In the entire arena, everyone was stunned by Vanh's brutal show of power. Killing was forbidden, and that sneak attack had been insanely dangerous—it easily could've taken a life.

But the moment he pulled his sword out, everyone saw that he'd hit non-vital organs. High Humans were tough; a wound like that rarely killed unless help came too late.

The Fighter collapsed on the ground, coughing up blood.

Vanh looked at Nayara, and that hateful smile of his wouldn't leave his face.

"So? You gonna actually shoot or what? If you wait too long... I don't think he'll get another chance."

The wounded guy dragged himself away. He was out of the fight for sure.

Nayara took a deep breath. That one man's power had been enough to completely shut down their offensive. How the hell could she beat him?

Giving up wasn't an option.

"Final formation!" she shouted. The other three activated almost all of their power at once, no hesitation.

She pulled out a silver arrow, nocked it, and drew the bowstring to the limit.

Vanh let out a light laugh. At the same time, the tank roared and charged in. Right behind him, the mage closed his eyes and summoned a dozen golden spears around him—each one glowing intensely, packed with power.

The support took a deep breath, channeling her blessing into the other three. They instantly felt the ring's energy become denser and easier to circulate. In just a second, all four focused their power on one target.

Meanwhile, the other four from the Solar Federation's group just stood in the back, not even pretending to help. They watched everything unfold with bored expressions.

The tank reached Vanh and activated his blessing—an odd purple aura wrapped around Vanh's body. It was a blessing you couldn't escape if you got too close; it disrupted your power and forced you to focus on the tank. Otherwise, your abilities would go unstable.

At the same time, the mage's attack hit too…

But Vanh didn't even flinch.

The black flame just flickered slightly, and when it was touched—the mage's full attack turned to ash.

*Rumble!*

Nayara's arrow fired. The space in front of her shattered in a straight line, and a blinding light lit up the entire arena.

"Heh, barely acceptable," Vanh muttered. Then he completely ignored the tank's blessing and turned, swinging his sword.

*Slash*

Everyone in the arena was stunned.

The arrow, right as it was about to hit... just froze in midair. Then he sliced it—and all that terrifying power from the supreme artifact got cut in half and vanished completely.

The ones most shocked were the military officers from New Arcadia. They understood the power of that bow better than anyone. If that bow was considered a "supreme artifact," then all the others would need to be downgraded.

That arrow could've killed even an average five-ring Spiritual Guardian. But Vanh, with only three rings, shredded it like it was nothing...

Excited voices echoed from the stands: "How could these kids even dream of competing with someone like heir Vanh?"

It was a military officer from the Solar Federation who said that. The word 'heir' made all the older, more knowledgeable folks take a deep breath—they knew exactly where this young man had come from.

Compared to Vanh, those five geniuses from New Arcadia were like babies just learning how to walk. Even if there were twenty or thirty of them with more than one supreme artifact, he could still crush them the same way.

After all... he was the heir of the most powerful and feared family on Earth. Even people from superior planets had to be careful around them. Regular empire-level geniuses were nothing in comparison.

"Is it over? Can I finally attack once? Or are you gonna give up?" Vanh's voice rang out, thick with contempt.

Nayara clenched her fists, dizzy from the lack of energy.

"Defensive formation!"

She shouted, and the four moved together. They weren't gonna quit without giving it everything they had. If that bastard was willing to give them one more shot, they'd take it. In a real fight, even the smallest window could turn the tide—and either side could still win.

"Heh, good. I'll attack now," Vanh said flatly.

First, he slowly sheathed his sword. No one understood why.

Then his eyes changed—the red turned black. The black flame around him trembled, then drew in and merged with his skin.

In seconds, his whole body was covered in thick darkness. Only his flashy red clothes remained visible, creating a look of pure shadow and blood... like a demon.

Then the space around him started warping again.

This time, everyone in the arena could see it more clearly.

"Wait... is that a second blessing?" asked a powerful young man up in the stands, sitting beside a much older military officer.

The older man snorted hard.

"Not exactly—but close. That kid... he's got two spiritual roots. With one, he gets a blessing. With the other, he can twist reality a bit and use extra power. It's not a real second blessing, but it's far from weak."

"What?! That's even possible?" That young man—like most—had no idea.

"Unfortunately, yeah... but only if it's a variant spiritual root, inherited from an awakened ancestral being. It has to be done with a bloody ritual. That method was discovered way back when the Spiritual Guardians first appeared—but it's been completely banned in every Earth-based empire and almost every planet in the universe. Only some demon-linked races and worlds know how to do it properly—and they never fully banned it."

"That's why no one ever talks about ancestral awakenings..." the young man murmured, finally understanding.

An ancestral awakening should've been a reason for massive pride for the empires—and logically, they should've shown it off to the world and nurtured it to the fullest. But the truth was the exact opposite.

The empires hid it as much as possible, doing everything they could to make sure no one found out.

People who awakened like that... were actually targeted by assassins looking to steal it from them. If news about a chain like that ever leaked, the underworld and other forces would probably sell it off to demons from other places. The empires wanted to give that person a chance to grow and survive—so they never made it public.

But that young guy fighting now wasn't a demon... Was it illegal? Of course. If any regular person tried that and got caught, they'd be hunted down and executed by the empires. But if someone had serious power backing them... no one dared to say a word.

It took Vanh just five seconds to complete his transformation.

Now, he looked like a dark, sinister demon... and people finally recognized his blessing. It was insanely rare, super complex, and hard as hell to master—it was called *Devil's Corruption*.

It was a tank-type blessing with two forms: Auric Corruption, which protected against elemental attacks; and Physical Corruption, which fused with the body and turned it into an impenetrable wall of defense.

Combined with the spatial power from his second spiritual root—which could slow down ranged attacks and then dissipate them with the blessing—he was a natural-born nemesis to long-range fighters like the Solar Bow.

On top of that, thanks to his spatial power, he had extreme speed and insane offensive strength. The guy had no weak points.

*Woosh!*

He vanished from sight.

"Right!"

Nayara was ready. Even with no energy left, she had an artifact in hand and felt the spatial ripples hinting where the attack would come from.

The tank rushed forward and jumped. The mage coughed up blood and poured out every last bit of power for his final attack.

But…

Vanh reappeared with a wicked, devilish smile—and launched his punch at a speed no one could follow.

*BANG!*

The tank was hit like a sledgehammer had crushed him. He was instantly knocked out and nearly sent flying—until a hand moved even faster and grabbed him by the clothes.

The mage's attack came from all directions—but Vanh vanished again.

He reappeared meters away, holding the other tank by the neck.

*BANG!*

Everyone flinched as he smashed the guy's face in with a brutal punch.

*BANG! BANG! BANG!*

Blood and the sound of bones breaking echoed. People swallowed hard. The tank was already defeated... but Vanh made a point of completely breaking him in front of everyone.

It all happened too fast. The other two didn't even have time to react. By the time Vanh let go of him, the guy's face was unrecognizable and soaked in blood. One more hit and he'd die... honestly, if they didn't help him within two minutes, he might not make it.

That tank's condition was way, way worse than the guy Darian had taken down in the first round.

Darian had done it barehanded... now it was clear—Vanh, who could use a sword, was obviously repeating Darian's feats on purpose, just turning the dial way up.

"No need to rush... your turn will come," Vanh said with a laugh, looking straight into the eyes of Nayara and the other three, full of killing intent.

*Woosh!*

He vanished.

Nayara's expression changed completely—she clenched her fists hard.

Everyone in the arena saw her hesitation, but they also knew she wasn't stupid. Vanh's intentions were twisted—he didn't just want to win, he wanted to humiliate them. And in that case, surrendering would be less humiliating and they wouldn't get torn to pieces.

Nayara opened her mouth:

"We s—!"

But she was cut off.

She felt the space around her twist and jumped back purely on reflex. If she'd waited even a fraction of a second, she would've been hit—and the injury would've been brutal.

*CRACK!*

Everyone heard the sound first—then saw the Support slam violently into the stage, her bones cracking on impact.

Then Vanh appeared behind the mage, with a cold look in his eyes.

"Too late."

*BANG!*

He struck from behind, and the horrifying sound of ribs—and even his spine—snapping echoed.

The mage flew across the stage, not even able to scream. He tumbled like a ragdoll, then just lay there... not moving.

"YOU!" Nayara screamed in panic.

Everyone turned to Thomas. They all heard her trying to surrender, but she'd been interrupted. It didn't matter if the words weren't clear or complete—no one there was dumb, and the judge should've stopped it right away.

But he... he'd been in the stands, and only now started walking toward the stage... like he didn't want to interfere too quickly.

Everyone in the arena narrowed their eyes. That level of shamelessness was outrageous—but who had the guts to go against him?

"!"

Nayara was grabbed by the neck and lifted into the air.

"... I gave you the chance earlier. Now that I feel like having fun, no one's stopping me."

People across the arena clenched their fists tight. No one liked what they were seeing.

Thomas was almost on the stage and would shut it down in the next few seconds. If it took just five seconds, he could still say the surrender wasn't clear enough, or that he didn't have time... or whatever other excuse he wanted.

But Vanh moved too fast. He instantly swung a punch toward Nayara's face, a sadistic grin on his lips.

Until...

Suddenly, the entire stage was flooded with red and green light. A blade dozens of meters long appeared out of thin air—right above Vanh—and came crashing down.

*Whirlwind Flare!*

A voice echoed—before his punch could land—forcing him to stop. Vanh turned, surprised. He could tell that if he didn't block this attack, he'd be seriously hurt.

**BOOOM!**

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