At that moment, the atmosphere in the palace — and among everyone at the banquet — was incredibly tense. The princes and princesses of Vadise were furious, filled with righteous indignation — those diplomats had gone too far.

"Darian! We'll settle this!" Tetoya roared in anger.

Niall snorted. "Looks like that last battle didn't go too well. But the princes and princesses of Vadise don't seem to be taking it very well... Well, I guess we'll have to do it the simple, classic way. I'll fight each of you one by one until I'm beaten. Then, whoever wins can face another from my planet. When all the princes and princesses are done, it'll be clear which side's better, right?"

Everyone narrowed their eyes — it was obvious he'd left Darian out of the challenge just to get under his skin.

Niall and the others at the banquet looked toward the Emperor and the Matriarch. Both remained seated in silence, saying nothing. That silence was their approval.

At that moment, Tetoya stood up and roared, "I'll deal with you myself!"

"The princess's name and beauty are well-known — as is her temper. But I wonder if that's all there is to you... After all, a foreign woman with dragon blood came to this planet ten years ago and easily surpassed all of you," Niall said calmly, his tone mocking.

"There's no need for words. Let's just talk with our true skills!" Tetoya shouted, stepping onto the martial stage.

With a deep snort, Tetoya unleashed all her power, her body growing slightly in a wild surge.

At the same time, her blessing was activated. She was a tank-type, just like nearly everyone from her planet — only a few beasts with dragon blood chose something more Fighter-oriented.

In Tetoya's case, since her beast bloodline was tied to the earth element, granting her immense defensive and physical power, her blessing had been chosen to match that. It was one Darian knew well — Vampiric Fangs — the same blessing Matteo used. (Chapter 87)

The more damage she dealt, the more the blessing healed her, restoring her powerful physique. Combined with her extreme natural defense, Tetoya was practically an immovable wall in battle.

The two then clashed. This time, Niall already drew his sword and fought a bit more seriously.

Tetoya immediately unleashed her most explosive and violent attacks. Everyone watched in awe. The princess was famous for her strength in battle — and indeed, her movements were precise, her power intense yet controlled and focused, without waste.

However...

She could only maintain the upper hand for three moves.

Seeing that, Darian shook his head. Tetoya's strength wasn't in question — she was talented and had trained relentlessly to reach that level. But... her actual combat sense was severely lacking.

It was clear she had never experienced a true life-or-death fight. Her previous battles had been against weaker opponents or under controlled circumstances, where her life had never truly been at risk. She was like a beautiful, vibrant flower grown inside a greenhouse — the moment she faced the real world, her brilliance faded.

On her planet, where power was everything, someone as outstanding as her rarely found worthy opponents. And outside that universe, her status put her on such a high pedestal that she was almost never in real danger.

As Darian expected, on the fifth move, Niall launched a counterattack and completely broke her momentum. By the ninth move, she was sent flying.

Tetoya simply couldn't deal enough damage to recover through her blessing. Niall, with the terrifying offensive power of his sword, quickly overpowered her.

Tetoya stood up, trembling, her body covered in blood. She still wanted to fight, but she was visibly exhausted. Everyone knew that continuing would only humiliate her further.

"Princess Tetoya, you've lost," Emperor Morion declared coldly.

Hearing that, Tetoya bit her lip, her eyes reddening. But she had no choice but to admit defeat.

Darian looked seriously toward the Emperor and the Matriarch. During the fight, he'd sensed something strange — and now, he was beginning to understand a few things.

Then, other princes and princesses challenged Niall one after another.

...

In the end, everyone's pride and morale were utterly crushed.

None of them lasted more than ten exchanges — most were defeated far before that.

All eighteen princes and princesses of planet Vadise had been completely defeated by a single prince from planet Runedell.

The laughter of the other princes and princesses echoed loudly as they mocked without restraint.

Now, all the beast-blooded princes and princesses wore dark, heavy expressions. None of them could even bring themselves to face the Emperor or the Matriarch. All had their heads lowered. This time, they had lost every shred of their pride.

Niall had a faint smile on his face, dripping with arrogance. "Hahahaha, so that's all you've got? What a shame... I barely even warmed up. The princes and princesses are nothing but useless weaklings."

"Oh? Don't worry about that. It's my turn now." Suddenly, Darian moved calmly.

This time, all the princes and princesses of Vadise went silent. None of them dared to stop him.

"Brat, you're a foreigner. This dispute has nothing to do with you," the elf Elder said dryly to Darian.

Darian stopped and turned toward him. "Yeah, I'm a foreigner on this planet. But this contest is between the princes and princesses of the two planets, right? So it definitely does have something to do with me."

The elf narrowed his eyes.

"Of course, Vadise currently has nineteen of them, and only eighteen fought — since the First Princess couldn't be here," Darian continued calmly. "I'll represent her, since she's my future wife. That bastard just called her a weakling and useless in front of everyone. So I have the right to fight in her name and protect her honor. Or do you think I don't?"

The old elf snorted dryly.

Niall laughed loudly and waved his hand. "Ridiculous... but if you're so eager to embarrass yourself, come on."

Everyone from Vadise had already heard about Darian's potential and was shocked by it. They were sure he was way above average in power. But all the princes and princesses were talented and had seven rings — and yet, they'd all lost to one person with six.

So, in their minds, Darian was probably at the peak of the Four Rings, while Niall was at the peak of the Six. If they were at the same level, maybe this fight could've been fair. But with only four rings, there was no way he could win.

Even so, the Emperor and the Matriarch didn't stop him.

Seeing that, everyone swallowed hard, feeling that the unprecedented humiliation their planet had suffered today was about to reach a new level.

Darian stepped onto the martial stage, and the runes sealed around it.

A dark smile formed on Niall's lips. He'd already received direct orders from the head of his family to never underestimate Darian. So he drew his sword and instantly unleashed all the power of his rings.

But...

Darian just stared at him coldly, not activating a thing.

Niall snorted, feeling it would be ridiculous to attack someone unarmed. He quickly put his sword away and moved in.

Darian kept a faint smile on his lips. He took a step forward and slowly swung his arm, as if about to throw a casual punch.

Niall scoffed and made a grabbing motion. Just as he was about to channel his full power to crush Darian's wrist, his five fingers cut through empty air.

He looked around, stunned. Darian had suddenly vanished — like he'd turned into mist.

At that exact moment, he instinctively felt something and turned to his right.

**SLAP!!**

A deafening slap echoed through every corner of the palace. Everyone heard it clearly; the sound was so sharp it felt like they had been the ones slapped.

Niall was sent flying, spinning over and over in the air until he crashed against the runes and dropped heavily onto the martial stage.

Darian stood motionless in the center of everything. Every gaze turned to him, wide-eyed. With disdain, he wiped the back of his hand — slightly red — on his clothes, as if brushing off something filthy.

He didn't attack again, and a moment later, Niall suddenly jumped back to his feet.

Darian looked at him indifferently. "Come on. That was just a light tap, and I didn't even use anything. At least make me sweat a little, or this won't be any fun."

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