The stage for the non-ranking duels was vast and built of stone tempered by divine power.
Other than a handful of figures, rest of them, including the so-called strong peak rank 1s wouldn't be able to destroy it.
A spherical barrier covered the stage, blocking out any damage from affecting the weaker princes outside.
Almost a thousand princes and princesses were seated outside, watching the duels with interest.
Most of the unranked had already fought and a few were promoted to participate in the duels of the ranked princes.
In the upcoming competition, if they defeated a ranked prince, they'd take up the rank of that prince and the latter would lose his rank.
All the unranked weaklings were already eliminated, leaving behind only twenty-five who were qualified to fight in the ranked duels.
These twenty-five would decide their hierarchy in the next thirty minutes and that'd kick off the ranked competition.
As expected, Eshala's faction did poorly.
Out of the 25, only 3 people were from her faction. The 7th and 4th Princes got 8 and 6 people respectively. Neutral princes made up for the remaining 8.
The reason for such poor performance was obvious.
Some opportunists have already jumped ships while a few others turned neutral. The loyalists who still believed in her only managed to bag three spots.
{The most intense part of the fight we're all waiting for…}
As the final batch of duels were about to commence, Varian rudely jumped onto the stage.
"Huh?" "What the hell?"
"Who the fuck are you?"
Forget the contestants, even the audience were enraged.
But most of them immediately calmed down as their minds suddenly noticed something.
Their senses covering this area detected him only after he jumped onto the stage.
In other words…
"Peak rank 1?"
It wasn't very polite to probe someone using divine sense. The audience didn't want to try their luck against a potential powerhouse.
But based on how he evaded their perception, they made a rough guess of his capabilities.
The referree of the matches, 99th Prince, Yohan, frowned at Varian.
"You are not even registered. Who are you?"
Varian didn't answer him directly. Instead, he glanced at the twenty-five people on the stage with predatory eyes.
The winners of the duel who were riding on the high of their victories suddenly flinched and shivered.
They didn't even fight but they already felt like they lost.
Fortunately for them, Varian wasn't too interested in fighting against beggars who didn't even have a single piece of sliver shard.
"Hey."
A peak rank 1 pressure fell on Varian, causing the sturdy floor under him to slighly crack.
Yohan's eyes were glowing with a cold light. "You are supposed to answer when I ask a question."
"Heh." Varian grinned, a crazy smile that the soldiers of Centaurus would've recognized. "It's decided. I'm taking your rank."
The audience and the contestants gasped alike at his audacious claim.
Even though Yohan was ranked as the 99th Prince, his strength was in the top 25 of all ranked princes.
In other words, other than the rank 2s who're almost never seen, Yohan was the 25th strongest man in the empire.
And this guy, this newcomer, this unknown person just claimed that spot.
"Bold! Very, very bold!" Yohan grinned, his eyes looked like they'd spit fire, the pressure on Varian growing even higher, causing cobweb-like cracks on the stage.
"That I am." Varian raised his leg and laughed. "And I'm more than just bold. I'm strong." Boom!
He kicked the stage and it shook violently. And then, without warning, it split into half.
The ranked princes who were watching the drama unfold stood up in shock and even Samael and Victor looked down in confusion.
Yohan's face froze and he looked at the broken stage in horror.
Built from one of the strongest materials known to the empire, tempered by divine power, only a handful could really destroy the stage.
A handful was less than twenty five.
The 7th Prince frowned at the unexpected variable and was about to ask about for his identity.
Not even in his wildest dreams would he think that an enemy from the alliance would dare to infiltrate into their meeting.
He thought it was some old foggy prince from previous generations showing off in front of youngsters.
If this guy really came here to use the competition as a stage to prop himself up, then Samael didn't mind showing him who had the bigger stick here.
"I'm her blade you won't see in the times of peace." Varian showed the mark and glared at the open rebels who directly switched camps and hypocrites who turned into neutral camp. "Because when I appear, the world burns and bleeds."
A tremendous aura just entering the peak of rank 1 exploded out and crashed onto the stage as well as the audience.
The twenty five contestants, all proud and arrogant, knelt without resistance against the overwhelming strength.
Even the strongest among them, a high rank 1, felt powerless against such majesty.
The non-ranked audience flayed their limbs, eyes rolling and mouth frothing. "Enough."
A voice said in a quiet volume but Varian withdrew his aura without complain.
"Whatever you say, Prince." Saying so, he looked up.
Varian's eyes met with Samael's. For a brief moment, the 7th Prince felt something tug at his soul, a sensation that this man was related to his destiny.
But the feeling was only fleeting and he dismissed it as a misconception.
His destiny was to resurrect his family. How could someone like this person help? Even if he's a peak rank 1, he's just entered the sub-rank. To be honest, the difference between this guy and a newbie rank 1 was smaller than the difference between them.
There's no help this man could give him today, tomorrow or even after a thousand years.
As for his bragging about protecting Eshala?
The 7th Prince glanced at the three candidates calmly resting on the ranked stage, unaffected by the commotion and Varian's aura.
These three had the highest chance of being the winner of the competition and challenging Eshala.
One of them was from his camp. A boy he personally raised. He even took after his name. Samus.
The other was a girl from Victor's camp. It's a girl the bastard subdued from a warring tribe that lived in the edges of the galaxy.
These people would rather die than submit. So, it's surprising he actually convinced her to join under him. Clad in animal skin that only covered her chest and groin areas, she looked utterly uncultured and out of place at a venue where everyone was dressed at least decently.
'She must've joined because he's as savage as them.'
The 7th Prince stopped his disdain from showing and turned to the last person of the three.
This guy was the reason he wasn't sure of snatching Eshala's position.
He's a famous high rank 1 who rose meteorically despite originating from a very broken duchy.
It's just that no one, including Samael himself expected this bastard to hide himself so deeply.
He's not a high rank 1 as he led them to believe. Through an ancient treasure manufactured from sacrificing millions of a race specializing in stealth, he hid his true strength until now.
Guan.
Other than Samael and Victor, he's the strongest person here.
If Eshala really weakened as much as they estimated her to be, then he could easily beat her.
Guan glanced at him lightly before turning to Yohan and Varian below. "Don't delay."
"Y-Yes, Yes!" Yohan came to his senses and gestured to the weakest three among the twenty five.
Without Varian's intervention, the three fought it out. The weakest among them stepped down the stage with a reluctant expression.
But she did no such thing as calling it unfair or challenging Varian.
Strength might not solve everything, but without strength, almost nothing would be solved.