Dr. Reyaan rose from his chair, moved forward, and poured his Soulforce into a crystal placed at the edge of the VIP room. Following him, the six S-Rank Awakeners also rose from their seats and poured their Soulforce into six crystals embedded in the stands at the front of their cabin.

The poured Soulforce moved like sparkling liquid from the crystals into the floor, and the next moment, a large transparent barrier materialised from the boundary of the ground and enclosed Aryan and Rudra in the shape of a large inverted hemisphere.

As soon as the barrier was set up, the commentator announced,

"Spectators! This barrier is created by the mana of the strongest Awakeners from our country and cannot be broken no matter what amount of damage is caused to it. You may enjoy this battle without worrying about any attack coming your way.

Also, all the spectators present here are adults. As for the viewers watching this battle through their phones or TVs, the stream will be one minute delayed from real time to censor out any gore scenes that might occur during the fight—"

While the commentator was giving the explanation, Rudra had already drawn his sword, releasing an intense burst of Swordforce toward Aryan.

In retaliation, Aryan waved the crimson axe in his hands, glowing with his Soulforce, forcing Rudra's Sword Intent waves to move past him.

Unlike Rudra, who was wearing full-body armour, Aryan was dressed in a casual oversized T-shirt and bootcut jeans.

For a few seconds, both of them slowly circled around the arena, their gazes fixed on each other. The crowd had turned utterly silent under the pressure their presence was causing in the stadium.

"Today, I will take revenge for all the humiliation you caused me, Aryan!"

Rudra bolted forward, holding his sword with both hands, the blade pointing at the sky.

In a swift motion, the blade descended downward, glowing with intense blue light.

Tang!

Sparks erupted, the ground shattered, and a deep cut surged in a straight line across the arena from Rudra's blade, only stopping after hitting the barrier. Meanwhile, Aryan, who faced the attack head-on, remained unfazed as he blocked it with the head of his axe.

"With just a single strike of his blade, the Sword King has split the ground apart!" the commentator shouted, unable to contain his excitement.

The spectators, who had been silent until now, erupted in joy as the long-awaited battle finally began.

Slowly, Rudra began overpowering Aryan, his sword forcing Aryan's knees to bend.

Aryan moved sideways, letting the sword strike the ground, and immediately counterattacked, swinging the crimson axe at blinding speed toward Rudra's neck.

Rudra leaned his head back, dodging the attack, and swung his sword in a diagonal slash from bottom to top.

Surprisingly, the attack landed, tearing apart Aryan's shirt and drawing blood from the diagonal cut on his torso.

"Brother!" I shouted, jumping off my chair, worry plastered all over my face.

"Don't worry, Brother Raj. Believe in your brother," Sister Aisha said, her face expressionless and her gaze fixed forward.

"The Blood Demon is injured! The Blood Demon is injured! You all know what that means!" the commentator shouted.

Roars of excitement echoed through the crowd as Aryan's blood dripped onto the ground.

"Wh-what the fuck is going on!?" I muttered, confused by their reaction.

"You haven't seen your brother fight before, Brother Raj," Sister Aisha said. "You will now witness why your brother is called the Blood Demon."

I turned my focus to the large screen where the battle could be seen clearly.

The drops of Aryan's blood falling to the ground began levitating in the air.

Rudra's eyes widened, and he instantly tried to retreat.

However, before he could move back, the drops of blood turned into small, sharp needles and shot forward.

Rudra swung his sword, his jaw clenched as if he feared these tiny needles that could barely leave any injury. He managed to dodge all of them, escaping without the slightest wound.

The blood flowing from Aryan's body moved toward his arm and wrapped around the axe in his hand. The crimson part of the axe began glowing violently, and strangely, the bleeding stopped completely. No mark of injury remained on his body as every last drop of blood was absorbed into the axe.

"He's like a vampire," I murmured, surprised by his unique attribute.

Aryan extended his hand and curled his finger in a slow, provocative beckoning gesture at Rudra.

Rudra's eyes narrowed, veins bulged on his forehead, and he was clearly provoked by Aryan's action.

However, despite his fury, Rudra did not move forward. Instead, he retreated several feet back and loosened his grip on the sword.

Surprisingly, instead of falling to the ground, the sword defied gravity and remained suspended in the air.

With a slight movement of Rudra's finger, the sword shot forward in a stabbing motion like a bullet.

The moment the sword reached Aryan, his grip tightened around the shaft of his axe, and he swung it like a baseball bat, striking the tip of the blade head-on.

As the weapons clashed, waves of intense air pressure erupted in a circular arc, tearing apart the ground beneath them.

Aryan, who took the attack at point-blank range, suffered numerous small wounds all over his body.

"From this amazing exchange, it appears the Sword King has a slight upper hand in the fight! Is this the advantage of being an S-Rank for a longer time?" the commentator shouted before continuing. "But we can't ignore the fact that the Blood Demon getting injured doesn't mean he's actually getting weaker!"

As the commentator spoke, blood once again flowed from Aryan's wounds and was absorbed into the crimson axe, making it glow even brighter than before.

As for his injuries, they were forcefully closed by his muscles once again.

As Rudra recalled his sword for another attack, Aryan gripped the axe from the middle of its shaft and began rotating it at blinding speed.

"Blood Demon Art — Chapter One:

Thousand Needles!"

As the name suggested, thousands of crimson needles shot forward from the rotating axe, too small for the naked eye to clearly see and moving even faster than bullets.

Rudra tried to defend against the incoming barrage by striking the needles with his sword. Alas, how many needles could he even parry like that?

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