Chapter 7203: A Fair Fight Ves wanted to palm his face. Although most people wouldn’t have thought about it, he had never let down his guard towards his mother. He had learned through many hard lessons that she rarely abided by her promises and always sprung unpleasant surprises to him. This was why he always felt reluctant to call upon her help. If he hadn’t been forced by circumstances this time, then he would have never given his mother an opportunity to screw him over yet again! Perhaps he should have called upon the help of another design spirit such as Helena or the Phase King. No. They had no way of recognizing the true nature of those Krytak Class A Seashells. Whatever empowerment these alternative spirits could bestow to the blast lance would probably get blocked by the abnormally resilient raiment. Perhaps the brute force of the charge attack might eventually overwhelm the defensive capacity of the nearby seashells, but by then not much attack power should be left. The Oscillating Fist would probably remain in a much better condition than now! At least his current state made him a lot more vulnerable than before. He not only lost all of his weapons and armor, but also incurred just enough physical injuries to give him a physical handicap. Ves had no doubt that his mother precisely aimed for this outcome. Her goal was to weaken the Oscillating Fist to the point where his superior boxing skills got dragged down by his injured physique. If he remained physically healthy, then there was no chance for the Dark Apostle to finish the job in his current state! The gap in skill and combat experience alone was more than enough for the older Ascended Giant to completely beat up the Dark Apostle, especially when the latter was not able to wield a spear that he could wield proficiently. As both Ascended Giants gradually took stock of their circumstances, one of them suddenly laughed. "..." Although the Oscillating Fist was not able to communicate verbally at the moment, his frustration at the current situation became evident. He glowered not at the Dark Apostle, but at the manifestation of the Superior Mother that floated beside his opponent’s head. Ves did not like the enemy’s mocking expression at all. He wanted to work together with the Dark Apostle to crush the Oscillating Fist as soon as possible! Yet before the two duelists could come to blows, the Superior Mother reached out with her arm and began to exert her power over the Oscillating Fist. The giant widened his eyes and pressed his hands against his head. It soon became evident why he came under pressure. An invisible hand plucked his companion spirit from his head! It turned out that the Oscillating Fist’s companion spirit had developed into a phase whale, or at least a spirit that assumed the appearance of one. Though his companion spirit did not possess all of the powers of a real phase whale, it happened to possess a rare and precious affinity towards space! It was not easy for an individual to develop such a rare connection to such an abstract element. The Oscillating Fist did not seem like an intellectual who developed a lot of theoretical understanding of physics. The more likely explanation why he managed to develop this talent was because he made use of rare and powerful reagents that were affected by the space attribute. This was an extremely luxurious treatment. The cost had to be significant. Had the Oscillating Fist embezzled the funds of the Phase Lord Department in order to mutate his young companion spirit in this direction, or did he receive lots of help from a third party? Ves felt that the latter explanation was much more likely than the former. "For the sake of your cooperation, I can allow you to speak for a minute." The Oblivion Empress imperiously told the Oscillating Fist. The phase whale remained unwillingly fixed in place. It opened its maw and steadily figured out how to speak in a similar manner to other companion spirits. "You witch. You are the mother of this boy. For the sake of your son, you brought down your power onto me so that you could turn me into his stepping stone." The manifestation of the Superior Mother shook her head. "You are almost correct. It is true that I reduced you to this condition, but not for the purpose of turning you into a stepping stone. You are not qualified. My intention is to turn you into a more appropriate challenge for my son. A sharpening stone in other words. I have reduced your advantages to the point where you should have a 50 percent chance of defeating my son in hand-to-hand combat. You still have a chance to win. If you do, we will abide by the terms of the contract as previously agreed and let you enjoy freedom." It was understandable that the Oscillating Fist did not trust her credibility. His phase whale companion spirit let out a huff. "Hmph. Why should I believe in your words? I never volunteered to become his sharpening stone." The Superior Mother’s manifestation crossed her arms. "You have no choice but to believe me, because doing so is the only way you have a chance of survival. You also have no choice but to serve your new purpose. If you wanted to avoid this fate, then you should not have forced my sons to accept your challenge. This is karma as far as I am concerned. All I can promise you is that the two of you will fight each other in the purest possible fashion. No tech. No armor. No companion spirits. Just pure flesh and skill." The Oscillating Fist looked calculatingly at the Superior Mother and the Dark Apostle. What she said appealed to him in a way that made him loosen his resentment at being reduced to a sharpening stone. He still felt pissed off about this situation, but there was nothing he could do about it. The best way to take revenge was to take the Dark Apostle’s life! "If you truly will not interfere... then your terms are acceptable. Are you truly willing to let him die at my hands?" The mother did not hesitate to make her stance clear. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖 "I can promise you in the name of the Oblivion Empress and the Superior Mother that I will not intervene. I shall ensure that others will not be able to interfere, including your companion spirits. You may not trust me, but you can trust my motives. The Dark Apostle has chosen to rise above obscurity and assume great responsibility. He must learn that such responsibilities always come at a cost. He must shed his weakness sooner rather than later. Instead of letting him fumble on a chaotic battlefield, it is best for him to build up his mettle under more controlled circumstances. In order to make this teaching moment as authentic as possible, I truly do not intend to save my son if he is losing." Ves felt incredibly disturbed by that statement, but she somehow managed to sway the Oscillating Fist. The battered but not unbroken Ascended Giant looked more combative than before. He regained his fighting spirit and became motivated to win the right to live! The Oscillating Fist directed a respectful look at the Superior Mother. "You’re a cold one. I get it now. I won’t show any mercy to him. I will fight to the bitter end. Get ready, kid, because only one of us is getting out of here alive!" Unlike Ves, the Dark Apostle did not dislike this arrangement. Instead, he grew more and more excited as he held the Murder Knife in his grip. "Thank you, mother! I love this gift!" His savage phase lord instincts took over and prompted him to utter a combative roar before charging straight at his opponent! Ves naturally grew horrified at the prospect of letting his other personality enter into a fight without any advantages! He tried his best to help the Dark Apostle channel his E energy, but found that his control over Blinky remained completely frozen. The Superior Mother prevented him from regaining control and exerting any influence over the final phase of the duel! "Are you serious?" He growled. "I am." His mother whispered back to him as the two human phase lords finally exchanged proper blows for the first time. "Both of you are the same individual in essence, but he is much younger and less experienced than you. His ambitions do not match his strength. He will meet with disaster by aspiring to become the leader of the Ascended Giants. The best we can do is to raise his qualifications as best as possible. He needs to struggle by himself, just as you have done in the past." Ves did not bother to argue with her any further. He knew that nothing he said could change her mind. He also knew that she disdained to lie in these situations. He had no doubt that he would truly let the Dark Apostle perish if he failed to pass her test. A normal mother would feel horrified. His mother on the other hand thought that it made complete sense! In the end, Blinky could do little but maintain his distance while the Oscillating Fist’s own companion spirit remained fixed in place as well. The Superior Mother did not hesitate to exert a lot of energy and strain to maintain her current descent and prevent Ves from kicking her away. The Oblivion Empress continued to observe her latest son with scrutinizing eyes. Perhaps aware that his mother was watching him and judging him at the same time, the Dark Apostle gained a surge of confidence and fought more aggressively! Unfortunately, he was nowhere as good in knife fighting as Saint Tusa Billingsley-Larkinson. The Oscillating Fist found it easy to read his opponent’s moves and evade in time. He even took advantage of a number of openings to land a handful of quick jabs at the younger phase lord’s face and sides. He even tried to capture and pry away the Murder Knife at one time, but all he got out of the attempt was to prick his palm against one of the spikes of the D-arm! Despite this failure, the Dark Apostle knew he had been close to losing his only remaining weapon. "I would have disarmed you and carved your head into pieces by now if your mother did not injure me to this extent." The phase whale companion spirit growled. The fact that he was completely right shamed the Dark Apostle for a moment, but he quickly shoved this thought aside. He did not have the luxury to feel shame when he truly needed all of the handicaps he could get. Although he was able to move faster and more fluently than his opponent, the Oscillating Fist relied on his exquisite skills, judgment, experience, instinct and control to leverage the utmost of his injured and weakened body! Even as the lingering touch of darkness continued to afflict his flesh, his strong willpower enabled him to push through the pain and put up the most desperate fight of his life! The way he moved and the way he instantly took advantage of every opening was impressive. Though the Oscillating Fist only restricted himself to relatively modest probing attacks at first, he soon amped up the pressure once he gained the measure of his opponent. His pained lips curled into an increasingly confident smirk as he performed a faint that he had never employed before. In his impatience and eagerness to draw blood with the Murder Knife, the Dark Apostle fell for it like an idiot, causing him to overextend himself and briefly make his body vulnerable! The counterattack came in an instant. The Oscillating Fist had already anticipated this sequence in advance. He managed to accumulate enough power before unleashing his dominant fist straight against his opponent’s chest! "Ahhh!" This punch was different from the ones before! Not only did it land with greater power than the man’s previous attacks, but he also executed a strange technique that transferred a painful vibration force! The Dark Apostle coughed as he felt as if his lungs and other organs had been rung like a bell!