Everyone in the arena was stunned. The moment the two blades clashed… even with the supposedly unstoppable attack from that empire's technique, Darian's opponent's sword shattered in half.

Darian's face stayed blank as he calmly swung his killing sword. The young guy whose weapon had broken let out a pained grunt, like he was being tortured.

The reason was obvious: the sword was tied to his soul, with part of his energy infused into it. That was another big flaw in that technique—if your weapon got destroyed by someone stronger, your soul took backlash and got wounded.

The injury wasn't fatal, but it would take weeks to heal—and required valuable resources. If you were poor, it could take years with cheap stuff.

That was one of the reasons the Celestial Order Empire hadn't been able to surpass New Arcadia and break out of fourth place. The geniuses didn't have that issue, but the average folks had to throw most of their time into forging and gear, cutting down their training in other areas. In tough battles, they were easier to take out.

So, the empire's overall strength stayed stuck. Just having a few geniuses or elite fighters wasn't enough—since most missions Earth received were low-level, the average strength of Spiritual Guardians mattered way more than a handful of monsters.

Meanwhile, the sharpening rune seal on Darian's blade... was literally a god's power etched into a weapon. Nothing could stand up to that.

"ATTACK!"

Three figures rushed Darian at once without hesitation.

Darian noticed they didn't activate their weapon technique—they reacted fast and understood the situation. They didn't want to risk getting knocked out of the fight—if their weapons broke, they could just grab another.

Seeing that, Darian sheathed his sword and clenched his fists, channeling a bit of dark power.

Everyone in the arena held their breath.

The speed and coordination of the three were flawless. They'd clearly been trained hard and knew how to attack a single target together without getting in each other's way. But… Darian dodged their attacks like it was nothing—like he was just breathing.

Their karma was dark and ordinary. After all the fights and training he'd been through, Darian could take on double that many and still be fine. He could feel their intentions through their karma—and pretty much predict where they were going to strike.

*BANG!*

He started landing blows on all three of them. But it looked like he was going super easy on them.

That single guy had speed, offense, physique, reflexes… he was a healer… and on top of that—

"Why the hell does he have a tiny pet on his head?"

Someone in the stands couldn't help but point out Niara, clinging tight inside Darian's hood. Everyone nodded. That could only mean one thing—he was still hiding a ton of power.

The back-and-forth of strikes and dodges went on for a whole minute.

The first guy who'd had his sword broken never got back up. He just crawled away as best he could, knowing he was useless now.

"Why the hell isn't Haruto doing anything?!" someone from the Celestial Order section yelled, pissed off.

The leader of the group—Haruto—was just standing there, watching the other three try to land a hit on Darian. Everyone noticed and sighed… it had to be pure arrogance. That proud kid clearly refused to fight unless it was a proper one-on-one.

The higher-ups from that empire groaned in frustration. Truth was... yeah, Haruto was a little proud. But he wasn't arrogant or dumb. He was actually a good kid, and no one really had the heart to scold him. Because...

"…he's not actually stronger than the other three combined," one of the top military officers said casually—everyone would find out soon enough anyway.

Those who heard it were wide-eyed. The group leader wasn't the strongest?

"Haruto's definitely the most talented and brilliant one in the group. But his real power isn't in fighting—it's in forging. He's not even thirty, and he's already crafting things that the empire's most respected old blacksmith says he might never match."

Everyone nearby let out a sigh. In that empire, forging talent basically was power.

Back in the arena, after another minute... all three had gone down, unable to get up.

Two women and one man. Darian had just pounded them until they were bruised and couldn't move. The pain from the hits was intense, which completely ruined their mobility.

But they weren't seriously injured. Their bodies had been tainted by the dark power, but Darian had gotten better at controlling the effects. He could clean it out from them completely afterward.

The crowd nodded—Darian wasn't some mindless beast. Earlier, he'd crushed the Aurora Coalition mercilessly because of their insults and nasty attitude. But against these guys, with no bad blood, it made sense he'd go easier.

The whole fight lasted under five minutes. And four out of five opponents were already done.

Darian turned to the only one left.

A guy with an impressive build—lean but solid. His muscles were well-defined even though he wasn't that tall. His long black hair was tied up in a topknot, and a white band wrapped around his forehead. Everything about him—from the plain black clothes to his posture—gave off an aura of calm strength and determination.

He looked Darian in the eye and drew his curved sword—it was that supreme artifact.

"You chose not to hurt those three without a good reason. You seem like a rare and honest person. Accept a duel with me."

He spoke softly, raising the blade in both hands and aligning it perfectly in front of his face.

"Hm... what's your name?" Darian asked calmly. He hadn't even watched the group intros—his mind wasn't in the right place earlier.

"Haruto Fuyuki, just a simple blacksmith," he answered without a hint of arrogance.

That kind of name was rare these days. It came from a language that had disappeared from Earth long ago. After the rise of the empires, everyone switched to a single standard language—the same one used throughout the universe.

It was the same language spoken in the training universe, which made communication easy for everyone. The reason behind it was that this language existed—almost identically—across multiple universes that had never interacted. Not all, of course, but still... definitely the work of Heaven's Will.

Darian nodded, then pulled out his short sword again. "I'm just Darian. My last name... I left that behind."

Everyone in the arena got it right away. That confirmed what one of the military guys had said earlier—Darian wasn't connected to the Wube family.

On the stage, both of them stepped toward each other.

When they were less than two meters apart, their blades sliced through the air at the same time.

*Clang!*

They clashed hard. Then both took a few steps back.

Everyone realized it was just a test. That first move was to feel each other out.

That's when Haruto activated his blessing. In that instant, his eyes changed—the black was replaced by an intense light blue. His stance and aura shifted completely too.

Darian was caught off guard—he didn't recognize that blessing at all. He'd studied all the major ones, even the rarest and strongest. He'd never claim to know 100% of everything, but if it was something worth choosing for a real talent, he should've at least heard of it.

Haruto muttered, "It's my self-created blessing. I call it Over Thrust."

Darian understood, even more surprised. Haruto didn't have an ancestral awakening... so he was one of those crazy people who chose to forge their own path, creating a blessing.

Haruto didn't charge forward. Instead, he sheathed his curved sword. Then, with a wave of his spatial ring, he pulled out a new weapon. The moment it appeared, the whole arena felt the air shift.

Everything got colder and darker.

Darian visibly froze. Haruto had pulled out a long spear that clearly wasn't ordinary. It was made from a single, seamless piece... of bone. Jet-black bone, incredibly dense and strong.

It was bone from the Risen—the ones Darian had brought back from another universe.

Leander had told him someone from another empire bought the entire batch for a good price. But... that stuff was insanely hard to work with. Darian figured it was basically impossible for anyone on Earth to forge something from it... and now, here it was.

"This is my best and final weapon. My skills are still limited, so it doesn't have the potential of a supreme artifact. But still, I'd rather fight with what I made myself."

Haruto said it casually, then pointed the bone spear straight at Darian.

Besides being a terrifying blacksmith, he clearly knew how to handle every type of weapon... and his custom blessing seemed to work really well for combat.

Darian took a deep breath. Up to now, his biggest edge in battle was reading people's moves through their dark karma. But against Haruto's white, pure karma, he couldn't do that.

This would be a real test of skill. No cheat.

Darian sheathed his sword and pulled out a dozen flying daggers.

For the first time, the audience actually saw what Darian's true weapon was. Everyone realized he'd only been using other weapons out of convenience up to now.

The two locked eyes.

Darian's daggers darkened, covered in that eerie black power.

And then they both dashed toward each other.

*Clang! Clang! Clang!*

The sound of a bone spear clashing with multiple daggers rang out like steel on steel.

Haruto's spear danced and stabbed with perfect flow, but the daggers came at him from every direction, forcing him to stay on defense and stopping him from launching a full attack.

The clash went on in a deadlock for over five intense minutes. But... everyone could feel it—Darian was at a disadvantage. He just wasn't as skilled with weapons as Haruto.

Then suddenly, they both stopped.

Haruto took a breath and stared at Darian.

"I lost," he said, catching everyone off guard for a second.

But right after, everyone understood. Darian... was a healer. By now, the whole arena had already seen him fight during his empire's qualifiers.

And besides, he hadn't even activated that weird rune on the daggers. Everyone saw him use it once against the first guy who attacked him. After that, even though the daggers still had the rune, he didn't use it again.

Which meant—Darian hadn't gone all out. He might not have better technique in terms of weapon combat—but there was no way he'd lose, not in a million years. And on top of that, he could heal himself, letting him fight basically forever until his energy ran dry.

Haruto scoffed. "I want to face the full power of those daggers."

His blue eyes lit up as he stared at the weapons, like they were something beautiful and fascinating he had to try for himself.

"Alright..." Darian replied calmly, then picked up a single dagger.

The rune seal lit up.

Haruto smiled, hyped, then let out a yell and charged forward with his bone spear aimed straight ahead.

Darian took a breath and moved.

The dagger in his hand slashed cleanly.

*Slash!*

Everyone watched the final clash without blinking.

It was fast and to the point. Haruto went all in with a piercing strike. But Darian barely dodged the blow, and his dagger cut...

...a thin red line appeared just under Haruto's eyes. And his spear... was split cleanly in two by a sharp, dry cut, completely shattered—ending the fight.

Everyone broke into a cold sweat. That was just one dagger. If Darian used all twelve at once... who the hell could survive that? And he'd been using a sword with the same kind of power earlier... did he have even more weapons like that?

Haruto nodded and bowed. "I completely lost. Thank you."

Darian bowed back. "I wouldn't say you lost in terms of weapons. These daggers were made from materials and by a blacksmith that don't even come close to your level... anyway..."

Haruto lifted his head and stared at Darian, stunned.

'If you wanna know more, you can find me later.' Darian's voice echoed in his mind, out of earshot from everyone else.

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