After Max Morgan defeated Aurelian Lareth, the entire final petitive stage stayed silent for a long while.
It was not because the battle had been the most destructive one so far.
In terms of pure destruction, Orion’s Starfall Extinction against Revona had shaken the arena just as fiercely, and so had Damian’s Sword Sovereign Heaven against Aurelian’s Divine Dominion, along with Rakan’s physical collision against Aurelian’s long-range Heavenly Luminance suppression.
What set Max’s victory apart was the manner in which he had won.
He had not cut Aurelian’s light apart the way Damian had. He had not tried to overpower the Divine Son with brute force the way Rakan had attempted, and he had not erased the attacks the way Revona would have.
He had simply stood there and let the Heavenly Luminance power collapse around him, as though Aurelian’s divine light had no right to harm him at all.
Then he had used that very same light to break Aurelian’s dominion, shatter his pride, and leave him silent on the ground.
The spectators across the Divine Realm could not grasp the full truth, but they could feel the humiliation buried inside that defeat. Aurelian Lareth had lost far more than a battle.
The symbol he carried had been challenged, and the authority of the second elven faction’s Divine Son had been shaken before every major force watching the Cosmic Ascension Conference.
Aurelian sat on his pillar with his head lowered slightly. He did not speak, and he did not look at Max. The golden-white light around his body had gone quiet, almost suppressed, and even the faint crown-like glow that usually hovered above him had vanished.
The laws of the Eternal Hourglass mended his injuries, but they could not mend the fear Max had planted inside his heart.
On another pillar, Max stood calmly with his expression unchanged, and he did not spare Aurelian another glance. The battle had ended, and he had already said everything that needed saying.
For now, the stolen bloodline source would remain inside Aurelian, because the Eternal Hourglass, Angelina Valerius, and the eyes of countless great powers made reclaiming it here impossible.
But the debt had been marked, and the warning had been delivered. It would not be long.
Angelina Valerius waited until the arena’s atmosphere settled somewhat before raising her hand again.
"The final petitive stage will continue."
The giant screen above the stage began to spin once more, and the participants forced themselves to recover their focus. Max’s victory over Aurelian had been shocking, but the round-robin stage was not yet finished. The top rankings remained unsettled, and several major battles still lay ahead.
Damian Voss stood undefeated, Revona stood undefeated, and Max stood undefeated as well. Ervin was the same as well.
Kaiden Voidmere had fallen to Max, yet no one dared underestimate him on the strength of that single result. In fact, after watching Max’s battle with Kaiden, many people had begun to suspect that Kaiden’s true power had never been fully displayed.
That suspicion took on far greater weight when the screen stopped again.
The first name appeared.
[Ervin]
The arena immediately grew quieter. Then the second name slowed and came to rest.
[Kaiden Voidmere]
For a moment, the spectators seemed to draw breath as one. The screen enlarged both names.
[Final petitive Stage]
[Ervin vs Kaiden Voidmere]
A wave of excitement rolled through the Divine Realm, because this was another major battle. Ervin’s Abyssal Origin Descent had defeated Selene, Rosaline, and Orion.
His broken gate had swallowed Heavenly Luminance Genesis, Dawn Sovereign Sanctuary, and Starfall Extinction in turn. Every time he fought seriously, watchers felt as though they were staring into a bottomless abyss whose true depth remained hidden.
Kaiden Voidmere, however, was no ordinary opponent. Against Max, his brilliance had been eclipsed, because Max’s mastery of the Void Genesis Art surpassed his own and the Dimensional Sovereign Body rendered spatial attacks nearly meaningless.
That battle had made Kaiden appear suppressed, but anyone with real judgment understood the truth. Kaiden had not been weak. He had simply drawn the worst possible opponent, a man who walked the same path at a higher level and stood almost immune to the very element Kaiden relied upon.
Against Ervin, no such restriction existed. Kaiden could finally show the true terror of the Grand Void Sanctum.
Angelina Valerius looked toward both participants.
"Ervin."
"Kaiden Voidmere."
"Enter the stage."
Two beams of light descended. Ervin appeared on one side of the central stage with his black spear resting calmly in his hand. His aura remained quiet, but after so many battles, no one mistook that quietness for weakness anymore.
It was the silence of something lying deep beneath the surface, something that had no need to roar because everything above it would eventually sink.
Kaiden appeared opposite him in silver-gray robes, his expression calm and thoughtful. Unlike the aftermath of his battle with Max, no trace of helplessness lingered in his eyes now.
He regarded Ervin with genuine seriousness, and the space around him began to ripple before the battle had even begun.
Ervin studied him calmly. "You held back against Max."
Kaiden shook his head. "No. I simply had no chance to show more against him."
Ervin’s eyes deepened slightly.
Kaiden continued, "Against him, all my attacks were useless but not against you."
Ervin raised his spear. "Then show me."
Kaiden’s silver-gray pupils shone. "I will."
Angelina raised her hand.
[Battle Begins.]
Kaiden moved first.
"Void Genesis Art, Empty Step."
His body vanished, and at almost the same instant, dozens of spatial ripples bloomed around Ervin. They were neither afterimages nor illusions.
Each ripple was a folded path that could deliver Kaiden’s attack from a different angle, and each one carried enough distortion to tear an ordinary defense apart.
Ervin’s spear moved.
"Abyss Spear Art, Hollow Moon Guard."
A dark crescent took shape around him. Kaiden appeared above the crescent and pressed one palm downward.
"Void Genesis Art, Space Burial Palm."
The space around Ervin sank like a collapsing tomb. The Hollow Moon Guard trembled and then cracked beneath the pressure. Ervin stepped back once and thrust his spear upward.
"Abyss Spear Art, Deep Current Thrust."
The spear lanced toward Kaiden’s palm, but Kaiden’s body slid sideways without his feet ever moving.
"Void Genesis Art, Hollow Displacement."
The spear passed through the place where Kaiden should have been, and in the next instant, he appeared behind Ervin.
"Void Genesis Art, Sevenfold Severing Line."
Seven invisible spatial lines slashed toward Ervin’s back. Ervin spun sharply and swept his spear behind him, but two of the seven lines still slipped through his defense and opened shallow wounds across his shoulder and waist.
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