Death... and me

Rean's next battle was a lot easier as his opponent was only in the Initial Stage of the Saint Realm. Besides, he was injured due to his previous matches, so it was a no-brainer to see that Rean had the full advantage. 

8 cultivators remained...

One more battle and another easy victory. Rean's opponent was better from a health point of view than the previous one. However, his cultivation was still way below Luval. Not to mention that this one wasn't so focused on speed, just like Luval.

4 cultivators remained...

It was then that Rean was caught by surprise when he saw his next opponent. "Initial Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm?"

Rean could be said to have reached this match through his strength alone. However, his opponent was different. His luck didn't end on the rounds of 16 as he matched up with a badly injured opponent yet again. Of course, he had a very bad expression when he saw that his opponent was Rean. "Sigh...I guess my luck can only bring me so far." 

By now, there wasn't a single cultivator that didn't know of Rean's healing abilities, let alone his strength. This guy saw part of Rean and Luval's battle as well as his fight that time ended much earlier. Whether it was Rean or Luval, he knew he wouldn't have any chance against them whatsoever!

Rean scratched the back of his head, feeling somewhat bad for the guy. You had to compliment his luck for arriving this far by relying on external factors. "Well...think of it like this. The other two guys who are fighting in the arena over there aren't that injured either. I don't think you'd be able to beat either of them the way you are now. In fact, you should be happy as the 4th position will give you a sizeable amount of Divine Stones. By the way, what's your name?"

The guy looked at Rean before answering, "Ludio Vistrue."

Rean nodded after that. "Alright." Rean then took out his Black Star before asking Ludio, "Should we start?"

Ludio sighed in response, but nodded nonetheless. He then took a pair of daggers out of his spatial ring and prepared to face Rean.

Seeing that, the elder finally gave his signal. "You two can start!"

Rean didn't want to waste much time on this, so he went straight at Ludio.

'Death Style, Second Form, Crescent Moon!'

Rean started with a wide attack, even though it didn't have any Divine Energy or Soul Power behind it. Still, considering their difference in cultivation, it should be more than enough to cause damage that forced Ludio to give up.

Ludio, of course, could clearly see the difference in speed and power between him and Rean. Without even thinking, he retreated while positioning his daggers in front of Rean's Black Star to try and mitigate the hit at least.

Rean smiled after seeing that. He could tell that Ludio's daggers were a pair of Silver Initial-level weapons. Rean's Black Star could cut through swords at the same level as his, let alone lower-level ones.

However, just as his Black Star was about to cut the daggers and injure Ludio behind them... Ludio tripped! He then fell with his back on the ground and almost hit his head.

However, that wasn't the problem. The problem was that Rean's Crescent Moon passed just a few millimeters above Ludio's head, not hitting anything.

"What?!"

It wasn't over, though. Because of that ridiculous event, Ludio ended up right below Rean's Black Star. Ludio then saw the chance and immediately tried to hit Rean with his daggers. At the very least, he wanted to make Rean lose his weapon.

Too bad for him, but Rean was still much faster than Ludio, so he rotated his body, getting away from Ludio's range. Nevertheless, Rean couldn't help but let out a bit of cold sweat from that. 'So close! If he had aimed to dodge like that, I wouldn't be so surprised and would have reacted much earlier. However, I can tell that he truly tripped. The fact he escaped my attack through such a situation made me hesitate for a moment there. If it was Luval, he definitely would have taken one of my arms.'

Ludio then quickly got up, obviously surprised that he survived the first strike.

Rean then took a deep breath and attacked again.

'Life Fire, First Form, Flame Emperor Sword!'

Once again, Rean attacked too fast for Ludio to be able to dodge. However, another ridiculous event took part just as Rean was about to win. One of the arena's tiles detached once Rean stepped on it, making Rean's leg move a little as the sword descended. Rean's Flame Emperor Sword, which didn't have any flames, changed direction slightly. Ludio, who had tried to dodge the attack, just so happened to dodge in the perfect direction to avoid the strike once again.

"This is bullshit!" Rean exclaimed as he quickly changed his stance.

'Death Style, First Form, Stellar Piercer!'

Rean missed the attack, but he was much closer now. By using the Stellar Piercer, which was mainly focused on a single thrust charge, someone with Ludio's cultivation couldn't possibly dodge in any possible manner. It was just too fast...or so Rean thought.

Unfortunately, the ridiculous things happening there seemed to want to test Rean's patience. This time, Ludio crossed his dagger in a very clumsy way to try to defend against the Stellar Piercer. It was so badly done that Roan would probably smack Ludio's head if he was his apprentice, feeling disgusted by that display. However, that terrible defense attempt just so happened to hit the tip of Rean's Black Star!

*Pin!*

*Crash!*

Rean's Black Star then moved between Ludio's two legs...almost cutting the third one before crashing against the ground. Ludio then looked at Rean with a pale expression, having almost lost his ability to procreate right there and then. "I-I give up. Please, I still want to have a family."

Rean's mouth twitched in response to those words. "Fuck you! It was your defense that forced this situation! No, wait! Did you just give up?"