Kai stood in the center of the vast Starlit Arena and kept his breathing steady.

The black ice he had secretly layered across the floor gleamed faintly under the dying starlight falling from the high ceiling.

He waited with a heavy heart as the corrupted horde was pouring into the room like a tidal wave of nightmares.

Meriel walked calmly behind the roaring monsters, and Sera’s burlap sack still swung lazily from his left hand.

The sight of that bloody bag made Kai want to rip his own skin off, but he forced the burning rage down into a cold, highly focused point in his chest.

[System Notification: Enemy horde detected - 47 corrupted entities]

[System Suggestion: Use Starheart Core synergy with Voidfrost Arts]

Kai did not hesitate for a single second.

He slammed his palm flat onto the freezing floor.

"Glacial Domain: Mirror Floor," Kai said, his voice completely devoid of any warmth.

The entire arena floor flashed bright blue and transformed into a perfectly smooth, reflective black ice mirror.

The moment the monsters stepped onto the slick surface, complete chaos erupted everywhere.

Their rotting legs slipped out from under them, sending dozens crashing into each other.

They impaled themselves on broken statues and fell clumsily onto their own rusted weapons.

Kai moved through the slipping monsters like a phantom.

He dashed forward while freezing water and sharp ice swirled tightly around his dagger. He carved through the struggling horde with accurate precision, slicing throats and freezing their joints right in the middle of their clumsy swings.

Kai shattered their frozen bodies with a single kick before smoothly moving to the next target.

Splurt!

Black blood sprayed high across the mirrored floor to create horrifying reflections of the slaughter.

’I need to clear them out of the way so I can finally get my hands on the real prize.’

Meriel finally stepped forward through the dying crowd and rested his broadsword casually on his armored shoulder.

He looked at the frozen carnage surrounding him and offered a very completely unimpressed smile.

"So this is the famous Kai," Meriel said, his voice echoing loudly in the room.

"The boy who stole everything from me and ruined my careful plans. You put on a very nice show for a dead man."

Kai stared at him, and his eyes burned with unadulterated hatred.

All he did was to save him from misery, and yet.

He pointed his dripping dagger straight at the man’s chest.

"You killed Sera," Kai stated plainly.

"And now I am going to peel that ugly armor off your body and feed your vital organs to the local dogs. You are nothing but a pathetic coward who targets women because you cannot handle a real fight."

He activated his new skill without waiting for the man to formulate a reply.

"Starheart Overdrive," Kai shouted into the air.

A blinding surge of starlight exploded from his chest and wrapped entirely around him. His physical speed and magical power multiplied instantly because the celestial energy flooded his veins like liquid adrenaline.

The system interface went wild in the corner of his vision.

[Starheart Core Resonance: 87%]

[All ice-based skills temporarily evolved]

[New Skill Unlocked: Celestial Frost Execution]

Kai became a literal blizzard of death.

He raised his free hand, and dozens of floating ice blades formed in the freezing air to orbit his body like a protective halo, then launched them forward like homing missiles aimed straight at Meriel’s head.

Meriel raised his broadsword and deflected most of the incoming projectiles with raw, practiced skill.

But the high volume of the attack overwhelmed his defense, and several sharp blades cut deep into his exposed joints to draw fresh blood.

"Guh!"

Meriel flinched slightly and wiped a streak of red from his cheek.

He was finally forced to take the fight seriously because the boy was much faster than the gossip suggested.

Their blades clashed fiercely right in the exact center of the arena.

Shiiing!

Ice met steel in explosive bursts of blue and orange sparks.

Meriel tried to grab Kai’s arm to use his signature energy drain, but Kai saw the cheap move coming and countered it instantly.

He flash-froze the air around Meriel’s extended hand, disrupting the draining skill and forcing the guy to pull back with a highly painful grunt.

Kai was completely dominating the rhythm of the fight.

He used the slick floor to slide out of reach, creating a solid ice clone of himself that charged forward to fight Meriel head-on.

While the armored man was distracted by the frozen decoy, the real Kai circled to the side and launched razor-sharp ice spears from completely blind angles.

One of the spears found its mark and pierced straight through Meriel’s left shoulder, pinning his arm back awkwardly.

"You are much slower than I expected," Kai growled, his voice full of hate as he circled him.

"All that arrogant talk about me being useless, and you still cannot even touch me. Are you really struggling this much against a fucking kid? I thought you were supposed to be dangerous."

Meriel laughed harshly, although blood was running steadily down his injured arm. He broke the ice spear off with a loud snap and tossed the bloody chunk onto the floor.

"You fight quite well for a thief," Meriel admitted, his eyes narrowing into dangerous slits.

"But you are still hiding behind cheap parlor tricks and flashy magic."

He suddenly closed his fist and released a pulse of bright red energy. The magic expanded outward and exploded the remaining monsters still alive in the room.

The beasts turned into a fine bloody mist that cleared the field entirely, leaving only the two men facing each other on the slippery glass.

’He just murdered his own pets to clear his line of sight,’ Kai thought, gripping his dagger tight.

The final exchange was nothing but pure combat techniques.

Kai channeled all of his remaining mana and created a giant ice greatsword in his hands.

He swung the heavy weapon with everything he had, and Meriel met it squarely with his broadsword.

Shing!

The resulting shockwaves cracked the thick mirrored floor right beneath their boots.

They traded dozens of blows in a matter of seconds, and each strike carried enough power to kill a normal warrior instantly.

Kai saw a small opening when Meriel overextended a downward swing. He dropped low and landed a devastating, spinning kick squarely against Meriel’s chest.

The impact sounded like a breaking tree trunk, sending the guy flying backward until he crashed heavily into a stone pillar.

Before Meriel could even try to recover his balance, Kai slammed his hands onto the floor and froze both of his enemy’s feet solid to the ground.

He unleashed his ultimate attack, triggering the Celestial Frost Execution without holding anything back.

A blinding storm of sharp ice shards erupted from the floor and tore directly into Meriel’s body.

The sharp projectiles shredded the steel armor and ripped deep into the flesh underneath.