The brutal sound of bones breaking echoed once again as Darian landed a direct hit on Vanh's face. He spun in the air like a ragdoll. The final impact smashed him against the already shattered stage floor.

After that, he just lay there, motionless. Unfortunately for him, he landed on his back... everyone could see his face — the one that had worn a mocking smile just seconds ago — now a bloody, unrecognizable mess of flesh. His features were completely destroyed.

The silence in the arena was almost tangible. Everyone stared at the scene in horror and disbelief.

It took just two punches to the face from Darian, and one hit to the ribs from Niara. Then they both stopped... not because they wanted to, but because the space around him had solidified.

Thomas fully activated his power and blessing. From the moment Darian activated his rings until now, only three seconds had passed. Thomas had been caught off guard and failed to react in time...

Darian kept his promise — the one everyone had heard earlier and thought was ridiculous.

"You son of a..." Thomas growled, spitting through clenched teeth, seething with rage.

His body trembled... from pure fear. The Wube family, and that cursed woman, would blame him for this. Vanh wasn't in mortal danger, but he'd been viciously beaten in front of everyone... and the whole thing was recorded forever. Now, Thomas felt like a cold blade was pressed to his throat.

His life was on the line. The only way to fix this was to take revenge right now.

His eyes locked on Darian and he didn't hesitate. His blessing was the kind that manipulated space-time. It was high-level stuff, and even if Darian had eight rings just like him, there was no way he could escape after being trapped.

Darian scoffed. "What's wrong? Scared of that bitch? Don't worry, I'll be the one dealing with you, not her."

A clear killing intent surged from Thomas. Everyone in the arena swallowed hard as space-time began to twist.

But...

Out of nowhere, tiny golden dots appeared around Thomas.

His eyes changed immediately. Those few golden points trembled... then his entire body froze. All of his energy stopped circulating.

At the highest point of the arena, in the VIP room, a human woman with long blonde hair and barely 1.50m tall raised her hand.

That was the power of a Spiritual Guardian with nine rings. And not just any — she was a leader figure from planet number 22 of the universe. Her power couldn't be bought, not even by the six emperors of Earth, who also had nine rings.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"

A loud roar echoed. Everyone in the arena could hear it. It didn't come from Thomas, but from inside the VIP room, just behind her.

She turned slightly to face another woman, also with long blonde hair, but nearly 1.80m tall. This was the Empress of the Solar Federation Empire.

"What a foolish question, Alexandra," Irana's mother said calmly.

"You're a guest at this tournament. What makes you think you can interfere in anything in my empire?!" the Empress roared, furious.

Clearly, she understood the implications of these events. The Wube family wouldn't just want Thomas's head — they'd come after her empire out of sheer rage. Mallory was the vengeful, unhinged type.

"Your empire?" a deep voice rang out near Alexandra. "Last I checked, this was the Earth's Grand Rookie Tournament. It concerns all empires, not just yours."

Alexandra turned and faced a tall, muscular man with a powerful, commanding presence. He was the Emperor of the Polar Circle Empire — his name was Nikolai.

"I don't care. That kid clearly deserves to be punished. Someone from outside Earth has no right to interfere." Alexandra barked.

Nikolai turned and locked eyes with another man. This one was slender and looked like a scholar, surrounded by an aura of wisdom and magic. He was the Emperor of the New Arcadia Empire — his name was Blaine.

He snorted. "Darian acted rashly before. But I disagree about punishment."

Alexandra turned toward him with a sharp glare.

A light, melodic female voice spoke slowly. "If you're trying to punish Darian just because he taught that idiot a lesson, I won't allow it."

Everyone turned to look at a hypnotically beautiful woman. She had long green hair and eyes like red flames. Anyone who looked directly at her felt a strange unease, as if their soul and will were being drawn in. She was the Empress of the Aeternum Atlantis Empire — her name was Camille.

"What the hell do you have to do with this?!" Alexandra roared, even more furious.

Camille smiled faintly and turned to Nikolai. He gave a nod, and his eyes seemed to gleam with hidden excitement.

"Hmm... I'm with them," a calm voice added.

It was a short man with narrow eyes and long black hair tied back. He wore white, traditional clothes from a very ancient time. This was the Emperor of the Celestial Order Empire — his name was Tian Yu.

Tian Yu turned to the other three and went on, "Young Darian may have gone a little... overboard, but the initial mistake came from your empire. Do you think we're all blind? We all saw that Judge Thomas didn't stop the fight when it was obvious one side had already given up."

"That's right," Nikolai said in a deep voice. "If you're not satisfied, since this is a matter involving the six empires, we can vote on it right here and now."

Alexandra clenched her fists and stared coldly at the four of them. Blaine wanting to protect the freakishly talented kid from his own empire was expected. But the other three siding with him? That caught her off guard.

She had anticipated things might escalate, but she was sure she'd have the majority on her side. I mean, why would the other empires bother going against her for the sake of one kid?

Her mind worked fast. Everyone knew about something from the Wube family's past. Almost two decades ago, all the empires were asked to search their lands to track down a runaway from that family and her three children.

They were never found, but honestly, the Wube family never really took that search seriously. And now, the name Darian Wube shows up — it was pretty damn obvious he was one of those kids from back then.

His connection to Nikolai and Camille was clear as day to Alexandra. As for Tian Yu... that emperor was just too unpredictable. Sometimes he acted on pure self-interest, other times he just did the exact opposite of what anyone expected, for no reason at all.

Irana's mother let out a small sigh. "Sorry if I overstepped. But I figured that if I didn't act, it would've been too late for young Darian. My daughter would've been pissed at me."

"No, thank you so much for stepping in. Don't mind the venomous words from that pathetic snake," Camille said, thanking her with a smile.

Truth was, all the emperors were sitting pretty close to one another — a strategic agreement between them. If any of the five tried something, Alexandra would've picked up the energy shifts and stopped it. Only the guests from outside Earth were actually free to act.

The mood in the VIP room turned ice-cold. All six emperors stared each other down. None of them were exactly best friends, but some kept things somewhat civil.

Only the Emperor from the Aurora Coalition Empire stood with Alexandra. Her face was red with fury. Aside from Irana's mom, the leaders of the other two Milky Way ally-planets were also staring her down seriously, clearly taking Darian's side.

How the hell had that kid with just two rings gotten so many people to stand up for him? Even with his connection to those two empires, there was no guarantee they'd actually back him up. And now even foreign planets were willing to start a big fight over this?

She took a deep breath and said:

"Thomas acted on his own. My Solar Federation Empire has nothing to do with this. He'll be arrested and punished according to our laws."

Camille scoffed sarcastically.

"But what he did to young Vanh was against the rules and completely unfair. He had every right to attack and even injure his opponents, as long as the judge hadn't stopped the match," Alexandra said dryly, looking at all of them. "As punishment, Darian is disqualified from the tournament."

"No fucking way, fuck that shit!" Irana suddenly roared from beside the other two teens.

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