Numerous runes lit up, completely sealing the martial stage and making the whole palace as bright as day.

All eyes turned to the two princes, from planets five and six in the universe. One was an elf; the other, a beast with a quarter-humanoid blood, bearing a dense draconic bloodline.

As soon as they faced each other, Zelkov snorted, and his body radiated an intense violet aura from his seven rings.

Niall let out a low laugh, while an indigo aura emanated from him. He only had six rings.

This was common among Runedell's princes and princesses: everyone had six rings because of a culture where they didn't rush to form a new one. You were only allowed to make another ring after defeating someone with seven rings stronger than yours. That way, they believed they'd truly mastered the previous level before ascending.

It was a method to force everyone to fight stronger opponents until they learned to squeeze every drop of power out of themselves.

And yes, it worked. But it messed these kids up mentally — they never had peace or downtime. That's why people from that planet were all alienated, arrogant, and obsessively methodical in the worst ways.

Painita never wanted that. It was better to have weaker people who were mentally stable. Power isn't everything — building things properly matters. Unfortunately, not everyone agreed.

Zelkov roared, his blessing activated to the max.

He was a tank, with an absolute defensive blessing few chose — in exchange for extraordinary defense, he sacrificed all offense. Still, thanks to the physique from his draconic and bestial lineage — and the amazing saber technique his mother taught him — he couldn't be dismissed as weak offensively.

In theory, if Zelkov were as combat-talented as the other princes and princesses, he'd be a terrifying, complete fighter. But… he preferred to focus on an area that beasts usually ignored: wisdom.

Without hesitation, Zelkov swung his saber at Niall.

*BOOM!*

A lightning blast exploded. Suddenly, everyone saw Zelkov cough up blood and be thrown to the opposite side, defeated by a single strike.

They were all shocked. When the lightning faded, they realized Niall hadn't even drawn a weapon. With his bare hands, he blocked Zelkov's saber — and still wounded him, overpowering his extreme defensive blessing.

The people of Vadise fell into deadly silence.

"Wait... is this for real? I didn't expect him to be so... pathetic..." Niall said with contempt, looking at Zelkov struggling to stand.

Hearing that, Zelkov went furious. That was a huge insult to everyone from his planet.

"Die!"

Zelkov roared, his body igniting; golden marks pulsed with extreme light. Everyone felt a powerful pressure radiating from him.

His mother's eyes widened. That was the pure Baize Lion bloodline pushed to the max.

He'd never reached anything close to that before. He used to be a coward in fights, always scared, always thinking about running. But now it was clear Zelkov had changed — he only thought of kill or be killed.

His wings spread; his eyes and body shone. His childish, cowardly look turned into seriousness and focus. He looked like a god of battle — cold and terrifying.

He didn't grab his saber. He just clenched his fists and attacked with explosive force.

Darian and Zelkov's mother shut their eyes.

Despite all that power, Zelkov was still inexperienced. If he could channel it into his saber, he'd be a thousand times stronger. But right now, he was just attacking in a brutal, stupid way.

Niall got serious for the first time and, without hesitation, drew a long sword.

*Slash!*

Zelkov dodged at the last second by pure instinct and wasn't hit.

The sword cut the martial stage in half — proof that Niall's power was truly astonishing.

But… a smile appeared on Niall's face.

Because Zelkov had never used so much power before, his movements were clumsy — like a kid holding a machine gun.

He only knew how to use everything at once. His energy shifted from full attack to full dodge too fast, and his body locked for a second.

Niall stepped forward, his hand striking like lightning toward Zelkov's neck.

Everyone watched the prince who'd looked so imposing be dominated easily by sheer foolishness. Once grabbed by the neck, he was at his enemy's mercy — it was over.

If Zelkov had awakened that power earlier and gotten proper training, he could have rivaled Niall.

"Hehe... I was wrong, this power is worthy of a prince. The problem isn't your potential; it's your pathetic planet that failed to train you. What a waste... you can't handle a single move against me."

Suddenly, Niall smiled and pulled out a small greenish blade. Quickly, he stabbed Zelkov's shoulder.

"UWAAAA!!"

A deep scream of pain rang out, and then green lines spread over Zelkov's body.

It was poison! Everyone erupted in fury.

Zelkov's mother screamed, "Stop!!"

Niall heard her and laughed loudly. "Of course, of course!" He'd been saving the dagger. With one hand holding the neck, the other was balled into a fist.

*BANG! BANG! BANG!*

Heavy sounds of three violent punches echoed. Zelkov's face caved in, and his bones broke.

"SON OF A BITCH!"

Tetoya and everyone else were furious and tried to rush the martial stage. But the defensive runes stopped them.

They turned to the Emperor and the Matriarch, but... saw their eyes shift as they looked toward the center of the fight.

Their attention almost zeroed in on Zelkov.

"!"

Suddenly, his body pulsed with intense draconic power. The green poisonous lines vanished, and the Baize Lion Bloodline flared up again at full strength.

The two bloodlines ignited together, multiplying his power.

Niall let him go and stepped back several paces, startled.

In front of him stood a disfigured figure radiating fierce aggression and imposing strength.

"Bastard! Say that again!"

Zelkov roared with a thunderous voice. Everyone watching felt their souls tremble in response. That was definitely a terrifying power.

But... even with his power swelling impressively, everyone knew Niall still hadn't really used anything close to his true strength. Zelkov clearly wasn't a match for him, but his rising power and willingness to fight to his last breath made everyone swallow hard.

"Since you want to die so much, you can't blame me." Niall smiled sinisterly — like a hungry wolf facing a sheep throwing itself at him.

They moved.

*PIERCE!*

"Zelkov!"

Shouts of alarm echoed. Niall's sword brutally pierced Zelkov's body, blood running down his chest and staining his clothes red.

Niall grinned cruelly and poured his booming force through Zelkov's body, trying to destroy him completely.

Everyone saw the lightning burst in all directions, panic sweeping through them for a moment.

When Niall let go, Zelkov collapsed to the ground, his body paralyzed.

It looked like the end of the fight, and the martial stage's runes began to open.

"What?!"

To Niall's surprise, he felt Zelkov breathe, even though unconscious. He hadn't died and didn't look to be critically wounded.

All that thunderous energy had been transmitted explosively into his body. In other words, it was impossible for him to be doing so well.

Zelkov's mother shot onto the stage like lightning and grabbed him, trembling.

At that moment, everyone saw her exude turbulent life-energy, her face pale. After she held him and confirmed he was alive, she turned her head and vomited a large amount of blood.

"She used a unique Baize Lion substitution technique... she took Zelkov's internal damage onto herself..." Tetoya murmured in surprise.

Darian was already ready to heal Zelkov. With the draconic Bloodline flaring like that, he was certain he wouldn't die immediately and would hang on by a thread — long enough for the white power to heal him completely.

But his mother acted first and saved him without hesitation. Even with nine rings and prepared, she suffered severe injuries — though with some pills and rest, she'd recover.

She turned and faced Niall, her eyes full of rage:

"This was supposed to be a fair fight, and the match ends when the winner becomes obvious. Even if you clearly won... how dare you try to humiliate him and then kill him in front of everyone? Do you think we'd let you walk out of here alive after that, you brat?!"

"Heh!" Niall laughed sarcastically. "Swords don't have eyes, and fists are hard to control; that's a principle everyone knows. There are even times when lives are lost because people can't control themselves during a fight — small injuries happen. But... how could I know your planet's prince was so fragile? Broken bones and blood gushing from one or two hits? You're not blaming your own uselessness, you're blaming me?"

"Haha, what the big brother said is right."

"Breaking a few bones in a fight is normal; that's what real fighting is. Your planet is so arrogant that it can't handle a little injury? No wonder he's incompetent, tsk, tsk..."

"Prince Niall has already been merciful enough. If I'd used my full power, that brat wouldn't be alive now."

Those sneering, ironic voices rang out among Runedell's princes and princesses. The people of Vadise could only shake their heads and sigh in anger.

In the end, Zelkov was alive and relatively okay, so they couldn't attack and start chaos — or even a potential war — over this. Still, the humiliation hit them like a thunderbolt.

"You'd better remember that sentence you just said..."

Suddenly, Darian's cold voice echoed.

Niall looked at him, and a wide smile spread across his face.

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