Lian Yu knew he had to use his most strongest technique, the one he utilized against Kailen during their clash atop the Sword Conclave Mountain.

"Descent of the Wind Saber."

He muttered, calmly.

The saber glistened with otherworldly, lethal, sharp saber intent.

The saber intent pulsed into a large saber silhouette shimmering ethereally around the saber.

The wind howled, drifting towards the saber—a dense layer of wind enveloping the saber silhouette, making it sharper, more lethal.

Meanwhile, Farrell finished conjuring his rune.

A mighty water whale boasting several meters large pulsed into being, the temperature of the arena plummeting to low levels at the creature's appearance.

The creature, almost lifelike, whistled, bellowing its arrival, announcing its superiority to its opponent.

The runes on his rune armor shimmered, glowing faintly—lesser than they did previously.

The spectators knew from this that he had exhausted the power of his rune armor to conjure the final attack, one that could be more detrimental to the life of his opponent if it landed on him.

Lian Yu, now extremely pale—a testament to how much the final attack had drained him after conjuring his final strike—did not swing the saber this time, having made a slight adjustment to the technique.

The saber, clothed in a large silhouette of condensed saber intent and compressed wind, floated gently above him, majestic.

The two final attacks from both opponents seemed to stare at each other for a moment.

Time seemed to freeze...

Until—

Water whale and saber shot towards one another with blinding speed that seemed to tear the very fabric of reality apart.

Finally, under the gazes of multitudes, the two attacks collided.

For a moment it seemed as if the wheel of time itself had come to a halt.

Until—it happened.

Boooom!

A deafening shockwave rippled outwards, spreading in multiple directions.

The water whale whistled fiercely, constantly attempting to incinerate the large ethereal saber.

However, the saber pressed forth, relentless.

All this had taken a while to describe, yet it occurred in the span of a few moments.

Lian Yu and Farrell stood at opposite ends of the battlefield, observing the outcome of their clash—immobile, tired, worn out from their attacks having sucked the last few reserves of universe energy out of them.

Anaya stood up, nervous.

'I should have handled this myself! But could I have? Now I've gotten him into this mess. How am I gonna live with myself if something happens to him? ' She bellowed inwardly, hands clenched, nervous.

'Who am I kidding? Could I even do anything if I wanted to? I'm too weak at the moment. I'm a burden to him! I have to grow stronger!'

Even Kailen seemed nervous right now.

If Lian Yu's attack did not prevail, he'd surely die here.

No one had expected this Farrell Reaverson to be this strong.

The two attacks were locked in a stalemate for a while, a few moments—until they started consuming each other.

They were equally matched.

Equally destructive!

Energy undulations rippled outwards, lethal.

A final boom resounded when the two attacks consumed each other completely, terrifying shockwaves propelling the two adversaries towards opposite ends of the wall.

Each crashed into the walls like cannonballs, then fell face-flat on the ground like ragdolls.

The attacks that once dominated the arena—no more.

It had been a draw, yet the two were currently spent, completely.

The arena was silent, completely silent.

Who would come out on top?

These two monsters were rank 1 intermediate stage Ascendant-level lifeforms with combat strength of rank 3 intermediate stage Ascendant-level lifeforms, having used their strongest attacks after a gruesome battle against one another, equally spent.

Lian Yu wanted to stand up, yet he couldn't. He was completely spent.

He had consumed all the universe energy replenishing elixirs in the battle.

There was no way for him to salvage the situation.

No! He couldn't die now!

This bastard harassed the only woman that had stood by him through thick and thin!

He couldn't die now! It was time for him to do the same for her—end the cause of her pain!

He couldn't die now, he was yet to avenge them!

They died to protect him!

He couldn't bear to face them in the afterlife, not now!

'Get the hell up!'

Yet his body didn't listen to him.

He was spent.

His gaze, barely clear, lingered on the figure of his adversary.

The bastard, equally spent like him, was about to consume a universe energy recovering elixir.

'I'm screwed!'

If Farrell managed to recover to full strength, in Lian Yu's current state, he was screwed. He would end up dying.

'In the end, I'm a failure'

Suddenly, a familiar voice whispered into his mind, a thought transmission:

"Seriously, you really wanted Anaya to be a widow? This is your fight, man, I won't intervene. End this in a grand style"

A universe energy recovering elixir suddenly lay in front of him.

Ignoring how Kailen had been able to infiltrate, hand him a universe energy recovery elixir secretly, and leave the fighting platform—whose runes could detect even the presence of galactic-level lifeforms in case they attempted using concealing techniques to infiltrate it to tamper with life and death battles —he chuggled the contents of the elixir down, his opponent doing so simultaneously.

Kailen's universe energy recovery elixir however worked quickly and more efficiently, having a purity level of 98 percent.

By the time Farrell's universe energy recovery elixir's effect was about to kick in, Lian Yu was fully recovered, already standing before him.

He sent a thought transmission to Kailen:

"I have to end this quickly, killing him in a gruesome way is no longer an option. A pity"

Kailen nodded, he empathized.

The hatred Lian Yu had for Farrell ran deep, so much so that a quick death would be considered an act of mercy for the fellow.

But in this situation where he had consumed a universe energy recovery elixir, if Lian Yu didn't kill him early before the effects of the elixir kicked in, his narrow window to swiftly end the bastard in his now weakened state would be missed.

So Lian Yu had to kill him quickly.

Farrell couldn't even process what happened.

Having consumed a universe energy recovery elixir with a purity level of 87 percent, he was about to kill this little shit, Lian Yu—who had clearly run out of universe energy recovering elixirs—then have Anaya to himself.

How the hell did the bastard drink a universe energy recovery elixir and suddenly appear before him?

Also, what kind of universe energy recovery elixir could work this fast?

There could only be one possibility.

Kailen Darkhaven had something to do with this.

He was the only one who could produce a universe energy recovery elixir with a purity level so high that its effects would kick in as quickly as one consumed it.

But how? How did he enter the fighting platform undetected?

"That's right, you're fucked. Not so arrogant anymore, huh?"

Kailen's voice resounded in his mind through a thought transmission tinged with mockery, confirming his thoughts and puzzling him further , a sense of dread and regret filling him for offending the wrong people.

Yet. There was no cure for regret .

From when Lian Yu appeared before him after consuming the elixir to when Kailen sent him the thought transmission, it had been just a moment.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain tear through his neck, his vision tilt, then somersault—his eyes grew dim, and then grew dark, forever.