Chapter 77 — Know Your Place Ant

Silence hung heavy over the courtyard.

Three Imperial heirs stood panting, their weapons trembling in their hands, sweat dripping down their faces despite the cool air.

Every single attack of theirs had failed.

Damian had not even blocked the attacks and yet they were completely ineffective.

Like trying to cut through solid steel with wooden swords.

Micheal’s perfect composure was cracking. His golden Aura flickered with frustration and growing fear.

"This doesn’t make sense. No first-year student should be able to tank our combined attacks without even defending. It’s impossible."

Leonard wiped blood from his lip where he’d bitten it in frustration.

"He’s not even using his Aura to actively defend. His body is just that strong naturally. How the hell did he train his body to be so fucking strong!?"

Iris’s hands shook as she gripped her rapier tighter.

"We need to use them. There’s no other choice."

Micheal’s jaw clenched. He knew exactly what she meant.

The techniques their families had forbidden them from using casually. The inherited skills passed down through Imperial bloodlines that set them apart from common Nobles.

Their true trump cards.

"Fine."

Micheal’s voice was hard, determined.

"But if we’re using those, we use them together. All at once... no holding back."

Leonard and Iris nodded.

The three of them stepped back, creating distance from Damian.

Suddenly, their Auras changed as they intensified and transformed into something qualitatively different from before.

Micheal’s golden Aura began to solidify, taking physical form around his body like armor made of pure light. His eyes glowed with inner radiance.

"Imperial skill of House Thorne."

His voice resonated with power.

"Divine Aegis."

Golden wings of pure energy erupted from his back. His longsword blazed so brightly it hurt to look at directly. The pressure radiating from him multiplied several times over.

This was the Thorne family’s inherited skill. For short periods, they could transform their Aura into a divine construct that dramatically amplified their offensive and defensive capabilities.

It was this skill that had made their family one of the thirteen great powers.

Leonard’s grey Aura turned black as midnight, crackling with purple lightning that seemed to tear at the fabric of reality itself.

"Imperial skill of House Ashford."

His voice went cold, emotionless.

"Void Step."

His body flickered, becoming semi-transparent. He could now move through space itself for brief moments, making him nearly impossible to track or hit.

The Ashford family’s bloodline skill. Partial manipulation of spatial dimensions, allowing them to strike from impossible angles and avoid attacks by stepping briefly out of reality.

Iris’s blue Aura condensed into flowing liquid that covered her entire body like a second skin. Her rapier dissolved completely, reforming as pure water that could change shape at will.

"Imperial skill of House Langsten."

Her voice was calm now, focused.

"Oceanic Form."

Her body became partially liquid, able to flow around attacks and reform instantly. Her strikes could come from any direction as the water extended and retracted at her command.

The Langsten family’s inherited skill. Temporary transformation into a water-state being, granting both incredible defense and unpredictable offense.

All three skill active simultaneously.

The combined pressure was monstrous. Students at the edge of the crowd were forced to their knees, unable to stand under the weight of three awakened Imperial bloodlines.

Even Edrin, Ronan, and Lysa stumbled backward, their faces pale.

"Boss..."

Ronan’s voice was barely a whisper.

"Can he really handle this?"

They’d never seen anything like this before. These weren’t just powerful techniques. These were the legendary skills that defined the ruling families of the Federation.

Adrian watched from the sidelines with intense focus, his analytical mind cataloging every detail.

’So... they were forced to use the inherited skills as well.

Can he handle it?’

But his eyes kept returning to Damian, who still hadn’t moved.

He still stood with his arms crossed as he tilted his head in boredom.

"Attack."

Micheal’s voice was commanding.

All three of them moved as one.

Micheal came from above, his divine wings propelling him through the air at incredible speed. His longsword, now blazing with holy light, came down in an overhead strike that would split a building in half.

Leonard flickered in and out of reality, his void-step ability making him appear and disappear around Damian. Each flicker was accompanied by a strike from his lightning-wreathed daggers aimed at vital points.

Iris flowed around Damian like a living tide, her water form attacking from every angle simultaneously. Dozens of water-blades formed and thrust toward him from all directions.

The combined assault was overwhelming and beautiful in its coordinated destruction.

Any normal student would have been obliterated in seconds.

BOOM.

Micheal’s divine blade struck Damian’s shoulder with the force of a meteor.

The impact created a shockwave that shattered windows in nearby buildings.

Leonard’s daggers found their marks, purple lightning exploding across Damian’s torso in a dozen places.

Iris’s water-blades converged from every direction, each one sharp enough to cut through steel.

For a moment, Damian was completely obscured by the combined attacks.

Golden light, purple lightning and flowing water, all converging on a single point.

The watching students held their breath.

Surely no one could survive that right?

The energy dissipated soon.

And what came in their sight was...

Damian, still standing in the same spot!

His uniform was torn now, burned in places from the lightning and slashed from the water-blades.

And his shoulder had a cut that was bleeding.

The first real injury they’d managed to inflict!

But it was shallow and barely more than a scratch despite Micheal’s full power behind it.

Damian looked down at the blood running down his arm.

Then he looked back up at the three heirs with that same bored expression.

"Congratulations. You actually made me bleed a little."

He wiped the blood with his finger and examined it.

"But is this really the best the great Imperial families can do? Is this the extent of the legendary inherited skills that supposedly make you untouchable?

Or... is it that you guys are just too weak?"

His voice dripped with contempt.

"Pathetic."

Micheal’s face went white with shock and helplessness.

"How are you still standing!? That attack should have torn you apart!"

"You are just too weak."

Damian’s Slaughter Intent suddenly exploded outward with devastating force.

The dark red Aura became visible to everyone, swirling around him like flames from hell itself.

Students at the edge of the crowd screamed and ran as soon as the Slaughter Intent was released to its highest capacity.

The pressure was too much, their survival instincts overriding everything else, filling them with absolute fear!

"It’s my turn now."

Damian finally uncrossed his arms.

"And I don’t even need my weapon to beat you."

He moved.

He didn’t use Sonic Blink but just raw speed from his absurd physical stats.

One moment he was standing still and the next moment... he was in front of Micheal, who was still airborne from his diving attack thanks to his wings.

Damian’s fist, coated in Slaughter Intent and dark crimson Aura, drove into Micheal’s stomach.

CRACK.

The divine armor shattered like glass.

Micheal’s eyes bulged as all the air exploded from his lungs. Blood sprayed from his mouth.

Damian grabbed him by the face while he was still reeling and drove him into the ground.

BOOM.

The impact cratered the courtyard floor as cracks spread around the entire floor like a spider-web.

Micheal’s divine wings flickered and died and his golden Aura sputtered weakly.

Leonard tried to attack from behind, using his void-step to appear directly behind Damian’s head with both daggers thrust forward.

Damian’s hand shot backward without even looking... his perception stat was so high, he didn’t even need to look around with eyes.

He caught Leonard’s wrist mid-strike.

"Cute trick."

He yanked Leonard forward and headbutted him so hard the crack of breaking bone echoed across the courtyard.

Leonard’s nose exploded in blood. His void-step ability flickered and failed as his concentration shattered.

Damian spun and threw him at Iris.

Iris tried to flow around the incoming body using her water form, but Damian was already there.

His foot caught her in the stomach before she could complete the transformation.

BOOM.

The kick folded her in half and sent her flying backward. She crashed through a stone bench, her water form dispersing involuntarily from the impact.

She tried to reform, water gathering around her.

Damian was on her before she could complete it.

His hand grabbed her throat and lifted her off the ground.

"Your family’s ability is interesting. Shame you’re too weak to use it properly."

He slammed her into the ground once... Twice... Three times.

Each impact drove her deeper into the cracked earth.

By the third hit, her Aura completely gave out and she went limp.

Micheal was trying to stand, blood pouring from his mouth, his divine armor completely gone.

"Stay down, Golden boy."

Damian’s voice was cold.

"You don’t need to get back up."

BAM BAM BAM

His boot caught Micheal in the ribs, sending him flying.

Then again... And again.

Damian was methodical and completely brutal.

Each kick was precisely placed to maximize pain without causing permanent damage.

The crowd watched in absolute horror as their first-ranked student, their Student Council representative, their golden prince, got beaten like a common thug.

Leonard tried one more void-step, appearing beside Damian with a desperate last attack.

Damian caught his wrist again.

And this time, he twisted it completely.

SNAP.

Leonard’s wrist broke. His dagger fell from nerveless fingers.

Damian’s other hand grabbed Leonard’s shoulder and pulled.

POP.

"Ahhh!!"

The shoulder was completely dislocated as Leonard screamed.

"Last time, Gareth saved your ass."

Damian’s voice was utterly calm despite the violence.

"And yet... you foolishly went against me again.

You better know your place now, ant."

He released Leonard, who collapsed to his knees clutching his ruined arm before finishing his sentence.

"It’s below my foot."

Then he put his foot on Leonard’s humiliated face and pressed it to the ground.

BAM

All three Imperial heirs lay broken on the ground.

Their legendary skills, their family treasures, their intensive training, their SS ranked talents...

None of it mattered.

Damian stood over them, barely even breathing hard, while they gasped and bled and whimpered.

The silence was absolute.

Every single person watching understood what they’d just witnessed.

This wasn’t a fight between students... but a completely one-sided humiliation.

It was a declaration that there was only one person who ruled the First year.

And his name was... Damian Valcor.

Damian’s cold crimson eyes swept across the massive crowd.

"Anyone else wanna lecture me on my violence?"