The fight began to shake the infinite land of Karma with its sheer intensity. Every punch sent tremors far beyond the arena's borders, even causing the surrounding universes to tremble. None of the spectators could believe their eyes; the strikes were far more powerful than anything they had ever witnessed.
Arlene's eyes drifted toward where Arius stood, widening in astonishment:
"What is he doing? I've never seen him do anything like this before!"
Wang, equally shocked, replied:
"Me neither, Milady… I have never seen him use this style. It seems this is new even to Arius himself. That strange aura rising from him… I know nothing about it."
Nahira overheard the conversation and whispered to her assistant:
"It's clear even they don't know what has come over Arius. We had better gather all the information we can on him now."
Her assistant replied:
"I will… I'll collect everything directly as the battle unfolds."
Meanwhile, Raymos watched Arius from the sidelines, his eyes burning with defiance:
"Damn it… You're surpassing me again, Arius! When will you finally be convinced of your true strength?"
As for Arisa, she stood on the other side, feeling a strange mix of bewilderment and wonder. She hadn't expected Arius to reach this level, and it was clear she couldn't comprehend this new fighting style.
Among the deities, Iyana followed the battle with excitement, shouting and cheering for Arius with all her might. However, the Ruler of her Eighth Universe barked at her angrily:
"Be quiet! You're embarrassing us all!"
But Iyana didn't care. Her cheers grew louder, doubling the excitement in the arena. Even Arius began to feel the supportive energy radiating from every corner.
Jain gradually began to feel overwhelmed. Arius was pressing forward—attacking, defending, and evading simultaneously in an incomprehensible manner. Every movement Arius made presented a new puzzle, and signs of caution began to creep onto Jain's face.
In a flash, Arius landed a powerful punch to Jain's face, sending him flying across the arena. As Jain hit the ground, he realized he had to be more careful. He quickly regained his balance and launched himself at a speed exceeding light itself, releasing a powerful gust that blasted Arius high into the sky.
But Arius, with a will that knew no impossible, returned at terrifying speed. The two collided in mid-air, trading blows to the face—one from above and one from below—creating a massive shockwave that distorted the very sky and earth of Karma.
The two landed and continued to clash violently. As time passed, Jain noticed something strange: the aura surrounding Arius was starting to fade. Seizing the moment, Jain launched a series of consecutive strikes, but Arius evaded them all with staggering brilliance, making it nearly impossible for Jain to land a hit.
They stood on the edge of a pillar, clashing with nothing but their stares, causing massive explosions that shocked some in the arena. They lunged at each other, and suddenly, Arius let out a double-toned, distorted scream. His eyes glowed as he delivered a crushing punch to Jain's face, hurling him away, then flew after him to follow up the attack.
However, the strange aura vanished abruptly. Jain quickly exploited the situation, kicking Arius away and retreating to a safe spot. Arius fell to the ground, completely exhausted, propped up on his hands and knees, drained by a fight that transcended normal limits.
Raymos rushed toward him. When he arrived, he found Arius sprawled on the ground from sheer exhaustion. He shared a bit of his energy and asked him about everything that had just happened.
Arius gave a faint smile and replied, seemingly just as shocked:
"What are you talking about? What do you mean? … And thank you for the energy. The Highsphere has truly exhausted my body."
Raymos was stunned. He hadn't expected Arius not to remember what he had done only moments ago. Astonishment rose in his eyes, and anxiety began to creep into his heart: "What happened to this man? And what is the secret of this strange power?!"
Arius stood up, heavily fatigued and breathing with difficulty, looking at Raymos inquisitively:
"Do you really… not remember what happened a moment ago, or are you lying to me?"
Raymos smiled slightly, hiding his fear, and said in a steady voice: "Arius… I truly don't know what happened. All I remember is taking hits from Jain while he was fighting in his Highsphere, then I lost consciousness and woke up here just now."
Raymos froze for a second, knowing something was wrong, but there was no time to think. He said to Arius: "Get ready. I'm going to fight Jain now, and I'll need your help."
Arius nodded tiredly: "I'll help you."
Raymos smiled: "Rest for a bit, recover some of your energy, then think about helping me." He then took off in search of Jain.
Arius hid behind a rock, regaining some strength and reflecting on Raymos's advice. As he scanned the arena, he noticed Arisa in her new form, dazzled by her power as she fought Kasper with unbelievable ferocity.
Suddenly, Judy appeared behind him and fired a direct energy blast. Arius barely evaded the attack, then heard her defiant words: "You are a true monster… perfectly suited to face Jain."
Arius didn't fully understand the meaning behind her words, but he took a fighting stance, ready for any assault.
Outside the arena, Arlene grit her teeth in anger: "Dammit… he's so exhausted from his last fight! It's not good for him to fight now… he should run!"
But Arius couldn't run; the fight was inevitable. Judy attacked, and Arius was forced to retreat under her intense pressure, though he managed to stabilize himself slightly.
Judy's power rose gradually, and she began to overwhelm him, crushing him completely. Despite his extreme fatigue, Arius decided to transform into the Highsphere and returned to the fray, gradually managing to press her back and establish a relative superiority.
Arius and Judy collided with immense force. Every strike shook the ground and the air, sending dust and debris flying in all directions. Arius couldn't believe Judy's strength, forcing him into the Highsphere just to keep up.
On the other side, Arisa had completely crushed Kasper. His body was bent and broken under her relentless blows, while she continued to mock him with contempt: "You and your team are just trash… filthy freaks!"
Kasper fell to his knees, shedding silent tears of agonizing pain as Arisa tried to knock him out of the ring. Suddenly, a great shock appeared before her; Jain stood behind her, cold as ice, whispering in her ear with indescribable disdain: "You are just trash, a person without honor."
In an instant, Jain plunged an energy strike into Arisa's back, shattering her completely. Even her bones weren't spared from his intensity as he began violently breaking her ribs. Arisa cried out, begging for mercy, but Jain showed none, saying: "Garbage like you deserves destruction!"
He kicked her out of the ring, making her the first fighter from the Sixth Universe to be officially eliminated. Arisa fell at the feet of Wang and Arlene, who rushed to aid her, trying to heal her broken body and wounded spirit after such a devastating attack.
After finishing with Arisa and Kasper, Jain turned to Kasper and extended his hand, saying in a calm, steady voice: "Stand up… not as your leader, but as your friend."
Kasper raised his head and took his hand, standing with confidence, as Jain told him: "No matter what happens, never belittle yourself for the sake of the low-lifes in this world."
Kasper smiled and thanked Jain for his help, this time calling him "Jain!" instead of his official title. Meanwhile, Raymos stood above them, mocking them with surprise: "What's this… have you two formed a friendship during this special event?"
Jain looked at him sharply and said: "Shut up, you scum!" He lunged toward Raymos with a punch, but the latter evaded it easily. Raymos smiled, and Jain asked: "Are you the weakest warrior in the Sixth Universe?" Raymos looked at him, then unleashed his fury, his voice filled with power: "The weak one here… is your mother!"
Raymos clenched his fist, and a brilliant light began to rise from him, enveloping the entire arena. Raymos appeared covered in a thick blue-black aura that stormed the area and filled it with power. With a single flick at the air, he created a massive explosion that turned the world of Karma into pitch darkness.
Arlene smiled with satisfaction and excitement; she knew this transformation was an evolution specific to World Rulers. Having become her successor, he had utilized her knowledge to train for this power.
Raymos looked at Jain with a terrifying gaze, while Wang said in amazement: "Raymos's current power has reached 9 Sextillion!"
Arlene's excitement peaked: "It's a great achievement… he's finally done it!" Meanwhile, some rulers began praising her ability to develop fighters of this caliber, despite the weakness of her universe compared to others.
Raymos looked at Kasper and said calmly: "Get out of the ring… you're just a vase (decoration)."
Kasper was flustered: "What?!" He lunged at Raymos in anger, but Raymos merely gave a powerful puff of his energy, sending Kasper flying through the air, laughing as he turned back toward Jain.
Raymos then charged at Jain, launching a direct assault. Utilizing his immense power and evolution, he pushed Jain back, applying heavy pressure until, for the first time in the arena, Jain appeared under genuine duress from Raymos's colossal strength.
The Ruler of the Tenth Universe was shocked by the scene and shouted: "What is happening to you, Jain?!"
In the arena, Raymos pressed Jain relentlessly, delivering countless punches that forced him back step by step. Simultaneously, he laughed mockingly: "Where is that strength you were bragging about moments ago?"
Jain didn't respond, trying to avoid the blows, but Raymos continued firing his attacks wherever Jain tried to hide, until everything in the ring began to evaporate under the force of those strikes.
Kasper tried to intervene and help Jain, but he received a blow from Raymos to his stomach so severe he fell to the ground in agony. Raymos laughed with extreme arrogance, enjoying his opponent's suffering.
Seeing this, Jain became infuriated. He raised his energy to its limit to bombard Raymos with destructive strikes, but the latter managed to hold out for a bit before starting to retreat and pull back.
On the ground, Kasper wept bitterly, broken and blaming himself for everything. As he clenched his fist tightly, a small locket slipped out, containing a mirror that reflected his face. At that moment, a dark aura exploded from his body, similar to Raymos's aura, and his power suddenly surged.
Kasper rose with a terrifying face, his eyes glowing with dark, destructive energy. He screamed at the top of his lungs, creating a horrifying, massive scene that shook the entire arena.
The Ruler of the Tenth Universe laughed: "Finally… you have awakened it, my successor!"
It became clear to everyone that Kasper was not just a weak assistant, but a ruler's successor like Raymos. His power now rivaled that of the Great World Rulers, making the battle even more ferocious and threatening to everyone in the ring.
Arius stood watching the scene, his heart filled with deep anxiety as he saw Raymos under immense pressure from Kasper and Jain. However, he had no choice but to fight, especially since Judy was pressing him hard, exploiting every weakness in his exhausted state.
Arius decided to use the Naisphere, launching it at Judy. She countered with destructive strikes that caused massive explosions, covering the ring in dust and smoke. Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, Judy appeared and delivered a powerful stab to Arius's stomach, sending him flying and falling unconscious. At that moment, Arius shifted into the Highsphere and vanished from sight.
Arlene trembled at this event, while the Ruler of the Tenth Universe, Borgano, felt joy and ordered Judy to knock Arius out of the ring completely.
On the other side, a mysterious figure approached Raymos—it was Kasper in his hidden transformation. He lunged at Raymos with fury, pressing him relentlessly while Jain attacked from the other side. Raymos found himself under crushing pressure from both parties; it was as if every blow was raining down on him from every direction, and his endurance began to fade.
Kasper began erasing everything in his path, while Jain delivered crushing blows until Raymos reached the edge of the ring. He then finished his destructive strikes, depleting the last of Raymos's resistance. Raymos finally fainted in front of Wang after sustaining serious injuries.
Arlene realized at that moment that the end was near. Some rulers began laughing at the scene, while Nahira looked at the dire situation and said: "It seems this is the end, my dear Arlene."
Arlene froze in her place—not out of fear, but from a sense of humiliation before the arena.
Meanwhile, Judy headed toward Arius to eliminate him, certain that it was over. But Arius, broken and gasping from the intensity of the battle, rose again. He spoke in a voice that nearly pierced the silence: "It's not over yet!"
Judy laughed mockingly: "And what will you do with that destroyed body of yours?"
Suddenly, Judy appeared out of nowhere, wielding dual energy saws, and began throwing them at Arius relentlessly.
However, in a split second, the saws were scattered away from Arius. Judy was shocked by his ability to fade and evade. Arius didn't stop there; he continued to dodge every saw with complete coldness and closed eyes, as if he didn't care about anything around him, showing total control over his power even in the worst conditions.
Arius slowly opened his eyes, and that previous strange aura began to explode from him again—a thick energy, simultaneously dark and luminous, making the ground beneath his feet shake violently.
Judy took half a step back, anxiety creeping into her features.
In the spectator seats, the rulers exchanged surprised glances, while Wang said in a tense voice to his lady:
"Look, Milady, that mysterious power has returned…"
Arlene gave a small smile, despite the anxiety gnawing at her heart, and whispered to herself:
"Please, Arius… don't fail us this time."
Above, Nahira was biting her nails fiercely, her eyes fixed on the ring:
"It's fine… he will perish soon. He is standing against two successors at once; he has no chance at all."
Judy stood before Arius cautiously, while Kasper appeared behind him, shrouded in his terrifying transformation, his eyes sparking with unbearable rage. As for Jain, he decided not to intervene, turning to the background to recover his energy, ignoring the battle until his turn came.
Kasper and Judy advanced, trapping Arius in the middle as if they wanted to bury him under their combined pressure.
Kasper shouted violently:
"Give up! You're wasting your time, you failure!"
Arius looked up at him with total coldness. He didn't utter a word; his gaze alone made Kasper's heart falter. Suddenly, Arius leaped high into the sky with lightning agility, like a glowing arrow.
The two rushed after him at high speed—Kasper from behind and Judy from the front—each delivering a fatal blow at the same time.
But Arius, with a single tilted step, evaded both strikes smoothly, as if time had slowed down around him. In the next moment, he delivered a single, direct punch to Judy's chest, sending her hurtling away. Kasper rushed to catch her before she crashed.
Arius didn't even give them a chance to catch their breath. He suddenly appeared before Kasper with a mysterious strike that pierced his shoulder and sent him flying, blood splattering from his side.
Kasper whispered to himself, his eyes widening in terror:
"Dammit…! I couldn't even see where that strike came from…!"
But Arius didn't stop there. He landed heavily on the arena floor, then took off at a speed that pierced light itself, shattering parts of the ring, causing debris to crack and fly into the air.
Judy and Kasper followed him without thinking, only to find themselves running into a deadly trap he had laid himself.
Arius closed the circle on them as he circled the floating pieces of the arena at high speed, trapping his two opponents in a prison of debris and air ignited with energy.
He raised his hands, and countless energy blasts began exploding from every direction inside the circle, raining down on Judy and Kasper without pause. They were trapped inside a storm of death, unable to block or even breathe.
Their screams faded into the noise, while Arius remained standing, his glowing eyes shining like a cold knife, watching his opponents break before him like helpless dolls.
In the stands, Raymos shouted loudly:
"This… this isn't Arius's fighting style at all!"
Silence reigned for a moment, then whispers of astonishment rose among the rulers and spectators.
Even Arlene and Nahira seemed unsettled, wondering to themselves: "Who is this fighting right now? Is it truly Arius?"
But what terrified everyone even more was that no energy was emanating from Arius's body.
Neither the rulers, the fighters, nor even the weakest mortals could sense any aura from him… as if he were merely a lethal void moving among them.
Wang raised his hand to calm the crowd and began to explain in a serious tone:
"During the past months… I noticed something strange while training him. Arius would sometimes… detach from reality. He would stare into nothingness, suddenly distracted. When I asked him what was wrong, he always gave the same answer: 'I feel like I need to keep evolving, without stopping.'"
The rulers exchanged looks, surprised by the explanation, as Wang continued:
"I asked him more than once: Why this persistence? What is the goal?"
"His only response was: 'I don't know… but it's an internal, urgent desire, as if it's pulling me forward by force.'"
Nahira gasped quietly as she remembered her days with Arius.
"When I tried to make him stronger before… he was so slow. I even gave up on him. How is he evolving this fast now?"
Wang added in an even more tense voice:
"What is happening now is entirely different. I have never in my life seen anything like this in any arena… it's as if this isn't the Arius we know."
At that moment, Arius continued his overwhelming assault inside the ring.
Successive strikes, showing no mercy and no pause. Every movement seemed calculated with deathly coldness—no emotion, no hesitation, only continuous crushing force.
Kasper and Judy were screaming and struggling to stay on their feet, while the energy walls Arius had built from the debris closed in on them like a living tomb.
Amidst the noise and destruction, Jain sat hidden in the shadows, his eyes following Arius with intense precision.
He contemplated him like someone studying a complex equation, watching every movement, every detail, every look.
He muttered in a low voice that no one could hear:
"This isn't just normal evolution… this is something else… something dangerous."
Iyana sat excitedly among the audience, her eyes shining with curiosity. She turned to Wang and asked in a serious tone:
"What does what you just said have to do with what's happening to Arius?"
Wang smiled calmly and replied while watching the ring:
"The truth is… what I mentioned is just an assumption. I linked what he is going through now to what I observed during his training. Do you remember when he said at the start of the battle that his body was moving and doing things he hadn't thought of? That is exactly what led me to conclude that he is going through a stage we haven't known before. My analysis might be wrong… or it might be right. All we know is that Arius is currently in a state that neither we nor he himself understands."
Silence fell for a moment among the rulers, then one of them broke the atmosphere with a questioning tone, directing his words to Arlene:
"Tell us… where exactly did you get this fighter?"
Arlene raised her head with pride and replied:
"I was on a journey to a planet called Earth in my universe. There, I met him. I liked his skills from the beginning, so I decided to train him myself and hone his abilities. But what shocked me was that, by his own will alone, he managed to build Cosmic Ruler Energy without ever learning from any ruler at all."
The audience was stunned by her words.
Whispers rose among the seats: "How can a mere mortal create Ruler Energy by himself? This is impossible…!"
Some rulers admired Arius even more, seeing in him a talent like none before.
Others felt anxious, even afraid… "What if this fighter is a threat to the entire balance of power?"
Iyana laughed, shaking her head in amazement:
"It's funny how things change… when I met him a short while ago, I thought he was a completely ordinary person, no different from any other young man. But now… I realize how important he is. He truly is an extraordinary person."
A smile of pride and satisfaction spread across Arlene's face, while some rulers continued to watch Arius with eyes full of suspicion, as if they were looking at a mystery that might turn into a grave danger.