Death... and me

Surprisingly, against everyone's expectations, Fabio actually accepted the challenge. First of all, it was already unusual for one of the princes to ensue a challenge against someone who had lower cultivation. But because of how Trian lost face, he wanted to vent his anger a little by using a higher level cultivator. Even Trian didn't expect Fabio to really go forward with it.

"Little brother, you're acting just like Naevys, getting ahead of yourself," Trian could not help but say in response.

Fabio shook his head, though. "It's fine. What's the point in running away from a situation like this? It's not like he can run during the Sacred Land Recruitment, right? It's for his own good that he should learn how to deal with stronger opponents. As for whether he will win or not, that's up to his abilities."

'Oh-ho...' Varold's interest was piqued after hearing his son saying all of that. 'It is as if he's confident that his protege won't lose too fast at the very least. Still, that black-haired boy is only in the Late Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm. Will he be able to do anything?'

Most of the guests felt that Fabio was only trying to show off in front of his father. Fabio's brothers and sisters thought the same thing as well. In any case, none of them said anything. They wanted to see how fast Roan would lose this fight.

Roan and Clihol then entered the arena before they took their weapons out. It was then that everyone's attention was taken by Roan. Or, to be more precise, his scythe!

'Hey, Fabio. Did you call a farmer to fight here?' his brother asked, trying to hold his laughter.

Fabio couldn't help but show a bitter smile in response. He didn't know about Roan's new weapon as it was completed just a few days ago. As far as he remembered from the Cosec City assembly, Roan used a white sword, not a white scythe. 'I hope he knows what he's doing.'

Clihol thought that this fight was already his, so he simply waited in place. "Since my cultivation is two stages higher than yours, I'll give you a handicap. I won't counter your first three attacks, only defend against them. You can approach me in any way you see fit. I just hope you're not intending to trim my hair with this thing."

Everyone laughed after hearing that, not being able to hold back anymore. Of course, that only made Fabio feel even worse. Nevertheless, there was no turning back.

Roan coldly smiled in response. "Is that so? Then, I shall make use of it."

Roan slowly walked in Clihol's direction until they were five meters apart. Of course, Roan was ready for anything as he would never trust the guy's words. Clihol just kept smiling, though.

With that, Roan lifted his hand as Dark Element gathered in torrents.

'Death World!'

In a moment, the entire arena was covered by the Dark World. Of course, Roan didn't stop there.

'Death Style... Death Scythe!'

The scythe in Roan's hands then began to move as he launched himself forward. For those who could see inside with their Divine Sense, Roan truly looked like the harbinger of death. There were no tricks in that attack, no flairs, nothing! It was a pure head-on assault!

Clihol felt a chill on his back and immediately put his disdain aside. Deep into his soul, he felt that he would die if he didn't do anything. Using his Divine Sense, he saw the trajectory of Roan's scythe and immediately acted to defend.

'Earth Condensation!'

Earth Element gathered soon after, concentrating in front of Clihol while taking the form of a shield. He also held his weapon in front of it, just in case Roan's attack passed his first line of defense. However...

*Swish!*

Roan's scythe infused with Dark Element destroyed everything the blade touched as the Light Element Gathering ability of the weapon was used to reinforce it.  That was Rean's first Golden-level weapon, and it showed why Rean's modern crafting method was so good. Not to mention that the Earth's Remnants used to improve the scythe made it much, much sturdier. It simply couldn't compare to other metals when trying to create the alloy.

*Bang!*

Not long after, Roan's Death World burst like a balloon. Even those who couldn't see with Divine Sense now had a full view of what happened inside. Roan's scythe stopped with its tip a centimeter away from entering the ground. As for what was ahead of him...

*Clang, clang, clang...*

Were the bisected pieces of Clihol's weapon and his Earth Condensation! Roan's Death Scythe simply cut through it all! Not only that, but there was also a small stream of blood coming from the top of Clihol's head all the way to his crouch. Fortunately for him, Roan's control over the scythe was peerless. The entire cut didn't even go further than a millimeter deep.

Everyone immediately understood after that. If not because Roan showed mercy, there would be two Clihol now, as he would be cleaved in half. He had definitely shown tremendous attack power.

"Roan wins!"

Soon after, Clihol fell on his butt, touching the injury on his body to see if he really hadn't been cleaved right there and then.

Roan retrieved his scythe before he turned around, saying, "You shouldn't have lost this quickly. However, your underestimation made it so that you didn't have enough time to mount a meaningful defense against my attack. This battle was supposed to go much further, but alas..." Roan left the arena, returning to the side of Fabio's group.

After that, people recovered their senses.

"What the hell?!"

"How can scythes have such power?"

"Scythes? Are you an idiot? Look at how perfect the injury line is on Clihol's body. It wasn't just the scythe but the cultivator as well."

"Indeed! That black-haired boy's control over his own power and his scythe are the really terrifying things."

"I'm not sure if even I can be that precise, considering he had to cut through Clihol's defensive skill and weapon!"

Fabio couldn't help but smile brightly after Roan won. "Old brother, you definitely told your protege to hold back. I thank you for the easy win."

Trian's expression was as terrible as it could be. "Hmph!" But in the end, he could only throw the token for a Sacred Land Recruitment slot back at Fabio.