The fire on his clothes still hadn't gone out.
From behind the barrier, I watched silently as Ryn Van Asterin glanced down at the burning fabric.
There was no panic on his face.
No urgency.
Just mild annoyance.
He raised his katana.
One clean slash.
The burning portion of his shirt split diagonally, falling away from his body as the flames disappeared with it.
For a moment the wound across his torso became visible.
Deep.
Still fresh from the earlier battle.
He casually cast a healing spell.
The torn flesh closed as if it had never been there.
Above the arena, Emilia watched him with growing irritation.
Her staff glowed.
Mana gathered rapidly into a blazing sphere.
The fireball grew larger and larger until it was nearly twice the size of a human body.
Then she hurled it downward.
Ryn didn't move.
Not even slightly.
When the fireball reached him—
He vanished.
A violent gust exploded across the battlefield.
The pressure alone threw nearby monster corpses across the arena floor.
The fireball struck nothing but empty ground.
"Are you ignoring me?" Emilia asked coldly.
Ryn had already reappeared several meters away.
He crouched down, picked up a small stone, and began casually sharpening the edge of his smile-shaped katana with it.
He didn't even look at her.
"Why shouldn't I?" he replied calmly.
"You haven't managed to land a single hit yet."
Her expression darkened.
"Try dodging this."
Her staff rose again.
Mana gathered above the sky.
"DOMAIN SPELL — THUNDER CLASH."
Dark clouds formed instantly.
Not natural clouds.
Pure mana condensed into a violent storm.
Lightning crashed down across the battlefield like divine punishment.
The ground trembled.
Explosions shattered the arena floor.
When the storm finally faded—
A massive crater remained where Ryn had been standing.
But he wasn't there.
Emilia's eyes narrowed.
Then suddenly she felt something resting lightly against her shoulder.
A quiet voice whispered beside her ear.
"You're weak."
Ryn stood behind her in mid-air.
For a brief moment he leaned forward, his head resting lazily against her shoulder like it was a pillow.
Then he disappeared again before she could strike.
Another fireball flew toward him.
He was already above her.
"In truth," he said lazily, "you only know domain spells and a few basic fire spells."
"And you expect me to fight seriously?"
"At least try to entertain me."
Her patience snapped.
"DOMAIN SPELL — EXTINCTION."
The battlefield changed instantly.
The arena floor transformed into molten volcanic rock.
Heat waves distorted the air.
Standing on that ground alone would burn ordinary flesh.
But the barrier protecting us remained intact.
I could feel my devil energy reinforcing it, preventing the spell from reaching us.
The others stared in stunned silence.
The man fighting above the battlefield…
He felt nothing like the Ryn we once knew.
That beast…
The one who drinks my blood.
I never intended to kill him.
Back then I only wanted to break a few bones if he pushed things too far.
But watching him now…
I felt something unexpected.
Relief.
Because if that devil had awakened that day—
I might have been the one lying dead.
Above the battlefield, Emilia raised her staff once again.
The sky twisted violently.
A gigantic meteor began forming high above the arena.
It was enormous.
Large enough to crush the entire stadium.
The shadow it cast swallowed the battlefield.
Ryn looked up at it calmly.
"Ah."
"So that's what you prepared."
He lifted his blade.
One swift slash.
A massive X-shaped wind blade shot upward and collided with the descending meteor.
The enormous rock split cleanly in half.
Before the fragments could fall—
He spoke again.
"THOUSANDS FOLDS OF WIND BLADES."
Hundreds of invisible slashes tore through the broken meteor.
The giant rock shattered into countless small fragments that rained harmlessly across the arena.
Emilia stared at him in disbelief.
She opened a system window.
"This man is clearly stronger than most S-rankers…"
"Why is he labeled A-rank?"
Ryn answered without looking at her.
"I only use simple spells."
"I don't rely on artifacts."
"And I never bothered climbing your system's rank ladder."
She tried requesting assistance from the system.
No response came.
The corpses around the battlefield began rising again as she summoned them.
Ryn disappeared.
A violent gust swept across the arena.
Before the undead could even fully stand—
They were reduced to ashes.
Emilia stared at him with disbelief.
"…How can someone like you even exist?"
Her voice carried both confusion and frustration.
"How am I supposed to kill someone who's God-gifted like you?"
Ryn looked at her quietly for a moment.
Then he asked,
"How old were you when you killed your first person?"
She frowned at the sudden question.
"…Fifteen."
After a brief pause she added,
"I killed the man who tried to rape me."
Ryn nodded slightly.
"I was eight."
Emilia blinked.
"I killed two grown men."
Silence fell between them.
Ryn continued calmly,
"Just to protect the corpse of a friend."
"And to survive."
Emilia froze.
For the first time, genuine shock appeared in her eyes.
"…Then it makes sense," she murmured.
"You were born different."
"God-gifted."
"The kind of talent people pray for… but never receive."
Ryn chuckled softly.
"You lived a peaceful life for fifteen years."
"And you still want to rival someone who spent most of his life in war."
He looked at her sharply.
"And don't pretend you asked that question just to talk."
"You weren't trying to pass time."
Then he added quietly,
"Just like I wasn't."
Her mana had recovered.
She raised her staff.
"DOMAIN EXPANSION — GRAVEYARD OF THE FALLEN."
The world changed.
A vast graveyard stretched endlessly between two mountains.
Countless tombstones filled the valley.
Corpses began crawling out of the graves.
"These are the people I've killed," Emilia said.
Ryn sighed.
Then his eyes glowed faintly.
His own domain unfolded instantly.
The graveyard vanished.
In its place appeared a massive valley filled with blood reaching up to the torso.
Mountains of black iron nails stretched across the horizon.
Each nail held a corpse impaled upon it.
"Look carefully," Ryn said calmly.
"The blood you're standing in…"
"…is mine."
"Mixed with the blood of my enemies."
"And those on the nails?"
"They're the ones who tried to kill me."
Emilia's face turned pale.
She had already consumed most of her mana.
Maintaining the domain expansion was nearly impossible.
At that moment I noticed something.
Ryn's eyes were returning to normal.
His devil was fading.
He snapped his fingers.
Our entire team was expelled from the domain instantly.
The world returned to the ruined arena.
The domain collapsed moments later.
Ryn stepped forward.
Emilia was gone.
No body remained.
Perhaps burned.
Perhaps erased.
No one knew.
Lysandria immediately gave an order.
"Capture him before the portal opens again."
But before anyone could reach him—
Ryn suddenly collapsed.
A violent cough shook his body.
Blood poured from his mouth.
Too much blood.
Nearly a quarter of it spilled onto the ground as his body finally gave in.
The price of forcing that power through a body already torn apart by battle.
The team froze in shock.
Everyone except Lysandria.
She seemed to understand immediately.
We were all wounded.
But Ryn…
He had simply pushed his body past its limits.
And now his body had finally broken.
[Thank you for reading till now I would take 10 days from now for a break I had idea but execution is worse so give me time and I will be back at 14 April also I would try to pre schedule ch so it would came consistently]