*The Rise of the God of Death*
*Chapter 25: Participant No. 30*
After Daren's test ended and he left to register, it was finally Daimon's turn. But a problem arose—the warrior Daren defeated was the last one available for testing. The examiner offered Daimon to return the next day, but also mentioned an alternative: face an Elite-Warrior instead.
Daimon, though planning to keep his strength hidden, noticed the presence of multiple Elite-Warriors and even a few Vice Commanders silently observing. Suspecting stronger figures were also in the shadows, he accepted the challenge.
As Daimon stepped into the stage and drew a basic great-quality sword, he asked the examiner an odd question:
"What's the rank of the strongest participant so far?"
The answer surprised even him.
"The strongest? A Lord rank. We were all shocked too."
Daimon frowned. There should only be one Lord in the fourth quarter—and he was a retired elder. That meant someone abnormal had entered the competition. Still, Daimon nodded and signaled the start of the fight.
The Elite-Warrior lunged with full force, but Daimon muttered to himself, "If there's someone strong watching... no point hiding anymore."
He vanished in a flash, reappearing behind his opponent and slamming him into the ground using only raw strength—no weapon, no aura, no elements.
The arena fell silent.
Instead of waiting in line to register like the others, Daimon was personally escorted by the examiner, who nervously handed him a *golden badge*. When Daimon asked why, the examiner explained, "If you defeat someone beyond your test level, your badge upgrades. You qualified far beyond Elite-Warrior... so we gave you a peak-level test."
Daimon had unknowingly faced an *elementalist at the peak of Vice Commander rank*—and crushed him with ease.
As a result, Daimon received the rarest badge given only to monsters:
A *Black badge* with one number etched in gold—*30*.