BUILDING MY OWN EMPIRE - My Journey from Nothing to Overwhelming Power-Chapter 97 - 96 – The Fourth-Rank Lord Moves

Chapter 96 – The Fourth-Rank Lord Moves

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"You should have read the situation... but you refused. Success, then success, then success... leads to a swift failure."

The Fourth-Rank Lord whispered. His expression was empty of any detail—completely serious.

The air around him... began to change.

It was a decisive sign.

The Fourth-Rank Lord was finally going to move.

In contrast, I did not fear it.

Yes, I felt worry... confusion...

But fear? Dread?

Are you kidding me... hahaha, of course not.

Three years of constant battles... each time the danger greater, and my chances of dying rising.

After all those encounters, feeling anxious and unsettled had become normal.

Yes, I had never faced a Lord with such capabilities before...

But I also possessed what those at my level did not.

I raised my hand.

Red lines like flames began to wrap around it...

Then spread across my entire body.

The energy of the Flame Art had become stronger than ever before.

The Fourth-Rank Lord looked at me. His eyes lit with a yellow glow.

"Not an ancient weapon..." he muttered. Something strange appeared on his face.

"This is impossible..."

"It’s not," I cut him off. "I told you we possess ancient weapons... but—"

"What?"

"We also possess mastered weapons."

Suddenly—

The blond Lord pulled out another cube from nothingness.

It was colorless... like water crystallized into a cube.

He poured a dense yellow energy into it—almost like a gelatinous liquid.

Then—

The cube crystallized into yellow lines that quickly merged into his hand.

A different kind of lens appeared.

Small... with a single large lens, bigger than his own head.

It rose before his face.

Then he gasped sharply.

"Damn you..." he snarled violently. "Where did you get that weapon?!"

"So... this item is what allows you to examine my weapons and their types... it’s quite useful," I said.

Suddenly—

He moved his hand swiftly.

A violent sound echoed.

An invisible blade struck my body—

It had no effect.

The Flame Art stopped it.

"Heh... do you think this is like before?" I said, then raised my hand.

A small, condensed wind blade formed...

Then I wrapped it in Flame Art.

It became a rotating flaming wind blade...

Then—

Whooosh—

I launched it at tremendous speed toward the Lord.

He moved a finger—

Boom—

An unseen blade collided with my attack.

It shattered instantly.

But my flaming wind blade continued forward—

He didn’t move.

He smiled.

Boom—

A direct hit.

I smiled...

But—

The smile quickly vanished.

The attack had no effect whatsoever.

I hadn’t expected it to harm a Lord of his level...

But still—

A concentrated wind blade, infused with Flame Art...

To strike directly and cause no damage...

Was hard to accept.

Fine...

It was never going to be easy.

I extended my right hand.

Dozens... then hundreds of flame blades formed rapidly in different sizes.

Whooosh—

They surged toward him massively.

Nothing changed.

He still stood there without moving.

The blades approached...

He let them come...

Then collide with him.

The impact thundered loudly—

Then faded.

"Good idea," the Lord said calmly, standing unharmed.

"Using your weapon’s power to coat your normal attacks... it’s good, but it reduces their strength."

"It’s just an experiment," I replied.

Then I raised both hands.

Hundreds of flame blades formed again— 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

But this time, they didn’t launch.

I moved my hands slightly.

The blades began merging together...

Becoming larger flame blades.

I reached into my robe...

Pulled out a small black pouch.

From it, I took several tiny white grains—like salt.

They pulsed in my hand... as if alive.

I threw them toward the forming blades—

Suddenly—

The blades began to grow larger.

The flames intensified.

The Fourth-Rank Lord watched silently.

I didn’t know if he understood what I was doing...

Maybe he did.

No—he definitely did.

Well... whether he knew or not—

I would try anyway.

Once I released the blades and Flame Art from direct control...

Feeding them energy became difficult.

Not impossible—but difficult, and it consumed accumulation.

In three years of training...

Battles, weapons, monsters—everything changed constantly.

But one thing remained constant:

Accumulation.

Whether fighter, beast, or weapon—

Without accumulation...

It meant nothing.

Every moment I conserved my accumulation—

Was a victory in itself.

That’s why I chose external methods.

Dense white sand...

A rare material found only in certain places.

In the fifty-first round...

There was a white shore made of such sand.

The sea creatures near it...

Were extremely powerful.

That sand granted them—and their weapons—a unique trait:

Absorbing energy from the air.

After months of training...

I learned to use that sand to feed my wind blades and Flame Art.

Yes... I tried making the sand absorb energy for me directly—

But that failed miserably.

The sand...

Only worked with attacks released from my control.

I stood before the Fourth-Rank Lord...

Scattering the sand over the flame blades.

The blades grew larger and larger...

Even the Flame Art burned brighter.

It was slow—

But it didn’t consume my accumulation.

"Are you done preparing?" the Lord asked.

His voice was clear.

I didn’t answer.

I waited a moment—

Then launched the blades at him.

They surged faster than before.

"That bastard..." I muttered.

He still didn’t move.

The blades hadn’t even reached him yet—

But his stillness angered me.

And when they did—

A loud impact echoed...

Then faded.

Then—

The result appeared.

Failure.

He wasn’t affected at all.

"Stronger than before... but still not enough," he said calmly.

Then added—

"I’ll allow you to attack. And when you realize there’s no hope... will you give me the method you used to create mastered weapons?"

"Fine. I agree," I said.

"Then it’s settled," he replied.

He summoned a sphere from nothingness—

A white sphere with a faint green tint.

"Do you know what this is?" he asked.

I said no.

Then he explained—

"It’s called a Contract Sphere. A lethal poison to the core. If either of us breaks the agreement... it will strike and kill."

"I see..." I murmured.

I had expected something like a verbal pact...

But this Lord...

Clearly didn’t believe in such things.

Fair enough.

Would I have honored mere words if I were about to lose?

I didn’t know.

And if I didn’t know now...

How could I know when things got worse?

But still—

How could I trust this sphere?

Then again...

Perhaps you’ve forgotten where I come from.

But I haven’t.

I’ve read countless web novels...

Where people had endless ways to break such contracts.

That man who went back 500 years...

Played with his enemies like puppets using tricks to bypass contracts.

So why wouldn’t this blond have similar methods?

Anything was possible.

How could I be sure?

There was only one answer.

I closed my eyes.

"Can you hear me?" I whispered.

"Are you having trouble? Hahaha," the Deception Beast mocked.

Even now, in the middle of battle—

It remained the same.

To a creature of its level...

Our fight must seem like insects clashing.

"I have a question, if your esteemed self would kindly answer," I said inwardly, sarcastic.

My face remained calm—

But inside, I was mocking.

"Go ahead, noble sir," it replied mockingly.

"What do you think of the Contract Sphere? Can this Lord break it... or deceive it?"

"No."

The answer came instantly.

Then silence.

"That’s it? Care to explain?" I asked.

"At his current level, he has no trick. If he tries to break it... he dies."

"Alright," I said.

I opened my eyes.

"You took your time," the Lord said.

"Can you blame me?"

"No. It shows intelligence."

"I agree," I said.

He released the sphere into the air.

It floated on its own—

Then green light emerged.

Two threads appeared—

One moved toward him...

The other toward me.

He spoke clearly:

"On my side... I will not attack you, nor evade your attacks. In return, when you realize there is no hope... you will surrender and give me the method of creating ancient and mastered weapons in full."

"Seems fair enough..." I murmured.

Then I said:

"On my side... I will attack you. And when I realize I cannot defeat you... I will surrender the method. At the same time, whether I win or lose... you will not be allowed to attack anyone else in this space."

"I agree," he said.

"I agree," I replied.

Suddenly—

The threads withdrew from both of us...

Returned to the sphere.

Then the sphere turned completely green—

And exploded silently...

As if dissolving.

Suddenly—

A crescent moon mark appeared on my right wrist.

As for the Lord—

A different mark appeared.

When I focused—

It was a sun.

Suddenly—

The Fourth-Rank Lord’s body began to change.

His skin...

Transformed into something else—

Then in the blink of an eye—

His entire body became covered in solid diamond.

My eyes narrowed.

"Don’t be surprised, hahaha," he laughed.

"I said I wouldn’t attack or evade... but I never said I wouldn’t defend."

"That bastard..." I snarled angrily.

"He... tricked me."