"Your Highness? Are you all right?"

Coton’s slightly worried question finally pulled Milne back to his senses. His hand paused for a moment as he took out a handkerchief to wipe away the dripping red wine, forcing his expression back into calm.

"I’m fine."

"Just now you—"

"I was just... a little shocked by Muen Campbell, that’s all."

Milne’s gaze settled on the plains created by the All-Phenomena Simulation.

The vast plains were still an unbroken stretch of green, but now there was a clear wound carved into that green—like a merciless blade sweeping across fragile flesh, so stark it made the heart pound.

That “wound” ran a full hundred meters. Even from their lofty position, it was extremely clear, almost the same as the original platform’s diameter. It was truly hard to imagine this was something a fourth-rank early-stage warrior—one who, by rumor, was merely “outstanding in speed”—could cut.

So anyone seeing Muen Campbell’s slash for the first time—especially those on the kingdom’s side who had already written him off as a clown who only used vile tricks—would unconsciously ask themselves one question.

Could I do that?

"Yeah... no one would’ve thought Muen Campbell’s one slash would be that strong."

Coton still felt lingering fear. He used a blade as his weapon too, so he could sense the weight behind that slash even more clearly.

"Strong... sure. Looks like we really were fooled, huh."

Milne tugged at the corner of his mouth stiffly. He flicked the handkerchief aside and said coldly, "Two rounds of byes on purpose, conserving his strength, then spreading rumors, putting on the act of a lecherous womanizer—then shocking everyone in this match... the contrast he built up is so huge, huge enough to make everyone stunned. Look at those little girls in the stands cheering for him... heh. We planned so much, and yet in this area we’re not even as good as him. Muen Campbell’s mind is deeper than we imagined!"

"R-Right! He’s too despicable!"

Coton followed along, cursing fiercely to cover his nerves... and then he glanced at Milne with unease.

"Then Your Highness’s plan—"

"What are you panicking for?!"

Milne barked sharply, as if he were enraged by Coton’s cowardice.

But as Coton shuddered at that sudden burst of authority, he also vaguely sensed something was off...

In a room this quiet, the seventeenth prince didn’t need to shout this loudly. This sudden scolding felt more like he was hiding something...

Of course, it was only a suspicion. Coton didn’t dare think further down that terrifying line.

"Relax."

Milne glanced at Coton, then at the others, as if to give everyone confidence. He said in a steady, calm voice, "If it’s only this level, it’s not enough to affect the final outcome. The final victor... will still be me."

...

...

"Impressive... you’re even more impressive than I imagined, Muen Campbell!"

Ariel shouted in excitement.

A slash that would stun anyone else was, to her, nothing more than an appetizer that whetted her appetite early—something to make her blood boil again after two boring fights.

But the instinct she’d tempered through countless life-and-death battles also made her understand one thing.

This time, what stood before her wasn’t a lamb she could knead and hunt at will, and it wasn’t the useless playboy she’d once understood and despised...

It was a vicious beast too—sharp-fanged, and thirsty with the blood it had drunk!

It wasn’t that she’d never noticed his progress, and it wasn’t that she’d been blind to everything. But the world wasn’t a flat plane you could see through at a glance. Everyone struggles forward within their own territory, and it’s hard to know what the other side has gone through on their own path beyond the fog. All anyone can see is what the other looks like when they meet again—and who is walking beside them.

So the rest can only be revealed, little by little, on a truly fair stage like this.

Only at times like this could she “see with her own eyes” what she hadn’t noticed before.

"Good... this is good."

Ariel murmured softly, not sure who she was even speaking to.

"At least it makes me feel a little more balanced, doesn’t it?"

In that moment, she tightened her grip on her greatsword again.

The bandages wrapped around the blade loosened on their own, peeling away to reveal a dazzling sword body like golden flowing fire. Roaring flames erupted, sweeping up like a tide. The scorching air made her pitch-black hair whip and dance like a shrieking horde of demons.

Terrifying pressure gathered, like ten-thousand-mile storm clouds about to press down.

"It’s coming!"

Muen, who had been on guard the entire time, saw it and immediately tightened inward. He didn’t hesitate. He slashed again.

Dozens of thunderclaps converged into a single sharp blade-light that crossed the hundred-meter distance in an instant, striking straight at Ariel’s face.

But...

In that same instant, the flames coursing around Ariel suddenly swelled, then condensed—forming a gigantic, ferocious beast’s head. It opened a massive mouth packed with flaming fangs and—bit down on that blade-light.

The moon-bright blade-light was chewed apart by flames at the extreme of heat, the extreme of intensity, and in the fire-beast’s jaws, it was completely erased. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"What terrifying flames... to condense into substance in an instant."

Muen’s gaze sank slightly as he watched the flaming beast, after devouring the blade-light, make a provocative expression at him.

This wasn’t magic.

Because Ariel wasn’t Milne. She didn’t have any so-called Innate Two Hearts. While «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» clearly charging some move, it was impossible for her to be chanting a spell at the same time—and the tournament rules didn’t allow magic scrolls.

And even if it were magic, with Ariel’s current realm, even if she truly was a once-in-a-century genius, she still couldn’t chant something so “alive” in such a short time.

Besides, like most “phoenix-proud protagonist” settings, Ariel’s pure talent was absolutely not the very top in this world. In terms of “raw talent” alone, she was even inferior to Milne with his Innate Two Hearts.

But what made a chosen one terrifying wasn’t talent.

It was... opportunity.

"So it is. The source of these flames is—"

"Divine Favor!"

In the resting room, someone of noble background and sharp knowledge also guessed the source of those flames, and couldn’t help blurting out again in shocked disbelief.

Divine Favor—just as the name implied—was favor bestowed by a god. It carried the frightening potential to let an ordinary person soar in a single step. But in this world, those favored by gods were extremely rare. Across the whole continent, you could count the living Divine-Favored on two hands.

That person naturally wasn’t one of them.

Yet Ariel, somehow, had concealed the “divine intent” within those flames so well that only now did people realize how terrifying this power truly was.

Muen, however, wasn’t surprised at all.

Because he already knew that at this point in time, Ariel had definitely mastered Divine Favor.

And just like in the original book, the first thing she grasped was—

The favor of the Fire God.

"To pull out a trump card like this right away... should I be happy she’s taking me seriously?"

Muen let out a slow breath.

"Looks like long-range blade-light attacks won’t work anymore."

In the current situation, no matter how many blade-lights he swung out, they would be burned away by those flames crashing into them.

It wasn’t like his black flame, which devoured everything—but it was still a god’s blessing, commanding all sourced flames in the world, representing heat and scorching at the extreme.

On top of that, Ariel’s control over it...

"Sounds like a terrifying situation. But—"

Muen’s mouth lifted high. At that moment, every bone in his body crackled, every muscle trembling with excitement.

The alchemical core at his back had already been running. So in a single breath, Muen’s countless thoughts converged on one point.

Blade-light couldn’t break through.

But his blades could.

These dual blades—made by the archmage Meladomir, forged on the foundation of a holy sword embryo—even flames commanded by Divine Favor could be cut apart.

So—

Muen vanished.

In the next moment, he appeared right in front of Ariel.

Under nearly hundredfold time acceleration, and with Shadow Step boosting him without any regard for backlash, his speed had reached the point where most of the audience couldn’t see his movements at all.

But...

Ariel still caught him.

The fire-beast roared and lunged precisely toward Muen.

And in that moment...

Muen raised his hand. It was still a swing that looked utterly ordinary—just a slash.

No windup. No tell. Countless layered vibrations rang together, forcing even that condensed flame to scatter for an instant.

He didn’t need to charge.

Or rather... he could charge at any time.

Ariel’s moves needed time.

And time happened to be something he controlled.

Boom!

Muen’s arm muscles bulged. Terrifying power, accelerated time, all compressed into this brief instant. Blood mist sprayed again from the pores of a body pushed to its limit. The elegant noble posture was completely gone—only a beast’s ferocity remained!

Thunder roared, like the world was about to end.

Yet the plains were still a cloudless sky, leaving only a shadow that almost blotted out all light.

The twin blades fell—

Hundredfold Stack!!

This time there was no dazzling blade-light, no earth-ripping spectacle.

But the flames wrapping around Ariel’s body scattered violently to both sides, as if erased from existence.

A gap opened.

And within that gap, Ariel was revealed.

She lifted her eyes. There was no fear on her face—what bloomed from those ordinary, everywhere-seen black pupils was a sharp brilliance so intense no one would dare meet it head-on.

The scattered flames abruptly contracted.

From normal orange-red, to blue-purple, to blue—until finally, pure white.

Pure white meant pure heat.

The green plains for miles were instantly scorched into red earth, and at the very center of the space warped by that heat, the white flame condensed again—becoming, in Ariel’s hands, a judgment sword that embodied ultimate power.

"Heavenfire—Judgment!"

Ariel laughed fiercely. "Take it, Muen Campbell!"

The greatsword cut down toward Muen.

And just like Ariel named it, it would bring... destruction, equally, without favoritism.

Thus, blade and sword—

Collided viciously.