CHAPTER 426: MISSION COMPLETION

"Haha, bastard, it’s time you understand what real power means!" Aden raised his hands the moment the duel began.

[ Crimson Flames ]

Behind him, thousands—no, tens of thousands—of blazing flames appeared, all dyed blood-red. Destructive power surged within them, threatening to erase anything in their path.

With a wave of his hand, every flame rushed toward Daniel. The crowd’s eyes widened in fear as they saw the overwhelming firestorm. Many of them realized this fight might end in a single attack.

It wasn’t an unreasonable conclusion. After all, one was Rank B, and the other Rank A. The gap was enormous, not something that could simply be ignored.

But as the flames closed in on Daniel, they suddenly froze just a few centimeters away from him. Before anyone could even react, every single flame vanished completely.

Not a simple disappearance... it was as if they had never existed at all.

"That’s all?" Daniel laughed. What he did was simple—he had granted those flames death using the Law of Death.

For him it was nothing, but the others were left in total shock, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

"How... how did you do that?" Aden asked in horror, not because of the power itself, but because of the way his attack had been erased.

The flames weren’t even his strongest move, but they were something no Rank B could withstand without severe injury.

"You must’ve used some kind of defensive item! That has to be it!" he shouted, though it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself.

The crowd nodded, many of them having the same thought. Even Mornak leaned toward that explanation—though his frown didn’t fade.

He hadn’t seen Daniel use an item at all. Among the spectators, only Marianne’s eyes lit up with a strange glow.

"You’d better drop the delusion. I’ll let you try one more attack... and after that, it’ll be my turn," Daniel said lazily.

Aden’s anger exploded. His eyes glowed crimson, and without hesitation, the ring on his hand lit up.

He raised his arm, and instantly the entire sky turned black. From above came terrifying sounds, as if the heavens themselves were cracking.

[ Lightning of Ruin and Death ]

A monstrous thunderbolt appeared, pulsing with violent purple light, and crashed down toward Daniel.

The arena shook, the air itself quivered, and even the surroundings seemed on the verge of collapsing. This was no ordinary Rank A strike—it was a true cataclysm.

Many in the crowd panicked, retreating from the arena. They were sure this attack might destroy everything in sight. Even Mornak frowned and quickly created a defensive barrier around himself and Marianne.

He knew the truth. This wasn’t a normal Rank A attack. The ring had boosted it to the level of a mid Rank A, maybe even close to a peak Rank A strike.

And when he saw that ring glowing, his eyes trembled. That was the reason he had protected Aden and even given him shelter all this time.

It was because of the ring—the legendary artifact spoken of only in ancient myths. He had long doubted it was real, assuming Aden had lied. But no... not only did it exist, its power was exactly as described in the legends.

The purple thunderbolt, infused with the energy of chaos, finally fell upon Daniel. For a moment, even Daniel felt danger—not from the lightning itself, but from the chaotic essence it carried. Every cell in his body shuddered.

Fortunately, the attack wasn’t strong enough to truly harm him. Had it been a little stronger, it might’ve caused him some trouble.

The lightning engulfed him completely. Aden’s face lit up with joy—Daniel hadn’t been able to block it this time!

But in the next second, his expression twisted in shock and fear.

The lightning wrapped around Daniel’s body, but it didn’t hurt him at all. It was as if the deadly thunderbolt was nothing more than a joke.

The spectators were stunned as well. They weren’t fools—they could see this wasn’t the effect of an item. It was Daniel’s own body.

His flesh itself resisted the chaos-charged lightning, and that realization terrified them even more. That attack had made their hearts tremble, yet it had done nothing to him.

"That’s it?" Daniel smirked mockingly. His body suddenly turned into a black hole, devouring the thunderbolt entirely.

[ Your Physical Power has increased ]

[ You have devoured the Essence of Chaos ]

[ Your Physical Power has increased ]

[ Your body now contains a trace of Chaos Essence ]

Daniel raised an eyebrow at the messages. Chaos Essence? He didn’t know much about it, but he could feel his physical strength skyrocketing.

"I should thank you. For that, I’ll give you a painless death." He looked at Aden, genuinely grateful.

"You... what are you?!" Aden’s arrogant face was gone, replaced by pure terror.

Before he could react, an invisible force pulled him toward Daniel. His body floated helplessly, completely under Daniel’s control.

"Me? I’m no one special," Daniel said loudly.

"You bastard, do you know who I am?! Let me go right now, or you’ll never leave here alive!" Aden shouted, panicked as he realized he couldn’t even feel his energy anymore.

"You think I’d challenge you without knowing who you are?"

"You... you did this on purpose! You deliberately provoked me with your woman!" Aden’s face twisted, finally piecing it together.

"Woman? I don’t have a wife. The one with you last night... was actually a man." Daniel’s calm words were meant for Aden’s ears only.

"Impossible! That’s impossible!" Aden’s face distorted in disgust. The thought alone made him sick to his stomach.

"Well, if it makes you feel better, nothing happened. It was all staged."

Aden let out a breath of relief—only for his face to twist again in horror.

"You mean... you planned to kill me from the very beginning. Please! I’ll give you all the gold and money you want if you just let me go!"

Daniel ignored him, glancing around. He noticed Mornak’s face had grown dangerous—he was ready to intervene at any moment.

And he was right. Mornak’s voice rang out the instant he realized Daniel meant to kill Aden.

"My friend, how about letting him go? In return, I’ll give you whatever you want," Mornak said, his tone sharp and threatening.

"Anything? Then I want his life."

Death energy burst from Daniel’s body and instantly wrapped around Aden. The man had thought Mornak would save him, but instead his flesh shriveled, dried up, and melted away until nothing but bone remained.

Even that turned to ash moments later.

Aden was dead.