Everyone watching the fight across the Earth was left speechless. Well... almost everyone.

"Hehe, that idiot's just slapping himself even harder in the face." In the VIP room, Irana laughed out loud.

Barod nodded. All six Emperors actually felt a bit sorry for Vanh. He was using two incredibly powerful weapons, his two spiritual roots... and still couldn't suppress Darian, who was fighting with just his fists.

Darian moved with agility, but it was clear there were a lot of openings and flaws in his movements.

Amara, sitting in the stands, clenched her fists tightly, feeling a pain in her chest. Darian really hadn't received any support or proper training before awakening. All his accomplishments came in just two years, and that showed in the way he fought now.

He was getting injured every few exchanges... but the wounds healed instantly. After five minutes of intense combat, Vanh's face was getting more and more twisted. He just couldn't gain any advantage at all.

Suddenly, Darian let out a cold laugh and stopped dodging. "That's it? Guess I'll get a bit more serious now."

Then, he took a step forward.

Black power surged through his body, spreading fast. A shocking aura burst out like a volcanic eruption. In the blink of an eye, he dashed forward and vanished.

Vanh's eyes widened, and he tried to quickly retreat. But...

"!"

A punch came flying exactly from the direction where he had shifted space to escape. Instinctively, he canceled the movement and stepped back, narrowly dodging the blow.

The entire audience was in awe.

"Darian was just playing around and dodging the whole time!"

The corners of Darian's lips curled into a faint smile. Vanh was a genius, no doubt. But the word "genius" often came with "arrogance." Especially when you've been praised and admired your entire life.

That's why, even if they seemed humble on the surface, geniuses had a habit of underestimating others.

To everyone, Darian was just as much of a genius as Vanh. But the difference was, while Darian had some arrogance, he never underestimated an opponent on purpose. He'd learned a lot from everything he lived through—and everything he read. Even without proper training, that book had been a Divine and perfect guide for him.

"Why are you running? Weren't you the great heir, so much above me it was like heaven and earth?"

Darian's voice echoed, making Vanh roar in rage.

"DIE!!"

Amid a wave of black flames, Vanh shot forward and struck with both weapons. Darian just snorted and vanished far away, dodging with ease. But a sinister smirk crept onto Vanh's lips.

He put away the axe and raised one arm high into the air.

In an instant, it was like the raging sea of black flames was pulled by some irresistible force, rising straight into the sky. Quickly, they began to gather above.

In the blink of an eye, a black sun nearly twenty meters wide formed over Vanh's head... made from the purest power of his blessing!

The arena exploded in gasps and murmurs of shock.

Every round of exchanges between them, Vanh had been throwing out massive amounts of black flames, which continued to burn on the martial stage without going out.

Now, he had gathered them all in an instant. It was clear he'd been preparing for this moment all along.

"You thought I was going all out? Hahaha..." Vanh let out a twisted laugh. "For someone so mediocre to be able to fight me this long, you can be considered a one-of-a-kind genius. But what a shame... it was all my doing. I was just stalling, on purpose, to give you... a more magnificent death!!"

The overwhelming power of the black sun was as chaotic as a tsunami, as massive as a mountain. The young spectators in the stands felt like their chests were being crushed under a boulder, unable to breathe.

That power was way beyond what someone with just three rings should have. It was easy to imagine the terrifying pressure Darian, standing nearby, was enduring. Especially since he only had two rings.

"DEMONIC SUN!!"

Vanh's green hair flew wildly, while the huge sun of black flames above thundered—and then, like a meteor on the horizon, suddenly crashed down toward Darian.

Space was violently distorted by the pressure. The martial stage below was completely destroyed, reduced to dust under an overwhelming force.

Sensing the immense energy behind that attack, Darian's expression turned dead serious. The blow would swallow the entire martial stage — in other words, there was zero chance of dodging it.

At the same time, Darian could feel that Vanh had burned through more than 95% of his ring's power with that flashy move.

'What an obedient idiot,' Niara mocked in her mind. Darian's plan was unfolding perfectly.

The night before, Amara told him everything she knew about Vanh and the powers of the Wube family. After hearing all that, Darian came to a conclusion: beating Vanh wouldn't be that hard if he was careful. But doing what he really wanted to do with him... was impossible.

So the goal was to drain him dry. Humiliate him as much as possible. Push him into a corner until he lost it and revealed all his cards. From there… things would get really interesting.

The crowd in the stands had their eyes wide open.

That black sun filled Darian's entire field of vision. When it got within five meters of him, a sharp gleam suddenly flashed in his eyes.

Two daggers appeared in his hands.

With a loud roar, their rune seals activated, and he slashed upward with force.

*SLASH!*

**BOOM!!**

The black sun exploded with a thunderous blast, releasing a surging wave of black flames that flooded the entire arena, swallowing Darian right there on the martial stage.

The defensive array was activated, and everyone in the stands was safe—but all sunlight vanished. That didn't stop anyone from activating the power of their ring in their eyes to keep up with the fight.

That black sun wasn't even the real attack. After it hit, the flames didn't just scatter — instead, they transformed into nearly solid, wicked spears.

In the blink of an eye, the whole place was swarming with black fire spears. Thousands and thousands of them, all controlled by Vanh, shot straight at Darian.

"Die!!" Vanh shouted, laughing maniacally out loud.

That move had been meticulously prepared for this battle, 'cause it was perfect for countering Darian's freakish dodge ability. Vanh was convinced that the explosion alone would leave him nearly dead, forcing him to burn all his energy healing himself.

Even if it didn't kill him right away, Darian would lose almost all of his ring's power trying to recover. Then he'd learn that the black spears were even more deadly than the sun itself. They'd punch a hundred holes through his body. Already drained and probably not fully healed, he'd be violently killed on the spot. And if something somehow went wrong, Vanh still had some energy left to finish the job.

Everyone watching squinted as they felt Vanh's murderous intent. Killing your opponent was obviously forbidden — but to him, this was about honor. And he didn't give a damn about the consequences.

*RUMBLE!*

The terrifying sound of thousands of flaming arrows exploding echoed across the arena.

Vanh kept a smug smile on his face. Another reason he'd used this technique — even though it cost him a ton of energy — was for the flashy, awe-inspiring effect. After all, he needed to change that humiliating image he'd left behind earlier.

...

But then silence fell… and his pupils suddenly shrank, the smile freezing on his face.

All the black flames dissipated quickly. From within, as the smoke began to clear, he saw a figure still standing there.

A moment later, Darian's calm face came into view… along with the mocking look of the little dragon on his head.

"Wh– What!?" Vanh's face twisted into pure chaos. He realized Darian hadn't lost any of his internal power.

Gasps of shock echoed from every corner of the arena.

The crowd saw it too. Not only was Darian still standing strong, his expression was calm, like nothing had happened — and his energy didn't show even the slightest sign of weakness.

Everyone — from the veterans to the youngest kids — couldn't believe what their eyes were seeing.

Especially the younger ones with up to four rings. They were shaking. How was this a battle between two- and three-ring youngsters?

Forget Vanh — he was the heir of that famous family, supposedly the number one genius of his generation on Earth. But Darian? He came from nowhere, with zero backing...

Everyone from the two groups who had fought him earlier looked totally stunned… At first, they'd felt bitter for being defeated so easily by Darian, but now they realized he'd gone really easy on them. If Darian had wanted to kill them back then, it would've been as easy as blowing away dust.

On the martial stage...

Darian smiled and looked at Vanh.

"So… my turn, right? You ready?"

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