A firestorm began to gather behind Ingrid blade, swirling with controlled violence, which made the entire temple began to glow red from the sheer heat he released.

But Alex didn't move.

His daggers still hovered around him, the remaining ones now drifting in slow, deliberate orbits like they were waiting.

Ingrid took a single step forward, preparing to deliver a clean, brutal Rendering Slash that would carve through Alex and end this quickly.

But...

The moment his foot touched the ground, a single word slipped from Alex's lips, quiet and measured.

"Dominus."

And just like that, Indrid froze.

His entire body locked in place. Muscles wouldn't move. Limbs refused to respond. Even his thoughts began to slow, like they were swimming through tar.

"What...?"

A bead of sweat rolled down his cheek.

What is this?

The pressure was immense—far beyond what he'd felt before. It wasn't physical. It was something deeper.

A presence that weighed on his very soul.

He tried to resist, tried to twitch a finger or move an inch, but nothing worked.

Then—

A sharp whirring sound filled the air.

Multiple translucent energy blades rotated around Alex, glimmering with arcane runes, before shooting forward towards Ingrid who do nothing but receive.

Thwip!

Thwip!

Thwip!

Thwip!

They pierced Indrid's body like spears, detonating with synchronized explosions.

BOOM!

The air ripped apart with the sound of shattering bones and ruptured organs.

Smoke and dust engulfed the clearing.

From within it, a figure slowly stepped forward—calm, unhurried.

Alex.

He emerged from the smoke like a shadow, eyes glowing faintly beneath his hood. At his feet, Indrid's mangled body twitched. Most of his torso had been obliterated. Flesh had begun to knit back together, but several of his hearts were left exposed, pumping sluggishly in open air.

Even then, Indrid couldn't move.

Alex movement restrictions skill Dominus still held him frozen, its grip absolute.

Alex walked towards him, voice quiet, almost conversational.

"Scary, isn't it? Not knowing what's happening to you."

Indrid's mouth opened, but no sound came out.

Alex tilted his head slightly. "Earlier you called yourself death. Claimed you were the end of all things. That title doesn't belong to you."

He stood and summoned his sword. Doom slayer gleamong with runes that pulsed in rhythm with his breath.

"That name belongs to me."

Panic flickered in Indrid's eyes.

He realized his life was slipping away, and willed his limbs to move, to pushed his soul against the weight pressing down on him.

Just one movement.

One breath.

But it was futulity.

Alex blitzed forward, and in a blur of motion, he drove his blade through every single one of Indrid's hearts with precision. One clean horizontal arc—fast enough to create a sonic crack—and every core organ split clean in two.

Indrid screamed.

The paralysis lifted—but the damage was already done. His body couldn't regenerate fast enough. His essence had begun to collapse.

He fell forward, crumpling into a heap of disbelief.

He blinked in believe.

He had just lost. Fast.

Faster than Malik had.

But that made no sense. Indrid was stronger than Malik. Tougher. More experienced.

So how?

There was only one explanation.

Alex had grown stronger since that fight.

Much stronger.

And it hadn't even taken a minute.

Indrid looked up at the boy who had ended him. He was just standing there, calm and still, as if none of this was surprising.

"You…" Indrid coughed, blood foaming at his lips. "What are you…?"

Alex met his gaze.

"I'm an anomaly," he said with a grin. "Nothing special."

"An… anomaly…" Indrid repeated. His voice trembled as ash began to peel off his skin. His body was breaking down, piece by piece, fading back into the ether. Soon, there would be nothing left.

Just as Alex had promised—he would die never knowing what had truly killed him.

A moment later, Indrid vanished in a cloud of glowing dust.

Alex exhaled, his posture relaxing. The tension bled from his shoulders.

He was disappointed.

The fight hadn't been nearly as difficult as he'd expected.

But maybe that was the point.

He could feel it—the change in himself. The evolution. Every part of him felt tighter, sharper, more attuned to the flow of energy around him. Dominus, which had once struggled to suppress powerful enemies for long, had gripped Indrid without resistance.

If this had been the version of him that fought Malik, the outcome would've been different.

He may have lost this fight.

Too bad he was no longer the same man.

Alex sheathed his blade and turned toward the exit of the chamber.

But he walked, something occurred to him which made him pause.

His name.

He suddenly realized he didn't even know the name of the demon he killed.

He had died without ever introducing himself.

I suppose it doesn't't matter now. Alex muttered and entered the entrance.

As soon as he did the chamber doors hissed shut behind him, sealing with a heavy clunk.

Then there was silence.

---

Meanwhile…

In the outside world.

The spectators watching the Legacy Trial had been on the edge of their seats as Alex squared off against Indrid.

But then—static.

The feed had abruptly gone dark. Destroyed.

Likely by Alex's ethereal blades.

Had he known the observation spell was there? Or had it been accidental?

No one could say for sure.

But the result was the same.

They could no longer see what was happening inside the Legacy Land.

The Elf Queen narrowed her eyes, fingers drumming thoughtfully.

Only one of them would come out alive.

And then, barely a minute later, a new message flashed across the screen.

[Exit Token of Legacy Candidate: Ingrid – Destroyed]

Gasps filled the chamber.

That meant only one thing: Indrid was dead.

The one who killed him?

The human. Without question.

The audience erupted into hushed whispers and shocked murmurs.

"He killed him…"

"In seconds…"

"That was one of the demon race's elite—gone."

The Elf Queen smiled faintly, her golden eyes narrowing with interest.

"He's already taken out two of the Demon Race's

biggest contenders," she murmured.

"They won't be pleased."

Then her smile deepened. "But that's an opportunity." She leaned back in her throne.

"I'm rooting for you, human. Don't fall now."