From the 503 youths, more than 400 had already displayed their strongest attack.

Strangely, no one scored above 50, which left Amon puzzled.

He wondered if the girl from before had been right, but since none of the people he acknowledged had stepped forward yet, he knew he had to remain patient.

Time passed, and the place gradually grew dark.

After spending the entire day there, some of the youths were beginning to feel drained, yet none of them dared leave a bad impression of themselves.

As the darkness crept in, lights flared to life around the ship.

They were like massive bulbs mounted along the spaceship's exterior, bright enough to cut through the shadows and push the growing darkness away.

A few students began yawning from pure exhaustion while Amon stood calmly with his senses sharp, quietly observing everything.

Who knew?

Maybe this was also part of the test.

A test of endurance.

'If it truly is, that would be amusing.' Amon lampooned internally as he watched the number of remaining youths shrink.

With fatigue creeping in fast, more hesitant students finally stepped up, eager to bring the entrance examination to an end and retreat somewhere to rest.

In the blink of an eye, the 103 remaining dwindled to barely twenty.

Finally, Amon noticed someone he recognized step forward.

Carmen.

Amon's gaze sharpened with curiosity.

Carmen stepped onto the stage and bowed politely toward Damien, who let out another long yawn.

Even the instructor's fatigue was clearly catching up to him.

"Get on with it. No need for the pleasantries… yawnnnn." Damien waved lazily.

"Okay," Carmen nodded before unleashing his attack.

The shadows around the ship trembled as if answering his command.

"A gift related to shadow control? That's rare." Damien commented casually.

He flicked his hand backward.

His shadow, which had split into countless fragments, shifted and reformed behind him as if it had always been whole.

"Impressive attacking method. Ninety points. Next… yawnnnn." Damien said with a faint smile.

"Thank you." Carmen's expression brightened as he stepped down.

Others followed, then soon only two remained.

Amon and Helena.

"So which of you is coming up first? I really need to go sleep…" Damien grumbled, glancing between them with an exhausted expression.

Helena looked at Amon, her eyes flickering with a strange glint.

Amon responded with a casual smile before stepping forward.

He had initially thought being the final person to show off would be cool. At least that way he could leave a strong impression. However…

'Unfortunately,' Amon sighed in his heart.

"Chill for a bit," Damien said while pointing at Helena. "You come forward. He isn't worth much of my time anyway, and I can sense you're really interesting. To think your core is already orange. What a lady."

For the first time that day, Damien's eyes showed genuine excitement.

Helena shrugged, her steps light and her figure graceful as she walked past Amon.

In a moment she was already on the stage, leaving Amon dumbfounded.

'I'm not worth what?' Amon felt like coughing up blood.

'That was so embarrassing.'

He shot Damien a look full of silent resentment, already making a decision.

'I didn't want to use it before. But you forced my hand, Instructor Damien.'

…

Back on stage, Helena stood before Damien.

She raised her slender hand toward him, and a strange ripple spread across the entire platform.

CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.

The sound of shattering glass echoed throughout the arena.

Damien's eyes narrowed slightly as he gazed around.

Under the night sky, the moonlight reflected off countless shards that appeared out of nowhere, scattering a blinding light across the entire spaceship.

The brilliant glow lit up the night and forced Damien to squint in mild surprise.

BANG.

All at once, the shards compressed into each other, and the surrounding space rippled faintly under the heavy force of her attack.

Amon was astonished.

'What kind of attack is that? And how does one even defend against it?'

He knew that if he were placed in that situation, he would need to create multiple defensive gifts at once just to withstand the pressure.

As for those with only a single gift?

They would not be able to block it at all.

Unfair or not, that was the truth.

Amon admired the attack, quietly acknowledging it in his heart.

'She's probably the strongest in this section. Though since I haven't fought her, who is stronger between us is still uncertain.'

A faint thrill of anticipation stirred within him.

The blinding light gradually faded, and Damien's state was revealed.

He was unharmed.

'What the hell?' Amon was stupefied.

He had expected at least a scratch, anything… but nothing?

That was insane.

'Just what kind of gift does he have?' Amon's curiosity deepened.

"As expected of the royal princess. Ninety five points. That was an interesting attack."

Damien's tiredness seemed to vanish as he spoke with genuine appreciation.

"Thank you." Helena replied softly, stepping down with light, elegant movements.

As she descended, she paused and looked at Amon briefly before continuing.

'What was that expression?' Amon frowned. He couldn't place it, but there was something strange about her gaze.

'Suspicious. Whatever, it's my turn now…'

"Come up, let's finish this…" Damien said with a lazy chuckle.

His expression clearly showed he had no expectations for Amon's turn.

He could sense the state of Amon's core and knew it was white.

What could a white core even do?

Aside from indicating limited potential, it meant that Amon was unlikely to possess any significant strength.

After all… there was no one else like Damien in the world.

Amon stepped onto the stage.

Since he was the final participant, every eye fell on him.

Some who had witnessed his earlier feats could not help but wonder just how strong his full attack would be.

Amon unsheathed his sword and faced Damien.

Damien kept one hand in his pocket and stretched out his right hand lazily.

"Get on with it. You're delaying my sleep time."

'Heaven Rendering Technique.'

Amon silently muttered as he took his stance.

This was one of the sword arts he had obtained from Light during the ten years.

According to Light, the technique was extremely terrifying.

Because it could render the heavens helpless.

Amon didn't know how true that was, but considering Light's mysterious nature, he believed it was most likely accurate.

A technique capable of slaughtering gods and mortals alike.

Its only limit was the amount of energy poured into it.

The dark skies rumbled the moment Amon swung his sword.

A chill spread through the hearts of everyone present.

Like a silent ripple, a purple sword light appeared for an instant, crackling with enough intensity to tear the surrounding space apart.

"That attack…" Damien muttered in disbelief as he quickly raised his right hand to counter.

BOOM.

The explosion that followed was even more terrifying than the one created by the blind girl's attack.

It roared across the island, powerful enough to make demon beasts miles away freeze in fear.

The force was so overwhelming that cracks spread through Amon's body. For a moment he felt like he might burst apart from the inside.

He quickly activated his healing gift.

'That was too dangerous. No wonder Light warned me not to use it.'

Amon thought grimly, yet he still turned toward Damien with a faint smile.

The purple glow had met Damien's defense head on.

The impact triggered another terrifying shockwave, and no matter how hard Damien struggled to stabilize himself, he was pushed back.

His expression shifted completely. Gone was the lazy calm.

He fought to maintain balance using only a single hand.

"Boom!" Amon's voice echoed with a laugh.

This was the most terrifying part of the Heaven Rendering Technique.

What did it mean to render the heavens helpless?

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