A funereal silence took over the arena.
"Don't worry about that, the bet was properly recorded," the judge's voice broke the ice. "They can't spend any more points. In a few days, your leader will get a notice to collect all points from those five. In a month, they'll have to pay the 100 million debt. That's also the deadline to deliver the rank S egg."
After those words, Leander and the others finally snapped back to reality. They had really won.
Darian, on the other hand, let out a heavy breath. In the end, he had made more than just one big gamble.
First, from the memories he saw, he overheard a random conversation from that support woman. She told everyone in her group to keep an eye on long-range attacks, exactly at the spot above the head of whoever she was holding.
She didn't explain why, but Darian figured it out — since the High Humans' rings sit on the spirit's forehead, the spot right above probably had extra resistance. That woman didn't have enough power to create her blessing properly, so leaving that already tough spot as a weak point seemed easier.
Second bet — he trusted that idiot had never fought seriously in his life. Darian relied 100% on his ability to sense karma and read movements, combined with his battle training. Normally, that wouldn't be enough… but Raon managed to be a pathetic fighter.
'Somehow it worked... maybe just taking the initiative and risking it without fear is already something most people don't try — and that gives me an edge.' He muttered to himself.
At that moment, the four of them quickly moved in closer to him.
"Nice job, rookie… did you get military training from the empire or something?" Matteo said with a wide smile.
Darian replied casually, "Hm? Nope. I think I just went through too much crap and ended up learning to think fast and protect myself a bit."
"Really? You've got crazy combat reflexes… might be a natural talent," Harper said, excited. "I got it! I'll train you and teach you properly. I'm sure you'll soak it up like a sponge and turn into a beast of a fighter."
Darian nodded, a little uneasy. "Er... I can learn a bit, but I'm not going too deep. I'm a support, and that's not gonna change."
"Fair enough," Leander said calmly. "Well, Raon was a total idiot and underestimated you. You were quick to snatch his artifact and then made good use of your healing..."
"That healing..." Veyle muttered thoughtfully from a bit behind. "Your blessing is way too abnormal. I read everything about the three Healing Blessings — they're all slow and need a long time to concentrate."
Darian froze. He had completely forgotten about that.
"Err… my blessing's not exactly like those three. I did something weird… and Rhea wanted to slap me when I told her… anyway, if I burn a lot of power, I can speed it up." Darian said, feeling pressured under their sharp stares.
"It was pure luck. If I hadn't grabbed that artifact after Raon's hit, I wouldn't have had the strength to heal another wound like that. As for my fists… that cost way less..."
They all nodded lightly. They'd heard from Rhea what he did with his blessing, but now their eyes were gleaming with interest.
Yeah, what he did was stupid as hell. There was a real chance he'd never reach the mid-levels of the blessings, like the creators documented.
But he created something unique. That ability to burn a ton of energy to act fast — even the creators of the Healing Blessings didn't have that.
There were artifacts made to restore power, and they weren't absurdly expensive. In missions where burning resources was acceptable, even if Darian never improved his blessing again, just what he had now could still be super useful in the future.
"Let's head back, we've got a lot to talk about." Leander said, turning to Zeal up in the stands.
He, in turn, smiled and puffed up his chest. Bringing Darian had been an excellent move. He got to enjoy a great show, and in the future, he could even treat this as a favor owed.
The six of them grouped up and left calmly under the sharp gazes of everyone in the arena. A few minutes later, they were back in two cars at Azure Haven clan.
They didn't head to a training building. Everyone dragged Darian to a building with a huge bar, made for them to relax and hang out.
Darian was instantly surrounded.
Right as they sat down, Rhea burst through the doors, followed by her other son, Damon.
"What the hell did you all do?!"
"Mom, we had no choice, we had to fight him," Leander said, taking a deep breath.
Rhea snapped back furiously: "You idiot! Everyone in town's talking about how Freon's son got beaten and humiliated in the arena. The whole Red River Pact clan is getting silently mocked, and it's driving them nuts!"
"Sorry, ma'am..." Veyle said, lowering her head. Then Rhea turned to her and sighed, calming down a bit.
"Tell me everything that happened, in detail," Damon said calmly. As the leader of this clan, he had to stay composed. This was about to turn into a real storm.
Leander started talking in front of his older brother, who stared him down.
"When I got there, the three of them had already agreed to the fight. Raon... he said Oliver's Summoner egg was about to hatch. His father had big plans and wanted to give it to him in the future."
Darian had seen that in the memory from the past. When Oliver realized he wasn't going to survive, he gave everything he had to his allies, including that egg, which he always kept close for some reason.
But... after they escaped, they had to fight to finish the mission. Harper, who had Oliver's stuff, got seriously injured. That's when Raon's group showed up to 'rescue' her.
Obviously, they only did it because they wanted to steal Oliver's belongings.
And that's exactly what they did. When Leander roared in anger, Raon just said that everything belonging to the dead should be handed over to the Empire.
That actually was a real rule, created specifically to stop allies from fighting over inheritance in the middle of missions. Yeah, there had been failed missions in the past because of stuff like that.
Of course Raon's father moved fast to get his hands on that S-rank egg. As for its true origin... Darian had no clue.
Leander went on explaining. The reason they accepted that challenge was simple: whoever lost would end up in a really bad spot. Raon's father obviously wouldn't let his son die on a mission. But even he wouldn't just hand back points and resources after Raon lost and embarrassed the clan.
So the loser would have to renegotiate the debt.
Raon's real goal was Veyle. He'd gladly cancel everything if she agreed to join his clan.
Now that Darian had a basic idea of what her blessing could do, it was clear she'd be a perfect match for Raon — she could create a thick fog to help him trigger his own blessing.
As for their side, obviously they'd demand that egg back. Only Raon could get it from his father and return it quietly. The father would figure it out later, but he probably wouldn't do anything too serious to his own son over it.
"Those sons of bitches..." Rhea cursed, clearly furious.
Almost everyone who joined the clan had been recruited and trained by her. It was a job from the Empire that paid like crap, so barely anyone wanted it. But she did it willingly, because she wanted to help young people and find talent to strengthen her clan.
Oliver was someone she brought in — just like Darian. She felt his loss just as much as the others did.
Then, Leander and the rest told them, bit by bit, everything that happened during the fight.
Rhea and Damon listened silently.
At the end, their serious eyes turned to Darian.
"Well, I'd already seen a little of what he could do..." Rhea said, letting out a heavy sigh.
Then her voice dropped low: "Kid... you've got a tendency for extreme and over-the-top violence. Looks like I'm gonna have a lot of work ahead to teach you some proper discipline."
Everyone nodded silently. Yeah, he was a bit... much.
Darian's eyes went wide. 'Wait? I helped you guys! I'm innocent!'