The silence that followed Calien's victory was suffocating.
It wasn't just the stillness of surprise—it was the stunned, paralyzing kind of silence that gripped everyone like a sudden drop in air pressure, like the calm before a violent storm.
No one moved. No one breathed.
And then the shock immediately detonated like a bomb.
"What—what was that?!"
"Did anyone see what just happened!?"
"He didn't just win! That was… a massacre!"
The Sixth Stage Mana Knight lay on the ground, not injured, but completely stunned. He had barely processed the beginning of the battle before he was on one knee, then on his back. His wooden sword hand had gone numb. Not from an injury—but from disbelief.
If Calien had gone toe-to-toe with the Sixth Stage Knight and fought to a draw, that would have been shocking enough. But this?
Defeating someone two stages above him in a blink?
It was unthinkable. Unreal. Terrifying.
