The bell's echo faded, and my Spirit Sense immediately auto-scanned the enemy team's stats. The results were terrifying.

  Starlia? Qi Formation Stage 2.

  Leonica? Stage 2.

  Alita? Also Stage 2.

  Nyra and Elysia Frostvale were the "weakest" links, both sitting comfortably at Stage 1.

  This wasn't just a battle; it was a raid boss encounter.

  Before I could even formulate a basic tactical formation, the girls initiated their loadouts. Starlia gracefully summoned her signature glowing lotus. Alita drew a mesmerizing sword that literally looked like a piece of the starry night sky, complete with a flowing, cosmic aura. Leonica flashed a savage grin and materialized her sleek silver and gold sword. Nyra aggressively spun a heavy black and red spear, while Elysia rounded out the nightmare by unsheathing twin white and ice-blue blades.

  "Alright team, gear up!" I yelled, reaching to equip my Black Knight Armor.

  But there was a slight... logistical issue.

  While the rest of my boy band was summoning their legendary weapons with flawless dramatic flair, I was standing in the middle of the arena practically wrestling with my own armor. I had spent five years in high-speed, isolated magical training. My physical body had grown significantly larger, and the armor's auto-fit enchantments were severely lagging behind the sudden hardware update. I looked like an idiot trying to squeeze into a toddler's t-shirt.

  "Give me a second!" I grunted, aggressively yanking on a stuck pauldron.

  Beside me, the squad thankfully ignored my wardrobe malfunction and flexed their arsenals. Lior summoned a massive marine blue and black trident, a glowing blue gem embedded right in its middle. Azra crossed his arms and pulled out two katanas—pitch black and gold, practically oozing edginess. Valerius conjured a burst of intense flames, reaching directly into the fire to pull out a fiery orange and golden staff. Jade completed the lineup, drawing a sword that basically screamed 'nature boy'; the handle gripped the blade with dark green vines and creepers, sporting a yellowish-orange gem set into the hilt.

  Finally, with a loud metallic clank, my armor successfully expanded and adjusted to my new height. I sighed in relief, reached into my spatial inventory, and called upon my weapon.

  It wasn't the Dawn of Zenith anymore. During my five years of grinding, it had evolved. I gripped the hilt of the Zenith of Dusk—now officially upgraded to a solid C-Rank. The blade was the sheer color of a starless night, radiating a constant, faded blue light.

  I dropped into a battle stance, the blue light reflecting off the dirt.

  "Alright," I smirked, glancing at my teammates. "Let's show them what five years of grinding actually looks like."

  (Writer, I'll be busy in my own fight. Get working.)

  The battle erupted into absolute chaos the second the bell rang, with the fighters immediately breaking off and locking onto their designated targets. Ragna charged straight for his sister, Leonica. Jade set his sights on the Primordial descendant, Alita. Lior dashed toward the Golden Princess, Starlia, while Azra went head-to-head with the half-dragon muscle-head, Nyra. That left the fire-wielding Valerius facing off against the ice-cold Elysia.

  Elysia wasted zero time. With a flick of her twin blades, she summoned a brutal barrage of jagged ice shards, sending them flying straight at Valerius. But the Firemaster was ready. He countered instantly, unleashing a massive flamethrower blast from his staff that completely melted the incoming ice mid-air. Elysia froze in her tracks, clearly confused and caught off guard by the sheer, overwhelming heat of his flames.

  Lior, ever the tactical opportunist, noticed the newly created puddles of water left behind by Elysia's melted ice. Seizing control over the element, he immediately hijacked the water and violently whipped it right back at Elysia, striking her heavily with her own melted attack.

  However, Lior's little multi-tasking stunt left him wide open. Starlia capitalized on his distraction instantly, channeling intense energy through her glowing lotus. She blasted Lior point-blank with a radiant beam of light that not only damaged him but completely blinded him for a crucial moment. Seeing the perfect opening, Starlia rushed in to land a devastating physical hit.

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  But before her strike could connect, Valerius hurled his fiery staff across the battlefield like a javelin. The spinning weapon intercepted Starlia's path, forcing her back and saving Lior just in the nick of time—all while Valerius smoothly dodged yet another barrage of Elysia's ice magic.

  Meanwhile, on the other side of the arena, Alita kicked off her fight with a terrifyingly familiar move: a dark, space-warping Void Slash. She sent the black arc flying toward Jade and immediately rushed in to force him into close-quarters combat. Jade, however, was as elusive as a breeze. He effortlessly dodged the incoming Void Slash and slammed his hands onto the dirt, summoning thick tree roots that erupted from the ground and wrapped securely around Alita's feet. Completely immobilizing her, Jade then gathered the surrounding wind to violently lift her up nearby stones, whipping them into a small hurricane that trapped Alita in a revolving barrage of sharp debris. However, Alita wasn't immobilized for long. She quickly broke free from the restraining tree roots and immediately retaliated, landing a sharp strike on Jade that managed to deal him some damage. Refusing to back down, Jade called upon the wind once more, gathering thick clouds that rolled over the battlefield and plunged the entire arena into heavy darkness.

  Meanwhile, the clash between Azra and Nyra escalated into the sky. Nyra unleashed her massive dragon wings, soaring high above the arena floor. From her elevated vantage point, she launched a devastating dragon breath that effortlessly melted the rocks and stones below. Azra swiftly dodged the searing attack and retaliated by launching a dense ball of dark energy straight at her.

  The moment Nyra maneuvered to dodge the dark energy, Azra hurled a giant rock in her direction. Nyra managed to evade the boulder while simultaneously firing back a powerful energy beam. But she underestimated Azra's tactical mastery over the darkness. Using the shadow cast on the rock by Nyra's own body, Azra executed a flawless Shadow Walk, materializing directly behind her in the blink of an eye.

  Before she could react, Azra delivered a devastating blow that smashed Nyra straight into the ground. But Nyra was incredibly resilient; she recovered her senses almost instantly. Recognizing Azra's vulnerable, mid-air position, she capitalized on the opening, launching three simultaneous slashes upward. Azra countered immediately, firing a slash attack of his own that collided with Nyra's first strike, resulting in a massive blast that filled the air with thick smoke.

  While Nyra struggled through the obscuring smoke, Azra appeared behind her once again, landing another heavy blow. Nyra stumbled, coughing up blood. Her eyes flared with pure, unrestrained rage. In a flash of power, she summoned and equipped her lightning-yellow armor. Azra responded in kind, donning his own imposing pitch-black and silver armor.

  Without another second of hesitation, the two warriors rushed directly at each other. As they closed the distance, Nyra left a blinding trail of yellow lightning in her wake, while Azra blurred forward, leaving behind a streak of purplish-black darkness.

  Meanwhile, on the main front of the battlefield, the sibling rivalry was escalating to a terrifying degree. Ragna stood his ground, shedding his previous defensive gear to equip his newly acquired armor. It was a sleek, intimidating set of scarlet and black plates known as the Blood Shell, a D-Rank armor gifted to him by his master, Azure Blades.

  Seeing her brother power up, Leonica didn't hold back for a single second. She immediately summoned and equipped her own gear—a blindingly radiant, white and gold set of armor known as the Angel's Guard, sitting comfortably at a solid C-Rank. She confidently flashed her sword toward Ragna, a dangerous, sarcastic smile playing on her lips.

  (Alright, hand over the mic. Bird's-eye view is over. This is my fight.)

  "Hey, bro, nice armor," Leonica called out, her voice dripping with playful sarcasm. "From the looks of it, it must be the Blood Shell. D-Rank, I guess? And that sword must be the Zenith of Dusk. Cool."

  She tilted her head, her smile widening into something undeniably predatory. "By the way, you probably know what I'm wearing too, right? Since you're so academically genius and all."

  My Spirit Sense fully analyzed her loadout, and my blood ran absolutely cold. My eyes widened in pure, unadulterated shock.

  (Those gears...) I panicked internally. (They are all anti-demon!)

  I forced my expression to remain somewhat composed, though my voice definitely cracked when I spoke. "Hey, sis... how did you even get that?"

  "My master gave it to me," Leonica boasted, practically glowing with pride. "Since I reached Qi Formation Stage 2 so early, and my battle style is just that amazing. What about you, bro?"

  "Aren't you going a little too hard on your brother?!" I yelled, pointing an accusing finger at her glowing loadout. "Don't you think that can actually kill me?!"

  My inner gamer-CEO brain was furiously crunching the stats, and the math was absolutely horrifying. Her armor, the Angel's Guard (C-Rank), provided a ridiculous 10X multiplier to protection specifically against demons. Honestly, I could probably work around that. Bypassing a massive defense buff is just a matter of hitting harder or finding a weak point. It wasn't a big deal to damage her and defeat her even with that armor on.

  But the real problem was the weapon casually resting in her hand.

  That wasn't just some shiny piece of metal. That was The Demon Slayer, a C-Rank sword that explicitly provided a 10X damage multiplier against demons.

  (And I am a freaking Demon!!!) my inner voice screamed, completely losing its mind.

  One solid hit from that thing wouldn't just hurt; it would bypass all my resistances, delete my entire HP bar, and permanently uninstall me from existence!