Brone started feeling overwhelmed.
It was not the sudden kind of panic that made one lose composure instantly, but the slow, creeping pressure that tightened around the chest and narrowed the field of vision.
Every second he spent reacting pulled him deeper into it.
Conrad noticed.
He smirked slightly, just enough for the expression to be seen, and leaned forward as he whispered, his voice calm and almost dismissive.
"You think and worry too much."
The words were not meant to mock.
Brone heard them anyway.
His eyes locked onto Conrad, who had stopped advancing for a brief moment. That pause, that unnatural stillness, made Brone uneasy.
He realized something then while he had been desperately dodging the unseen ranged attacks, his attention had slipped.
The rings.
They were slowing.
Not because Conrad interfered with them directly, but because Brone himself could not maintain perfect manipulation while constantly moving his body to survive. The precision he needed to guide them had been broken by fear and urgency.
"That is…" Brone muttered under his breath.
In that instant, he saw it clearly.
His weakness.
His ability was powerful, versatile, and deadly when allowed to escalate—but it demanded control. Focus. Rhythm. And Conrad had shattered all three without ever engaging the rings head-on.
Before Brone could adjust, the same ominous sensation surged through his body again.
That feeling.
Danger.
Conrad took a single step forward.
The rings hesitated for a fraction of a second, their rotation faltering as Brone's concentration split. He reacted on instinct, throwing himself to the left.
"Bang!"
The sharp sound echoed through the arena as another shot struck the floor where Brone had stood. The impact cracked the stone, dust bursting upward in a violent spray.
This time, however, Brone did not gain distance.
Only three meters separated him from Conrad now.
Too close.
His heart slammed against his ribs as he tried to regain control of the rings, forcing them back into formation. But before he could issue a clear command, Conrad moved again.
From his waist, Conrad flicked his hand.
A small orb shot out.
Brone saw it.
His body was still twisted from the previous dodge, his footing unstable, and his Nen control divided. He tried to move, tried to force the rings into defense again, but his reactions lagged by a fraction of a second.
Conrad grinned.
"This is the end of the battle…"
With his whisper, the orb activated.
A massive blast erupted between them.
The explosion roared through the arena, shaking the walls and sending a violent wave of dust and debris outward.
The shockwave ripped through the space, drowning out every other sound for a brief moment.
The announcer's voice cut off mid-sentence.
Spectators gasped.
When the dust finally began to clear, the sight beneath it silenced the entire arena.
Brone lay sprawled on the ground, his body twisted unnaturally, blood staining the stone beneath him.
His robe was torn apart, with burn marks and fractures visible across his torso and limbs.
He was barely conscious, his chest rising and falling weakly.
Alive.
But only just.
The rings had vanished not much longer after.
Because the rings were conjured, and their manipulation was directly tied to Brone; when Brone becomes too weak or is in no shape to control his Nen and rings, the ability forcefully deactivates.
Similar to Goreinu who after got hit by Razor and then passed out. Which caused his nen ability to deactivate.
The referee reacted instantly as he saw the state of Brone.
"THE BATTLE IS OVER!" he shouted, his voice echoing through the arena. "WINNER—CONRAD!"
Medical teams rushed in just seconds they knew that the state of Brone was not great without even needing to get close to him, a live contestant is always better and the people who fought in the two hundreds were the most important people for the Heavens Arena
As most people come to watch them instead of other fighters at the lower levels, the medical team then surrounded Brone and beginning emergency treatment.
Conrad stood where he was; he did not say anything and then nodded for a moment.
"A great battle it was," he said.
He simply exhaled slowly, the tension leaving his body as he deactivated his ability.
The orbs that were used returned to him quietly, floating back as if nothing extraordinary had happened.
He glanced at Brone one last time.
"You had a good ability," Conrad said softly, though Brone could no longer hear him.
"But your ability is not that great if your basics and close-combat capability are this bad."
Conrad knew that, if Brone could control the rings and also fight in close combat to protect himself, his ability and capability to pose a threat would increase several times.
But, he was not shocked.
The world of nen was pretty balanced, if not considering geniuses here and there; if a fighter like Brone had close-combat capability, he would be a known nen user in the world, and that is a rare thing to see.
With that, Conrad turned away and walked toward the exit as the arena buzzed with shocked voices and excited commentary.