The Quarter-Finals began!
Lucas stood in the arena again. The atmosphere was completely different this time. The mockery was gone, replaced by tension and curiosity.
His opponent, Kael, wore a tight black leather suit and held two jagged daggers. He had a smug smile on his face.
"Hey, One-Slap Man," Kael spun his daggers. "Your shadow hand trick is cool. But can you hit something you can't see?"
The crowd murmured.
"Kael is a B-Rank Assassin!"
"Assassins counter Necromancers hard. Once Kael gets close, Lucas is done."
"Lucas relies on summons. If the summoner is silenced first, he loses."
Lucas yawned, checking his fingernails. "Are you going to talk me to death? Start already."
"Arrogant prick," Kael's face darkened.
"MATCH START!"
Whoosh!
The moment the bell rang, Kael didn't charge forward. Instead, his body dissolved into black smoke.
[Skill: Shadow Stealth]!
He vanished completely from the arena. The audience gasped.
"He's gone!"
"Where is he?"
Lucas stood alone in the empty ring. He didn't move. He didn't even look around to scan for the enemy. He just stood there like a scarecrow.
Five seconds passed.
Behind Lucas, the air distorted slightly. Kael reappeared silently, his dagger aiming straight for Lucas's neck (the sensor meant to trigger elimination, not kill).
"Gotcha!" Kael grinned. "You are too slo—"
But his dagger stopped mid-air.
It wasn't blocked.
It was because Kael realized... he couldn't move his arm.
No, he couldn't move his entire body.
"What the..." Kael looked down in horror.
He saw that Lucas's shadow had stretched out unnaturally. The shadow on the floor had turned into black tendrils, wrapping tightly around Kael's ankles, knees, and waist, binding him like a mummy.
Lucas slowly turned around, his expression filled with pity.
"You tried to use 'Shadow Stealth' in front of me?"
Lucas leaned closer and whispered.
"Didn't your mother teach you? Never jump into a deep pool if you don't know what's swimming inside."
Suddenly, the shadow binding Kael formed a pair of glowing golden eyes on the floor—Seraphina's eyes.
"Hiss..."
A sound like a serpent, or a dragon, echoed from the shadow directly into Kael's mind.
The Fear Effect triggered instantly.
"AHHH! GET AWAY! GET IT OFF ME!"
Kael screamed like a little girl seeing a ghost. He dropped his daggers and started clawing at the air, his eyes rolling back in terror. The absolute suppression from the Abyssal Queen shattered his mental defense instantly.
Lucas sighed. "Boring."
He raised his foot and casually kicked Kael in the chest.
Bang!
The tied-up Assassin flew out of the ring like a football and crashed into the spectators' seats.
"WINNER: LUCAS!"
The stadium was silent again... followed by an explosion of cheers. This time, it wasn't just shock; it was fanfare. The weak love strong heroes, and Lucas was proving to be an untouchable monster.
Lucas walked off the stage.
[Ding! System Quest Updated: Enter the Finals.]
[Reward Preview: Rare Skill Book 'Corpse Explosion'.]
"Corpse Explosion?" Lucas's eyes lit up. "Now that's a real Necromancer skill."
But first, he had one last hurdle.
The Final Match.
Lucas looked up at the VIP box. Elena, the Ice Princess, was staring down at him, fighting spirit burning in her eyes.
"Finally," Lucas smirked. "A target that won't break in one hit."