CHAPTER 408: CHAPTER 408. THE BANQUET GAMES 4. KAILEN VERSUS RANDELL 2

The wooden staff in Randell’s hands pulsed with a runic hue as he appeared before Kailen.

Randell’s movements became mesmerizing, each swing of the staff flowing at bizarre, unpredictable angles.

The streams of water snaked towards Kailen with extreme force, slicing through the air like liquid blades.

However, Kailen’s vines, enveloped in lightning and azure flames, shot towards them and crashed into the streams consecutively.

It was as if Kailen had eyes everywhere.

He stood in a relaxed posture, indomitable. Yet he seemed to perceive everything around him.

Elemental mirroring, shadow sense, umbral pirouette, and the heightened perception granted by his shadow armored form and Asura Enlightenment Physique—all worked together.

Every minor fluctuation. Every movement. Every direction of attack.

He knew it all.

No matter where Randell directed his assaults, Kailen Darkhaven’s vines, aflame and crackling with lightning, intercepted and incinerated them.

Randell realized Kailen Darkhaven was not taking him seriously.

The Treant, however, kept his cool.

Kailen was not just a master of physical combat—he excelled at psychological warfare. He wanted Randell to lose his composure, to let his stance crumble, and then he would exploit that brief opening to overwhelm him.

Kailen’s eyes widened suddenly as he noticed the expression on Randell’s face.

Through emotional resonance, he realized the Treant had figured out his plan.

"He realized I was trying to make him crumble psychologically? This Treant is not ordinary. Since he figured it out, then let’s not drag this out anymore."

The azure lightning flickering around Kailen coalesced into a katana.

He gripped the lightning katana, which rippled with infinite alchemy flames and sword intent, and shot toward Randell.

Randell’s armor pulsed with runic iridescence, stretching his power to the pinnacle of the rank 3 beginner stage galactic level.

A giant scythe, made of water, materialized around his staff.

The staff-covered scythe pulsed with lethal ferocity as he swung it toward Kailen Darkhaven.

Clannnng...

Fwooooosshshh...

The azure lightning katana, ablaze with flames and intent, met the water scythe glowing with runes. The collision tore through the air like paper and made the void tremble.

Kailen stared into the marble-green eyes of the surprised Treant and smirked.

It was a maniacal grin, hungry for more battle.

Instead of shrinking in fear, the Treant returned the gesture.

Two maniacs, ready to clash.

Their strikes came again and again, blurring crimson and azure streaks across the battlefield.

The void shook, weapons slicing through the air like sheets of paper, colliding over and over.

Staff and lightning katana met countless times.

As the battle progressed, Randell realized Kailen Darkhaven was holding back.

Kailen could read the flow of battle, mimic attack patterns, anticipate strikes.

So this was the famed umbral pirouette—Kailen Darkhaven’s battle style was dangerous.

Randell had thought he could copy and learn it—but it was too unpredictable.

He also knew Kailen could have ended the battle anytime. But Kailen, a battle maniac himself, wanted to savor the fight, so he was holding back.

A sense of battle euphoria and carnage rippled through Kailen.

The Asura Enlightenment Physique never disappointed.

"You are holding back, aren’t you?" the Treant said with a grin as the two finally separated after an endless series of clashes.

Randell was heaving from exertion, universe energy reserves nearing depletion.

Darkhaven, in contrast, was perfectly fine. As if the battle had not touched him at all.

"What do you think?" Kailen asked, floating calmly in the air, crimson hair billowing in the wind.

"I heard you fought like someone with endless reserves of universe energy. I suppose it wasn’t just rumor. You really are a monster. Let’s end this."

"Then I guess I should go all out."

The moment Kailen spoke, he activated the infinite katana series.

Lightning katana strikes, imbued with azure flames, assaulted Randell with escalating potency. Each hit grew stronger than the last.

The infinite katana series was launched alongside lightning arrows, scythes, and other lightning constructs, all forged from Kailen’s exceptional mastery of the lightning affinity—honed through the smelting process in the pocket world.

Randell was bombarded relentlessly, unable to retaliate.

The sky was painted azure with the energy of Kailen’s attacks.

Even Kailen’s vines targeted Randell relentlessly.

Kailen himself delivered kicks and strikes imbued with lightning and flame, each one landing with precision.

The Treant, once a confident battle maniac, was being pummeled like a punching bag.

The spectators were silent, eyes wide in disbelief.

Kailen Darkhaven, a rank 5 supreme stage ascendant level lifeform, who had already shocked them by matching a rank 3 beginner stage galactic lifeform at the peak of skill, an exceptional genius of the Long Hai training hall, was now completely overwhelming him.

Bang... bang... bang... bang...

Randell’s figure slumped in Kailen’s relentless assault. Green blood trickled from his lips, gaping wounds revealing plant-like internal structures, utterly traumatized.

The virtual universe simulated everything, down to cellular detail, making it terrifyingly real.

Randell smirked faintly.

"Hehe. You are a monster, just as they said. I thought I could rival you when we get to the Frontlines, but it turns out I was wrong. Time to stop comparing myself to others and focus on my own growth."

He sighed as the last flicker of life left his eyes and his figure thethered into oblivion.

Then, he reappeared nearby with a contemplative expression.

As for Kailen, all eyes on the battlefield were fixed on him in palpable shock.

His figure returned to normal, clad in a suit, calm as if he hadn’t just one-sidedly defeated someone far more powerful than himself.

For a moment, the battlefield fell silent, the air heavy with the echoes of their clash. The traces of lightning and azure flames lingered, crackling faintly as if the universe itself were trying to process what had just occurred.

Kailen simply floated there, his dark hair shifting gently in the breeze, hands at his sides, an expression of calm satisfaction on his face. He hadn’t raised his voice, hadn’t made a dramatic proclamation, yet the sheer magnitude of his powerful demonstration was undeniable.

Randell, was left with a rare feeling—respect intertwined with disbelief. The Treant had faced his rare share of battles , yet what left him stunned the most was not just the overwhelming force but the restraint with which Kailen fought.

A creature capable of annihilation yet choosing to savor the fight.

The lingering thought that rippled through Randell’s mind was simple and unsettling: he had witnessed something that very few could ever hope to experience. And in the quiet aftermath, he realized the truth—no matter how far he trained, how much he refined his techniques, the bar set by Kailen Darkhaven was leagues above.

Kailen’s presence dominated the stadium long after the clash ended.

He turned slowly, his calm demeanor contrasting sharply with the chaos he had left behind, a reminder that true mastery was not always loud or flamboyant—it was absolute.

And in that moment, one thought crystallized for anyone at the stadium.

Kailen Darkhaven was no longer just a prodigy or a rising star. He was a force, a phenomenon whose presence would shape the empire and beyond in times ahead.