The moment Seraphine's scythe descended toward his neck, Ryn moved.
His blade rose and countered the strike.
The sound of metal clashing echoed through the arena.
For a brief moment, Seraphine's eyes widened in confusion.
"How…?" she whispered.
Then anger replaced her confusion.
"How dare you speak about my brother like that!" she shouted.
Ryn's expression remained cold.
"In the same way you are shouting the name of a dead corpse," he replied.
Seraphine's eyes burned with anger.
"If you aren't their brother," she shouted, her voice echoing through the arena,
"then they don't matter!"
Her weapon moved again.
Seraphine suddenly raised her weapon.
In the next moment she unleashed the same devastating slash she had used earlier—the one that had sliced through the arena walls and floor in a single horizontal line.
The blade of energy tore across the battlefield, racing toward us as if the entire arena was about to be cut in half.
Ryn's lips curled slightly.
Without hesitation he spoke.
"Walk of Dragon Mist."
In the next instant, the world around us shifted.
There was no flash of light, no feeling of movement.
Instead, it felt as if our surroundings had suddenly been exchanged with another part of the arena.
The mana in the air changed completely.
When I looked around, we were now standing near the western gate.
Seraphine clicked her tongue.
"So you have mastered the first skill of the dragon lineage."
Ryn's expression darkened.
"How dare you lay a hand on my enemies… my prisoners."
Before anyone could react—
He vanished.
A single second later he appeared behind Seraphine.
She reacted instantly and blocked the attack.
And then the true battle began.
Speed against teleportation.
Seraphine moved like a flash of light across the battlefield.
Ryn answered with instantaneous shifts through the arena.
Their weapons clashed again and again, sparks flying with every collision.
Yet neither of them managed to land a decisive blow.
Seraphine's eyes sharpened.
She activated her technique once more.
"Hundred Wounds of the Fallen Star."
Her body split into streaks of light, moving through the star-shaped pattern across the battlefield.
Ryn's voice echoed through the arena.
"You are a monster."
"And I will treat you like one."
Seraphine did not reply.
Her strikes continued to fall upon his last known position.
But this time Ryn had already moved.
He teleported into the air above the arena.
With a snap of his fingers—
The moisture in the atmosphere condensed.
Thousands of water arrows formed around him, each one created from the dense vapor rising from the nearby lakes.
The arrows shot downward toward Seraphine's star formation.
Seraphine caught one of the arrows effortlessly.
"You are impressive," she admitted.
"But you will not survive until the end."
Her eyes glowed.
She activated another technique.
"Neutron Strike."
The moment the spell activated, blades of energy began forming in the air.
Each one moved like a magnet toward Ryn's weapon.
Even before he teleported to another position, the blades intercepted the location of his sword.
The technique was clearly designed to counter opponents like him.
Seraphine studied him carefully now.
She had realized something.
Ryn was not just special.
He was an elite close combat fighter.
Even when attacking from blind angles, he reacted instantly.
No matter how she approached—from the front or from behind—she couldn't land a clean strike.
Her wings unfolded.
Seraphine rose into the sky.
If ground combat failed, she would attack from above.
But something strange happened.
Ryn did not look up.
His gaze remained fixed on the ground.
For a brief moment Seraphine hesitated.
And that moment was enough.
Ryn disappeared.
In the next instant he appeared directly beneath her.
With all his strength, he struck her shadow.
Blood splashed through the sky.
Seraphine staggered in midair, shock filling her eyes.
"You know shadow magic too…?" she said with admiration and confusion.
"Shadow concealment."
Her shadow vanished instantly from the ground.
Without wasting another second, she cast another spell.
"Abyss Water Stream."
Countless droplets of water gathered around her.
They compressed together into long rod-like shapes, each one containing immense pressure.
The streams sliced through the air itself as they shot forward.
Some were aimed at Ryn.
Some were aimed directly at us.
Ryn smiled faintly.
And then something impossible happened.
The water streams suddenly twisted in midair.
The flowing water reshaped itself into the form of a massive dragon.
The creature roared silently as it rushed toward Seraphine at terrifying speed.
She barely dodged the attack.
Frustration finally appeared on her face.
Ryn's smile widened.
"Alas," he said mockingly,
"If this is your true strength… can you really save your brother?"
Seraphine's fury exploded.
"I will not spare anyone anymore!"
Her voice thundered through the arena.
"Neutron Collision Technique!"
The mana throughout the entire arena began to distort violently.
This was no longer a normal spell.
It was a top-tier technique.
The space itself felt like it was about to explode.
Everyone around us panicked.
But Eron, Mira, and Aeldir remained frozen in shock.
They had always seen Ryn as the most innocent among us.
Now they were watching the arena floor torn apart by speed, spells, and blades they could barely follow.
Meanwhile, Ryn began swinging his sword slowly around his body.
The weapon he held now was different.
An anti-magic sword.
As the blade moved, dark flames began forming around it.
The fire was unlike anything I had ever seen.
It was black.
And it consumed the surrounding mana.
Even from our distance, I could feel the energy being drawn toward the flames.
Eron suddenly shouted.
"I don't know if you are really Ryn or not…"
"But that attack will kill you!"
Everyone stared at him in shock.
Seraphine also hesitated, watching the strange flames surrounding Ryn.
Then—
Ryn dashed forward.
The air shattered as he broke the sound barrier.
Seraphine rushed toward him at the same time.
Their weapons collided in midair.
For one second…
Nothing happened.
Then the explosion came.
A massive blast erupted across the sky.
Shockwaves spread across the entire arena.
The sky itself seemed to shift, turning slightly crimson.
Two figures fell from the smoke.
Ryn's eyes opened first.
Yet he did nothing.
He simply allowed gravity to pull him down.
Seraphine regained consciousness moments later.
Just as she was about to spread her wings—
Ryn activated his domain.
The place where his body should have fallen…
He was already standing there.
Barely alive.
Bleeding heavily.
His regeneration still struggling to keep him alive.
Seraphine collapsed.
Unconscious.
Ryn caught her before she hit the ground.
Slowly, he walked toward us.
Without speaking, he placed her head gently onto my lap.
Then he opened her hand.
Inside it was her crown crystal.
He took it silently.
The moment the crystal touched his own—
His crown turned gold.
None of us spoke.
None of us dared to.
He looked less like a warrior now…
And more like a corpse that was still walking only because it had something left to finish.
Blood continued dripping from his wounds as he turned and walked toward the throne.
At that moment, two figures arrived.
Luna.
And Caelrion.
"You are a monster," Luna said coldly.
Ryn glanced briefly toward the northern gate.
Then he answered in a tired, emotionless voice.
"To kill a monster… you must become one."
"But I didn't know that before."
Before they could react—
Ryn vanished.
He appeared behind them instantly.
Two precise strikes.
Both of them collapsed unconscious.
Then he walked forward once more.
Standing before the throne.
It seemed the tournament was finally over.
Until—