At that moment, the people of Runedell clenched their fists tightly... no one dared step forward to face him again. Darian had humiliated their three strongest fighters in the worst possible way — and even now, his aura didn't show the slightest sign of weakening.

Beating him by exhaustion, with all fifteen of them attacking one after another? That was the obvious strategy, and every prince and princess had thought about it, but...

...when they met those red eyes, a chill ran down their spines. There was a limit to childishness. They weren't inexperienced in battle — they just hadn't lived much else. So they trusted their instincts, but sadly, they chose to do it too late.

They wouldn't be able to win, even if there were a thousand of them. Darian gave off the aura of someone who had gone through every kind of life-or-death struggle and still clawed his way to victory with his own hands.

At that instant, secretly, Niall was sending mental messages to another prince.

"We don't need to fight. You're clearly up to something, you damn brat," the elf Konill said coldly. "We agreed on fair and honorable matches—"

"Yeah, yeah, fuck off," Darian cut him off, walking casually off the stage.

"You really have the nerve to say that? No one here's stupid. Even when facing someone way stronger, every single one of our princes and princesses from Vadise fought with everything they had until the end. But it seems like the ones from Runedell are just cowards..."

At that instant, Painita's eyes narrowed as she noticed something incredibly subtle. But... she saw Darian's gaze move slightly in her direction and then turn away. She calmed down, surprised. Did he notice something that even she barely caught?

"Hahahaha, brat... you think you'll live long after this?" Konill said in a dry, icy tone.

Darian stopped and smiled, waving lightly. Suddenly, a strange dagger appeared in his hand.

Everyone looked confused — what the hell was Darian planning...?

*Wooooosh*

Before anyone could react, Darian vanished in a blur right in front of everyone.

Moments later, gasps and shouts erupted among the people of Runedell.

Darian was back on the martial stage — with his dagger buried deep in the chest of a figure that hadn't been there before. That figure was covered in a dark cloak, like some kind of ghost.

"NO!"

A man's scream of agony echoed out. Then the shadow around him faded away. Something slipped from his hands and clattered to the ground.

Everyone realized what it was — a Supreme Artifact of concealment!

The people of Vadise widened their eyes and turned toward the princes of Runedell.

One was missing! That shadowed one had been another prince, moving under the cover of a Supreme Artifact and a blessing — without anyone noticing.

*Bang!*

The prince was blown apart in a gruesome explosion, blood and organs scattering everywhere.

Darian showed no mercy. Everyone around was frozen in shock. A prince from the sixth-ranked planet in the universe had just been killed like an insect right before their eyes.

Even that powerful elf with nine rings hadn't reacted fast enough. When he tried to stop it, all he could do was watch the bloody mist explode.

"Courting death!"

Konill roared and struck at him with a furious palm — but...

Darian was already gone. A heartbeat later, he appeared less than five meters away from Niall, his expression cold and merciless, like a god of death who had found his prey.

"How dare you!"

All the other powerful figures from Runedell erupted in rage. They all had nine rings — and yet this young man with only four dared to do something like that right in front of them!

But they'd been sitting still, not expecting things to unfold so suddenly. Their ring energies were calm and needed a few milliseconds to react. Meanwhile, Darian was so fast he'd already surpassed any normal limit.

Even those mighty beings couldn't intercept him in time. In less than a second, Darian's hand was wrapped tightly around Niall's throat.

The power of Chaos flowed into the elf's body, completely sealing all his energy. Feeling that, Niall trembled uncontrollably.

All that arrogance he'd shown before vanished instantly, replaced by pure terror in his eyes. He couldn't even make a sound — begging for mercy didn't even cross his mind.

"Oh? Thought you could sneak up on me earlier, huh? Pathetic." Darian said coldly. Then his other hand moved, pulling something out from inside Niall's clothes.

When he pulled it out, everyone saw another Supreme Artifact. It was round, about the size of a fist, and just looking at it made everyone feel an overwhelming spatial power.

The people of Vadise instantly recognized it, terrified. It was a unique and famous Supreme Artifact that existed only in Runedell. It came in two pieces — one side could instantly teleport to the other anywhere in the universe.

In the training universe, there was a type of natural artifact somewhat similar to it, but that one could only move someone to a specific connected galaxy. This one, though — its two halves could be carried anywhere, separated across any universe. Not to mention, its movement was instant and could transport hundreds of people at once if used properly.

The people of Runedell used it during S-rank missions as a lifesaver. They just had to leave one piece in a safe location; when needed, they could instantly move an entire army away — and nothing could stop it.

Darian had read about it before when he visited planet Aethel.

"Let me guess — you were gonna have that idiot attack me as a distraction while you used your blessing to activate this thing on me. That way, I'd be sent straight to your planet and never come back, right?"

Everyone went dead silent, just staring at Darian. During a state banquet, in front of so many high-ranking figures, he had completely seen through their sinister plan — and had even dared to kill and capture a prince.

After the shock came pure fury. They had dared to pull that off right in their faces!

"Darian…!"

When the elf Konill roared, his violent power pressure filled the hall. It was as if everyone had suddenly been thrown into the depths of the ocean, crushed under an overwhelming force.

That pressure came from nine rings — but it was far above average, rivaling even the Emperor of Vadise himself.

The princes and princesses could barely breathe. It felt like their bodies would explode, like their souls would be ripped apart — they were paralyzed with fear, having never faced such power before.

However, Darian didn't even glance at the old elf; he just stared coldly at Niall, still in his grip.

"I told you I'd kill you someday. But I tried to be merciful — I even made our difference clear. I didn't seriously hurt you or anything. Gave you a chance to rethink... but you didn't take it."

Niall could only make a strangled noise — he couldn't even speak. At that moment, blood began to stream from his eyes and lips, pure terror consuming him.

Konill roared furiously: "DARIAN, let him go! Or else—!"

*BOOM!*

Before he could finish, a burst of blood exploded. Niall was suddenly reduced to nothing.

"Or else what?"

After crushing the insect, Darian turned indifferently toward the elf.

"HOW DARE YOU!!!"

With a roar, the elf's power surged like a tsunami. A lightning sword formed in Konill's hands, and he lunged at Darian with his full might.

Darian didn't move — completely calm and relaxed.

Then, in an instant, a figure appeared in front of him — Emperor Morion, who stepped forward unarmed and punched.

*RUMBLE!*

The entire palace trembled.

The two powers clashed, but in the final instant, both held back. Konill knew he couldn't win; if he went all out, the whole palace would be destroyed, and the immortal wouldn't let him leave alive.

So the two stood face to face, motionless.

But then...

**PIERCE!!**

Suddenly, a dagger stabbed straight into his back.

In that instant, a sinister energy flooded his body. Black lines spread across him — the elf felt his insides being ripped apart and spat out blood.

Morion and Painita were completely stunned.

Darian vanished like a ghost, quickly pulling back.

Konill staggered away, but his aura and energy began weakening fast. His face and skin turned pale and shriveled, as if his life was being burned away right before their eyes.

"H-He..." Morion stammered — it looked like poison. But what kind of poison could someone with just four rings possibly have that could affect someone that strong so quickly?

Even a poison-based blessing from someone with nine rings wouldn't be that terrifying. Within seconds, the elf looked like he was on the brink of death.

In desperation, Konill grabbed something and crushed it. Suddenly, his body pulsed with a surge of powerful spatial energy.

No one tried to stop him. Without even looking back, he shot into the air like a missile and vanished.

Silence.

Darian smiled — he had expected something like that. In fact, it was perfect. Now he had leverage on that planet... not one, but two advantages. He clenched his hand around the piece of the Supreme Artifact.

Then Darian turned toward the people of Runedell, all completely petrified, frozen in shock.

"Get the hell out of here. Now!"

He spat the words coldly, snapping them out of their stupor.

They all seemed ready to do whatever it took to save their patriarch. In total panic, they rose and bolted at full speed, fleeing the place.

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