Dubh knelt on one knee, his right leg shattered under Robin's crushing step.
Despite his 63 years of cultivation, he was unable to overcome his rival, Robin, even for a brief moment.
The Soulrapier was just half a millimeter away from delivering the final blow, yet it was forced to stop.
This was the achievement Dubh would never reach in this lifetime.
Dubh's eyes burned with rage.
Twenty years of solitude, twenty years of painful waiting, and the outcome was tragic.
He looked up at the ancient relic in Robin's hand. It was so close, yet forever out of reach.
It was the very symbol of his faith, the object he had spent two decades obsessively pursuing under Zrifsas Lake, day and night.
For it, he had discarded his conscience and slaughtered innocent lives at Dragon Manor.
He had endured two decades of hardships, only to find that it was a destination he could never reach.
Yet, Dubh couldn't comprehend how Robin had done it.
The Soulrapier was only a centimeter from his throat, and Robin hadn't even made a move.
In that infinitesimal moment, he turned the situation around.
What kind of mastery did one need to achieve to reach such a height?
"Why don't you just kill me already?!" Dubh screamed in a voice filled with desperation, shaking the summit of Kirie Mountain.
Robin coldly wiped his hands and declared, "Killing you with a single stroke won't put the hatred in my heart to rest.
"I told you, before the eyes of the entire world, I'll dismember you filthy killers, torturing you bit by bit until death!
"How could I let you walk away that easily?"
Dubh raised his head in fury. "Drakebane, you're too cruel!
"My skills aren't a match for yours; you could have just killed me and avenged the innocent. Why humiliate me in front of the world?
"Are you not worried about people calling you dishonorable?"
"Dishonorable?" Robin sneered coldly. "I've never cared about those trivial things."
"Twenty years ago, when you stormed Dragon Manor and massacred the innocent, why didn't you worry about people calling you dishonorable or accusing you of lacking ethics?
"You thought that with your skills, you could do something as detestable as that, and no one would know? You thought you could look good in front of the world, as if nothing had happened?
"What are you thinking? You pretentious sc*m still want to talk to me about ethics? Do you even deserve it?
"Mr. Keegan, do you really think the world is full of fools, and you're the only wise one?
"Once you step into the martial society, there's no way to avoid paying the price for your methods.
"I'll tell you, this is what your life's pursuit has led to!
"If evil deeds in this world could go unpunished, it would defy all justice!
"Get ready! This time, I'll cripple your left arm!" Robin tossed his wet napkin high, his foot crashing into Dubh's left shoulder.
With a loud crack, Dubh collapsed to his knees.
His left side caved in, and his arm hung lifelessly.
Dubh looked up to the sky in despair. "Drakebane, you're so cruel.
"My years of hard work are destroyed by you today! Please, kill me already!"
Robin chuckled softly, "I didn't destroy your glory; you did it to yourself.
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