The ceiling descended.

BOOOOOOSH...

Hundreds of gigantic blades fell all at once. The audience’s eyes widened. Even the transparent barrier began shaking from the pressure.

Below, the Lord of the Seven Steps vanished instantly. He reappeared at the edge of the arena.

But the ceiling covered everything.

Disappear. Appear. Disappear. Appear.

Yet the distance between the ceiling and the ground shrank at a horrifying pace.

"He won’t find anywhere left!" a spectator screamed.

For the first time, the Lord of the Seven Steps’ smile began to fade.

He vanished again.

SWOOOOSH...

One of the blades sliced the edge of his cloak.

He appeared again with widened eyes before vanishing faster than before. Yet the ceiling continued descending. Every teleportation became more dangerous than the last. Every remaining space disappeared.

I watched silently. Forcing him to teleport again and again until I could uncover the true limits of his ability.

"Let’s see what else you’re hiding." I whispered inwardly. "There’s no way this is everything a Fourth-Rank Lord possesses."

The ceiling drew even closer.

Then—

The Lord of the Seven Steps stood upright. He raised his head toward the blade ceiling and closed his eyes.

"He vanished?"

A shadow appeared behind me.

I turned instantly.

SWOOOOSH—

"AAAH!"

The lord vanished again.

Then—

BOOOOOOM...

The blades crashed into the ground. Dust exploded upward until it reached me. I activated the Blade Armor immediately.

"That bastard... he hit me."

I looked toward my side. A shallow cut.

But it landed.

Suddenly—

A violent headache exploded inside my skull.

"AAAAAH!"

I crashed downward. The blades supporting my legs destabilized, and I lost control completely. From thirty meters above, I plummeted while the air crushed against me and the pain tore through my head.

At the last moment, I raised my hand.

BOOOOOOM...

"Ugh..."

My right arm was broken.

Had I not activated the Flame Art at the final second, things would have been far worse.

{ Ding... Ding... Ding... }

{ The Unique Predictor is activating }

{ Spiritual strike detected }

{ Weapon used — Mastered Weapon }

"A spiritual attack?"

My eyes widened.

Only then did I understand. This bastard wasn’t attacking the body or accumulation.

He was attacking the soul itself.

That was why the body gradually malfunctioned. That was why the armors couldn’t stop it. Even the Unique Predictor failed to recognize the weapon earlier because the bastard had never used it directly.

Calm footsteps approached me through the dust until he finally appeared.

Standing above the crater I had fallen into, staring at me with his usual smile.

But his eyes...

Were completely cold.

"So you finally understand." he whispered.

He slowly raised his dagger. Only then did I notice the engravings upon it—thin black threads slithering across the blade like living worms.

He laughed lightly and pointed toward his head.

"Every strike pushes your soul slightly farther away from your body. First comes the headache. Then imbalance. Then loss of control. Then..."

He smiled.

"The body dies alone."

I clenched my teeth. Sweat covered my face beneath the mask. My body felt heavy, the blades unstable, even my vision had begun trembling.

"How can a Fourth-Rank Lord possess a Mastered Weapon?" I snarled inwardly. "Who exactly is this man?"

Suddenly—

A sharp pain stabbed through my stomach.

{ Ding... Ding... Ding... }

{ The Unique Predictor requests interaction permission }

{ Approve — Reject }

...

{ Approve }

{ Ding... Ding... Ding... }

{ The Unique Predictor is activating }

{ Interacting with spiritual attack }

{ Success }

{ Soul stabilized }

{ Soul fortified against the Mastered Weapon (Reactive Soul Venom) — a weapon that drains spiritual energy and attacks the depth of interaction between the soul, its owner’s attributes, and their weapons }

I smiled.

The Lord of the Seven Steps’ smile froze for a brief moment.

"What’s so funny?"

I laughed lightly despite the pain. My eyes narrowed as thoughts raced through my mind.

"So this is its true power?" I whispered inwardly. "How terrifying... Is this why a Seventh-Rank Lord destroyed his entire plan just to obtain the Unique Predictor?"

I looked toward him.

"Thank you."

"What?"

The Lord of the Seven Steps narrowed his eyes before calming himself.

"Trying to act strong?" he scoffed as he slowly approached me.

I jumped.

Rose back into the sky and stabilized myself.

"Impossible!" the lord shouted. "How is he still controlling the blades?!"

"It’s time." I said aloud. "To end this match."

I closed my eyes.

"Armor Number Five," I whispered. "Threads That Do Not Break."

White threads began circling around my wrists, then around my body. Within moments, a white armor woven from those threads wrapped around me completely.

The audience erupted in genuine shock.

Even the Fourth-Rank Lords in the stands couldn’t hide their disbelief.

"A Unique Armor?!" "How does he possess an armor?!"

Below, the Lord of the Seven Steps’ expression darkened.

As for me, I felt something different. The spiritual attack was gone. Yet the white threads covering my body trembled slowly, as though pulling something out from within me.

{ Ding... Ding... Ding... } 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

{ Armor property detected }

{ Threads That Do Not Break }

{ Armor ability: Stabilization of soul and body }

{ Armor synchronized with the lord’s attributes }

"So that’s how it is." I whispered.

Below, for the first time since the battle began, the Lord of the Seven Steps took a step backward.

"A Unique Armor..." he whispered. "What kind of madness is this?"

I slowly extended my hand. This time, no blades appeared. Instead, thin white threads emerged directly from the armor itself.

Dozens.

Then hundreds.

They moved through the air like giant spider silk.

"You rely on teleportation." I said calmly. "So let’s give you less room to escape."

The threads spread throughout the arena.

The Lord of the Seven Steps vanished instantly. He appeared behind me.

But the nearby white thread moved on its own, wrapping around his dagger and stopping the strike.

His eyes widened.

Hundreds of threads surged toward him.

He vanished. Reappeared farther away. Yet the threads spread faster than he could move—across the ground, through the air, around the walls—until the entire arena transformed into a gigantic white web.

The lord’s face grew darker.

Meanwhile, the audience remained utterly silent, watching one lord fill the arena with endless threads while another gradually lost every path of escape.

"Armor is meant for defense," I whispered to myself. "But this armor restrains the enemy as a means of defense."

Threads attacked from every direction. The lord evaded them repeatedly, moving left and right, vanishing and reappearing. Yet the Wind Friend property tracked every movement.

"He’s using teleportation less." I observed. "Either he’s naturally fast... or teleportation consumes massive accumulation."

Then I remembered my own problem.

"Using the armor doubles my accumulation consumption. I need to end this quickly."

The lord attempted surprise attacks again and again. He failed every time. Eventually, he focused solely on evasion—even without teleportation. His movement remained graceful despite the threads, but he could no longer reach me.

I raised my hand.

A thousand wind blades in the sky transformed into massive wind fans. Violent airwaves burst downward, smashing into the ground and turning the air itself into a radar that tracked every movement.

The threads closed in more and more.

Sweat finally appeared on the lord’s forehead.

Then—

He slowed for a single instant.

A white thread shot forward and wrapped around his leg.

He tried to teleport.

Failed.

Another thread surged.

Then another.

In a moment, the Lord of the Seven Steps became completely restrained.

He raised his head toward me. The gigantic black sword floated beside me, moving entirely on its own.

"You." I whispered. "You gave that woman one chance to surrender. Then you killed her."

I raised my hand.

"I’ll count to five. If you don’t surrender before I finish... I’ll kill you no matter what you say afterward."

Silence.

"1."

"2."

"I surrender." the Lord of the Seven Steps whispered.

Slowly lowering his head.

I smiled. The armor dissolved. The lord was freed.

And in the next instant—

The audience exploded.

"The Lord of the Ivory Mask!" "He defeated the Lord of the Seven Steps!" "What kind of armor was that?!"

Even the transparent barrier trembled from the overwhelming screams.

In the upper stands, several Fourth-Rank Lords stared at me in heavy silence. Their expressions weren’t admiration.

They were something far heavier than that.

As for the Lord of the Seven Steps, he remained standing there for several long moments, watching me.

Then he laughed lightly.

"What an irritating loss." he whispered.

He concealed his Mastered Dagger and turned away without haste. His footsteps remained as steady as ever, as though defeat had failed to touch anything inside him.

But before leaving the arena—

He stopped.

Turned his head halfway back toward me.

Said nothing.

And left.