“Mom, now there is no way Oz is winning against Leon!” Carmen said with a shocked expression.

“Yeah, your cousin Leon is way too talented. At least your brother made it to the final.” Liliana said, looking at Oswald in the arena. “Leon will soon surpass your father, Carmen.”

Everyone was shocked that Leon had achieved the Deus State. Victor was grinning as he witnessed his favorite grandson achieve something great, so young.

“I can’t believe this was what he was talking about!” John said in a joyful tone. “My son is someone so exceptional. I am so proud of him!!”

“That Leon, he was saving this surprise for the final match!” May said, smiling. “And Oswald is determined to keep fighting despite the overwhelming power Leon has! My two nephews are outstanding fighters!”

“It appears that my successor as the Deus Family Head and as Duke is now completely apparent.” Joseph said, observing Leon. “At this rate the other candidates won’t reach Leon’s level.”

“That’s my grandson!” Victor said. “He is a real Deus unlike your son, Joseph! He better give up now or what does Oswald think he can do against my Leon!”

“Dad, Oz is also your grandson!” Joseph protested. “And look, he is determined to make a last stand even though he knows he will lose.”

“Whatever!” Victor dismissed Joseph’s thoughts. “Let’s see what sort of pathetic performance your magicless son put up!”

“...” May glared at Victor, angry at her father’s comments.

“...” John stayed quiet not knowing what to say to his father.

Oswald rushed towards Leon and threw a punch that Leon dodged with minimal movement. Before Oswald could make another move, Leon punched him in the gut. Oswald could feel immense pain, but he ignored and threw another punch. The punch was blocked by Leon using his forearm.

“LEON IS NOW WAY BEYOND WHAT OSWALD CAN HANDLE!!!” Lola commented. “THE POWER BOOST OF THE DEUS STATE IS INCREDIBLE!!!”

Oswald and Leon began to exchange punches and kicks. Every time he got hit or blocked an attack Oswald felt pain, while he could see that his attacks were doing nothing to Leon. After a few seconds, Leon stopped attacking and Oswald continued. Oswald’s attacks seemed to have no effect on Leon. Leon quickly used Wind Magic and a gust of wind that originated from Leon’s body blew Oswald away. Oswald rolled through the floor for a few meters. After coming to a stop Oswald got up and could see Leon was about to start using Fire Magic.

“LEON BECAME AN UNSTOPPABLE FORCE!!” Lola said. “WHAT IS OSWALD GOING TO DO NOW!!?”

Oswald closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As soon as he sensed that Leon had thrown a Fireball, he opened his eyes and started to run to his left side. Leon continued to throw Fireballs and Oswald kept running and dodging any Fireballs that got too close to him. After the Fireballs stopped, Oswald came to a stop. He was panting heavily, but his face still had a determined expression. Oswald faced Leon and started running towards him.

“OSWALD DOESN’T WANT TO GIVE UP! AND NOW HE IS RUNNING TOWARDS LEON!!” Lola commented.

Leon started to gather Magical Energy on his left hand. When Oswald was about ten meters away Leon looked at Oswald and smiled.

“Time to end this! I had fun, Oz!” Leon said in a happy tone. “ICE BEAM!!!!”

Leon extended his arm and aimed his open palm at Oswald. A beam of ice shot from Leon’s hand and hit Oswald. Oswald could feel his body’s temperature decrease as soon as the attack hit. The pain quickly spread throughout Oswald’s body, but he continued running towards Leon. The Ice Beam was constantly hitting Oswald, yet he was still fast approaching Leon. Once Oswald reached Leon, he punched Leon and hit him on the chest. As soon as Oswald’s punch landed, his bracelet broke into a million pieces and he collapsed into the ground.

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“LEON WIIIIIINNSSS!!!” Lola announced with excitement. “FOLKS, THE END OF THIS MATCH MARKS THE END OF THE TOURNAMENT!! WE STILL HAVE THE CEREMONY, SO PLEASE STICK WITH US FOR THAT!!”

Leon deactivated the Deus State and his hair returned to his blond color and his eyes returned to their ordinary shade of blue. Leon then crouched next to Oswald.

“I might not be an expert, but I do know some Healing Magic! Low Heal!” Leon’s palms touched Oswald and they started to glow alongside Oswald. After a couple of seconds Oswald opened his eyes and Leon stopped the healing. “That was fun, Oz!”

Leon stood up and offered a helping hand to Oswald. Oswald took Leon’s hand and stood up. Oswald started laughing.

“HAHAHAHA! That was a fun fight, Leo!” Oswald said, smiling. “You’re something else! Using the Deus State, your hard work shows, so keep it up! I’ll also keep up my training and someday I’ll surpass you!”

“Then, I’ll be waiting for that day!” Leon said, full of excitement. “But I won’t make it easy!”

Suddenly, Oswald felt the sinister presence for a third time. This time the presence was stronger and he could clearly sense where it was coming from. Oswald looked at the center of the arena and could see a chaotic Mana Flow. He started to shake uncontrollably and could not move. Leon noticed something wrong with Oswald and had a worried expression.

“What’s wrong, Oz?” Leon followed Oswald’s gaze, but he couldn’t see anything. “Why are you shaking? Oz please say something!”

After a few seconds Leon was able to feel an immense pressure coming from the center of the arena and quickly began gathering Magical Energy. Leon could see the Healers that were supposed to heal him and Oswald after the end of the match were trying to get past the door to the arena as if someone or something had placed a barrier trapping them two inside the arena.

“Oz, calm yourself!” Leon yelled. “If you freeze up, you might die!”

“I’ll try!” Oswald said, taking deep breaths and after a few seconds he stopped shaking. “Is something weird also happening outside the arena?”

A dark aura started to appear in the center of the arena. Dark rays soon began to extend from the floor of the center of the arena to the top of the arena. As time passed Oswald could feel the Mana around the center of the arena was beginning to increase and he estimated that whatever was coming was around or stronger than an A-Rank boss monster.

“FOLKS, BEGIN EVACUATION!! I REPEAT BEGIN EVACUATION!!” Lola announced with a tone of panic. “MONSTER HAVE INFILTRATED THE BUILDING!! PLEASE PROCEED WITH CAUTION AND BE READY FOR COMBAT!!”

“Monsters appearing out of nowhere!!?” Oswald said with a surprised expression. “Isn’t … this a … dungeon break!?”

“That … sounds like it, but … all the dungeons … have been conquered!” Leon replied. “Then … is this the birth of a new dungeon?”

“FOLKS, STAY INSIDE THE BUILDING!! I REPEAT STAY INSIDE THE BUILDING!! WE HAVE BEEN MADE AWARE THAT THERE IS A MONSTER WITH THE STRENGTH OF AN S-RANK BOSS MONSTER ROAMING OUTSIDE!” Lola's voice cracked as she was panicking trying to give the best direction for people to stay safe. “TO THOSE THAT ARE ABLE TO, PLEASE FIGHT THE MONSTER INSIDE THE BUILDING TO CREATE SAFE SPACES!! PLEASE FIND SOMEWHERE SAFE AND STAY ALIVE!!”

The pressure coming from the center of the arena intensified and both Oswald and Leon started shaking. They started to take deep breaths to control themselves, but their instincts told them to run away as fast as possible. They wanted to escape, yet they knew they were trapped inside the arena by a barrier and everyone else outside the barrier were dealing with monsters, so they had only themselves to rely on.

“How much more time do you think you can use the Deus State?” Oswald asked, looking at Leon.

“At most, I believe five minutes.” Leon answered. “But even then, that might not be enough for this!”

“Wait, the Deus Sword is in the arena!” Oswald said, turning his expression into a joyful one.

“We can use that!” Leon said as he tried to look for the Deus Sword and upon spotting it his expression turned grim. “Damn it! It’s across from us!”

“Then we wait for that thing to appear!” Oswald had a determined expression. “Then we find a way to retrieve it!”

“That's our only hope!” Leon’s face showed a hopeful expression. “We will get out of here alive!”

As more and more Mana began to gather the whole arena began to shake. Oswald could tell from the Mana Flow that the entity was about to appear at any moment. A dark cloud about the size of ten meters began to form and Oswald could sense the overwhelming strength that far surpassed Leon’s Deus State. Although they were shaking, Oswald and Leon had a determined expression as the presence of the entity became clearer.