''How do you feel, damned fanatic?'' Hector chuckled, landing a brutal punch on Ralph's face before evading his counterattack just in time.
Surely, Hector had fully adapted to Ralph's sword technique.
Now his job was easy—he only needed to strike at the gaps between Ralph's slashes.
''Damn!'' Ralph spat out a mouthful of blood and clenched his jaw in fury. He had no idea why Hector had grown stronger than before.
Just a few minutes ago, he had overwhelmed the damned heretic, but now the momentum of the battle had completely shifted, leaving him confused.
''If that's the case, I'll use my blessing.''
Ralph intensified his assaults, sending a barrage of attacks toward Hector. Each slash empowered with golden metallic mana, breaking through Hector's dashes and pushing him back.
''I'll win.'' Ralph smirked, confident as he gained the upper hand… But just half a second later, his face twisted in panic.
Bang!
A fierce kick pinned Ralph's right leg down, and in the next moment, a brutal, sly stab pierced his defense, narrowly leaving a small hole in his chest.
It was terrifying.
''No way!'' Ralph shouted in rage.
Bang!
He lost his balance and grew dizzy after a punch to his right temple.
Finally, another strike slammed into his face, leaving him mostly breathless.
''Tch… you're done, stupid fanatic,'' Hector clicked his tongue, shaking his head slightly.
Ralph could barely stand now. But Hector wasn't finished yet.
What he wanted was to destroy Ralph's faith in justice.
''Hey, bastard! You see that? I'm stronger than you. Remember what you said before?''
''You said: Justice is not for weaklings.''
Hector smirked and immediately drove another punch into Ralph's face, sending him crashing to the ground.
''Justice is not for you, weakling.''
Hector burst into laughter.
''Everyone sees that? He's nothing but a pathetic weakling.''
Yet the crowd remained silent as they witnessed Hector's brutality. Uneasy murmurs slowly spread among them.
Waldo gritted his teeth in fury. He couldn't take it anymore. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to step into the arena and kill Hector on the spot.
But doing so in the territory of the Jenkins Clan was completely out of the question.
He could only hope his grandson would do something to change the situation.
Luna stared at Hector with shining eyes.
''H-He's so cool…''
…
''N-No, he's a bastard!''
Luna scowled, a strange feeling stirring in her mind as she watched Hector's vicious, brutal actions.
It was thrilling… and deep down, a part of her wanted to do the same. Now, Hector almost seemed like a role model to her.
Actually… Hector's behavior was modeled after Luna herself from the novel. That explained why, among all the villains, he had a special admiration for her.
Now, it was hard to say who was the role model for whom.
Bang!
Bang!
''Justice is not for you.''
Bang!
Hector continued to rain brutal punches onto Ralph's face, one after another. He wasn't just beating him—he was trying to extinguish Ralph's faith, forcing him to draw out every last bit of power.
And, in the end, his attempt to succeed
''MOTHERFUCKER!''
Mana erupted violently from Ralph's body, blasting everything away. He had used all of his mana cores.
He glared at Hector, his face twisted and drowned in rage.
''I'll kill you! You bastard!''
…
''Good job, man. You really shattered your own words,'' Hector smirked.
Soon, the golden metallic mana covering Ralph's body darkened rapidly, draining his strength.
Now, he was even weaker than before.
Once again, another punch slammed into Ralph's face.
Ralph collapsed, unconscious.
Hector spat in disgust as he looked down at him.
That was expected. It was the weakness of the blessing of heaven. Once Ralph's belief in justice wavered, the blessing would weaken its user.
''This blessing is only for those with a firm belief, no matter death or any situation. It's not for someone who can be shaken so easily by emotions.''
Ting!
[A blessing has appeared. Do you want to receive it?]
Name: Faith of Justice
Rank: ★★★
Description: The stronger your belief in justice, the more holy power you gain. However, if you break your faith, you must face the consequences.
''It's so annoying. Why do I have to go through such a long process just to get the blessing?''
It was understandable. His blessing was complicated to use. He had to completely defeat his enemy—if they didn't use their full power, he couldn't copy their blessings.
"He won?" a noble said in fear.
"For sure… We misjudged him."
…
"So he was hiding his true power… but why?"
An old noble sighed.
"The more potential you have, the more danger you attract. He must've trained in the shadows, without anyone knowing."
Once again, praise began to shift toward the Jenkins Clan. All of them now regarded Hector as the genius of this generation.
Certainly, they were smart enough to realize what they should do at this moment—when someone stronger appeared, you shifted your side to them.
"At least they're smarter than that pack of brainless academy students." Hector snorted. But he still had one last thing to do to complete his plan.
He spat saliva onto Ralph's face and shouted loudly, on purpose.
"Stupid!"
At the same time, he shot a sly, mocking glance at Waldo, whose fist was clenched in rage.
"YOU INSOLENT BASTARD!" Waldo screamed, releasing his destructive flame mana and blanketing the arena, clearly intending to kill Hector.
The old man could no longer endure such disrespect toward a member of royalty. He had to punish this fucking brat, even if it meant angering the Jenkins Clan.
However, the old man had forgotten one person.
"Royalty… You people really treat me like air, huh."
In the blink of an eye, a wave of conquering aura swept across the place, even turning the sky from blue to blood-red… the color of death.
The oxygen-thin atmosphere made everyone gasp in pain.
They trembled and slowly looked toward the man who was releasing that terrifying aura—like weak ants staring up at an ancient dragon.
The same feeling struck them all.
Death.
"I-I'M SORRY! PLEASE… PLEASE HAVE MERCY!"
Waldo screamed in terror, collapsing onto the arena floor, his body shivering violently. The conquering aura had locked onto him, strangling him completely.
A deep fear gnawed at his mind as he sensed the power of the clan leader.
A power that even surpassed the King of the Hayden Kingdom.
The power at the peak of humanity—something anyone would spend their entire life chasing.
The power of 9 white mana cores.