Chapter 304: Arwen Wins Ten Battles by Himself!

Arwen and Larael looked at each other for a moment before Arwen finally decided to go first.

"Good."

Zeyr nodded in approval. Since Arwen was stronger than Larael, even if the Infernal Choir tried to play some kind of trick, he had a better chance of dealing with it without putting his life at serious risk.

From Brynessa’s side, another of the demonic warriors stepped forward.

Peiro gave Arwen a brief glance before turning his attention back toward the arena.

"Start."

The moment Peiro’s voice fell, Arwen raised one hand.

"Orphelios, come forth."

The space in front of him shimmered, and a bright golden circular portal suddenly opened in the air.

It was roughly thirty feet tall and ten feet wide, its surface radiating a warm golden light that illuminated the nearby spectator seats.

From it, a presence emerged.

A twenty-foot-tall figure stepped through the portal.

THUD!

The moment Orphelios planted his foot on the arena floor, the ground cracked beneath it, several thin fractures spreading outward from the point of impact.

The arena had been specifically modified by Peiro to withstand B-rank battles rather than using earlier dark stones, which could bear gods level attack, so the damage wasn’t enough to threaten its structure, but it was still clear that the massive spirit wasn’t some weak elemental creature.

Orphelios resembled a robust giant formed from fire, its body carrying a dense, almost tangible heat. Above its head floated a crown made entirely of flames.

"He already summoned it."

Zeyr’s expression carried a trace of surprise.

He hadn’t expected Arwen to reveal his spirit immediately instead of testing the opponent first.

"Maybe he’s already playing safe." Karon spoke casually from beside him.

The others nodded.

Meanwhile, Luke continued staring at Orphelios.

He had seen plenty of elemental creatures before in his world, movies, but there was something different about this one. The flames covering its body weren’t loose or scattered; they seemed to form the spirit’s very structure, while the fiery crown above its head gave it the impression of a being that stood at a higher rank even among spirits.

Selene, who noticed his interest, began explaining.

"Luke, you’ve already seen many different power classifications and cultivation methods, and the Elves have their own system as well."

She paused briefly to make sure he was listening, and when she saw his attention was fully on her, she continued.

"Elves follow the power classification of Spiritance. As they progress through the Spiritance realms, the bond between them and their contracted spirits becomes deeper, allowing them to synchronize more closely and gain greater access to their spirit’s power."

Luke nodded.

Selene continued.

"Their ultimate goal is to reach the highest level of spiritual connection and eventually form a connection with the World Tree Spirit itself, which is considered the greatest and most ancient spirit associated with the Elven race."

After explaining that, she took a breath before adding, "That’s why an Elf’s strength depends heavily on their spirit. It is also the reason you were able to defeat Arwen so easily earlier. Since, he hadn’t used his spirit."

The moment she finished that sentence, she reached out and pinched Luke’s waist.

Luke flinched.

"Ouch—ouch. Okay, okay, I understand."

He immediately raised both hands in surrender.

Selene released him only after apparently deciding that he had understood the lesson. After all, earlier he attacked the Arwen, without knowing his strength.

Luke rubbed his side before turning his attention back toward the arena.

By then, the demonic warrior had barely gotten into position.

Orphelios had already raised one arm, a concentrated beam of solar fire gathering around his palm before suddenly shooting forward.

WHOOOSH!

The attack crossed the arena in an instant, giving the demonic warrior barely enough time to widen his eyes and raise his weapon defensively before the beam engulfed him.

"WHAT—?!"

BOOM!

"AAAAARGH!"

His scream tore across the arena as the solar flames swallowed his body and armor together. He desperately held his weapon in front of himself, trying to shield his body from the overwhelming heat, but the brilliant flames quickly obscured his figure, leaving only his silhouette visible within the raging fire.

"AAAGH—!"

His scream abruptly cut off as his silhouette disappeared completely.

When the solar fire finally faded, the arena fell silent once again. Nothing remained except a few glowing fragments of melted equipment scattered across the arena floor, their faint red-orange glow gradually fading as they cooled.

"Huh?"

Luke blinked. "So strong."

He had expected a fight.

After all, both Arwen and the demonic warrior were at the same level.

Yet Orphelios had burned through the opponent as though there had been no resistance at all.

Selene noticed the confusion on his face and couldn’t help sighing.

She had gradually realized that Luke had spent most of his time simply overpowering his enemies. He understood how to use his own strength extremely well, but when it came to the finer applications of different elements, there were still many things he hadn’t learned.

That realization was understandable, though.

It had only been about a month since Luke had gone from being an ordinary mortal to possessing enough strength to fight B-rank beings, and he had done most of that while remaining in the relatively remote Blackstone territory.

Luke was undeniably talented.

He had simply never received proper instruction.

With proper guidance, his understanding of his abilities could increase much faster.

"Luke."

Selene called his name again.

"If Arwen, or anyone else, used Fire Essence to achieve that same effect, they would have to spend more energy first overcoming the opponent’s Essence before they could properly burn through their B-rank body."

She paused.

"But—"

Before she could finish explaining, Peiro’s voice came from above.

"Victory goes to the Sunborn Kingdom."

The match had already ended.

Another demonic warrior immediately stepped into the arena, apparently without being bothered by what had happened to his companion.

However, the moment he appeared, a gigantic sphere of fire streaked toward him.

BOOM!

He reacted quickly and tried to dodge, but his body suddenly jerked to a stop. Chains made of fire had already wrapped tightly around his arms and legs, locking him in place.

"What—?!"

He struggled violently, flames bursting from his body as he tried to break free, but the fiery chains held firm. The fire sphere closed the remaining distance and slammed directly into him.

BOOM!

His entire body vanished beneath the roaring flames.

"AAAAARGH!"

His panicked scream echoed across the arena, but it lasted only a few seconds before the flames swallowed his voice completely.

When the attack finally disappeared, the demonic warrior was gone, leaving behind nothing but a pile of blackened ash scattered across the arena floor.

Selene continued her explanation as though the fight itself had demonstrated her point.

"But Orphelios is a Fire Element Spirit, meaning it can directly use pure fire rather than having to imitate fire through Fire Essence. That’s an important difference."

Luke listened carefully.

"Because the attack is actual fire, it already possesses the destructive characteristics of fire without needing to be created through the same process that an ordinary user of Fire Essence would require."

She looked toward the remains in the arena.

"That’s why those demonic warriors are having such a difficult time resisting it. They haven’t reached a point where they can properly counter the elemental properties of such attacks with their own Essence, so a direct elemental spirit has a major advantage against them."

Luke nodded slowly.

He remembered the temperature comparisons shown by the system, as well as the Solar Flare he had once used against the vampire near Blackthorn.

That attack had also contained the properties of a real element rather than merely imitating one through ordinary Essence.

’So, overall, I don’t need to worry about Essence that much.’

The thought had barely formed when Sevaroth’s voice came from his side.

"Don’t get arrogant yet, Luke."

Luke turned toward him.

Sevaroth continued calmly.

"Real fire can still differ greatly from one source to another. A candle flame and magma are both fire, but you already know which one is more destructive."

Luke’s expression changed.

’Yeah... I forgot.’

The realization came naturally.

His elemental mastery was still low, and his energy hadn’t reached the level of compression that would allow him to bring out the full potential of those elements.

’So even if the nature of an attack matters, I can’t simply assume that having the real element means I’ve already reached the strongest possible application.’

He began thinking about how he could improve that aspect of his abilities while, below them, Arwen continued cutting through one demonic warrior after another.

Orphelios made the battles almost one-sided.

Its attacks were precise rather than wasteful, burning through enemies before they had enough time to establish a proper counter.

Eventually, Peiro announced the updated result.

"Thirty-fifth victory goes to the Sunborn Kingdom. The Infernal Choir remains at twenty-five victories."

Of those thirty-five victories, Arwen alone had secured ten.

"Hmm." Zeyr looked toward the arena.

"Those victory buffs only last for a few minutes."

He had noticed that the bonuses granted by the Heaven’s Crucible weren’t anything extraordinary. They consisted of temporary increases to speed, strength, damage reduction, evasion, accuracy, and similar abilities.

They provided a short-term boost, but nothing that could completely overturn a battle.

"Seems like they didn’t want the victory advantage to become too extreme through outside interference or additional methods."

Zeyr’s eyes narrowed slightly as he considered the rules.

Perhaps that was also why potions and other external buffs weren’t allowed.