"Are you kidding me? This is the first time I've seen someone voluntarily come on stage just to get beaten." Aso Koji scratched his head, drawing a burst of laughter from the crowd.
Faced with the ridicule, Silvain silently raised his middle finger at Koji and his lackeys.
As soon as Silvain calmly raised his middle finger, they exploded with anger. A few hot-tempered students couldn't wait to rush up and land a few punches on him.
"Baka! Aso-kun, teach him a lesson!"
"Aso Koji, get down. I'll fight him myself!"
Yuuji and the others were completely dumbfounded. If they had known Silvain had such an incredible ability to attract hatred, they never would've let him step up.
"Very good. I can't wait to get started." Aso Koji stood at the center of the ring, so furious that his chest was heaving, his molars grinding with rage. He looked like he wanted to crush Silvain right there.
Seeing how enraged everyone was, Silvain just laughed.
His smile was extremely insulting.
Aso Koji didn't even wait for the referee to signal the start. He swung his wooden sword directly at Silvain. The sword cut through the air with a sharp whistle, and just as it was about to hit, the audience widened their eyes instinctively, afraid to miss the moment.
"Too slow, Aso-san. Haven't you eaten enough?" He returned what Aso had said to Yuuji earlier, and to be honest, Silvain found his speed laughable. With his current swordsmanship, he could predict the angle and force of the swing instantly.
He lightly stepped back twice. Aso Koji's sword tip barely missed his chest by a centimeter.
Pa! In the next second, Silvain's blade landed cleanly on the back of Aso Koji's hand. The strike hit a nerve, making Aso Koji cry out in pain and instinctively grab his injured hand.
"You're not much better. If this is the level of my upperclassmen, it's honestly hard to believe."
Just like Aso Koji did earlier, every time he landed a hit, he made sure to ridicule his opponent.
Aso Koji knew that Silvain was trying to anger him on purpose. He tried to stay calm, but he could no longer keep up with Silvain's rhythm, let alone see his sword movements clearly.
After a few more exchanges.
Aso Koji was already drenched in sweat, while Silvain remained relaxed and composed.
The entire room fell silent. Every pair of eyes was filled with shock. None of them had ever seen someone completely toy with Aso Koji like this. It was unthinkable. Their entire worldview was collapsing.
"Too weak, Aso-san."
Aso Koji collapsed to the ground in pain, though he still gripped his wooden sword—Silvain had deliberately avoided injuring the hand holding the weapon.
"Baka! I'm gonna kill you!" Aso Koji could feel the judgmental stares from the crowd. In a sudden burst of rage, he jumped up and swung his sword at Silvain's lower body. It was a dirty move—duel etiquette normally forbade attacks below the belt, especially with no protection.
The sudden, shocking move made several people in the crowd gasp, and Yuuji and his friends shouted in alarm.
"Silvain, watch out for the sneak attack!"
But on stage, Silvain had already anticipated that Aso Koji would make a desperate move. With a pa sound, he knocked the wooden sword from Aso Koji's hand. At the same time, his own blade was already pointed at Aso Koji's throat.
The referee, having just snapped back to his senses, quickly rushed in to separate them.
Aso Koji remained frozen in place, dazed, his eyes vacant.
"Still in a daze? It's over," Silvain said flatly.
"Impossible… it must be you… you…" Aso Koji couldn't bring himself to say the word "cheating." Instead, he mumbled, "If I hadn't used up my stamina fighting Yuuji, I wouldn't have lost to you."
Seeing how stubborn Aso Koji was, Silvain turned to the upperclassmen.
Then he smiled and raised his middle finger again.
"Bastard! Don't think we're afraid of you!"
Repeatedly insulted, several of them could no longer hold back. They all raised their wooden swords and charged the stage.
"What, not convinced?"
Silvain casually flicked his sword, producing a graceful sword movement. Honestly, he didn't take these guys seriously at all.
Cries of pain followed. The few who had rushed up aggressively were now clutching their right hands, groaning in agony.
The scene stunned Yuuji. At that moment, one sentence Silvain had said earlier suddenly echoed in his mind:
"I used to study this for a while. It's a pretty fun sport."
"This isn't just 'studying for a while.' I don't think even professional swordsmen could compare to Silvain…"
While still dazed, Yuuji felt a hand on his shoulder. Silvain had stepped down from the stage and spoke casually.
"Think I can apply for iron sword training now? This thing's too light."
Yuuji snapped back to reality, his face flushing with excitement. He nodded rapidly, like a chicken pecking rice.
"Absolutely! No problem at all! You're going to be famous after this. I guarantee the whole school will know your name tomorrow."
Right now, Silvain had become the idol of many members of the Kendo Club.
Not quite used to this sudden idol treatment, Silvain quickly walked out of the crowd. Under Yuuji's guidance, he successfully applied for a steel training sword for daily use.
Walking through the streets of Tokyo, Silvain carried a long object wrapped in black cloth on his back. From the faint smile at the corners of his mouth, it was clear he was in a good mood. No wonder Homelander wanted the world to worship him. This feeling of being admired really was something else.
However, Silvain didn't let himself get lost in that feeling for too long. He had never forgotten his true goal—to become the ultimate being, he never wanted to relive those three paralyzed years, the worst of his life. Everything else was just an illusion.
The sky grew darker.
The path Silvain walked led to increasingly deserted areas.
He vaguely remembered that in the original series, Parasytes usually hunted down lone humans in remote places.
Rustle… Under the moonlight, a crooked-neck shadow stretched across the road behind him.
(To be continued.)