The second week of the tournament officially began. They switched back to the previous dueling format, but kept the forest setup, so they could continue cheating easier.

There were already a few matches into the day when Leslie rose into the arena.

The Factions were running out of fighters, except for the Angelic Order, which still hadn't lost a single participant. For this reason, the daily match counting vastly decreased, but at least the fights became much more interesting.

Yuhuang, the Jade Emperor, already killed one of the most powerful primordial gods of the Hindu Pantheon and will fight Castiel tomorrow. The Three Pure Ones hadn't fought yet, but on the third day, they'll showcase their power against Lucifer.

On the fourth day, Elizabeth will duel against Shangdi, the Supreme Deity, while Sera will make her debut against Purity. On the fifth day, Lilith will fight against Lucifer, who'll most likely win against the Three Pure Ones.

The sixth day is for the last duel between Sera and Castiel, which will determine the outcome of this entire tournament.

However, those future events didn't worry Leslie, since he had plenty on his plate this moment.

Below him, the platform stopped moving, leaving the Rage Demon stranded in the dark forest. His heavy armor, made of Profane Metal, burned with gentle crimson flames as his bat-like wings fluttered in anticipation. His glowing, fiery eyes scanned the forest in search of his prey.

From above, the female announcer's voice echoed as she introduced both fighters, yet Leslie couldn't even hear her words. The beating of his heart, the sound of his blood flowing across his burning veins, drowned out any outside voice.

"To the right, five hundred meters, closing in fast!" said the darkness around the Demon.

He growled in annoyance while glancing in the direction from which his foe appeared a moment later.

A long halberd made of glowing hot Profane Metal appeared in his hands, aimed at the lone, powerful figure entering the clearing.

The tall man with skin white as ash, except for his throat, which was blue for some reason, appeared rather calm as both his eyes focused on Leslie.

His long, black, matted hair swayed gently with each confident step. Through the thick foliage, a lone ray of sunshine brightened the crescent moon on his head.

Between and above his two eyes, a third one stayed closed, yet even through the lids, Leslie felt the overpowering destructive nature hidden within.

A comfortable smile stretched across his face as he stopped a dozen meters away from Leslie. In his right hand, he carried a pretty ordinary trident, imbued with his own calamitous power.

He opened his mouth to speak, but Leslie's blood was already well past its boiling point. As a Rage Demon, he was awful at controlling his emotions. The tiniest annoyance could turn into full-blown fury if left unchecked, and since rage gave him power, he let go of every restriction.

The crimson flame of his halberd brightened as his wings burst aflame and propelled him straight towards his enemy... Shiva, the Benevolent One...

His attack sent out a powerful wave of flame, which reached his opponent before the actual weapon. It also cut through the forest, melting the earth below into solid stone.

Bea's trees remained unharmed of course, but that couldn't be said about most of the arena.

Leslie's destructive powers had little effect on Shiva, though. The pale man stood with pride and confidence, and with a wave of his hand, he split the fiery attack.

When the actual halberd arrived above his head, he simply raised his trident and intercepted the attack. Leslie's blade got stuck between two prongs, and no matter how hard he pushed, the trident didn't budge a single millimeter.

"Come now, Young Demon," said Shiva, his voice even and powerful. "Is that the best you've got?"

Inside his helmet, Leslie grinned. He took a step forward, pushing his feet deep into the soil. A sudden force spread across the arena as the entire floor melted.

He couldn't push his weapon closer, since he couldn't overpower Shiva. Instead, he removed his footing, causing momentary confusion in the primordial god's stance.

In that moment, Leslie gave another powerful push, then, shocking Shiva... he released the halberd...

Shiva lost his balance upon the sudden disappearance of Leslie's pushing force. He would've regained it though, but Leslie lunged forward and grasped Shiva's neck with both hands.

It only took a simple squeeze to behead the powerful being. If his enemy would've been a regular primordial god, it might've even worked. However, Shiva wasn't the head of the Hindu Pantheon for no reason... He also wasn't nicknamed The Destroyer as a joke...

The moment he felt actually threatened, his third eye snapped open. It sent forward a wave of utter destruction, which would've devastated Leslie.

If Shiva's attack would've landed, every single atom inside his body would've simply disappeared from existence. Maybe even his soul wouldn't have survived.

Luckily, Leslie didn't plan on playing fair. The moment the destructive wave appeared, he jumped backward and let a thin shadow layer grow around his body.

While the wave dismantled any particle it touched, since Faith never signed the Contract, she remained unharmed, the same as Bea's trees. Also, since her shadows covered Leslie, the attack ignored him as well.

As the wave passed, Leslie and Shiva found themselves standing on the Colosseum's bottom layer, on the Rune-covered Angelic Metal base. Attacks were forbidden from affecting its material, leaving it unharmed, unlike everything else inside the arena.

All the earth, stone and even the air disappeared from the arena. It didn't just melt or vaporize... It stopped existing. The perfect form of destruction...

Above them, Bea's trees continued to float, providing plenty of shadows for Faith to use.

Leslie glanced around in confusion, while Shiva's three eyes widened in surprise. His gaze focused on the shadows dancing around Leslie's armor, and suddenly, realization appeared in his eyes.

He burst into soundless laughter, since there wasn't any air inside the arena anymore.

"Finally!" he seemed to exclaim, mouthing the words with excitement. "I couldn't figure out how all of you were cheating, but now I get it! A Shadow, who never signed the Contract! We can't harm it, but it can harm us! Truly smart, utterly disgusting and horribly dishonorable!"

The longer Shiva spoke, the redder his face gotten. It seems he slowly grasped the reality of his situation... He had no way to win...

"You fucking bastards! I knew you were dishonorable, but I didn't imagine you to be spineless as well!"

Shiva stopped talking for a few moments, as his eyes turned thoughtful. Suddenly, a cunning, hateful expression appeared on his face.

"You know what? I won't give you the satisfaction! You want to Evolve with my corpse? Well, good fucking luck!"

His eyes glowed once more, but no wave of destruction spread across the arena. This time, all the energy was contained within his own body, dissolving it from the inside.

However, his suicide attempt failed as a vine grew around his legs, supplying him with enormous amounts of life energy.

Trapped in a cycle of self-destruction and healing, he couldn't react in time as Leslie's halberd passed through his neck. The burning weapon melted the flesh and bone, yet no sound echoed in the giant vacuum chamber.

The hatred gradually left Leslie's eyes as he walked to Shiva's head and stomped on it. The skull and brain exploded, while Leslie whispered soundlessly.

"Idiots... After all the atrocities you committed, how dare any of you judge us for not playing by your rules! The audacity to think we care about your made up code of honor!"

He then growled in anger and spat on the remnants of Shiva's head... "You aren't worthy of a fair fight!"

After his speech, Leslie reached down and grabbed Shiva's third eye, which remained intact even after the stomping. It also exuded the essence of destruction, even after its owner's death.

Leslie glanced at it curiously. At first he thought the eye was there because of Shiva's race, but strangely, the usual question didn't pop up while touching the eye... As if it weren't truly part of Shiva's body...

There was also something else. He heard a silent call from the eye, beckoning to be consumed. The comfortable yet commanding feeling it brought to Leslie seemed to overpower his body.

He couldn't stop himself. Even when both Faith and Bea appeared before him, silently shouting, then trying to forcefully stop him. It didn't matter... He swallowed the eyeball, like a grape...

The Demon fell to his knees, burning pain coursing through his body. His face contorted in agony, while his entire body trembled and felt unresponsive.

Suddenly, all four of his limbs felt empty and weak. Even worse, the feeling climbed from his hands and feet towards his torso.

Through the pain, he couldn't form a single thought. He felt his body slowly disintegrating, but there was nothing to be done...

But... Even in such hopeless situations, miracles could happen...

Before eating the eyeball, Leslie stood above the destroyed head of Shiva. His brain matter traveled quite far from the Demon's stomp... Who knew how important that action would become...

Maybe it was just luck, or Fate weaved it into existence...

Something that shouldn't be consumed by mortals. An artifact of immeasurable power, carrying the purest essence of Destruction...

It could've killed Celestials and even Empyreans when eaten, yet... a mere Transcended in the perfect circumstances was all it needed...

Powerless and with most of his body dissolved, Leslie fell to the ground. His heart beat one last time as his head landed on the tiniest speck of blood... Shiva's blood...

'Do you wish to evolve?'

The question pierced through the haze of agony, giving Leslie the tiniest moment of sanity...

He grasped the opportunity with all his will, and thought of the answer, just as the last bits of his body disappeared and he ceased to exist...