Awakening The Only SSS-Rank Class! Now Even Dragons Obey Me Chapter 723: Dead

Daniel drew in a profound breath. Crimson liquid seeped from the gashes on his arm, splattering onto the floor. Although he channeled Mana Healing to mend those injuries, the recovery dragged on far longer than usual.

Yet his gaze turned icy and sharp.

Confusion had vanished from him. He had pinpointed the array—a vast, nearly undetectable web concealed under the arena's surface, embedded in the walls, and woven into the ceiling. Its pulses reached him like serene yet venomous ripples linking straight to his core energy reserves.

This formation didn't merely suppress laws; it strangled the pristine mana flow and even brute physical strength.

And far worse... the sheer intricacy and might demanded no common guild's handiwork. The Goblin Guild by itself couldn't have forged such a thing.

Truth be told, he suspected no one across the whole region possessed the skill to craft it. Only a Demi-God could have produced an array of this caliber.

But why would a Demi-God aid the Goblin Guild? Was a grander scheme unfolding beyond his knowledge?

His instincts screamed that matters ran deeper than they seemed. Perhaps another force lurked behind the Goblin Guild's scheme, offering covert support.

"So there’s someone else behind the curtain..." Daniel whispered softly, a faint smirk curling his lips.

"Things just got interesting."

James, on the other hand, had stopped his mocking laughter.

He gasped for air. The shadowy blades gripped in his hands quivered faintly.

"Why... why are you still standing?" Rage and bewilderment twisted his voice.

"You should be on the ground right now... crushed... like an insect!"

"Maybe because you’re still weaker than you think, James." Daniel advanced with steady poise.

He clenched and unclenched his fists.

"Or maybe... because the poison you gave me is slowly being purged from my body." He funneled every ounce of power into neutralizing and expelling the toxin, though the task proved grueling.

This cursed poison was no ordinary brew. It had bypassed all his body's safeguards, crippling them entirely.

"What... what did you say?" James's eyes bulged in shock.

Daniel offered no elaboration. He surged into motion.

[Bloody Shadow Dance]

Instantly, his form merged into his shadow.

In a flash, he materialized behind James.

His fist descended like a sledgehammer, targeting the nape of the neck.

James whirled around swiftly, hoisting one sword in defense, yet Daniel's blow landed with greater force than prior.

The ebony edge fractured.

James leaped away, a trickle of blood escaping his mouth's edge.

"Impossible... just a few seconds ago you couldn’t even throw a proper punch!"

Daniel pressed the assault once more. His velocity had surged higher now.

He invoked [Demonic Twilight Shield], a translucent barrier of infernal energy enveloping his fists.

Each hit from James got partially devoured by the shield, converting the shadows back into pristine power for Daniel.

James fell back and triggered a fresh ability.

[Endless Night Curtain]

The whole arena sank into pitch blackness. Beyond mere light, it obliterated spatial awareness and equilibrium.

Trapped within, no one could distinguish up from down or left from right.

James's laughter echoed through the void.

"Now it’s over. You don’t even know which way to defend."

Yet Daniel remained motionless. He shut his eyes.

"How foolish."

Though weakened to his frailest point with strength dwindled to Rank A, overcoming him proved no simple feat.

He wasn't pathetic enough to fall to garbage like James.

[Thunder Of Lost Dreams]

A tiny azure-white flicker erupted from his fingers.

No mere lightning—this carried the weight of his personal torments and agonies.

The flicker raced through the gloom like branching bolts, shredding the night veil to pieces.

James stiffened in stunned horror.

"No... no..." Visions of Sara cradled in Daniel's embrace haunted his thoughts.

Daniel seized the moment. He charged ahead, driving a brutal fist into James’s gut.

A rib snapped audibly.

James hurtled rearward, slamming against the array-infused barrier.

[Claws of Darkness]

From nearby shadows, elongated obsidian talons lunged at Daniel.

Each graze drained a chunk of his mana.

Daniel bolstered his shield and pulverized the claws with a flurry of punches. His pace had recovered to nearly half its peak.

The toxin was steadily clearing.

The array persisted, yet his form adapted resiliently.

James bellowed in fury.

"This... this is cheating! You should be weak!" he roared in fury.

How? How could this wretch retain such might at his nadir? Whence came this reservoir of strength? How did he wield such prowess?

He rejected the reality! He denied it utterly.

All his arrogance shattered.

Would he crumble beneath Daniel’s dominance once more? Endure fresh humiliation? Revert to that worthless scum he once was?

He would never yield to that fate!

[Fall of Darkness]

The ambient shadows coalesced into a colossal ebony column barreling at Daniel.

This pillar mimicked a void, devouring all—air, noise, everything.

For the first time, Daniel retreated a step. Still, his eyes stayed composed.

"Enough, James."

He lifted his palm.

[Judgment of Eternity] – limited version.

A scarlet sword materialized midair, compact and ungrand.

Merely a modest edge, brimming with unadulterated ruin.

The blade streaked at light's velocity.

Not for slaying, merely to conclude the bout. He harbored no desire to end James's life, hence deploying this skill's most restrained, feeblest form.

James's death risked dire repercussions. Moreover, neither he nor Varnos operated at full capacity; battling the full Goblin Guild here lay beyond them.

The air's rending slash wailed like doom's cry. An eerie fog abruptly blanketed the zone.

Shadow clashed with radiance. The arena hushed utterly for brief moments.

As debris cleared...

James’s severed head tumbled across the ground.

His corpse lingered upright a second, then crumpled like discarded cloth.

Blood gushed in a violent arc.

Silence reigned.

Sara clamped a hand over her mouth. Joe's complexion blanched deathly. Varnos's face hardened darkly.

Alaric, though...

His eyes flared wide.

"No..."

Daniel too reeled at the sight of James’s decapitated form.

What had transpired? How had death claimed him? That blade surely lacked lethal potency!