The Exiled First-born of the Noble House. Rising to the Top With the Worthless Skill [Null Poison]

Reunion

(back to Chris POV)

After parting with Esta, I made my way to the main arena alongside Ralf.

I guess even Ralf was starting to feel a little nervous as he remained mostly quiet even though normally he couldn’t stay silent for two seconds straight.

And in truth, even me, having sensed Klaus with [Life Presence Sense] was starting to feel my heartbeat grow faster and faster.

It had been a while since I had seen Klaus. Not since he tried to kill me back at home.

He was my goal from the very start, and I was always keeping a track of his movements, it didn’t really feel like too much time had passed but, I was also looking forward to seeing what kind of reaction he’d have from seeing me.

Walking through what seemed like an entrance for competitors, I entered an extremely wide open area that was brightly lit.

In front of us was giant arena in the shape of an ellipse, so big that it was hard to believe that this was all still underground.

There was a five meter wall before the seating area for the audience began, and there were a bunch of iron doors on there, with clear marks of people having tried to desperately escape this place.

The floor seemed to be made of some kind of metal as well, and while it was clearly built to be extremely sturdy, you could still see a bunch of sharp marks made by weapons in the past.

And within this arena were two people.

One was a tall man, easily more than 2m in height, and he wasn’t just tall but wide as well, and the pressure coming off of him was intense.

Since I only had verbal info so I wasn’t certain but I assume that has to be Jill Drake the IVth.

Even the equipment he wore seemed top class but, well, when it comes to equipment, Ralf’s [EidosKarna] was definitely a level above even that.

But, his shield gave off a really dangerous feeling to me.

For a shield, that thing reeked of death, so I had a feeling it had some kind of secret.

Also…….beside that giant man stood another man, one very similar to myself in height.

Yes, it was indeed my very own brother, the man I had been chasing for so long—-Klaus.

From just size alone, you’d think that Drake was the stronger of the two of them but, the life presence being released by Klaus was on a whole different level.

Honestly, he had become a lot stronger than I could have ever imagined. I could tell just from sensing his life force and mana.

Unlike back then when he had just awoken as the [Sword Saint], his body had now grown to befit his title, and the physique of his body now matched his innate talent.

I could feel his personality just from his posture alone, and his expression had turned a lot worse as well.

We were twins, so I had heard we looked quite alike back in the day but, now, most won’t even think that we’re brothers.

His aura itself reeked of evil, and while I was no saint myself, but Klaus had clearly drenched himself into all sorts of villainy it seemed.

While being raised as a symbol of justice in public, in the dark he continued to involve himself in matters of the underworld.

His already warped personality had become twisted even further. I could tell the moment is saw him.

“Klaus, long time no see. Do you still remember me?”

I spoke up towards Klaus but, he continued to chat with Drake and didn’t respond back.

Here I was thinking I should at least have some kind of chat before the real thing but, if he was really not interested in it, I guess we can begin the battle straight away.

Thinking that, as soon as I reached towards Vendettatein, he moved his hands about exaggeratedly as he finally replied back.

“……….Ah? I didn’t even notice, but is that you Chris? And her I thought you had died some place after losing to me and running away. I honestly erased both your face and voice from my memory so I didn’t recognize you instantly.”

“You’re a shit liar. I know you had been desperately looking for me. But I killed both Carlo and Milworc who you sent to get me.”

“Now you’re the one who’s lying. How could a fucking [farmer] kill people like those?——your jokes are shit they make me wanna puke.”

His eyes opened wide and he spoke angrily.

As always, his boiling point remained a mystery. He was always so mentally unstable that it was creepy.

“Why would I lie? I worked quite hard to get really strong you know? Just so I can kill you, Klaus.”

“Ah, you really piss me off. Your face, the way you act and talk, everything pisses me the fuck off!!”

“Hey Klaus, wait a minute! Don’t go on a rampage just yet! At least let me run away first, okay!?”

Seeing Klaus snap, Drake spoke up in a panic.

Even those worse seemed to have hit a nerve as Klaus glared at Drake with killing intent, and then punched at him with a mana infused fist—–but stopped right before it hit his face.

“Drake, don’t get in my way. If this happens again……….I will kill you, understand?”

“Fine, I get it man! I won’t get in your way! Uh, l-look, that guy’s got a companion as well right, I’ll go and beat him instead! Okay?”

Hey should be classmates working towards becoming future heroes but, there was a clear master and servant relationship between Klaus and Drake, as Drake retreated out of genuine fear.

As Klaus gestured with a movement of his neck to go, he quickly moved his giant armoured body towards the entrance from which we came.

“Alright then, I guess I’ll go fight Drake……….don’t you dare lose, okay?”

“Yeah, you too Ralf, win, no matter what.”

As I replied that, Ralf forced a smile as he showed me a thumbs up.

And then, he followed after Drake and disappeared from the arena as well.

Now it was just me and Klaus left inside the arena, and silence took over with no audience to cheer us on.

Since there was no point talking further, we both took stance with our swords, and our battle to the death finally began in earnest.