Chapter 83: Victory

Watching Zhang Ran's heavy sword slash toward him, Peiro felt a surge of dread. At that moment, having just swung his spiked club with all his strength, the inertia made it impossible to draw back and defend in time. Gritting his teeth, Peiro pushed off with both feet, hurling himself sideways.

A metallic clang resounded at the center of the arena. Although Peiro's dodge was effective, it couldn't fully evade Zhang Ran's strike. A flash of cold light swept past, and Zhang Ran's sword grazed Peiro's waist, sending sparks flying.

Standing before the two formidable hunters, Zhang Ran was careful not to reveal his unique abilities. He withheld his four signature sword techniques, delivering only a standard swing. Even so, the power behind that blow was formidable.

With nearly six points of strength, Zhang Ran's sword easily sliced through Peiro's alloy armor, tearing the muscles at his waist and leaving a wound about thirty centimeters long and two centimeters deep, exposing the twitching flesh beneath.

"Damn you, filthy insect! You dare wound me? Take this—I'll kill you!" Blood gushed madly from Peiro's side as he let out a furious roar, his eyes blazing with barely concealed rage, as if intent on tearing Zhang Ran to pieces.

For an ordinary person, such a wound would have been incapacitating. But Peiro was a level two evolver, his physique vastly superior to a normal human's. Rather than losing his fighting spirit, the injury only awakened his ferocity.

"Destruction Hammer!"

With Peiro's furious shout, a deep crimson light flickered across his muscular arms. Two streaks of red moved along his limbs, converging at last upon his spiked club. As those rays fused, the club's surface began to radiate heat. Peiro swung it again, generating a fierce gust as it swept toward Zhang Ran's face.

Facing Peiro's blow, Zhang Ran's expression grew grave. His senses warned him that Peiro's weapon now contained a terrifying energy—should it explode, even Zhang Ran would be hard pressed to withstand it.

"Blood Spike!"

With a thought, the crimson "Blood Spike" ability rune upon Zhang Ran's Tree of Evolution flashed in his mind. As it flickered, a spike formed from blood shot from his fingertips, aiming straight for Peiro's exposed eyes. At the same instant, Zhang Ran leapt, vaulting out of range of the spiked club's attack.

Peiro's blow missed Zhang Ran, landing instead with a thunderous crash upon the arena's alloy floor. The searing energy contained within the club erupted, sending turbulent waves of power surging outward. Where the club struck, the surface of the ring instantly caved in nearly a centimeter, and for several meters around, the energy currents left the ground blistering hot.

Had the arena floor been made of level two alloy instead of level three, it would surely have been smashed into a massive crater. The force of Peiro's attack was so immense that even a level three evolver would not dare take it head-on. No wonder the Pano family had chosen him for the wagered duel.

Unfortunately for Peiro, his opponent was not an ordinary man, but Zhang Ran, wielder of the Tree of Evolution.

In terms of agility alone, Zhang Ran surpassed Peiro by twenty points. Coupled with his powerful mental acuity, heightened battle awareness, and assistance from his chip, Peiro's moves were riddled with openings—Zhang Ran could evade them with ease.

As Peiro's club struck the ground, Zhang Ran's Blood Spike had already pierced through the air, reaching Peiro.

With a muffled explosion, Peiro saw only a flash of red—his right eye was penetrated by the Blood Spike, the eyeball bursting, white viscous fluid mingling with blood pouring out. The spike continued on, effortlessly piercing Peiro's skull and plunging into his brain.

Under the immense energy carried by the Blood Spike, Peiro's brain was instantly churned into a sticky mass of pink and white paste. His body lost all control, collapsing heavily backward.

A dull thud echoed as Peiro's armored form struck the floor, the alloy of his armor clashing against the arena's surface, stirring up clouds of dust. Driven by his remaining vitality, Peiro's limbs twitched weakly for nearly fifteen seconds before finally succumbing.

With Peiro's death, a stream of evolutionary energy surged from his body into Zhang Ran.

Just like slaying a mutant creature, killing a human also yielded evolutionary energy, the amount comparable to that gained from defeating a creature of the same level.

Of course, within any faction, killing a fellow evolver without cause was considered a grave crime. Once discovered, the punishment ranged from loss of freedom and enslavement to outright execution for severe cases.

For high-level evolvers, killing those of lower rank indeed granted evolutionary energy, but the amount was negligible for their advancement, and the risk of leaving evidence far outweighed the benefit.

As for evolvers of equal rank, they rarely dared to kill one another, for if the other escaped and reported the crime, the perpetrator would face grave danger.

Thus, within the territories controlled by the various factions, it was almost unheard of for evolvers to kill each other. But in the wilds beyond their reach, or against evolvers of rival factions, no such restrictions applied—the true killing fields lay there.

The stream of evolutionary energy from Peiro entered Zhang Ran, transforming into a warm current that circulated within him. Part remained to strengthen Zhang Ran's body, while the majority rushed into his spine.

"Level two evolver slain. Evolution energy absorbed. Evolution point condensation: 1.32. Current condensation: 43.0303."

"Level two evolver slain. Evolution energy absorbed. Physical stats enhanced: Strength +0.003, Constitution +0.002, Agility +0.002, Mind +0.002."

The chip's prompt sounded in Zhang Ran's ear. Silently, he sheathed his heavy sword and stood at the center of the ring.

"Damn it! Peiro actually lost!"

Watching the battle unfold in the arena, the expression of Pano Feiqi in the distant stands darkened instantly, the smile from their first victory wiped away and a glimmer of killing intent flashed across his eyes.

In contrast, Link across from Feiqi finally allowed a faint smile upon seeing Zhang Ran's triumph. With a pleasant expression, he gazed at Zhang Ran and nodded slightly in acknowledgment.