Strongest Existence Becomes Teacher

Chapter 273: Reality Check

Ron lay on the shattered ground unable to move properly, his entire body screaming in pain. Through the strange thermal perception he had awakened, he could sense Ul standing directly in front of him while holding Ron’s own black spear. The sharp tip slowly aligned itself toward his throat.

Death was right there.

Ron tried forcing his body to move, but his muscles barely responded.

I have to get up... I have to dodge...

But another thought entered his mind.

Why is this happening...?

What went wrong with mine and Lia’s life...?

Through the burning outlines of his thermal vision, he sensed Ul thrust the spear downward.

Damn it...!

Then—

A familiar voice echoed calmly inside his head.

Let me help you a bit, kid...

The next moment, Ron suddenly sensed Ul was no longer standing in front of him.

He was behind him now.

Ron became confused instantly.

What happened...?

How am I here...?

He tried moving his body but quickly realized something strange—

He couldn’t control it anymore.

Suddenly the battlefield disappeared.

Ron found himself standing inside a dark empty space while watching the battle from a third-person perspective. He could see his own body standing there smirking confidently at Ul.

"Come on, Abyssal... show me what you can do."

Ron froze.

Then he realized something even stranger.

He could hear again.

His eyes widened as he quickly touched his ears. They were normal. His vision had also returned completely.

"What is happening...?" Ron muttered in confusion. "This is so weird..."

Then he suddenly felt a hand rest on top of his head.

Ron flinched and immediately turned around.

The moment he saw the familiar black-haired figure standing behind him, shock and relief hit him at the same time.

"Professor...!"

Before he even realized it himself, Ron stepped forward and hugged him tightly.

Zane smiled faintly and patted his head once. "How are you, kid?"

Ron quickly stepped back again, still overwhelmed. "What’s happening, Professor?"

Zane casually looked toward the battlefield outside as if this entire situation was nothing unusual to him.

"I was watching the battle from outside," he said while pointing toward Ul. "I thought you would be able to handle him... but it seems he’s too strong for the current you."

Then his gaze shifted toward Maera lying on the ground.

"And Maera... if she had used her full power from the start, the two of you could’ve defeated him together. But she wanted to figure out his ability first and got overwhelmed instead."

Ron listened quietly at first, but then frustration suddenly rose inside him.

"Professor..." His fists clenched slightly. "You said you were watching us fight... then why didn’t you help?"

Even while saying it, Ron knew how desperate he sounded.

"If not me... at least Lia and the others..."

But the moment he looked up at Zane again, his words stopped in his throat.

Zane wasn’t angry.

That was what made it worse.

The disappointment in his eyes felt heavier than rage.

"Why didn’t I help?" Zane repeated calmly. "To do what? Save you?"

Ron instinctively lowered his gaze.

"Is that really what you want, Ron?"

The dark space around them remained silent except for Zane’s voice.

"I save you all again and again... and then what? "

"Let the same thing repeats that happened in my absence of six month."

His expression remained calm, but every word struck heavily.

"In my absence, you and Lia got yourselves kidnapped. You still don’t even know where Jax is."

"Or whether he is alive or dead."

Ron’s body stiffened.

"Me protecting you over and over again made you all weak," Zane continued. "What happens if I disappear again and you end up in another situation like this? What will you do then?"

"Blame me?"

"Blame yourself?"

"Blame fate?"

"Destiny?"

Ron remained silent.

He couldn’t answer.

Because deep down, he knew Zane was right.

Then Zane looked directly into his eyes.

"And tell me something, Ron. If I went down there right now and defeated those Abyssals myself... the same Abyssals possessing your brother and Lia’s sister..."

His voice lowered slightly.

"Would you truly feel satisfied?"

Ron’s eyes widened.

"That you couldn’t do anything yourself to free your sibling from that torment."

"That someone else had to do it. because you were being a pathetic weakling and Coward."

"Is that really what you want?"

The dark space became silent again.

Ron slowly lowered his head, shame filling him completely.

Everything Zane said was true.

If Zane saved him now, it would only solve this moment temporarily. Ron would remain the same weak person who depended on his professor every single time things became difficult.

Slowly, Ron clenched his fists tighter.

Then he raised his head again.

This time, his eyes held determination.

"...I’m sorry, Professor."

"That won’t happen again."

"You won’t see such a pathetic side of me anymore."

A faint smirk appeared on Zane’s face.

"That’s the spirit."

Ron took a deep breath before speaking again. "Now send me back, Professor. I’ll defeat him myself."

But unexpectedly—

Zane shook his head.

"No."

Ron blinked in confusion. "What?"

"But you just said not to rely on you anymore. And you’re right... this is my fight. I have to defeat the thing possessing my brother."

"I know," Zane replied calmly. "But that thing is still too strong for you right now."

Then he smiled slightly.

"That’s why I’m going to teach you something."

Ron stared at him in confusion while Zane pointed toward the battlefield where Ron’s body was still fighting Ul.

"I’ll use your body and show you a move. While I fight, you observe carefully. Find his weakness. Think of countermeasures."

Zane’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"I have limited time inside your body because your current body is still too weak for me."

Then he looked back toward Ron.

"You understand?"

Ron stayed silent for a moment before smiling and nodding firmly.

"Yes, sir."

"Good."

And the next instant—

Zane vanished.

Back to present—

Ron— or more accurately, Zane controlling Ron’s body — smiled slightly while holding the black spear over his shoulder.

"You could say..."

"I’m an angel sent from above."

Then he casually pointed upward toward the sky.

Ul stared at him with his usual emotionless expression.

"...What is an angel?"

Ron blinked once.

Then rolled his eyes.

"Man, you seriously don’t know what an angel is?"

A sigh escaped him.

"And whatever..."

"I’ll just do what I came here to do."

The next instant—

Boom.

Ron vanished from his spot.

Ul’s four eyes sharpened instantly as Ron appeared directly in front of him with a thrust of the spear.

Clang!

Ul blocked using his long black claws, and sparks exploded across the ruined hall from the collision.

The ground beneath both of them cracked under the force.

Ul’s expression remained mostly straight as he spoke while continuously exchanging blows with Ron.

"I am surprised..."

"You can still hear me despite me stealing your hearing."

His claws slashed toward Ron’s neck.

"Is this some form of secondary hearing?"

Ron twisted his body smoothly and dodged before swinging the spear upward.

"I am reading your lips, dumbass."

Clang!

The spear and claws collided again.

But this time—

Ul suddenly smelled burning flesh.

His eyes shifted slightly downward.

The area where Ron’s spear touched his claws was glowing red-hot.

His black nails were slowly melting.

And his flesh was burning.

For the first time since the battle started, Ul’s expression visibly changed.

Meanwhile, Ron casually spoke as if teaching a lesson.

"The problem with your flames before..."

"Was that you kept releasing the heat outward too much."

His spear spun once in his hand before another thrust exploded toward Ul.

"Instead of spreading the heat outside..."

"Condense it."

"Compress it inside the weapon."

"Make the heat denser."

Ul dodged backward while staring at the spear cautiously now.

The blue flames around black spear had become strangely thin compared to before.

Almost invisible.

Yet infinitely more dangerous.

Ron continued speaking calmly.

"Same thing with your body."

"Minimize the mana leaking outside."

The already-thin bluish-white mana coating around Ron’s body became even thinner.

Almost nonexistent now.

Yet the air around him distorted from heat alone.

Ul’s expression shifted slightly again.

For the first time—

There was clear caution in his eyes.

"...What are you talking to yourself about?"

Ron jumped backward as well and rested the spear lightly against his shoulder.

Then a smirk appeared on his face.

"Oh?"

"Is your little poker face finally breaking?"

Ron lightly spun the black spear in his hand while the thin bluish-white mana coating around him continued shrinking.

Despite the mana becoming thinner and thinner...

The pressure coming from him only increased.

The surrounding air distorted from pure heat alone.

Even the floor beneath his feet had begun turning black.

"Now," Ron said casually, "after following everything I did, your strength and speed will increase tremendously."

He glanced sideways at his own arm.

"But..."

"There’s a price."

Ul remained silent while cautiously observing him.

Ron continued,

"If the body is too weak, this method ruins it."

The bluish-white mana around his body condensed even further.

"So I’m only using twenty percent of its full power."

Ul’s brows furrowed slightly.

"...What are you talking about?"

The next moment—

Boom.

Ul instantly moved.

His long black claws slashed toward Ron at terrifying speed.

Clang!

Ron blocked with his spear, but the moment Ul’s claws touched him—

Sizzle.

Ul’s nails immediately began melting.

The skin on his fingers burned black from contact alone.

A pungent smell of burnt flesh spread through the hall.

Before Ul could react further—

Boom.

Ron kicked him directly in the stomach.

Ul slid backward violently.

Then his eyes shifted downward.

A burning footprint was engraved deeply into his torso.

The flesh around it sizzled and regenerated simultaneously.

Ron calmly rested the spear on his shoulder again.

"And now..."

"You release all the force condensed within the spear..."

"But only from a single point."

His smirk widened slightly.

"The attack itself will expand afterward."

Ul’s four eyes widened slightly.

Then—

Ron vanished.

Boom.

The floor exploded apart from sheer speed.

Even Ul barely managed to react.

Ron appeared directly before him while holding the spear in a thrusting stance.

The spearhead glowed with terrifying bluish-white heat.

Then suddenly—

The glow condensed further.

Traveling toward the very tip of the spear.

Compressing into a single microscopic point.

Ul instinctively tried dodging sideways.

Ron thrust.

For one brief instant—

Nothing happened.

Then—

BOOOOOOM.

A concentrated blue beam erupted from the spear tip.

The moment it traveled forward, it expanded violently into a massive destructive blast.

Everything in its path disappeared.

The castle wall where the attack landed—

Evaporated completely.

The outside sky became fully visible through the gigantic opening left behind.

Dust and burning debris spread everywhere.

When the smoke slowly settled—

Ul stood there panting heavily.

His entire right forearm was gone.

Parts of his face had been burned away.

Though regeneration rapidly restored the damage—

For the first time since his descent—

His expression completely changed.

His poker face finally broken.

Ul smiled.

A smile filled with relief.

"...Y-You missed."

Ron smirked slightly.

"I know."

Ul’s eyes narrowed.

"...What?"

Ron’s smirk slowly disappeared.

"Time’s up."

Then his tone changed completely.

"It’s your turn now."

The confident relaxed aura vanished instantly.

Slowly—

His expression from smirking to serious again as blue-hot flame mana erupted around him once more.

"Yes, sir."