The arena.
Shen Ye's shattered half of his body instantly regenerated.
He pulled his long saber out of his opponent's chest, sheathed it, then cupped his hands in salute.
"Thank you for joining."
His tone was earnest and sincere.
-But no one answered.
Across from him.
The Blond-Haired Man stood motionless, his expression blank.
"Hey."
Shen Ye called out.
The Blond-Haired Man did not respond.
"Tell me, what was the point of all this? You failed to kill me and lost a tentacle yourself instead."
Shen Ye stood with his hands on his hips and sighed.
At that moment.
The Blond-Haired Man's aura had vanished completely. He stood frozen, as though he had become a wooden puppet without awareness or sensation.
But.
In the endless void beyond the arena.
Countless enormous dark shadows swayed back and forth, radiating overwhelming ferocity, as though they might surge over at any moment and annihilate Shen Ye in one stroke.
"Get this straight. You tried to kill me first. That's why I cut off one of your tentacles."
Shen Ye shouted into the void.
-Those shadows were the tentacle's true body. Because he had severed a section of it, it wanted nothing more than to kill him immediately.
But-
I won.
I represented the will of destruction in a wagered battle against you and won this duel!
A moment later.
Lines of faint glowing text appeared in the void, just as expected:
"You have won this 'Cage Battle.'" "This was a battle secretly agreed upon by destruction and D-0314 World." "As the victor, you have absorbed your opponent's king's power and will receive new authority."
A clang rang out.
A line of small text appeared above Shen Ye's head:
``` "?????"
"King-level trait, an authority-type trait recognized by the Ten Thousand Worlds."