Daniel took a deep breath. Blood dripped from the wounds on his arm onto the ground. Even though he was using Mana Healing to try to treat them, it was taking much longer than normal.
But his eyes were now cold and focused.
He was no longer confused. He had found the array. A massive, almost invisible network hidden beneath the arena floor, in the walls, and even in the ceiling. He could sense its fluctuations, like calm but poisonous waves connecting directly to his body’s energy source.
This array wasn’t just suppressing laws; it was choking the pure flow of mana and even raw physical power.
And worse... the level of complexity and power was something no ordinary guild could create. Even the Goblin Guild alone couldn’t have made something like this.
In fact, he doubted anyone in the entire region could build such an array. Only a Demi-God could create something like this.
But the question was, why would a Demi-God help the Goblin Guild? Was there a bigger conspiracy he didn’t know about?
His intuition told him everything wasn’t this simple. In fact, it was possible someone else was behind the Goblin Guild’s plan and had secretly helped them.
"So there’s someone else behind the curtain..." Daniel murmured under his breath and gave a small smile.
"Things just got interesting."
James, however, was no longer laughing.
He was panting. The dark swords in his hands trembled slightly.
"Why... why are you still standing?" His voice was a mix of rage and confusion.
"You should be on the ground right now... crushed... like an insect!"
"Maybe because you’re still weaker than you think, James." Daniel took a calm step forward.
He opened and closed his fists.
"Or maybe... because the poison you gave me is slowly being purged from my body." He was pouring all his strength into suppressing and cleansing the poison, but it wasn’t easy.
This damn poison wasn’t simple either. It had managed to slip through every defensive layer in his body and shut them all down.
"What... what did you say?" James’s eyes widened.
Daniel didn’t explain further. He just moved.
[Bloody Shadow Dance]
For a moment, his body sank into his own shadow.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared behind James.
His fist came down like a hammer, straight to the back of the neck.
James spun around at high speed and raised one sword, but Daniel’s strike was heavier than before.
The black blade cracked.
James jumped back, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
"Impossible... just a few seconds ago you couldn’t even throw a proper punch!"
Daniel attacked again. This time his speed was higher.
He activated [Demonic Twilight Shield], a semi-transparent shield of demonic energy formed around his fists.
Every strike James landed, part of the darkness was absorbed by the shield and returned to Daniel’s body as pure energy.
James retreated and unleashed a new skill.
[Endless Night Curtain]
The entire arena plunged into absolute darkness. Not just light, it even destroyed the sense of direction and balance.
Anyone inside this curtain couldn’t tell up from down, left from right.
James laughed in the darkness.
"Now it’s over. You don’t even know which way to defend."
But Daniel stood still. He closed his eyes.
"How foolish."
Even though he was in his weakest state and his power had fallen to Rank A level, defeating him wasn’t that easy.
He wasn’t trash enough to lose to trash like James.
[Thunder Of Lost Dreams]
A small blue-white spark shot from his fingertips.
Not ordinary thunder, thunder carrying his own nightmares and pain.
The spark spread through the darkness like lightning veins and tore the entire night curtain apart.
James froze for a moment.
"No... no..." Images of Sara in Daniel’s arms flashed through his mind.
Daniel didn’t miss the opportunity. He lunged forward and slammed a heavy fist into James’s stomach.
A rib cracked.
James was thrown backward and crashed into the array wall.
[Claws of Darkness]
From the surrounding shadows, long black hands shot out and rushed toward Daniel.
Every claw that struck him stole a portion of his mana.
Daniel reinforced his shield and shattered the claws one after another with rapid punches. Now his speed had returned to almost half of his normal state.
The poison was being purged.
The array was still active, but his body was adapting.
James screamed.
"This... this is cheating! You should be weak!" he shouted in rage.
How? How could this bastard still be so powerful when he should be at his weakest? How did he have this much power? How could he even have such power?
He couldn’t believe it! He refused to believe it.
All his pride was crumbling.
Was he going to fall under Daniel’s shadow again? Was he going to be humiliated again? Back to being the same piece of trash he used to be?
He couldn’t accept that!
[Fall of Darkness]
All the darkness in the space compressed into a massive black pillar rushing toward Daniel.
The pillar was like a black hole, swallowing everything, even air and sound.
For the first time, Daniel stepped back. But his eyes remained calm.
"Enough, James."
He raised his hand.
[Judgment of Eternity] – limited version.
A blood-red sword formed in the air, not full, not massive.
Just a small blade, but filled with pure destructive force.
The sword moved at the speed of light.
Not to kill, just to end the fight. He had no intention of killing James, which was why he was using the most limited and weakest version of this skill.
If James died, the consequences could be dangerous. Besides, neither his current condition nor Varnos’s was at its peak, they couldn’t fight the entire Goblin Guild here.
The sound of the slash through the air was like the scream of death. A strange mist suddenly filled the entire area.
Darkness and light collided. The arena fell into complete silence for a few seconds.
When the dust settled...
James’s head rolled on the ground.
His body stood for a moment, before collapsing like a rag doll.
Blood sprayed like a fountain.
Silence.
Sara covered her mouth with her hand. Joe’s face turned pale as chalk. Varnos’s expression was grim.
Alaric, however...
His eyes widened.
"No..."
Daniel was also shocked when he saw James’s headless body.
What happened? How did he die? He was certain that sword didn’t have the power to kill!