I am Villain Cultivator
Chapter 43: Kaal vs Kevin

Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Kaal vs Kevin

The arena pulsed with anticipation.

Disciples leaned forward in their seats, elders sharpened their spiritual senses, and even the torches seemed to burn brighter as the air thickened with tension. The match was about to resume genius of the Kilvish Clan vs the Storm clan, a clash that would decide more than just victory. It would determine pride.

Divya stood at the centre, her twin chakrams still humming faintly from her earlier display. She had been ready to fight, knowing full well the cost. But then—

Kaal approached.

His crimson eyes locked onto hers, his voice low but carrying the weight of absolute certainty.

"I will face Kevin first." A pause. "If you disagree, I’ll fight you instead."

The unspoken threat hung between them.

’She knows,’ Kaal thought. ’In the second round, I could kill her. She’s no match for me, not after I awakened Blood Manipulation. I need a real fight. Kevin is a perfect opponent.’

Divya studied him the way his snow-white hair seemed to shimmer with latent power, the way his presence alone made the air feel heavier. She exhaled sharply.

"Fine. You face him first."

Without another word, she turned and strode from the arena, her chakrams vanishing into spatial storage. The crowd murmured, some in disappointment, others in relief.

Kevin watched her go, then smirked at Kaal.

"Before coming here," he said, rolling his shoulders as lightning crackled along his arms, "I thought no one in the Kilvish Clan could challenge me. But after seeing your fight in the True Dragon Competition..." His grin widened. "You might just be the one to make me go all out."

Kaal didn’t smile. His expression remained cold, his voice even colder.

"Hopefully, you can do the same for me."

The arrogance in his tone matched Kevin’s own.

Elder Varun, standing at the edge of the arena, suppressed an eye roll.

’Ah, the pride of geniuses,’ he thought wryly. ’You two should remember even an outer elder is still an elder.’

With a pointed cough, he raised his voice.

"The match between Kaal Kilvish and Kevin Haze... begins!"

A thunderclap echoed through the arena as Kevin Haze moved.

"Storm Step!"

Lightning Qi surged around his legs, propelling him forward in a streak of blue-white fury. His spear, Heaven’s Wrath, hummed with pent-up energy as he thrust it toward Kaal’s heart, a technique honed to pierce even mountain rock.

Kaal didn’t flinch. At the last possible moment, he tilted his left shoulder, letting the spear tip whistle past his ribs, missing by a hair’s breadth.

Kevin’s eyes narrowed. A fluke

Without breaking momentum, he pivoted on his right foot, the spear whipping around in a deadly arc "First Fang: Thunderwolf!" The attack curved like a predator’s lunge, aiming to rip through Kaal’s retreat.

Kaal took two casual steps back, and the spear tore through empty air once more.

Silence.

Kevin’s grip tightened. That wasn’t luck.

"What’s wrong?" Kaal’s voice was bored, almost lazy. "Should I stand still so you can finally land a hit, little Storm Dragon?"

The taunt hung in the air, sharp as a blade.

Behind Kaal’s crimson eyes, the Mind Eye pulsed a perception gifted by his Origin Core. Every twitch of Kevin’s muscles, every shift in his Qi Kaal, saw it all before it happened. Combined with his physical prowess, boosted to early Blessing Realm despite his Foundation Realm cultivation, Kevin might as well have been moving through mud.

Kevin’s teeth ground together. "Let’s see if you stay this cocky after this."

Then—

BOOM.

A crushing aura erupted from Kevin, shaking the arena stones. The air itself warped under the pressure of his true strength, the unrestrained might of a Blessing Realm cultivator.

Disciples in the front rows gasped, some stumbling back. Even Elder Varun’s eyebrows rose.

A collective gasp tore through the arena as Kevin Haze’s true power erupted. Blessing Realm aura, vast and unrelenting, pressed down upon the stadium like a living storm.

"Seventeen years old..." murmured Patriarch Charles, his fingers tightening imperceptibly around his armrest. Beside him, Grand Elder William’s face had gone utterly still. The gap between Foundation and Blessing Realms wasn’t something one crossed through talent alone; it demanded soul-deep enlightenment, a communion with the heavens to awaken one’s innate gift. Even the most monstrous geniuses of history had breached it in their mid-twenties.

Yet here stood Kevin, a genius who defined this logic, a millennium genius, a monster.

"Storm steps," Kevin once again started with this footwork, but this time the lighting around him is that more threatening.

Crack!

Kevin vanished in a bolt of lightning, reappearing mid-lunge with his spear carving a furious arc "First Fang: Thunderwolf!"

This time, the attack carried the full weight of his Blessing Realm might.

Kaal’s Mind Eye flared, predicting the trajectory, but his body, still bound by Foundation Realm limits, lagged. The spear tip grazed his chin, drawing a thin line of crimson.

A single drop of blood fell.

Kevin skidded to a halt, his smirk widening as he twirled his spear. "Should I slow down, Twin Shadow Dragon?" The title dripped with mockery. "No, perhaps One Shadow Dragon is more fitting now, since the other already fell."

Silence. This was the same move that Kevin used against Kaal, but now this same move has a different result, as Kevin wanted to show who is stronger.

Then—

Kaal lifted his thumb, slowly wiping the blood away. His crimson eyes burned brighter, his voice colder than glacial ice.

"Reaching the Blessing Realm might be your only chance at victory." A pause. "Because in equal realms?"

The ground beneath him fractured.

"I’ve never lost." Saying this, Kaal, an Axe appear in both his hands.

The crowd held their breath as Kaal stepped forward, his eyes glowing crimson, and his presence far different from before. The arena trembled under the weight of his aura.

From behind his back, he drew forth a massive battle axe, its surface etched with strange, shifting runes. But what caught everyone’s attention wasn’t just the weapon; it was the aura that began to swirl around it.

A deep, regal pressure burst out.

Azure Qi coiled like serpents around the blade, and an axe aura manifested violently, sharp, and vast like crashing waves. And within it, something ancient stirred.

In that moment, Kaal took a deep breath. Then, he muttered:

"Dark Emperor Sword: Second Move Sea Severing."

A sword move executed through an axe.

Gasps rippled through the crowd. Even the elders sat forward in surprise. He had merged the Dark Emperor Sword technique with his axe arts, an integration no ordinary cultivator could attempt, much less execute flawlessly.

But Kaal wasn’t done.

He raised one hand, and with a flash of blood-red light, a thick mist exploded outward.

The battlefield was instantly swallowed.

It rolled like fog but stung like acid, filling the arena with a pungent metallic scent.

"Blood mist...!" someone exclaimed.

Far above, Charles Kilvish narrowed his eyes. He watched with silent awe as the red fog devoured the stage.

"Where did he obtain this strange blood mist? What has he become?" Charles thought grimly. "Is it finally time to question him about his transformation?"

Unbeknownst to the rest, Kaal had awakened blood manipulation after devouring the Blood Queen Bee, a rare and sinister talent that was now showing its true power.

In the centre of the mist, Kevin Haze stood still, lightning crackling faintly across his body. But for the first time, the arrogant young prodigy looked uneasy.

He couldn’t see.

Not a step ahead. Not a whisper of Qi from the enemy. Only the blood mist clung to his skin like damp silk, leeching his senses.

And then—

Swish.

A gust of Qi whispered behind him. A cold, killing intent pressed against his spine.

Too late.

Kaal had closed in silently, his axe glowing with azure light and shadowed by the blade aura of Sea Severing.

"Got you," Kaal whispered.

With a mighty swing, the axe descended like a tidal wave, silent but fatal.

But just as the blade was about to land, Kevin roared and released his talent [Thunderstorm]

"Thunderstorm Domain—Tempest Wrath!"

With a deafening boom, lightning erupted from his body in all directions. A sudden cyclone of thunder and wind burst forth, tearing across the arena.

A monstrous tornado, infused with elemental Qi, spun wildly, its winds crackling with thunder, ripping apart the blood mist like paper.

The crowd could barely keep their eyes open. The very sky above flickered between red mist and electric blue.

When the dust settled, the stage was laid bare once more.

The blood mist was gone, swept away by the hurricane. The arena floor was scarred with cuts and burns, and the air sizzled with raw energy.

At the centre of it all, Kevin stood, breathing hard, his arms raised defensively.

Just a few meters behind him, Kaal held his axe, the edge of the blade flickering with crimson and blue light.

Both fighters were uninjured... but the battle had only just begun.