Masaru Kurogane's eyes scanned his opponents carefully, deciphering each of their appearances without delay.
The first was that of a youthful wyvern, a species long-since extinct from the world after the raids on the Sea of Ancients for emblems.
Beside it, two thaleasopes, monsters with long spiky backs and teeth as sturdy as steel, each prowled the terrain with their ruby eyes.
On the left side of the formation, one phoenix whose glittering orange coat was replaced with hard rock, its eyes a glimmering saffron from topaz.
And finally, the creature that the swordsman felt the largest aversion to was a beast he himself had fought within the Sea of Ancients in his youth, a mythical creature like no other.
The kitsune appeared as an average fox in shape and in size; however, such a stereotype would leave its victim in pieces before they could blink.
Its rock variant was no different; instead of having eyes made of gemstones, only two obsidian slits were carved into the living statue, the true value being held in its teeth.
Sharpened diamond canines hid behind the lip of its maw, its eyes sizing up its target without fear in its heart.
Masaru Kurogane held his broadsword tight in his grip, the glare of the fading evening sun reflecting off the metal.
Making eye contact with the woman behind her, he frowned deeply, his eyes narrowing.
"Come."
At his word, the five beasts lunged, their attacks varied, and their movements unique to themselves.
Instead of fighting back, the man simply closed his eyes, the smell of the sandy terrain coming over him at once.
CREEEEEEEEKKKK!
His broadsword slammed into the ground, the blade digging so deeply into the soil that it couldn't possibly be wedged out.
Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward, the wyvern, the kitsune, the thaleasopes, and the phoenix converging on his location at once.
"You'll be first."
Vanishing from sight, he suddenly appeared above the phoenix, his right fist slamming downward like a hammer above the beast's skull.
Its shrill screech echoed through the arena, a blast of flaming hot golden fire shooting from its beak at the man.
Backfisting the inferno, he tore through its attack and clasped his wrist around the beast's stony skull.
Holding onto it tight, he crushed down with all his might, the sound of shattering rock booming through the stadium.
Throwing the corpse away, he fell downward from where he had been hoisted into the air, his foot colliding with the wyvern's wing.
"KRAAA-WHREEEEN!"
The creatures' scream ripped through the air, a high, raking noise that made any listener recoil in pain.
Clutching its stony limb tightly, he felt the beast flap once, then twice, and then explode into the sky, its wild movements like an enraged bull.
As his body soared through the arena roof, he dug his nails into the draconic animal's rocky exterior, a low grunt coming from his lips as he was nearly knocked off.
At every twist and turn the wyvern made, the crowd exploded in disbelief, the insane spectacle of a mounted dragon shocking even the Sea Kings up in their box.
From the ground, the other beasts prowled around the corpse of the phoenix, a pulse of golden light erupting from its body.
"SKREE!"
Launching up like a firework, the animal soared into the sky at a speed faster than the eye could register, blasting towards its saddled comrade.
At the same time, Bianca Santoro raised her staff, aligning a shot so perfect that even a sniper could take pride in the accuracy.
『Dusk Cleave』
Blades of refracted light curved away from the setting sun in the distance, their radiance slamming outward and forward straight at the floating swordsman.
Noticing the oncoming attacks from both the woman and the phoenix, the man grinned, a burst of deep laughter coming from his chest.
Closing his fists while his hands were buried inside the creature, he took control of its wing, pulling backwards and directing the beast upward at a leftward angle.
"He can't possibly be thinking of…"
The woman's voice was drowned out as the wyvern slammed directly into the orange barrier that coated the arena.
SZZZZZZZZ—POP!
An explosion so vast that it consumed the sky itself erupted outward, filling the battlefield with a thick black smoke.
BOOM!
The rocky remains of the wyvern collided with solid ground once more, its rider nowhere to be seen.
The Multimage whipped her head around in all directions, casting even more protective barriers around herself than she had before.
"YIP!"
The screech of the kitsune's throat being crushed by the man's tight grip echoed through the colosseum like a drum, the pale expression across the woman's face growing larger.
"Eerp!"
"Eep!"
Both thaleasopes had their skulls pulverized from an uppercut, their ruby eyes flying at the woman like bullets.
Ricocheting off her barrier and burning up, she watched in horror as the dust settled, the sight before her even more gruesome than she could've imagined.
Standing in a circle of mangled remains, the black-haired Marshal held the phoenix by its leg, his other hand gently stroking its head.
"I didn't want to do this; however, you've given me no choice…"
Moving his petting hand lower, he slowly wrapped it around the creature's throat, its saffron eyes staring at its master with what appeared to be horror.
RIIIIIIIPPP!
He pulled from both ends, tearing the creature into two pieces that fell to the ground lifelessly, her spell ruined.
"Y-you're insane!"
Taking a step backwards, she held out her staff ahead of her, the feeling of mana collecting around the tip signaling one final massive attack.
"Go ahead. I'll wait."
Masaru stood there without a sliver of fear in his eyes, the woman unsure of what to do other than to fire.
『Regal Singularity』
At the very same moment that the sun vanished behind the horizon, a sphere of absolute and complete darkness appeared out of the woman's tool.
Unlike the version of Singularity used by the Sage Marshal against Havok Fenmir, this iteration was crafted specifically to use against the Swordsman of the South.
Its event horizon was crimson red, the space around it twisting and turning as if an attempt to devour it.
Reality itself felt an aversion to the strange, perfectly circular object, a small blip in spacetime ripping apart the fabric of the world.
Masaru's black eyes glimmered at the sight of the endlessly vast mass in front of him, the sheer power making his hand unconsciously tremble.
"If you have ceased to hold back, then I will accept that as your surrender."
Exhaling slowly, he reached his right arm backwards, his hand caressing the hilt of Arcturus Centuria, a weapon bathed in the blood of the Primordial God of Space.
As he pulled the sword from its sheath, one could say that the world held its breath, a silence so encroaching that not even a mouse squeaked.
Moving the blade carefully around his hip, he swung it once to clear the air, a wave of pressure so expansive that even Sea Kings tensed, washing over the stadium.
Not a single individual didn't lean forward in their seats as the man took a step forward, the ball of liquid nothingness still clinging to the woman's staff.
"I'm sorry for this, proctor; however, there is no other way."
Closing his eyes and truly feeling the space around him, he opened his mouth, two words coming out like iron.
『Spatial Rend』
Winding his sword backwards and breathing hard, he imagined reality itself fracturing.
Then, in that moment where there was no sound in the endlessly tranquil arena, he swung his blade at full force, an arc of pure destruction following in its wake.
Bianca Santoro did the same, the black hole firing out to collide with the incoming wave of mass obliteration.
Time seemed to slow for a moment as the attacks met each other in the very center of the arena, the sudden silence settling over the world like an eerie warning.
Audience members couldn't help but tilt their heads to the side in confusion; the aftermath of their attacks seemed to be nothing.
In the highest box above the colosseum, three Kings widened their eyes and lowered their jaws in absolute awe.
Aaron Grimstall, a teenage boy from Strava who had never dreamed of more than freedom from his responsibilities, felt a flicker within his very soul.
Penelope Strauss, the right-hand to the God Slayer.
The Naelith, a creature of the Apex-level with control over life itself.
And a god of unknown origin who dictated the fate of the very same blond boy who sat within a room of the most dangerous divine figures in the world.
All three of them, all inhabitants of that teenager's mind, went silent for one singular moment in time, the link between them vanishing in that instant.
His connection with the Ghostship ceased for less than a millisecond, yet in that time, a memory wedged its way into the boy's vision.
However, it was not his own, nor was it any of the other beings he had met in his life.
The scene that played out behind his gaze was through the eyes of another, a being omniscient and omnipotent.
The Primordial God of Space flashed within his mind, his voice echoing like a hollow reflection of reality shattering.
『And then there was light.』
As the link with the Ghostship and the deities connected to it revived, a wall of information instantly barricaded itself behind a gaze so strong it would've killed the boy without Penelope's intervention.
In the tangible world, crimson liquid flowed freely from his nose down the path to his lip, the sharp metallic taste a reminder of what had and would transpire.
Inside his head, absolute silence emerged, only new thoughts echoing lifelessly in the void as he watched the seemingly empty arena come to life.
Space bent in on itself as light became solid, transforming into an alloy of unimaginable power before cracking into particles.
Colors unknown and unprocessable to the human eye shot forth, bathing the entire northern hemisphere in a radiant brilliance like none other.
High up in the endless expanse of the World Between, the Dimension of Waves flickered like a faulty socket, the gaze of Heaven falling upon the infinitely lonely world.
In the Sea of Chains, the Devil of Greed gazed up at the sky, his eyes widening slowly as he bowed his body low.
A looming shadow of a creature so powerful it made a Sea King look childish flashed over the world at once.
The sight of a being so similar to that of his demigod lord, making him kneel to the lowest extent possible, this, he thought, was a divine message towards his goal of becoming one of them.
It was a beast sealed centuries before the Devourer of Worlds, Nidhogg, and a monster so wicked that it was erased from history.
The Descender of Madness, one of the Ten Great Ones who had been sealed to form the Gates of Heaven.
Its body had long since perished, yet to all of humanity who gazed up at the sky at that moment, the shadow of its sealed remains dominated the heavens.
And all across the world, whether it be in a colosseum where space went to die, a bedroom in the Sea of Wishes where a noble Sea King stared up at the radiant sky, the floating vessel where a songster played his tune, or even the deepest pits of Svall, there was a shift in the world.
Cauron Thorn, a man who had knowledge far surpassing every mortal alive, couldn't keep his composure, a single tear dripping down his cheek, only to be blown away by fierce wind.
This was no ordinary attack used by the Swordsman of the South; it was a message to all those who lived on any sea across the world.
The Hunters' Guild is no less than the Oceanic Association, and they, as an organization that controlled vast property in all nine livable seas, would not be second.
They, headed by Alex Lispentine and his two wings, Camilla Buckley and Masaru Kurogane, were in fact,
The Strongest.