THE GENERAL'S DISGRACED HEIR-Chapter 361: UNEXPECTED REUNION

Litty's eyes narrowed dangerously, her earlier frustration transmuting into focused determination. With fluid grace, she drew her twin blades from their back sheaths, the slender swords catching the artificial sunlight with mesmerizing brilliance.

"Hand-to-hand against blades?" she questioned, noting his empty hands. "Overconfident, aren't we?"

David relaxed into a deceptively casual stance that concealed perfect balance and readiness. "Consider it a handicap to make things fair."

The taunt had its intended effect. Litty launched forward with explosive speed, her blades weaving complex patterns designed to overwhelm defensive capabilities through sheer volume of strikes. The air sang with the passage of perfectly honed metal as she executed a sequence of attacks that would have dismembered a lesser opponent within seconds.

Yet David moved with almost supernatural economy, his body shifting just enough to avoid each strike without wasted motion. Where Litty attacked with technical perfection and explosive energy, David defended with intuitive precision, seeming to anticipate each move before she fully committed to it.

"Faster," he encouraged as he swayed away from a thrust that missed his chest by millimeters. "Your form is excellent, but you're telegraphing your transitions."

From the edge of the platform, Yue watched with calculating assessment, her ancient eyes missing nothing as the two combatants danced across the stone surface. Her maternal pride in Litty's skill was evident, yet so was her analytical appreciation of David's innate combat genius.

Frustration building, Litty changed tactics. Green mana suddenly flowed through her arms into the twin blades, causing them to emit an ethereal glow that left faint tracer images in the air as she moved. "Let's see you dodge this," she challenged, executing a complex spinning attack that allowed her to strike from multiple angles simultaneously.

The technique bordered on aura blade manipulation—the first stage of sword mastery that elevated practitioners beyond mere technical skill into the realm of energy extension. The green glow extended the effective reach of her blades by nearly six inches, creating invisible cutting edges that could slice through defenses that appeared safely distant from the physical metal.

David's expression turned serious as he recognized the advanced technique. Rather than continuing to evade, he stepped directly into her attack pattern, moving precisely between the converging strikes to enter her guard. His hand shot out with snake-like speed, fingers wrapping around her right wrist at the exact pressure point that temporarily disrupted mana flow.

The green aura surrounding that blade sputtered and died as Litty gasped in surprise. Before she could compensate with her left blade, David had pivoted behind her, using her own momentum to unbalance her forward while simultaneously tapping a series of nerve clusters along her spine that momentarily scrambled motor coordination.

Litty stumbled, her remaining blade sweeping wide as she fought to regain balance. By the time she recovered her stance, David had already retreated to a safe distance, his posture once again deceptively relaxed.

"Impressive progress with the aura extension," he observed genuinely. "Your mana circulation has improved significantly."

Litty lowered her blades slightly, professional curiosity temporarily overriding competitive instinct. "You recognized the technique?"

"Of course. You're on the verge of true Aura Blade breakthrough—the green manifestation shows your affinity alignment is stabilizing. Another few weeks of focused practice and you'll likely achieve full externalization."

Yue nodded approvingly from the sidelines. "He's right. Your progress accelerated considerably after our last training cycle. The energy coherence shows remarkable stability for your cultivation level."

Litty's expression shifted through several emotions—frustration at being so easily countered, pride at David's assessment of her progress, and renewed determination. She raised her blades once more, but before she could launch another attack, Elara stepped onto the platform.

"Fascinating as this technical analysis is," Elara interrupted, her crimson eyes gleaming with dangerous amusement, "perhaps David would benefit from a more... challenging opponent." She cracked her knuckles meaningfully, small flames dancing between her fingers before she extinguished them with visible restraint.

David swallowed involuntarily, a complex mixture of wariness and intrigue crossing his features. Facing Litty's technical skill was one thing; confronting Elara's raw elemental power was another matter entirely—especially given the emotional undercurrents between them.

"I'm not certain that would be—" he began, only to stop abruptly as something fundamental shifted in the atmosphere.

It wasn't a change in Yue's virtual environment, but rather a disturbance in the underlying reality. The laboratory doorway, still anchored amid the illusory landscape, swung open with ponderous weight. Through it emerged a figure of such imposing stature that it seemed impossible the standard doorframe could accommodate his passage.

Clad in armor that absorbed light rather than reflected it, the newcomer stood nearly eight feet tall, his shoulders so broad they seemed to fill the doorway completely. His helmet resembled a stylized skull, eye sockets illuminated from within by faint blue light that provided no hint of the features beneath. At his hip hung a massive sword whose blade was notched with ritual patterns—not damage, but deliberate modifications designed to inflict catastrophic wounds that resisted magical healing.

Where most present tensed at the dramatic entrance, Luna and Vespera remained notably unalarmed, exchanging knowing glances that suggested prior awareness of this development.

The armored giant took three steps into the virtual environment, each footfall impossibly heavy yet leaving no imprint on the perfect stone. He surveyed the assembled group with methodical assessment before focusing entirely on David. The weight of that attention was palpable, carrying centuries of accumulated power and purpose. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

With deliberate purpose, the knight approached David, his armored form towering over everyone present. The air around him seemed to thicken with concentrated lethality—not magical energy, but the distilled essence of countless battles survived and endless enemies defeated.

Yet rather than preparing for combat, David's posture relaxed completely. A smile of genuine warmth spread across his face as he looked up at the intimidating figure.

"Long time no see, Draven," he greeted casually, as if addressing an old servant rather than a walking embodiment of martial destruction.

The knight halted before David, standing motionless for several heartbeats while everyone except Luna and Vespera held their breath in anticipation. Then, with ceremonial precision, the massive warrior lowered himself to one knee, head bowed in a gesture of absolute fealty.

"Master," Draven acknowledged, his voice resonating from within the helmet with otherworldly harmonics. "I answer your summons."

Before anyone could react to this unexpected display, shadows near the doorway coalesced into a feminine silhouette. Where Draven's arrival had been dramatic and imposing, this new presence emerged with subtle grace that somehow commanded even greater attention.

Seraphina stepped fully into view, her perfect posture and flowing movements suggesting aristocratic breeding combined with lethal precision. Her raven-black hair framed features of such exquisite symmetry that they seemed almost artificial—beauty weaponized to disarm and distract.

Unlike Draven's formal deference, she approached David with casual intimacy, crossing the distance between them with purposeful strides that drew every eye. Without hesitation, she reached up to cradle his chin between slender fingers, tilting his face toward hers with proprietary familiarity.

"You've been busy, I see," she observed, her voice a silken caress that carried complex layers of meaning. Then, with deliberate provocation, she leaned forward and claimed his lips in a kiss that somehow combined genuine affection with calculated performance.

When she finally stepped back, Seraphina surveyed the virtual environment with professional assessment. "Impressive space," she commented to Yue, as if they were old acquaintances rather than first-time meeting. "The quantum anchoring on the doorway provides perfect stability for the expanded dimensions. Quite elegant."

The reactions around them created a tableau of emotional complexity. Elara stood frozen, flames unconsciously flickering around her clenched fists as she processed this unexpected development. Litty's jaw had literally dropped, her twin blades momentarily forgotten as she glanced between David and the newcomer with undisguised shock.

Even Yue, who had witnessed centuries of surprising developments, appeared momentarily speechless—less at the technical compliment than at the bold display of intimacy toward David.

Luna and Vespera, by contrast, showed only mild interest, suggesting this dynamic was neither surprising nor particularly concerning to them. Their lack of reaction was perhaps the most revealing element of all, hinting at a complex hierarchy within David's circle that few understood completely.

"Well," David finally said into the stretching silence, his tone deceptively light despite the tension now filling the virtual landscape, "it seems we have more participants for our assessment than originally planned."

As if summoned by his words, the testing platform's golden patterns pulsed with renewed brilliance, casting everyone present in warm illumination that emphasized the new battle lines being drawn—not just for combat assessment, but for influence and position in the unfolding drama centered around David's transformed existence.