"Okay, seems like you have the skill to back your cockiness," Lain said.

The aether sword crashed into his glabella, dissolving into a mist of aether.

Silas was not surprised. Such an attack was never meant to harm a person like Lain.

They broke the lock, both opponents staring at each other.

"Now, try to keep up."

Those were Lain’s words to Silas as his form flickered out of sight.

Silas furrowed his brows.

The next thing he saw was a shade of red flash into his sight.

Silas reacted on instinct, leaping backward, narrowly evading the slash aimed at his throat.

"Hah!"

Silas yelled as a blade of aether pierced through his back.

The heat spread quickly, making him feel a strange sense of nausea.

"Be aware of your battlefield," Lain’s calm voice echoed in his ears as his blade swung upwards.

Silas sidestepped with the little strength he could muster.

The pain from the attack had dulled immediately due to the effect of the Virtual Arena. But the attack was not without effect. His strength and stamina began to reduce.

Lain’s blade shifted mid air, locking onto Silas in a brutal horizontal arc.

Silas ducked limply, the sound of the sword whistling through the space his head had occupied just moments ago.

Silas rose, his katana driving upwards towards Lain’s jaw.

Lain’s hand blurred forward, catching the blade in his palm calmly.

A smirk was on his face as he lifted Silas by the blade.

Silas’s eyes widened as he was launched into the sky by Lain’s sudden fling.

Before he could gain control over himself, Lain’s body dipped low and he launched himself upwards like a rocket.

His sword slashed towards Silas’s torso in a streak of crimson and silver.

Silas twisted mid air, his body vaulting to the left.

Both fighters stood in the air, eyes locked on each other.

Silas looked at Lain, who stared back with the same intensity.

’He is a beast,’ Silas thought as he looked at Lain.

"Don’t think too much. It is good that you are still standing," Lain suddenly said. "I am a veteran soldier of the Imperial Army. The fact that you can last this long speaks volumes of your talent."

Silas looked at Lain without commenting. Talent? Compared to Max, who was crossing realms, what was he?

Seeing that Silas still held the same light as before, Lain smiled.

"I like your resilience. How about you join the Imperial Army?" He offered.

Silas remained silent for a moment, then he lunged.

He swung down.

Lain raised his sword calmly, as if he was about to swat a fly.

Then five swords made of aether appeared beside Silas, slicing downward in the same motion as him.

Lain’s lips twitched at this.

"You learn fast," he said, his sword lashing out.

A wave of red aether trailed the sword’s path, cleaving through all the swords, both Silas’s katana and the aether ones alike.

Silas did not waste time. He ducked, avoiding the residual energy from the attack.

He delivered an uppercut in the same movement.

A gauntlet made entirely of aether covered his fist.

The attack connected.

Lain was launched further into the sky, then his body began to plummet to the floor.

His greatsword fell beside him.

Silas was already there, charging his hand with aether to deliver a final strike.

Mere inches away, Silas punched upward, a compressed beam of aether launching out of the strike.

"You thought that would work on me?" He heard Lain’s voice, as calm as ever, as the body that was just falling pivoted, performing a sleek somersault over the beam.

Lain landed behind Silas, his palm wrapped tightly around his neck.

It was not enough to kill Silas, but it served its purpose. Silas could not move.

"I can let you win this match if you agree to join the Imperial Army," Lain said.

"No," Silas replied, his tone shaky and heavy.

He could barely breathe due to the hand tightly wrapped around his neck.

"Okay," Lain said.

[You have lost. Your rank has been set to Platinum (40)]

Those were the words that appeared in Silas’s view as his body appeared in his private space.

"Whatever, not like I care," Silas said, turning to the gains of today.

[After all calculations, you have earned five hundred million credits.]

"At least I gained a lot from this match," Silas said. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"Rion, what is the time in the real world now?" He asked.

"It is 7:34 pm," Rion replied.

"The operation would start soon. I should leave to get a bit of rest," Silas muttered to himself before he exited the Virtual Arena.

His eyes suddenly opened in the inn he had rested in earlier.

Lifting himself up, he felt a slight pain that went as fast as it came.

"The side effect of staying that long in the Virtual Arena," he said, shaking his head to reduce the nausea.

He walked out of the room and toward the reception, following the same path he had taken before.

As he reached there and was about to check out, the receptionist suddenly spoke up.

"Sir, you have spent 3 hours more than the intended time," she said.

Silas nodded and transferred the payment for the overstay to her.

Walking out of the inn, the bustling of the Nexus Dimension filled his ears again.

"After all that silence, it feels refreshing to hear this noise," Silas joked as he strolled through the street.

"Once it is 8pm, notify me, Rion," Silas said mentally.

"Okay."

He felt like walking through the street. He did not know the reason. Something in him seemed to have shifted.

"Master Silas, your emotions are really unstable," Rion warned as it showed Silas a visual graph of his emotions.

Silas smiled.

"So losing can do this to me," he muttered with a heavy sigh.

This was the first time he had ever truly lost to anyone.

No matter how difficult the fight was, Silas always won, one way or another.

"This is what it feels like."