The duel had transformed from a contest of champions into a public lesson in humility. Baron, the self-proclaimed future of the sea, was being dismantled.

Alvian didn't attack to kill. Not yet. He attacked to break.

"Too wide," Alvian said, smacking Baron's wrist with the lance shaft. Baron dropped his spear.

"Clumsy," Alvian commented, kicking Baron's legs out from under him. The Prince crashed into the sand.

"Get up," Alvian ordered.

Baron scrambled to his feet, his face purple with rage and humiliation. He grabbed his spear. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

He activated a hidden mechanism in his armor. A panel on his chest opened, revealing a dark, pulsing crystal. A Syndicate Mana-Cannon.

"BURN!"

A beam of concentrated red energy shot out, point-blank range.

The crowd screamed. It was a cheap shot. A dirty trick.

Alvian sighed.

"[Void-Mirror Aegis]."

A small, violet shield appeared in front of his chest, no bigger than a dinner plate.

"ZAP-BOOM!"

The red beam hit the shield and bounced. It shot straight back into the cannon port.

"KABOOM!"

Baron's chest armor exploded. The cannon backfired, blowing him backward across the arena. He tumbled through the sand, smoke rising from his chest.

[-8,000! Reflected Damage!]

Baron lay there, coughing blood. His beautiful armor was ruined. His pride was shattered.

"You... you cheat," Baron wheezed.

Alvian walked over to him. He loomed over the fallen Prince.

"I used a skill," Alvian said. "You used a toy. And you broke it."

Baron looked up at the VIP box. "Father! Help me!"

King Megalos stood up, his face twisted in fury. But he couldn't intervene. The barrier was still up. The rules were absolute.

Baron looked back at Alvian. His eyes were wild with desperation. He reached into a pouch at his belt. He pulled out a syringe filled with black liquid.

[Item Detected: Essence of the Abyss (Unstable Mutagen).]

"If I can't win..." Baron screamed, jamming the needle into his neck. "...THEN I'LL TAKE YOU WITH ME!"

"NO!" Megalos shouted from the box. "YOU FOOL!"

The mutagen hit Baron's system instantly. His body convulsed. His bones cracked and lengthened. His skin split, black tentacles bursting from his flesh. He was mutating into a monstrosity, a chaotic spawn of the void.

[Warning! Target mutating into High-Tier Abomination.]

Alvian watched the transformation. He didn't look worried. He looked disappointed.

"Inefficient biology," Alvian muttered. "Sacrificing control for raw power is a rookie mistake."

He raised his [Lance of the Void Winter].

"I don't have time for a boss phase two."

He activated [Void Step].

He vanished.

He reappeared directly in front of the mutating Baron. The Prince—or the thing that used to be the Prince—roared, raising a massive, mutated claw.

Alvian didn't strike with the blade. He placed his hand on the creature's chest.

"[Void Vortex]."

He cast the skill not as a projectile, but as a contact spell. A singularity formed inside Baron's chest cavity.

"VWOOOM!"

The mutation stopped. The expanding flesh was suddenly pulled inward. Baron's eyes bulged. His armor imploded. His very essence was being sucked into a black hole the size of a marble inside his own heart.

"SHRED."

Alvian twisted his hand. The vortex spun.

"SQUELCH."

There was no explosion. Just a sudden, violent compression. Baron, the armor, the mutation—everything was crushed into a single, dense point of matter. Then, it vanished.

Alvian stood alone in the arena. There was no body. No blood. Just a small pile of loot where the Prince had been.

[You have slain Baron (Mutated)!]

[Experience Gained: 850,000!]

[Level Up!]

[Level 54.]

Alvian picked up a ring from the sand.

[Item: Ring of the Shark Prince]

He tossed it in his inventory. He looked up at King Megalos.

"Your son is dead," Alvian announced, his voice echoing in the silent arena. "Who's next?"

The silence that followed Alvian's declaration was heavy enough to crush the lungs. Fifty thousand spectators stared at the empty patch of sand where their Prince had been erased from existence.

Then, the screaming started.

"MY SON!" King Megalos roared. It was a sound of pure, unadulterated grief and rage. He smashed his throne, the bone structure shattering into splinters. "YOU KILLED MY SON!"

"He killed himself," Alvian replied calmly. "I just helped him with the paperwork."

"KILL HIM!" Megalos bellowed, pointing a trembling finger at Alvian. "KILL THE HUMAN! TEAR HIM APART! I WANT HIS HEART!"

The barrier around the arena flickered and died. The judges, bribed by the Syndicate, dropped the wards.

From the stands, thousands of "spectators" threw off their cloaks. They weren't civilians. They were soldiers. Whale Shark warriors, Syndicate mercenaries, and corrupt guards. They drew weapons. They surrounded the arena pit.

It was an army. Ten thousand strong.

"An ambush," Alvian noted, looking at the sea of enemies closing in. "Inefficient. You should have attacked while I was distracted."

"You are alone!" Megalos shouted, jumping down from the VIP box into the arena. He drew his massive anchor-flail. "No friends. No walls. No escape."

Alvian smiled. It was a terrifying sight.

"Alone?" Alvian asked. "Did you really think I walked into a shark tank without bringing a harpoon?"

He reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small, ornate box. It wasn't the [Sanctified Soul Vessel]. It was a spatial artifact he had confiscated from the Syndicate base in the Chaos Zone—a [Dimensional Barracks].

"I brought my own party."

He threw the box into the air.

"OPEN."

"BOOM!"

The box exploded in a flash of white light. A spatial rift tore open in the center of the arena, hovering above Alvian's head.

And from the rift, they came.

"FOR THE EIGHTH GUARDIAN!"

Valeria dropped from the sky, her [Titan's Bloodline] fully active. She slammed into the ground, creating a shockwave that knocked back the first wave of attackers.

"Let's dance!" Seraphina blurred out of the rift, throwing a fan of poisoned knives that took out a dozen archers on the ridge.

But they weren't alone.

"THE IRON SHELL STANDS READY!" Guardian Magnus leaped from the rift, his massive tower shield expanding to form a wall of steel.

"I HAVE A SCORE TO SETTLE!" Master Kaelen zipped out, his new trident crackling with electricity.

And behind them, five hundred soldiers of the Abyssal Guard, fully armored in the new [Void Sentinel] gear Alvian had forged, poured out like a tide of black steel.

"FORMATION!" Korg roared, leading the charge.

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