"Pathetic,

" Azalea mocked as she stared down at the corpse before her. She stored his body, before calmly walking off the stage and back to her seat. The crowd watched in stunned silence, unsure of what just happened.

"What just happened?

"

"I don't know, but it seemed like Leon didn't even notice her approaching.

"

"Did she vanish from his sight somehow?

"

John stared at Azalea's back, slightly surprised at the progress she had displayed.

'That was clearly a soul art she just used, and a powerful one at that. Her opponent thought he had struck her down, but those were just visions she put in his mind. She was able to walk up to him unnoticed, and kill him before he could react. Seems like she's made quite a deal of progress since our battle in the ancient temple.'

The strange aura that had emitted from her was clearly soul art, although John didn't know which one.

"So Azalea has successfully cultivated the Despairing Soul Domain?

" Chase suddenly murmured.

"Despairing Soul Domain?

" John asked.

"How come I've never heard of it.

"

Chase remained silent for a moment.

"Because it's quite a rare soul art to have compatibility with. One can only have compatibility with it when theyve been driven to the edge of despair, and overcame that hurdle. Even then, they must still have the talent needed to cultivate it. Its quite surprising that she was able to, but now that she has, her power has increased greatly,

" Chase explained.

John looked back to Azalea, as she finally sat down in her seat.

'Edge of despair huh? Must have been from the battle in the temple, or perhaps her punishment for running and losing afterwards. Either way, she should be thanking me for her advancements.'

John chuckled to himself, before turning to Chase once again.

"Hey, how do you know so much about this sect? Many of the things you've revealed some are not common knowledge, and some seem to be a bit more forbidden knowledge at that?

" John asked.

Chase always seemed to have the answers to everything, regardless of the subject.

Chase remained silent for some time before replying.

"You learn a lot of things in the Pill Hall, things that most others don't talk about freely.

"

His reply was short, and John frowned as he heard it, as he didn't believe it, but he didn't prod further. If Chase didn't want to tell him the truth, there was no way of making him do so. John focused his attention back on the martial arena below, as another challenger has suddenly appeared.

"Thraks, get down here!

"

His appearance stirred the silent crowd into a frenzy of discussion once more, as he shouted out towards the Three Emperors.

"That's Alex! He's actually challenging Thraks?

"

"What's so strange about that?

"

"Don't you know? They used to be childhood friends, and have been all the way until Thraks got chosen as an Emperor and Alex didn't!

"

"There was such a thing?

"

"Yep, apparently their strength was relatively even, but Trhaks managed to become an Emperor and Alex didn't. I guess he's trying to change that now.

"

Thraks looked down at Alex from above, and his calm face revealed that he was not surprised at the newcomers' challenge. He stood up from his seat, and pressed off it with great force.

His massive body took to the sky, and came crashing down on the arena platform below.

Boom!

His hard landing seemed to shake the very arena itself, revealing just how heavy and sturdy his body was. He landed just before his opponent, and the two stared at each other with serious expressions.

Both had very large and powerful bodies, which towered over the rest of the disciples. They almost seemed like twins, and both seemed as if they could pull apart boulders with their bare hands.

"Are you sure you want to challenge me?

" Thraks asked.

"Once this battle starts, I will take your life, regardless of our past history.

"

"I'm sure,

" Alex replied confidently, while also having a look of slight anger on his face.

"We were always even in power throughout our entire lives, even up to the point when you were chosen as Emperor and I was not. Our fights always ended in ties, but ever since the day you became Emperor, I've trained harder than ever to take that title from you,

" Alex replied.

John raised his eyebrows slightly at the conversation between the two. They seemed to have been good friends, but Thraks was talking about killing his 'friend,' while Alex revealed anger and jealousy instead of happiness at his friend's recent boon.

'Seems like friends are just superficial things in the Bloodfiend Sect. The only one anyone can trust is themselves. What a cruel and miserable place to live,' John mused internally.

"Unfortunately for you, this is your end,

" Thraks replied.

A greatsword suddenly appeared in his hands, and also in the hands of Alex. Even in weapons, they were the same.

"You may begin,

" the words from the Elder echoed throughout the entire facility.

Boom!

Two powerful auras instantly exploded outwards, towering high into the sky as the two friends dashed towards each other. Greatswords cleaved down with immense might, colliding in the center of the arena, and shaking the stadium violently.

The first exchange between the two fighters seemed to be a tie, and both swung their greatswords out again and again. Violent collisions continuously rocked the martial arena, making it feel like there was a constant earthquake.

'Not bad. Both of them seem to have common grade innate variant bodies, and both are exploding with incredible power.'

John watched intently as the battle raged out below. The battle seemed to be even, as both sides collided with absolute power. The strength of their attacks shocked the other first year disciples, as they saw first hand just how far the gaping maw between their own strength and the strength of the Emperors were.

After exchanging dozens and dozens of powerful attacks, both fighters took several steps backwards and stared at each other. Alex seemed to be breathing slightly heavily, while Thraks seemed composed.

A smile broke out on Alex's face as he stared at Thraks.

"Just like before, our strengths are evenly matched. However, unfortunately for you, that was just a warm up. I've made incredible improvements over the past several months, and now I'll be using those improvements to defeat you,

" Alex said to Thraks.

Thraks stood there calmly, as if the words uttered by Alex meant nothing. Alex suddenly raised his greatsword above his head, and after a moment of silence, it exploded out with incredible power.

"What battle art is that?

" one of the disciples in the crowd exclaimed in shock. Its power was far beyond anything they had seen in the battle so far.

"It's the Bloodrending Greatsword Art!

" another disciple chimed in.

Alex swung his weapon forward, and his greatsword art cleaved towards Thraks with incredible power. Thraks stood there calmly, as he slashed his own greatsword out to meet it.

Boom!