The next day, the sky was cold and overcast, with the north wind howling fiercely. EeDeChi stepped into the arena once again.

Last time, she had been in the audience; today, however, she was to step into the ring as a competitor.

She gazed around at the arena walls. The seats were packed as usual, but unlike the usual bustling noise, today there was no cheering or shouting. The air felt strangely quiet.

EeDeChi frowned in confusion. She looked over at her "support squad" behind her—Barrett, Sean, and Stella—and asked, "Why is it so quiet? There's barely anyone cursing."

Barrett explained, "This is the semi-final Warrior Captain Promotion Tournament. It's almost as important as the final showdown, and it's the ultimate battle between Re-Estize's strongest warriors.

"Only the rich and noble are eligible to watch. The tickets for this event have skyrocketed in price, so most of the people here are well-educated nobles or royalty. See, Princess Renner is over in the VIP section."

EeDeChi followed Barrett's finger to the direction he pointed. Their employer, Princess Renner, the third princess of the kingdom, was looking directly at them. After noticing that Barrett and the others had seen her, she gave them a sweet smile.

Beside her stood her ever-present bodyguard, Climb, along with a few elderly men who looked like wealthy merchants. Far off, about ten seats away, a group of well-dressed nobles surrounded a slightly plump man with golden short hair—Prince Zanac, the second prince.

EeDeChi activated her Innate Talent and scanned the Justice Value of the nobles in the audience. She muttered, "I'd rather have the air here filled with trash talk than perform for these hypocritical bastards."

In the center of the arena, spaced every few dozen meters, stood several mages, each maintaining a transparent magical shield that covered the center of the arena, preventing the fierce combat between the elite warriors from spilling over into the spectator stands.

Not long ago, a horrific incident had occurred. A warrior's heavy hammer had accidentally flown into the audience, causing the deaths of several people and injuring dozens more. The scene, with blood splattering everywhere, was even more gruesome than the battle in the arena itself.

Learning from the previous disaster, though the common spectators still had no protection, today, with a large number of nobles in attendance, the event organizers quickly dispatched a dozen or so mid-tier mages, standing ready to ensure the safety of the audience.

The previous loud-mouthed announcer had been replaced. Now, a deep, resonant male voice, rich with magnetism, echoed through the arena:

"The highly anticipated Warrior Captain Promotion Tournament is about to begin! From the bloodied battlefields, the brave warrior, Schroeve Dahlsen! Facing him, the new challenger, EeDeChi..."

On the other side of the arena, a towering warrior stared at EeDeChi in the center of the ring. His thick adamantite armor couldn't hide his powerful, muscular frame. A blood-red giant sword stood beside him, its blade covered in tightly woven black pine needle patterns.

Odys Malcon Waverly raised his hand and pointed at EeDeChi, his voice cold and sinister.

"Slam, do you see her? That's the one who killed your brother. Although I've resurrected him, his mental state is unstable, and his body doesn't match. All of this is thanks to EeDeChi. Haven't you wanted to kill her for a long time? Go ahead, I can feel it—your thirst for revenge is burning inside you!"

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"General Odys, I will kill her," Slam said, his fist tightening, knuckles cracking. He drew the giant sword from the ground and began to march toward EeDeChi.

...

In the center of the arena, on the sandy ground, EeDeChi looked up at her opponent and commented, "This guy is really tall, but his Justice Value is a bit low—only -41."

Slam was at least five or six heads taller than EeDeChi. His waist was broad, his shoulders wide, and he stood like a mountain—solid and imposing. His head and neck were as thick as tree trunks, and he was clad in a sharp-edged Adamantite full-body armor. Compared to him, EeDeChi, dressed in simple black cotton, looked like a sapling standing next to a towering tree.

Slam looked down at EeDeChi from his towering height, his golden pupils flickering with a burning, almost tangible rage. Without a word, he raised his glacier-like blood-veined giant sword and charged at her.

EeDeChi was empty-handed, unable to dodge in time. Slam's giant sword slammed into her with full force, sending her flying like a ragdoll, crashing into the sandy ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.

A chorus of boos erupted from the crowd. The duel between the kingdom's strongest warriors had been decided in an instant. EeDeChi didn't even stand a chance.

Slowly, EeDeChi pushed herself up from the sand, shaking her head and brushing the dirt off her hair. "You little brat, I don't mind playing with you," she muttered.

A faint red mist enveloped EeDeChi, and her feet seemed to sink into the ground, trapped by Slam's Innate Talent, the "Death Domain."

Slam charged again, his momentum like a stampede of rhinos. His giant sword, even wider and longer than EeDeChi's body, came crashing down on her head. The adventurer captain was smashed into the sand by the blow.

As EeDeChi's half-buried body lay in the sand, Slam's smile twisted into something even more grotesque. The thrill of revenge surged through him, and he raised his glacier-like heavy sword high, roaring:

"Brother! I've avenged you!"

One swing! Two swings! Three swings! Four swings! … Slam relentlessly hacked at EeDeChi's body, each blow falling like the hammer of a water-powered forge pounding on a piece of metal.

The arena was filled with flying sand, and the crowd gasped in shock. Everyone was stunned by Slam's brutality, as if they could see the splattering blood in the dust-filled air.

At the lowest level of the spectator stands, Stella gripped the statue of the Gaia tightly, her heart in her throat. Sean's forehead was covered in cold sweat, and Barrett looked equally grim. He had never seen EeDeChi take such a heavy blow before.

Only Odys remained calm. He picked up a white porcelain teacup from the servant's silver tray, watching the scene unfold in the arena with a smile as he leisurely sipped his tea.

"Clang!" The harsh sound of steel colliding rang through the arena, as EeDeChi, holding the giant sword she had just pulled from her spatial ring, blocked Slam's brutal strike.

She then swung the sword, forcing Slam to stagger back two steps. EeDeChi shook off the sand from her body, crawling out of the pit, and sighed, "Your brother came after me first. If he's dead, it's not my fault."

Slam was momentarily stunned, but his surging rage quickly drowned out any reason. He raised his giant sword again, the blood-vein pine needle patterns on its blade glowing a blinding red, and swung it down toward her once more.

EeDeChi raised her giant sword with one hand, meeting his blow head-on. The two passed each other, and Slam's sword cracked open, the blade splitting along the pine needle patterns into countless shards of metal, which clattered onto the sand.

Slam stared at the broken pieces in his hands, his eyes wide. EeDeChi walked toward him, and he didn't even react.

With a casual flick of her giant sword, EeDeChi sent Slam flying like a baseball, his large body hurtling through the air with a sickening crack as his bones shattered. He crashed through the mage's magical barrier at the edge of the arena and slammed into the stone wall beneath the spectator stands.

Slam fell from the stone wall, bloodied, like a ragged mass of flesh crawling on the ground.

EeDeChi walked over, contemplating whether to finish him off. Just then, the entire arena erupted in a deafening wave of cheers, and the announcer's deep, resonant voice rang out triumphantly:

"The winner is decided! EeDeChi, victory!"

"How... How could this happen?" From the VIP section, Odys trembled in rage. His withered hand clenched so hard that the porcelain teacup shattered with a sharp "crack," the jagged shards slicing into his palm, blood and tea dripping onto the ground.

The second prince Zanac turned to Odys, his voice cold and questioning:

"General, please explain. We spared no expense in creating this elite warrior specifically to deal with Brain. How is it that he was defeated by some adventurer who appeared out of nowhere?"

Odys slowly began to crush the porcelain shards in his hand, his vulture-like eyes fixed on the black-haired girl in the center of the arena. His voice was icy and venomous:

"Don't worry, I'll take care of her."