Darian held the glowing artifact for a second. Then he just put his hands behind his back and stared at the bastard squirming on the ground with both hands between his legs.
Unfortunately, he couldn't kill him now. But maybe that was even better. He could make him suffer slowly until the very end.
Thirty seconds later, Raon had calmed down and stood up, face twisted in pain.
Meanwhile, Leander and Veyle kept attacking, forcing the other enemies to stay on defense. A mage's real power only showed when they had time to set up their spells. Attacking this fast, Veyle was using less than 5% of her power. Normally, that wouldn't matter—but in this situation, it was enough to push back the two enemies who were already in a vulnerable spot.
"Looks like your time's running out, huh? How long are you gonna keep putting on this little show?" Darian said calmly, staring at Raon.
Everyone in the stands swallowed hard.
Darian snorted. "Well, I guess watching a clown is kinda fun..."
"You... you think you're gonna live long? You..."
"Pfft, you talk too much for someone with so little skill," Darian cut him off without a care, taking slow steps forward.
His eyes glinted with a cold light. It made Raon swallow nervously.
Everyone in the arena watched that rookie support in silence. They'd seen his movements earlier. He didn't look particularly strong or crazy-skilled... it just felt like he had unreal reflexes, like he knew exactly where Raon would strike right before it happened.
And yeah—they were right. But the real thing was: Raon was weak and slow. Even if Darian could sense his moves through karma, he still wouldn't have been able to dodge in time if Raon wasn't so sloppy. The guy had two rings. Darian only had one.
"Activate!" Raon shouted.
His fighter and tank scoffed, clearly annoyed, but obeyed. The group power-sharing artifact was used again. Each one had an identical, linked piece.
So the two passed some of their power to Raon. But that just made it even more humiliating. He was being forced to use other people's strength just to fight a single support.
Raon was now wrapped in a thick orange aura. It was the combined strength of all three of them.
"I don't have time to waste, unfortunately. I'll end this fast—and make sure you never walk again. After that..."
"Blah, blah, blah—fuck off! Just come already!" Darian cut him off again and dashed forward.
Raon growled, boiling with rage, and stabbed his dagger forward, slashing with speed.
Now his speed and power were tripled. Even without his blessing, he had full combat strength...
"A machine gun in the hands of a newborn."
Darian said flatly. And then...
Deep in his soul...
In his fist, his black ring pulsed faintly.
At the same time, he activated that freshly-acquired artifact. Activating any artifact for a High Human was simple—it just took the power of their ring.
At that moment, the dagger was closing in.
Darian knew exactly where it was aiming. But unlike before, this time there was no way he could dodge it.
So he clenched his fist and, secretly... a faint black aura flowed through him.
*SLASH!*
The dagger tore into his chest, ripping through his clothes with a deep cut. But then...
*CRACK!*
Everyone in the stands widened their eyes.
**BOOOM!**
The entire barrier around the stage shook. A loud, explosive sound echoed across the whole arena.
The spectators held their breath...
They saw a body slammed into the far end of the barrier.
Blood smeared across the surface. Was that... was that really Raon?
The only thing anyone could hear now was the sound of fast footsteps.
Then their eyes shifted—and they saw Darian running forward, his eyes glowing with a bloody light.
Everyone stared at the young man, his clothes soaked in his own blood... and then, they saw something that shocked them all.
They saw a thirty-centimeter gash across his chest, covered by a faint white glow. It started healing, right in front of their eyes. The entire wound closed up like magic.
"He... no way... is he a healer?" someone shouted from the stands, completely stunned.
'Am I a Healer? You'd Better Think So!' Darian replied in his head.
He stopped a meter away from Raon, who was still pinned to the barrier. Then, he looked straight at that broken face.
A wicked grin bloomed on his face.
His fists moved again.
The power of the artifact activated.
And quietly, black energy flowed into his fist. It was only a tiny trace—Darian wouldn't dare use too much in front of so many spectators. But the artifact's power could fully mask the source of his strength.
His fists literally tore through the air.
It was way too fast for anyone to see the black power. As for the damage—it could easily be chalked up, in people's minds, to sheer speed. Only a handful of people who knew that type of artifact would realize something was off. Luckily, no one that rich or powerful was in the arena today.
*BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!*
"Holy shit, is that guy really a Damned Healer?" someone said in shock from the stands.
The barrier shook like it was being smashed by a hammer, again and again.
Darian punched four times—face, chest, limbs. Each blow was cold and brutal, aiming to break as many bones as possible and cause maximum pain.
Raon's eyes flew open as he let out a panicked grunt, spitting blood uncontrollably from the overwhelming pain.
Darian stopped.
Everyone could see his fists—covered in blood and completely wrecked. Of course… punching like that using an artifact's power? That's exactly why everyone used weapons...
Two seconds later, he healed himself completely—wearing a wicked smile.
"Be a man! Take it with honor!"
*BANG!*
*BANG!*
*BANG!*
*BANG!*
Each punch landed slower, more brutal than the last. Accompanied by the sounds of bones shattering and groans of pure agony.
In the end, Raon passed out, his body a disfigured mess.
Only one minute had passed since the fight began. And it ended like this. Like a kid swinging a stick at a starving tiger. The result was what lay before them…
Everyone forgot to breathe.
Darian calmly turned around and stared at the Fighter and the Tank, both frozen, eyes wide in terror.
"...I think if you don't hurry up and get him outta here, he might actually die. And if that happens... I'm afraid his dad won't spare you either. Right?"
The two of them jolted like they'd been shocked.
"We give up!"
"We lost!"
The judge still hadn't moved, just as stunned as the rest.
But that team could talk to each other mentally. So the support and mage immediately shouted aloud, letting their voices echo through the arena:
"We admit defeat!"
With all four surrendering and their leader unconscious, the judge finally snapped out of it.
"It's over. The winners are the Azure Haven clan's team!"
As soon as he spoke, the barrier fully dropped.
The sound of a broken sack of meat hitting the ground echoed through the air.
The four of them rushed in panic.
Darian took a step back. They grabbed Raon, clearly terrified, and ran off in a hurry.
"Hey! That was an official match! Don't forget to pay up for the loss!"
His mocking voice rang out behind them. But none of them even turned around—they were too scared Raon might actually die if they wasted a second.