Chapter – 8 Test? Facing Father?

6 years Later

Training Ground – Agares Castle

The figure of a teenage Artoria danced through the field as she rapidly parried Ghislaine Dedoldia's Sword attacks using her Spear.

The two women were fighting using wooden weapons, however, each of their attacks contained more than enough power to instantly incapacitate a middle-rank devil and kill a low-ranking devil.

This is to be expected from Ghislaine for she is already a High-Ranking Devil serving as Julius's Knight for centuries now, however, to see Artoria keeping up with Ghislaine with just 6 years of training is an incredible sight to behold.

In fact, Artoria's choice of weapons was a surprise to all. As the daughter of a Mage, everyone had expected Artoria to excel in Mage Skills as well, but they were all proven wrong when Artoria not only chose the path of spearman ship but also made rapid progress in this art of battle to the point that her strength is already close to a High-Ranking devil, despite her young age.

Initially, Novachrono had decided to make Artoria a Bishop of his peerage, but now, her position in the peerage is already decided, she is going to serve as Novachrono's Knight, and a fine Knight she would make with her skills in Spearmanship.

Of course, no matter how good she is, compared to Ghislaine–a High Ranking Devil who is renowned in the Underworld as the Sword King–Artoria is simply a greenhorn and was quickly defeated.

[Lady Ghislaine Dedoldia vs Lady Artoria Pendragon: Winner: Lady Ghislaine Dedoldia]

The result was soon announced by Alpha, and hearing her words, Novachrono sighed, "There goes my Knight…" then he quickly cheered up, "Well… she did complete the condition, she was able to hold her own against Ghislaine for more than 3 minutes… This is a big achievement."

Lavinia nodded, "Yes… Artoria has grown strong."

Novachrono said with a smile, "Well… she did train rigorously every day… so her strength is no surprise. Of course… she is not the only one who has trained so much…" then he looked at Lavinia.

At this time, Alpha's voice resounded, [For the second match… Lord Patori Licht and Lady Lavinia Reni, please come forward.]

As the announcement for the second match was made, Novachrono looked at the older blonde girl standing beside him, and said, "Lavinia… it's your turn now… Show him what you are capable of!"

Lavinia said with a smile, "As you wish my Lord." And disappeared using a Magic Circle.

Just as Lavinia disappeared, Artoria returned to the stands and stood beside Novachrono as both of them watched the battle between Patori and Lavinia.

…

BEEEEP!

With the sound of the alarm, the battle between Patori and Lavinia commenced.

Using her Staff, Lavinia created dozens of Magic Circles and fired a variety of Magic at Patori.

It's a pity that none of her Magic did any damage to Patori as he easily dealt with them using his Demon Light Magic. And counterattacked Lavinia with [Light Swords of Judgement].

Patori is capable of using a special type of Light Magic known as Demon Light Magic that is faster, stronger, and denser than Light Magic.

Lavinia quickly created Ice Shields in front of her and protected herself from [Light Swords of Judgement]. After that, she released a cold wave around her, severely decreasing the temperature of the Artificial Dimension the two people were fighting in.

Although Patori could protect himself from the cold, he had to spare a large amount of Demonic Aura for this all while fighting Lavinia which proved to be a challenge even for a High-Ranking Devil like him.

The battle continued for the next few minutes in which the two Mage displayed a variety of Magics, although most of the battle was centred around Demon Light Magic and Ice Magic.

BEEEEP!

A few minutes later, the alarm sounded, and with that, both the mages stopped their battle and retreated.

There were injuries on their bodies, and both of them were breathing heavily, but from the smiles that dawned on their faces, it was clear that the two were having fun and neither of them had done their best.

At this time, Patori looked at Lavinia and asked, "Lavinia Reni, you managed to hold your own against me for 5 minutes… you have passed the test… now from here… it's your choice… do you wish to continue the battle or would you like to end it?"

Lavinia thought about Patori's question for a while, then replied, "I would like to end it."

Patori nodded, "Very well, then let's end it here."

With Patori's acknowledgement, another buzzer sounded, followed by Alpha's voice, [Lord Patori Licht vs Lady Lavinia Reni; Result: No Winner no Loser] signalling the end of the battle.

…

BEEEEP!

[Lord Patori Licht vs Lady Lavinia Reni; Result: No Winner no Loser]

With Alpha's announcement, Lavinia's battle came to an end.

Novachrono smiled at the result and shook his head.

Nova knew that once she passes the test, Lavinia would choose to withdraw rather than continue the fight, unlike Artoria.

But well, it doesn't matter all that much because she did hold her own against Patori for more than 5 minutes.

While Novachrono was busy with his thoughts, Alpha's made another announcement, [For the last battle of the day, Lord Julius and Lord Novachrono… please come forward.]

"Guess… it's my turn now." Muttered Novachrono as he looked at his father in the opposite stand with a smile.

Artoria said, "All the best master."

Novachrono nodded, "Thank you." And disappeared from the stands using a Magic Circle.

A few seconds later another magic circle appeared, and Lavinia came out of it. Noting that Novachrono was not present, she stood beside Artoria as the two girls watched their master on the battlefield.

…

"So… son… it's been a while since we stood here…" said Julius looking at his son not too far away, and added, "But unlike other times… this time, I am your proctor… if you manage to hold your own against me for five minutes… you will pass the test and become a High-Ranking Devil."

Novachrono silently heard his father's words.

After a brief pause, Julius asked, "Are you ready for the test?"

Novachrono nodded with a serious expression, "Yes, father."

Julius smiled, and said, "Very well then… let's do this."

Following Julius's words, a buzzer sounded, BEEEEEEP, and the battle commenced.

Both Julius and Novachrono released their Demonic energy as they dashed towards each other while chanting the spell, [Chrono Aleph-X].

With the activation of 'Chrono Aleph-X', both Novachrono's and Julius' speed suddenly increased by ten folds.

'Chrono Aleph-X' is a simple spell of the [Time] trait that increases the speed of the caster by accelerating the user's time flow by ten times relative to his surroundings. Because of this, even if the user is walking at a normal speed, he would appear to be walking ten times faster than the others.

Julius raised his hand, and chanted, 'Chrono Stasis!' as a small blue translucent sphere appeared in both his hands.

Seeing those blue spheres, Novachrono became vigilant. He has to make sure not to let those spheres touch him. Those spheres are capable of trapping people in a time loop, reliving a moment in time continuously in such a way that they are rendered immobile. Of course, these spheres won't be as effective on Novachrono for he too has the trait [Time], however, they will still stall him for an instant and that would be more than enough time for Julius to end the fight.

'Chrono Hei!' silently chanted Novachrono as he rushed towards Julius.

As Julius saw his son approaching, he shot several Stasis spheres at him.

However, surprisingly, Novachrono dodged all of them effortlessly as if he knew about their trajectory even before Julius shot them.

Julius smiled upon seeing this, 'So, you are using that spell to look into the future huh son? Well, then, let me use it too to make this more fun.' and he too chanted, 'Chrono Hei!'

Now, similar to Novachrono, Julius was also looking into the future and his actions changed according to the outcomes he saw.

Because both of them were using the spell 'Chrono Hei' they ended up cancelling each other's future vision.

Seeing that the battle wasn't going anywhere, Novachrono thought, 'I suppose I will have to resort to other means as well…' and used, 'Gravity Crush!'

As soon as the spell was chanted, a strong gravitational force enveloped Julius, and his movement become relatively slow.

The increased weight itself caused Julius's movement to slow down, at the same time, the increased gravity on him caused a time dilation effect causing the flow of time to slow down by a bit.

Both his movements as well as his reaction time were affected. The difference wasn't too much, perhaps only a few instants? But it was enough for Novachrono to exploit.

Taking this opportunity, Novachrono increased the weight of his fists and started to land a barrage of punches on his respected father.

Julius was taken aback by the sudden change in the flow of battle. He did not expect that his son would opt for such a well-planned strategy. Although he managed to dodge most of the punches, a few still landed on him.

BEEEEEP!

At this time, the buzzer sounded, signalling that Novachrono has passed the test.

Taking his distance, Julius took a deep breath, and asked his son, "You have been training in physical combat as well?"

Novachrono smiled and looked in the direction of the stands as he remembered that day.

Julius followed his son's gaze and noted that Novachrono was looking at Derieri and realized, "Derieri helped?"

Novachrono nodded, "Yes." and recounted the day he asked his father's rook for help.

…

Flashback: Start

"You wish to learn hand-to-hand combat?" asked Derieri, staring strangely at Novachrono.

"Is it so strange that I want to learn hand-to-hand combat…?" asked Novachrono, feeling a bit annoyed by the way Derieri was looking at him.

"It is." She said, and explained, "Most High-Class devils are too proud of their traits and don't care about training their bodies, learning Martial Arts and combat skills. Even Lord Julius didn't pay much attention to this form of combat. That's why in my opinion you are really an odd one if you want to learn close combat, young Master."

"Is that so?" Novachrono muttered, and thought to himself, 'Now that I think about it, in the cannon, other than Sairaorg Bael there weren't many High-Class Devils who put their time and effort into training their bodies and close-quarter combat skills.

I too don't necessarily need to train my body and fighting skills considering the traits I am born with… however, the Red Dragon Emperor, White Dragon Emperor, Crom Cruach, Sairaorg Bael, and Gasper Vladi are all masters of close-quarter combat. If I want to defeat and surpass these people, then I have to master close combat.'

With such a thought in his mind, Novachrono explained his reasons, "Derieri… as you may already know, I was born with more than one trait. The main trait of the House of Agares–that is–[Time], I have already devoted a lot of years to it, and my mastery over [Time] is relatively good. Of course, I am not as good as my father, however, I am not bad either, with time I can continue to improve this trait of mine.

However, after spending a lot of my time on my [Time, I have come to understand one thing, and that is [Time] doesn't hold much offensive power, unlike [Destruction].

Therefore, I want to start training my second trait which is [Gravity].

And I plan to use [Gravity] in close-quarter combat while augmenting my body, therefore, I wish to learn close-quarters combat as well. So, will you please help me?"

Derieri scratched her hair and thought about Novachrono's request. Noting that he seemed serious, she nodded, "I don't mind."

Flashback: End

…

"I see… it makes sense why your movements are quite similar to hers." Muttered Julius in realization, and added, "And you seem to be using your [Gravity] to match her trait as well."

"That is correct." Nodded Novachrono as he looked at his fists that were enveloped with gravitational energy.

Julius smiled, and asked, "I see… well… you have made a lot of progress, and I am proud of you… By the rules, you have already passed the test… so what do you wish to do now? Do you wish to end this battle, or do you wish to continue?"

Novachrono increased the output of his Demonic Energy and said, "Of course, continue." Then he looked at his father, and said, "I might win this one."

"You think?" muttered Julius with a chuckle as his voice grew heavier, and he said with a smile, "Then let me show you something new… something that you have not seen before. Something that'll help you realize the difference."

[Alter Illusions] As he chanted the spell, suddenly dozens of Julius appeared on the battlefield and attacked Novachrono at the same time.

The young Agares was unable to keep up with dozens of Julius and soon lost consciousness.

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So, that's a wrap for Chapter - 8?

This chapter was all about some tests.

Hope you all enjoyed reading, and see you around.