The crowd's shouting was cut off. Then, just like that, the whole atmosphere in the arena shifted completely.

"Shit! I thought I was gonna watch a fight... how the hell was that even a match?!"

"Hahaha! Lucky bastards — they'll go down in history for taking down the clown!"

Darian glanced up at the name of his 'group' and let out a cold snort. He slowly walked off the stage while the arena roared from all directions with the noise of pure chaos.

His hand moved up to his head, gently calming Niara, who was trembling like she was about to explode at any second.

To everyone else, Niara looked like a cute little pet — just a creature used as a weapon by a Spiritual Guardian. A few other contestants also had beasts for emergencies. It wasn't that rare for Guardians without much defense or offense under four rings to rely on something like that.

"Looks like this kid really wants to fight. Damn, he's got balls! Hahaha... impressive!"

"Hurry up and kick that brat's ass already so we can move on to the next match!"

People were throwing out random mocking comments, but deep down, they had to admit: this guy's got a thick skin. None of them would've had the guts to walk onto that stage like that.

Both 'groups' were already at the center of the arena.

"Ugh, what a buzzkill. I wanted our first match to be flashy as hell to boost the empire's rep… but this brat ruined it," one of the Aurora Coalition members muttered, clearly irritated.

The others had more or less the same vibe. A couple didn't even bother looking at Darian.

"First match — Aurora Coalition versus New Arcadia… begins!" Thomas announced.

But... neither side got into a fighting stance.

Darian just stood there, staring blankly at the five in front of him. Meanwhile, they stayed in a lazy posture, looking at him like he was some idiot doing something embarrassing.

"Wouldn't it be less lame if just one of us took care of him?" one super skinny woman asked. The others nodded. "Either way, I'm definitely not doing it."

"Why the hell are you all lookin' at me? I'm not doing it either!" another woman added. "I'm not wasting my first fight on something this pathetic. Hey babe, you're a support too — perfect warm-up for you, right?"

The guy next to her scoffed. "Fighting that guy is an insult to my power... fight him if you want, but I wouldn't even if you beat me half to death."

The four of them kept trying to convince each other to step up. No one wanted to be the one to fight — like going against Darian would be some kind of disgrace. And there was zero chance they'd all attack at once either.

It was this weird combo of looking down on him and not wanting their names tied to this embarrassment. The whole tournament was being recorded and would be rewatched for years. Anyone who fought Darian would also be remembered for participating in this joke of a moment. Definitely not a good look.

Darian just stood there, watching it all happen, not showing a single emotion. He couldn't afford to let his feelings take over. He needed to be sharp, strategic... and brutal.

The Aurora Coalition Empire's groups were made up of lovers. Yeah, two groups of lovers. One was a regular couple, and the other had one guy and two women.

That's because this empire's special technique, called *Divine Eclipse*, was one where men and women had to unite. This altered their bodies and physiques, making the male Yang and female Yin incredibly denser, which made a lot of things easier.

Because of this technique, in the Aurora Coalition Empire, all Spiritual Guardians had to find a partner... or even form bonds with more than just two people. For them, this became cultural and really common. In group 1, there was one guy with two women. But in group 2, it was the opposite, with one woman and two men.

They couldn't be underestimated. Besides the blessing, they had powerful physiques. They were only in sixth place on Earth because they were the last ones to get this special technique for their Spiritual Guardians, not because they were actually lesser.

Back in the last century, they'd even climbed to fifth place, but got hit with 'bad luck' — yeah, that was definitely sabotage — and failed a few S-rank missions, dropping back to sixth.

While the four Aurora Coalition members kept arguing about who'd take the fight, their leader finally spoke. He gave a lazy smile and said with disdain in his voice:

"He's just some clown. No point wasting energy on him... don't even bother attacking. Better to let him surrender on his own."

This guy was number one among the young generation of his empire — the strongest across both teams.

"Yeah, let's just give the guy a chance to back out. I bet he's dying to walk off that stage anyway," the woman next to him added.

At that moment, Darian's voice cut in, "You guys done talking yet? Hurry up already — my time's valuable."

There was a clear hint of arrogance in Darian's tone. All five of them were obviously super annoyed by it. The skinny woman scoffed, "What? You in a hurry to get your ass kicked?"

"Close enough," Darian muttered indifferently. "I'm just in a hurry to get a bit of a workout. If you guys wanna waste time, fine. But later, promise me you'll at least serve as a warm-up."

"You're courting death!" she snapped, furious.

Atop Darian's head, a dry voice rang out, "Looks like you idiots can't even make up your minds. Why not just give up already?"

"It's a performance," Darian muttered back. "They're just playing clowns to get a few laughs from the crowd."

Niara nodded with a look of sudden understanding and went, "Ah!"

The expressions on the five shifted instantly... They were used to mocking and insulting others without consequence — because they were strong. Back when they were weak, they'd been insulted too, and that had driven their thirst for power.

So, insulting someone weaker? That was just natural law. But being called "idiots and clowns" by someone weaker than them? That was unbearable.

Just as they were about to snap and start hurling insults—

"!"

The five of them almost jumped out of their skin.

Darian's figure suddenly flickered — then vanished completely from their view. None of them even saw how he disappeared.

Before they could turn around—

Everyone in the stands widened their eyes.

Behind them, as if emerging from the void, a massive elemental blade erupted.

*BOOOM!*

A terrifying blast echoed out as flames and wind burst in every direction.

The couple standing together didn't even see what hit them. All they felt was an unstoppable force crashing into them.

They flew back violently, spitting blood like kites with their strings cut.

Darian had suddenly teleported into their midst with Tempest Blink. Then used Whirlwind Flare.

And now… his eyes glowed subtly with seven shimmering colors, blending with his natural red.

He clenched his fists. Everyone watching saw a dark, terrifying aura swirling around them — and couldn't help swallowing nervously.

Darian wasn't messing around. In truth, he wanted to kill them all right there… but he couldn't.

Instead, he poured everything he had into precise, controlled force. Almost in the same breath, he lunged again.

*BANG! BANG!*

Two more were struck brutally.

They couldn't even see what was hitting them.

The guy who'd been hit first barely regained his senses — only to scream in terror as a shadow loomed over him.

"AHHHH!!!"

*BANG!*

In just ten seconds... Darian made four moves.

That was all it took. Four young prodigies were blasted off the stage, all of them drenched in blood...

...the initial strike had been an elemental explosion from Whirlwind Flare, stunning them completely. What followed looked like regular punches — but every single one carried that crushing, dark force in his fists.

None of them had time to activate their blessings, or anything at all.

In the next second, Darian was already dashing toward the final opponent… the main course — the one he'd saved for last, on purpose. Their so-called leader.

The guy swallowed hard. Every nerve in his body tensed up at once.

Before, in the middle of all that chaos, he hadn't even had time to counter or dodge — he'd been completely exposed.

Now, he roared with everything he had, "YOU DISHONORABLE BASTARD!"

His body lit up with the yellow glow of three rings. His blessing flared to the max.

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