Reborn As Noble

Edmund's body trembled as the crushing gravity forced him to his knees.

He gritted his teeth, struggling to even raise his head.

Every fiber of his being was straining under the unseen force.

Before him, the youth casually wiped the blood from his forehead with a clean cloth, not a hint of urgency in his movement.

Not a trace of injury on his body.

No cracked bones. No torn skin. No bruises.

Just calm… terrifying calm.

Edmund's eyes narrowed.

"…That wound…" he muttered under his breath. "It's gone?"

Javier tucked the bloodied cloth into his pocket, then gave a serene smile as he met Edmund's gaze.

"Old man…" his voice was unhurried, yet it cut through the suffocating pressure like a knife, "…you can still move, right?"

Edmund's brow twitched.

Javier tilted his head slightly, that smile still lingering.

"Didn't you just say… what was it again?"

He raised his palm mockingly, gesturing like he was remembering something trivial.

"Ah. That's right. You said you were only using five percent of your power and your Celestial's power."

The moment he finished the sentence, the gravity intensified.

The ground beneath Edmund cracked violently.

His knees hit the earth, and his arms shook uncontrollably as he tried to push himself up.

Javier's smile faded slightly, turning into something colder.

"So tell me, old man… is that five percent?"

"…You bastard…" Edmund growled through clenched teeth.

Javier's eyes narrowed, his voice now a notch deeper.

"Because if it is…"

He raised his hand higher.

"…Then I'll show you what five percent really looks like."

The air cracked. A golden aura began to form around his palm.

The earth quivered beneath their feet.

And the sky above began to distort.

"You better move and use your power now, old man… and you too, Celestial~" he said, voice light, almost bored.

"If not… you know what happens next."

He drew a white cube from his pocket and let it rest on his palm.

Edmund's jaw tightened. "Let me borrow more power!!"

Fine. Use everything you've got. The voice inside him purred.

In the next instant, black-and-crimson energy flooded Edmund's body. The ground erupted into concentric craters beneath his feet as his frame snapped erect, muscle cords pulsing, veins glowing like molten rivers beneath the skin.

Behind him, the Celestial's outline flickered, wings spread wide, a monstrous silhouette hungry for blood.

Javier tilted his head, the cube still balanced on his hand.

"Oh? Now you're taking me seriously?"

Edmund stepped forward, and the pressure rolled ahead like a wave. The air warped. Stones lifted and turned to dust in midair.

Edmund snapped. Dark energy exploded from his hands in layered bursts, some straight, some arcing, some curving to catch Javier in his blind spots.

Javier raised his palm. Light wrapped his fingers.

Each blast was dismissed with casual precision, redirected into the torn ground where they exploded harmlessly at a distance. He didn't chase. He didn't rush. He simply erased everything that came near him.

The gravity around Edmund spiked again. His heel sank another inch into the shattered stone. A growl rumbled in his throat. He forced his body forward, shattering the floor beneath each step, and swung a straight brutal punch.

"Die, you piece of SHIT!!!"

Javier tilted his head by the smallest amount. The punch skimmed past his cheek. His free hand tapped Edmund's wrist and redirected it. Another strike came, then a knee, then an elbow. Javier's responses remained the same: one-step pivots, weight shifts, open-hand redirects.

"Still five percent?"

Javier asked, eyes amused. The cube turned once on his palm as if it weighed nothing.

Edmund snarled and drove a burst of power into the ground.

The sudden surge loosened gravity for a heartbeat; he vanished from sight and reappeared above, hurling a compressed mass of darkness downward like a falling star.

The pressure clawed at the earth, tearing a long wound through the forested ridge behind Javier.

Javier planted one foot, drew a line through the air with his palm, and split the attack in two. The halves curved away from him and detonated far to his left and right, throwing dirt and bark into the sky.

"You talk big for a borrowed body,"

Javier said, eyes flicking to Edmund's trembling forearm. "That power is eating you from the inside."

"Push more", the Celestial hissed. "Crush him. Grind him down."

Edmund forced more power through his veins. The edges of the world dimmed as his aura thickened, turning the battlefield hot and sickly. He blurred again, appearing at Javier's side with a sweeping kick.

Javier lifted his knee and blocked the shin cleanly. The impact cracked stone, but his expression stayed calm. He slid his foot down Edmund's leg, stepped in, and with a slight twist of his wrist pressed two fingers to Edmund's collarbone.

Gravity slammed into that one point. Edmund's body bent under the sudden weight, joints screaming as the ground sank another inch.

"Move," Javier said softly. "You said you could."

Edmund roared and blasted outward in every direction, not careful shots this time, just raw, crushing power meant to erase space itself. The air screamed. The ground peeled away. For a moment, even the gravity field buckled.

Javier's smile thinned. The cube's edges caught a pale gleam as he rolled it to his fingertips. "Alright, old man. Here's my five percent."

Light poured from his arm, not bright, just dense, like a weight of radiance. He stepped once. The distance vanished. His palm touched Edmund's sternum.

The world pressed down.

Cracks spidered outward. Edmund's knees hit hard. His breath stalled, eyes burning with rage and a hint of fear he tried to hide. The Celestial behind him flickered, wings pressing against an invisible ceiling.

"Stand," Javier said. "Or I'll assume that was your limit."

Edmund forced out through clenched teeth. "I—I haven't—started!"

"Good." Javier lowered his hand, gravity easing just enough to let Edmund move. The cube rested back in his palm, unreadable. "Don't bore me."

Dark energy coiled again around Edmund's fists. He lunged faster, meaner. Javier met him, light rippling along his forearms, feet carving small craters with each pivot.

No wasted motion.

No panic.

Every exchange shattered more ground, each step a choice: let darkness pass or crush it flat.

"Use more," Javier said, batting aside another wild surge.

"You bragged, remember? Show me the part worth fearing."

The Celestial howled. Edmund answered with a wordless scream and pressed forward, power peaking once more.

Javier's smile returned. The white cube turned once between his fingers, patient.

( End Of Chapter )