"Shit!" King Dracos cursed when he saw the amulet in Lumi's hands. Because he was not the type to curse, he attracted the attention of all the other monarchs, who shot him confused glares, wondering the reason for his reaction. They assumed it was probably because his kingdom was beginning to lose, and he was starting to regret betting with the Light Dragon Monarch. Therefore, they returned to whatever they were doing. However, one person kept on staring at the Ice Dragon Monarch with a subtle smirk on his face. Unlike the others, he could perfectly tell that the reason for Dracos' reaction wasn't because of his teammates—rather, it was because of the amulet that was now in Lumi's hands. Now he couldn't wait to see how the mysterious Kawl, who had popped out of nowhere, would fare without his trusty amulet. Meanwhile, King Dracos was restless. He needed to do something before it was too late. The reason why no one had detected Nox yet was because of the distance between the large fighting platform and the spectators' seats. If they got any closer, without a doubt, even the weakest dragon could sense him out. A part of Dracos wanted to jump down there and stop the fighting at this moment, announcing that they forfeit. However, that was against the rules. He couldn't forfeit on behalf of his kingdom—it had to be the fighters themselves. Fortunately for him, Nox had already realized the fatal oversight on his side and had already proceeded to damage control. He knew very well that any moment from now, if he didn't act fast, his identity would be revealed. It was time to implement his plan. Meanwhile, Lumi glanced at the amulet, finding nothing special about it—no energy, nothing. Apart from the gleaming elemental core which acted as a pendant, she could walk past this amulet and treat it like junk. "Was Father mistaken?" she narrowed her eyes. "Could this be mere accessories? What if it was given to him by his parents?" Yet, despite not sensing any power aura from the amulet, Lumi decided to keep it just in case. Shaking her head, Lumi returned her gaze to her opponent. "I'll give you ten seconds to prepare!" she called out playfully. "It would be bad if Brother Kawl got sliced in half without a fair warning, right?" Nox stood up slowly, brushing ice from his shoulder, his breathing steady but heavy. Then, a faint grin tugged at the corner of his lips. "Ten seconds, huh?" he said, cracking his knuckles. "That's nine more than I need." The temperature on the platform dropped instantly. A silvery mist began swirling around his body, his aura flaring like a frozen storm. Frost began crawling up the ruined platform, reforming it beneath his feet as his mana surged. An immense wave of sub-zero energy erupted outward from Nox's position, blanketing the arena in shimmering frost. A translucent dome of cold energy sealed off the area where Nox and Lumi stood, cutting off all external interference, including the other fighters on the platform. The air shimmered with condensed mana, and even the radiant light from Lumi's wings began to dim under the crushing presence of Nox's ice domain. The crowd stood in stunned silence. "I can't see anything!" "Is this even allowed?" 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢 Because of the sheer thickness of the dome, they couldn't see what was going on inside. Even King Thomas became restless; however, there was nothing he could do as there was no rule that stated a participant couldn't obstruct the view of the audience. Meanwhile, inside the dome, Nox locked gazes with Lumi, whose radiant wings had dimmed, her breath sharp as the biting cold penetrated her. 'Nine seconds!' Nox's eyes burned with determination. 'I'll Make use of these nine seconds very well!' Nox then dashed forward, shooting several ice projectiles at Lumi, who shook her head as she willed the orbs to deflect the attacks. She successfully did—however, little did she know that her opponent had figured out a way to counter her skills. Nox quickly erupted a thick wall of ice in front of him and absorbed the attack, nullifying it. He proceeded to use this tactic several more times. Lumi's brows furrowed. She began flapping her wings harder, lifting into the air to buy herself some breathing room. Her radiant aura fought back against the frost, trying to reclaim dominance inside the dome. "I won't let you control the field alone!" she shouted, gathering a cluster of luminous energy above her palm. "Solar Lance!" A spear of concentrated light shot down like divine judgment. Nox didn't dodge. Instead, he raised his palm. Boom! A circular shield of pure ice burst upward, absorbing the Solar Lance with a loud crack that echoed through the entire dome. Steam hissed out as light and ice collided, creating a temporary fog. Eventually, the ice dome shattered. However, to Lumi's surprise, her opponent was nowhere to be seen. The next thing she knew, she felt a presence behind her. Before she could turn to attack, something snatched the amulet from her left hand. "W-what the?" Lumi's eyes flashed with confusion. "What is happening? Where did he go? He was right here!" But she didn't receive any answer, nor could she find Nox in the ice dome. Just then, she felt the presence behind her again—but this time, whatever it was didn't give her the chance, because the next moment she felt a crushing blow to the back of her neck. She collapsed to the ground, her eyes rolling to the back of her head. Nox's body appeared a moment later, his gaze fixed on the unconscious girl whose chest was rising and falling in a steady rhythm—a clear indication that she was still alive. Although Lumi was powerful, not even someone like her could remain conscious after suffering just 50% of [Barbarian Strength]. She was effortlessly knocked out. When he had used [Spectral Cloak], not only had he confused his opponent, he had also confused the orbs. Now that she was unconscious, even the orbs had disappeared into thin air. Thankfully, because he had erected the dome and purposely made it thick enough, no one had seen his display of skills. Now that the main threat was dealt with, it was time to help his teammates. Nox glanced at the knocked-out princess one last time, his eyes flashing strangely as the dome began to retract back into the ground. When the dome finally vanished, everyone—including the Light Monarch—jumped to their feet as they saw the unexpected scene before them.