TIME STOP!

As soon as he activated his forbidden spell, the world turned grey around Leon, and everything stopped.

Every particle of dust froze in midair, every sound silenced, every movement halted as if the universe itself had paused for him.

He looked up to see that Zarek was only a few meters from reaching the ground.

His meteor-like smash attack almost certainly on the verge of destroying the entire arena with its devastating impact, the sheer force of it already cracking the stone beneath.

Leon wouldn’t be surprised if the battle was impossible to continue afterward, or if some people on the stands died due to the shockwave of the attack.

But that didn’t matter to Leon, because now that time stopped, he could do whatever he wanted without any interference.

With a single powerful jump, he arrived to Zarek’s height, Leon’s sword glowing with a crimson and white aura as he prepared his strongest physical attack to finish the job.

The threads of time were already resuming after only half a second had passed, and so he knew he needed to attack immediately before the spell completely wore off and left him vulnerable.

Since spells wouldn’t truly work while time was stopped, he simply needed to use his strongest physical attack to deal with the massive guard once and for all.

And that was...

ECLIPSE DANCE!

Leon swung his sword with all his might, and right as time resumed, Zarek’s body resuming to crash down, his skill hit the massive guard with devastating force that carved through his defenses.

Dozens upon dozens of slashes erupted around the guard’s body in an instant, cutting his arms, legs, and even body apart before he could even react to what was happening, his massive form falling apart in pieces.

This all happened so fast that no one even seemed to realized what occurred, their eyes unable to track the movement, the entire sequence lasting less than a second.

BOOM!

Zarek’s body didn’t lose its momentum and still hit the ground though, a massive explosion erupting across the arena and a crater forming where he hit, sending debris flying in every direction and shaking the very foundations of the structure.

Unfortunately, even though Leon killed Zarek with his attack, the explosion of the guard’s ultimate move was still far too large for him to hope to dodge it in time, the shockwave expanding outward at incredible speed.

And without [Mega Darkness Barrier] to help absorb the impact... Leon was caught in the blast as well, his body torn apart by the shockwave before he could even think of escape.

Ding!

[You have died.]

Leon woke up in the void of his consciousness, the [Altar of Life] glowing before him with its familiar light, the ten souls watching him silently.

’Well, since both me and him died, I think It’ll be up to Violet and the queen to finish this,’ Leon shrugged internally, ’Really doubt she can win though against someone that powerful, but it’s out of my hands now.’

Regardless, he still advanced forward, so that the altar could revive him and bring him back to the fight as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, in the real world, as the explosion of Zarek’s attack and the mist from it gradually faded away, everyone stared at the arena with wide eyes, their breaths held in anticipation.

And what they saw shocked them beyond belief, their jaws dropping in unison at the sight before them.

First of all, Zarek’s body was cut in several pieces, lying there in the middle of the crater he had created, completely defeated and motionless.

And as for Leon... his body was also torn to pieces from the explosion, lying dead on the ground next to his opponent, both fighters having taken each other out.

"WHAT A TURN OF EVENT~" the catgirl announcer roared with excitement, her voice echoing across the arena, "BOTH CELESTIAL AND ZAREK KILLED EACH OTHER IN A MUTUAL DESTRUCTION!"

Violet and Iris gazed down with a neutral expression on their faces, though Violet was mainly the one who gritted her teeth in frustration at the outcome.

’Damn it, sorry Leon,’ she sighed internally, feeling guilty for not helping him when he needed it.

"As you all know," the announcer continued, her voice carrying across the arena, "It is impossible to use [Resurrection Stones] in the middle of a fight in the arena, meaning that the two of them are truly out of the fight for good!"

A massive panel appeared with one side having Leon and Violet faces and the other Iris and Zarek, and with one powerful slash, a cross appeared on Leon and Zarek’s portraits, marking them as eliminated.

"The [Dragon Empress] versus the [Imperial Queen], who shall win between the two of these magnificent women in this epic showdown!"

Violet landed on the ground of the arena, avoiding falling into the massive crater that had formed, and Iris’ protective bubble also slowly fell to the ground before disappearing entirely as she stepped out.

Just like that, the two women faced each other, eager to avenge their fallen companion and claim victory for their side.

But right as it was about to go down in one of the greatest showdowns the [Imperial Arena] had ever seen, something unexpected happened.

BOOM!

An explosion of blue light erupted from Leon’s body, drawing everyone’s attention and making them all turn to look.

They saw blue cracks appearing all over Leon’s torn apart body, spreading across his broken form like a web of light that pulsed with energy.

"What the..."

"Huh?"

Bam! Bam! Bam!

There were several pulses of aura emanating from his body, and then Leon’s body parts started to merge together, healing him completely in a matter of a seconds as if he had never been injured at all, the blue light fading away.

He opened his eyes and gazed at Iris, then Violet, his expression calm and collected as he got back to his feet.

"Did we lose?" he asked the dragon girl as she was just standing there "I mean, it must have only been a few seconds since I died but I’m not sure what happened while I was out..."

And it was only at that moment that Violet realized what had just occurred, her eyes widening with understanding.

’That’s right! In the [Forsaken City], Leon managed to get hit by his [Oblivion Meteor] and still revive even though resurrection stones didn’t work there!’

This meant that Leon somehow had a way to revive himself even after death, even though he was only a human, something that defied all logic.

And the proof was right there in front of everyone: even after being completely obliterated by Zarek’s devastating attack, Leon was back up and ready to fight as if nothing had happened.

Fwoosh!

Immediately, the cross on Leon’s portrait on the massive panel above was removed, making this a 2v1 in their favor, the crowd gasping in shock.

"What just happened?!" the catgirl announcer roared, her voice filled with shock and disbelief, "I-I’ve been here for many years, but its the first time I’ve ever seen something like this, usually, once one of the two fighters die, the battle immediately ends as they are out but... this human is completely different!"

"It seems I have to beg for forgiveness about my rudeness earlier," Iris smiled, her eyes gleaming with interest, "Your human mate is quite... special~"