The entire crowd in the arena had gone silent, waiting for the duel to begin. The short conversation between the two, which everyone had heard, had been a bit confusing — but one thing was clear: they seemed pretty friendly with each other.

The four people from Amara's group already knew in advance that she'd fight alone. As soon as the two finished talking, they quietly stepped back.

They locked eyes — and moved at the exact same moment.

*Woosh!*

The two clashed in a fierce and lightning-fast battle. A yellow-orange glow shone as strong winds swirled across the entire stage.

The audience was amazed: Amara's armor was incredibly flexible. Her movements were natural, not stiff at all — it was like the armor was part of her body. On top of that, she was using a blessing that controlled both wind and lightning at the same time.

Her strikes were terrifyingly fast and piercing. But Darian moved with agility, dodging each one just a hair's breadth from the blade, like he had no room to counter.

Sparks of lightning and gusts of wind followed every one of her attacks. The power packed into her blows was insane. The armor boosted her physical strength, and combined with the speed from her blessing, it was a terrifying combo.

Still, the older spectators could see it clearly: armor was still armor — it couldn't be as agile as a real body. It limited some of her movement speed, but in return, it massively boosted her strength.

The armor was made from metallic fragments from other universes, all loaded with energy, connected into a single system. Sure, there were a few gaps in her movements — but with her overwhelming strength and flawless defense, those weaknesses were more than made up for.

"Shit!" Amara suddenly roared in frustration. Then she took a few steps back.

The glow from her sword vanished and she stretched out both arms. In seconds, everyone in the stands gulped hard as her armor began to shift. Four small black barrels appeared on her forearms.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

Thunderous gunshots echoed out. Yellowish lights shot forward like lightning, rushing straight toward Darian.

But he just stepped aside, dodging with ease.

Every single shot hit the stage floor, exploding violently and leaving cracks all over. The stage, which had just been repaired after the last fight, was instantly wrecked again — proof of just how absurdly powerful those blasts were.

The barrage went on for a full minute.

Everyone in the arena was in disbelief. The older ones could barely track the shots — and only because they had twice as many rings as Amara. The younger ones, even those with five rings, couldn't even see or sense the bullets before they hit the ground.

Darian, on the other hand, moved like he could see the future, reacting with perfect timing. That's why Amara got pissed and switched tactics — she thought he was some kind of close-combat freak who could read all her moves.

But that idea quickly proved wrong. He stayed untouchable, impossible to hit. Her insane power didn't mean a damn thing against him.

She stopped shooting and stared at him seriously.

"I can't land a hit… so I'll admit I'm weaker. But... sorry, I'm gonna use my supreme artifact."

Darian nodded calmly. "No problem, go all out. This tournament matters for your empire, after all."

She agreed. She couldn't just give up without going all in — otherwise, people from her empire might not accept it. The Rorik family was the main power in that empire, but they didn't act like dictators who did whatever they wanted.

Amara pulled out a small pearl and crushed it in her hand…

"Supreme Artifact: Space Disruption!" someone in the stands muttered excitedly.

It was an artifact that created small cores meant for close-range use. Each one, once activated, generated a spatial domain that lasted for a limited time.

Darian immediately felt space warping around her. He broke into a cold sweat. Now, even if he could predict her attacks through karma, his body and power wouldn't react fast enough.

He'd have to go all in too.

He exhaled sharply. A subtle glow appeared in his eyes — the light of seven stars.

With a flick of his hand, ten flying daggers appeared around him, all with their rune seals activated. Then a dark power engulfed the blades.

*Woosh!*

Round two started in a flash. Amara vanished — and reappeared already slamming into Darian.

She couldn't use weapons alongside that artifact, so she went in with her fists. Not that it was a problem — the armor's offensive power could rival any mid-tier weapon.

Darian couldn't dodge anymore. So he faced the attack head-on.

A violent sound echoed from the impact.

Amara — and everyone in the arena — held their breath. He didn't take a single step back... in fact, she felt a terrifying pressure on her own body. If she were just a bit weaker, she would've been the one thrown away.

"How the hell does he have such a monstrous body??" someone in the stands blurted out, stunned.

But in silence, all the high-ranking military officers and powerful figures of the New Arcadia Empire looked like they'd seen a ghost. They could feel the power of the Seven Stars — the empire's own technique. They were sure, that's what was giving Darian his strength.

But how? Even those who'd been using that technique for dozens of years had no idea how he was pulling it off.

The flying daggers moved, striking Amara from all directions.

She snorted and dodged them. No one was dumb: everyone already knew how absurdly powerful those daggers were, so she had to avoid getting hit at all costs.

With another move, she pierced space and attacked again. She had to use her artifact's full power now, focusing on attack and dodging.

The two clashed again and again, putting on a show of raw power and strength.

The crowd was breathless. Sometimes the daggers managed to hit her armor — then, the metal would tear completely, revealing Amara's pale skin and a bit of blood.

But she was quick to back away, and right after, the armor would rebuild itself, covering the damaged spot.

Inside, everyone could feel she was burning through her ring's power fast. That was how people from her empire healed. No one knew what would give out first: her energy, or the supreme artifact's effect.

As for Darian… he seemed calm, totally unharmed.

Up in the VIP room, Nikolai watched everything closely, hiding his shock. That kid was unbelievable — and was suppressing Amara with no effort. But... she still had a trump card. Maybe she could win.

After almost ten minutes of combat...

"ALRIGHT! I'M GOING ALL OUT!" she roared, taken over by a burning desire to fight.

Suddenly, her entire armor pulsed with even more intensity. The more experienced ones nodded, excited.

"That's the secret move of the Polar Circle Empire people. Don't know how it works, but for a short time, they can sacrifice the armor's power to gain insane strength."

Everyone heard the continuous sound of something cracking — it was Amara's armor, fracturing as it hit its absolute limit.

"GO!" she shouted and vanished.

Now, in that state, even Vanh would've been terrified, unable to do anything but run. It would last less than a minute. But that also seemed to be the final stretch of her supreme artifact, which is why she'd saved it until now.

The armor's power had already been scary. Now it reached a whole new level. Even Darian wouldn't dare fight head-on... but running was impossible too because of the artifact. It was checkmate for any opponent.

When she appeared in front of Darian this time… he didn't try to block it directly.

He just made a quick move with the dagger in his left hand, hitting the shoulder of her armor. At the same time, her attack landed hard.

*BANG!!*

Everyone was stunned. That kind of power could've turned a tank with four rings into a bloody pulp.

Darian was sent flying, bones cracking loudly. He spat out a ton of blood mid-air, leaving a trail. Then, with a bang, he slammed into the edge of the martial stage where there was a barrier... and dropped to the ground... seemingly not moving.

Amara's eyes widened in panic. Why the hell did he do that?!

But... a white light covered him, and he got up a second later, making her breathe a sigh of relief.

'Freakin' bastard... you scared the hell outta me...'

Until...

*Crack!*

"WHAT?!" Nikolai roared in the VIP room, completely shaken.

On the stage, Amara felt her armor fully shatter. In the next second, all the metal lost its energy and fell from her body, crashing to the floor.

She hadn't even used three seconds of the one-minute full power boost. But now, it was all gone. Just the artifact alone wouldn't be enough — her chances of winning were zero.

She was exposed, wearing only a black and gold dress, extremely luxurious.

Darian stared at her from afar... and then saw her face twist, and started to panic.

'Shit... I'm so screwed!'

Darian remembered those desperate moments when he made his mom and Lucy mad at him. Dealing with those two in a situation like this was worse than facing a horde of crazed Risen Chiefs.

Amara saw the change in him and was surprised. Her frustration faded when she noticed he was genuinely worried. He already saw her as someone he should get along with — and that made her feel a whole lot better.

She understood him a bit more. The image he'd built during the tournament was nothing like who he really was.

After taking a deep breath, she smiled slightly: "I lost completely... but I'm demanding a rematch!"

She followed it with a lively and charming laugh. It was like she'd just found a great friend — and a rival who would push her to the limit from now on.

Darian felt relieved. Meanwhile, the people in the arena were dazed, seeing this beauty — who was always so stoic — smiling like that.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.