Julian Seir stared at the two individuals on the same stairs as him. These were the bastards that suggested to Ezerisia in the restaurant that she should kill Kailen and him during the intercontinental competitions. Now, they stared at him in fear.

After what Kailen Darkhaven had just done, they realized if he was not the most powerful person in the competition at the moment, he was ultimately close to that level of strength. If they tried any nonsense with Julian Seir, they could get killed by Kailen Darkhaven. Also, it would not be surprising if Julian Seir himself was extremely powerful. After all, he seemed to breeze through his opponents relentlessly. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Quietly, they stood at the other end of the step, expecting Julian to ignore them and forget about the matter.

Several pairs of eyes from all across the empire and the stadium observed the interaction with intrigue. These were associates of the dead Ezerisia, following her everywhere. Now that she was dead, what would their fate be? Also, they had been the ones to suggest she kills Kailen Darkhaven and Julian Seir at the intercontinental competitions. But now, it seemed the tables had turned on them.

Julian may be carefree and unrestrained; however, he was not a hero. There was no way he would leave these fuckers alive. Had the outcome between Ezerisia and Kailen been different, he and Kailen would have probably died. Why should he leave these two alive?

Several arcs of darkness shot out of his figure towards them. In an attempt to defend themselves, one manifested a shield formed from water and the other manifested a hammer formed from wind. The arcs of darkness cleaved through the shield and the hammer, obliterating them into nothing, proceeding to cleave through their beings diagonally. They didn’t even get to scream before they died, their severed forms turning into dry husky corpses, falling on the step.

The white-haired vampire didn’t even cast another glance at their dead forms before he moved towards the next step.

"As expected. This Julian Seir fellow is also terrifying. It seems this Kailen Darkhaven and Julian Seir will cause an uproar in the national competitions.However, that Tawaki Xi from the 30th Continent is also very terrifying," many thought.

The other participants below Julian waited for him to climb several higher steps before they decided to climb. They did not want him to get any bad ideas when they appear on a step he was on. They didn’t want to die. Each of them had secured one of the 15 spots to qualify for the national competition. They just had to play their cards right and avoid getting killed till the next day arrived and the competition ended.

Currently, there were only 15 participants remaining. The remaining 15 had all been killed through battles with other participants. Several spectators could not help but shake their heads. The competition this time was very ruthless. Who would have thought that several geniuses representing different guilds from different continents would fall here.

At this point, several turned to look at the person currently on the highest step compared to others: Tawaki Xi. Behind him, Kailen Darkhaven was several steps behind. However, Kailen Darkhaven suddenly stopped climbing and decided to sit down.

Everyone knew that it was not because he was weak. Neither was it because of the weight of gravity bearing down on him on the step. This fellow had been breezing through the steps like he was taking a walk in the park. The higher the steps, the more easier it seems for him. It seemed his usage of the space principle to deal with the weight of gravity was very profound.

So, why was he stopping?

Many realized what was going on. Kailen Darkhaven did not see the need to climb anymore. He had qualified to the national competition. Only a day was left for the intercontinental competitions to end. Also, he was confident that no one beneath the step he was on would try to overtake him—not after what they had just seen him do to Ezerisia. He didn’t want to waste his effort climbing anymore. It was not like in the intercontinental competition, the person on the highest step would be given some reward, the audience thought.

Tawaki Xi had gotten to the highest step in the skies. He had actually reached the highest step of the staircase. And looking at Tawaki Xi, there was no reward for the person who managed to reach the highest step.

The rules stated that at the end of the one week time period, the 15 participants at the highest steps compared to the other participants would advance to the next level. The rules never stated that one had to reach the step at the pinnacle of the staircase to be one of the 15 participants at the highest steps.

At this point, the rest of the participants also stopped advancing. Every sat down as glints flashed through their eyes. No one wanted to get to where Kailen Darkhaven was and get themselves killed. They had already qualified to the national level. Why would they throw that away? This lunatic gruesomely killed Ezerisia, after all. Plus, his acquaintance, Julian Seir, was also seated a few steps below the step he was on. That fellow was also another lunatic. He had just slaughtered Ezerisia’s acquaintances effortlessly. They didn’t want to push his buttons.

Tawaki himself sighed on the step at the pinnacle of the staircase. He had expected some sort of reward on reaching the highest step—like maybe a principle fragment or something—but there was nothing. He stood up and mused inwardly.

"At least I have qualified to the national level. I was initially not concerned about getting first place and enrolling in the Venzula Empire Academy, but this Kailen Darkhaven, if I want to obtain first place, I will have to deal with him in the national competition." He sighed. "And, it does not look like he has even showed the full extent of his power. He is strong. And that Julian Seir too, seated a few steps away from Kailen Darkhaven, is not someone to look down on. He is definitely weaker than Kailen Darkhaven, but he’s powerful. Seriously, why did the Southern Continent produce these fellows this time?"