Wanting to Surpass the MC with the Greatest Harem.
Chapter 44: Final Trail

Chapter 44: Final Trail

The sky was blood-orange, the final kiss of daylight fading into deep violet. Torches blazed all around the Ghost Arena, their flames dancing wildly in the evening breeze.

Spectators lined the upper terraces—hundreds of deadly beautiful female warriors clad in black, silver, and crimson armor. They were silent, their glowing eyes fixed on the center stage.

Dominic stood alone.

He bore the bruises of his first two trials—scrapes from the twenty elite Ghost soldiers, welts and gashes from the mad female specter.

But now his posture was calm. He breathed steadily. His hands gripped the sword strapped to his back, but his eyes remained alert.

He didn’t know what the final trial would be. He stared at Lady Fares pleading for answers silently. But she waved her hands and...

Then... the doors creaked open.

The crowd shifted as a figure emerged.

Dominic’s eyes widened as he turned to see the figure.

Alice.

She stepped forward slowly, wearing a full Ghost uniform of flowing black armor etched with ghostly white symbols. Her twin swords rested at her back. Her hair was tied tightly behind her, and her expression was blank.

Too blank.

"Alice?" Dominic whispered. "What the hell is this?"

Above them, Lady Fares stood on a stone platform, her long black cape billowing behind her. She raised her voice.

"Final Trial: Kill the Ghost."

Gasps rippled through the crowd. To kill her own daughter just for a position? Damn! That was too cruel and devastating to be true. Killing her own daughter.

Alice’s hand twitched. She looked away.

Dominic turned his head up toward Lady Fares. "You want me to kill her?"

"The final trial is not just skill—it is loyalty. Strength. Sacrifice. If you cannot kill a Ghost, you cannot command them."

"But why her? Why your daughter? Are you looking for a way to kill her without bloodinh your hands?" Dominic asked himself silently as he stared at Lady Fares ’ cold eyes and then turned to see the black expression of Alice.

Dominic looked at Alice. His heart pounded. To kill the very one he had slept with. Damn! His harem members were indirectly against themselves now.

"No..." he muttered. "This is insane."

But Alice had already drawn her swords.

Her stance shifted into that of a warrior ready to end a fight.

"I’m sorry, Dom," she said softly. "I didn’t choose this. But it’s the path we’re on now. Let’s make it clean."

And then, she charged.

Dominic barely dodged the first strike. Her sword sliced through the air like a whip. The second came faster—he parried, and the third caught his arm, blood spraying.

He spun back and pulled his own sword free.

The two clashed in the center of the arena—steel on steel, their faces inches apart. Alice’s eyes held tears... but they didn’t stop her blade.

She struck low, aiming for his leg. He jumped back. She flipped forward and slashed upward in a deadly arc.

Dominic ducked, rolled, and countered with a backhand swing. Alice blocked it mid-spin and elbowed him in the gut.

He coughed, staggering back.

"Fight me, Dominic!" she shouted. "Don’t hold back!"

"You’re not my enemy!" he yelled.

Alice didn’t stop.

She twirled through the air, blades shimmering. Dominic parried the strikes, countered with quick jabs, but she dodged every one. Her Ghost speed was incredible—he’d never fought anyone like her before.

The crowd was locked in silence, eyes wide.

Dominic sighed disheartedly . He slashed forward with a strike powerful enough to crack the arena floor.

Alice flipped over it and delivered a spinning kick to his chest.

He flew back and slammed against the ground, coughing blood.

"Stop holding back!" she screamed, tears in her voice.

Dominic stood slowly, his shoulder bleeding now, lips cut.

And then, he did something unexpected.

He smiled.

"You want me to fight for real?"

He surged forward, blade glowing faintly with shadow. Alice met him with equal fury. Their swords crashed again—this time with raw intensity. Metal clanged and sparked with each strike.

Left swing. Block.

Right feint. Parry.

Elbow! Dodge! Kick! Slam!

They were moving faster than the eye could follow—twisting, ducking, leaping. A deadly ballet. Dominic caught her blade and twisted, disarming her briefly—but she spun, caught it mid-air, and reversed the grip.

Their swords clashed again.

Dominic roared and pushed her back with a flurry of brutal swings. Alice bled now—from her ribs, from her lip—but she did not stop. She struck like lightning, but he adapted.

He learned her rhythm.

Matched it.

And then—he bested it.

Dominic caught her next strike with his blade, slid under her stance, and swept her legs out from under her. She hit the ground with a sharp grunt.

He pointed the blade at her throat.

The crowd froze.

Alice’s chest rose and fell rapidly. Her eyes looked up into his. No fear. No begging. Just trust.

"You win," he whispered.

Dominic stood there, trembling. Then he dropped his sword.

"No," she said. "You don’t win like that. You have to kill me."

"I won’t, not ever." Dominic said.

Lady Fares stood slowly.

The arena glowed with a light from above—an ancient symbol of the Ghost Force appearing in the sky.

"Dominic," she called, voice echoing, "you have passed the final trial."

Murmurs ran through the Ghost Force. Confusion. Disbelief.

"The final trial was never to kill," Lady Fares continued. "It was to test your heart. Ghosts follow strength—but not brutality. They follow the one who can hold back even when blood demands vengeance. The one who can spare what others would slaughter."

Dominic helped Alice to her feet. She wiped her lip and smiled.

"You’re ready," she said softly.

The silence of the arena broke—first with a single cheer.

Then another.

Then a roar.

The Ghost Force raised their swords in salute. Beautiful, powerful women shouting his name.

"DOMINIC!"

"OUR GENERAL!"

"THE GHOST FLAME!"

He stood there, breathless, looking at Alice, then at Lady Fares, then at the sky.

The path was no longer ahead of him.

He had become the path.

He was General now.

And the real war was only just beginning.