Chapter 231: Blade Duel (2)
Everyone in the arena was stunned. The moment the two blades clashed... even with the supposedly unstoppable attack from that empire’s technique, Darian’s opponent’s sword shattered in half.
Darian’s face stayed blank as he calmly swung his killing sword. The young guy whose weapon had broken let out a pained grunt, like he was being tortured.
The reason was obvious: the sword was tied to his soul, with part of his energy infused into it. That was another big flaw in that technique—if your weapon got destroyed by someone stronger, your soul took backlash and got wounded.
The injury wasn’t fatal, but it would take weeks to heal—and required valuable resources. If you were poor, it could take years with cheap stuff.
That was one of the reasons the Celestial Order Empire hadn’t been able to surpass New Arcadia and break out of fourth place. The geniuses didn’t have that issue, but the average folks had to throw most of their time into forging and gear, cutting down their training in other areas. In tough battles, they were easier to take out.
So, the empire’s overall strength stayed stuck. Just having a few geniuses or elite fighters wasn’t enough—since most missions Earth received were low-level, the average strength of Spiritual Guardians mattered way more than a handful of monsters.
Meanwhile, the sharpening rune seal on Darian’s blade... was literally a god’s power etched into a weapon. Nothing could stand up to that.
"ATTACK!"
Three figures rushed Darian at once without hesitation.
Darian noticed they didn’t activate their weapon technique—they reacted fast and understood the situation. They didn’t want to risk getting knocked out of the fight—if their weapons broke, they could just grab another.
Seeing that, Darian sheathed his sword and clenched his fists, channeling a bit of dark power.
Everyone in the arena held their breath.