And he wasn’t the only one.

The rest of Caius’ followers had begun looking at my goblins differently now.

Before this fight, a part of them had clearly underestimated the clan, casually labeling my goblins as ordinary simply because most of them lacked titles like Chosen or Blessed.

But what they were witnessing now directly contradicted that assumption.

Their gazes slowly shifted toward me and the others standing around me, uncertainty and disbelief mixing together as they silently wondered what exactly I had done to turn goblins this strong.

Because the reality of the situation was absurd.

There was a level difference between Kharos and Dribb.

And yet...Kharos was the one getting overwhelmed.

It was genuinely eye-opening for them.

Now they finally understood, at least to some extent, what Caius himself had experienced during his defeat.

And because of that, I could visibly sense the way their perception of my clan, and I, had begun shifting again.

Their respect was growing.

Maybe only a little.

But it grew nonetheless.

Inside the arena, Dribb suddenly stepped in and swung his axe with brutal force.

BOOM!

Kharos barely managed to raise his weapon in time to soften the impact, but the sheer weight behind the strike still sent him flying backward across the arena until his body slammed hard against the barrier wall.

The translucent dome rippled violently from the collision.

Waves of energy spread visibly across the barrier surface before stabilizing again moments later.

Dribb laughed loudly after seeing it.

The harder Kharos fought back, the more excited Dribb seemed to become.

"Come on now!" he shouted while flames rolled off his body. "Don’t tell me this is all you’ve got!"

"Damn you..." Kharos growled.

Then suddenly, his body flared with crimson energy.

The sound of his heartbeat began echoing unnaturally throughout the arena, each pulse growing louder than the last as veins bulged across his body, and almost immediately, blood started pouring from several of the wounds Dribb had inflicted earlier.

But instead of falling to the ground, the blood floated, gathering around Kharos in streams and droplets. Twisting unnaturally through the air like living liquid responding directly to his will.

Some of the weaker goblins watching instinctively stepped backward after witnessing it.

Beside me, Narg slowly shook his head after seeing that.

"There’s no way a goblin can have that much blood..." Narg muttered under his breath while watching the sheer amount of crimson liquid swirling around Kharos.

"That isn’t entirely his blood," Caius explained calmly from nearby.

Unlike the others, he had barely reacted throughout most of the fight, likely because none of this was new to him.

"It’s mana converted into blood through his skill line. As long as his mana reserves aren’t exhausted, bleeding him out is nearly impossible."

I didn’t react much to that explanation.

At this point, I already understood what was happening.

The amount of blood pouring from Kharos’ wounds had long surpassed what a normal body should realistically contain, so it was obvious the ability itself was generating and sustaining it.

Inside the arena, the crimson mass swirling around Kharos suddenly intensified.

The blood rotated around him like a violent whirlpool before rapidly hardening across parts of his body, layering itself into thick armor while streams of crimson energy wrapped around his axe as well.

In only a few seconds, Kharos looked less like a goblin and more like some kind of blood-forged monster standing in the center of the arena.

Even his presence felt heavier now, more oppressive than before.

Dribb immediately sensed the shift in pressure.

But rather than panicking, the grin on his face widened almost instantly afterward.

And the flames around his body surged violently as he activated another skill.

[Overheat Ascension].

A massive wave of heat exploded outward from Dribb’s body almost instantly, the temperature rising so sharply that the packed earth beneath his feet began blackening and softening from the sheer intensity pouring off him.

The air inside the barrier was visibly distorted, heat waves rippling constantly around Dribb’s body like the air itself was struggling to remain stable near him.

Dribb let out a low groan as the transformation intensified, the strain on his body becoming visibly heavier now that he had pushed [Overheat Ascension] even further.

The heat pouring from him had already gone beyond what an ordinary body should comfortably endure.

But thanks to [Pain Rush], the very damage and agony tearing through his muscles only fed back into his strength, converting suffering into even more raw power and pushing his physical output higher again.

And then, he started laughing.

It was not normal laughter either.

It was the kind of unhinged laugh that made the goblins watching instinctively tense up despite knowing he was on our side, several of them visibly shuddering as the sound echoed throughout the arena.

For a brief moment, it genuinely felt like they were watching the birth of some kind of monster.

No. Two monsters.

Because Kharos no longer looked remotely normal either.

The blood armor surrounding his body had fully hardened now, forming thick jagged layers around him that made him resemble a living war machine forged entirely from crimson flesh and metal. Deep guttural breaths escaped from beneath the blood-crafted mask covering part of his face while streams of crimson energy pulsed across the armor itself.

The atmosphere inside the barrier became suffocating.

The two of them simply stared at each other from opposite ends of the arena while the crowd outside unconsciously fell silent.

A few goblins gulped nervously.

Others stopped cheering entirely.

Even I could feel the tension now.

And honestly...

My excitement only grew stronger.

My eyes widened slightly as I leaned forward on the throne, watching the two of them carefully.

Then they moved.

One step. Two.

And then both monsters exploded forward at the same time.

BOOM!

Their collision detonated across the arena with enough force to shake the entire barrier dome, flames and blood energy erupting violently outward as their axes crashed together in a massive explosion of power.